Ezekiel Sitting in the Valley of Dry BonesBible World
37:5Ezekiel 37:5
Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
God promises to cause breath to enter dead bones so that the slain live again, and when Ezekiel prophesied to the wind they stood up as an exceeding great army. The dry bones are the house of Israel, His own people in their lifeless condition, which is the spiritual state of churches, members and professed believers who are sleeping and at ease with religious form instead of a living, experimental knowledge of truth. The breath He promises is the Holy Spirit breathed upon the people, a deep life-giving moving upon the heart that revives and energizes them so they can stand and live, without which truth is only a dead letter. The figure was given to show that no work of restoration is too hard for God, so those who trust Him need never say their hope is lost even in apparent disaster and defeat. When that life enters, icy hearts are warmed, souls humbled before God advance and cooperate with Him until renewed in the divine image, and churches on a dead level live again through organized efforts for others and medical missionary work combined with the proclamation of the third angel's message to new fields before Christ's second coming. In His own time God will also literally call forth the dead by putting the breath of life into them again, each one rising with his own preserved character and recognizable individuality in a new, finer spiritual body free from disease and defect.
Promise of Life
Thus says the Lord God to the bones that He will cause breath to enter into them so that they shall live, and the slain live again when Ezekiel prophesies to the wind, for in answer to his word life is restored and they stand up as an exceeding great army. The figure was given to show that no work of restoration is too hard for God to do. None who trust in Him need ever say their hope is lost, for in the midst of apparent disaster and defeat His providence is working out His purposes, and His chosen servants press upward through opposition and reproach and persecution from darkness into light.
The dead, dry bones are the house of Israel, God's own people in their lifeless condition. The breath promised is the Holy Spirit breathed upon His people to bring them to life and energize them. God gives breath and life to what is lifeless and spiritually lifeless, and the Lord must breathe life into the dry bones before they can live and stand and live. That breath is the deep, life-giving moving of the Spirit of God upon the heart with its life-giving influence, needed by the church and its workers and by professed believers who are sleeping and reckless and at ease and without living truth and a vitalizing, sanctifying, experimental power of truth, having only religious form and ceremonies. Without that influence truth becomes a dead letter, and God cannot use His people until He breathes life into them, but when the Word is sought and followed and the soul is humbled before God He revives backslidden hearts unto watchfulness and sobriety in view of the nearness of the end, yielding the will as clay into the potter's hands and cooperating with God to become a vessel molded unto honor, standing in the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness where no earthly or selfish motive is allowed to live and thus renewed in the divine image.
In His own time God will call forth the dead by putting the breath of life into them again and commanding the dry bones to live. The resurrection preserves personal identity and character, which is kept with God, so each person comes forth with his own character and the same form and individuality of features that friends will recognize friends. The risen body is not made from the same identical particles of matter that went into the grave, but is a new creation and new birth of much finer material, free from disease and every defect and pleasing to God, sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body.
Revival for Mission
The dry bones are churches, members, workers, and professed believers who are sleeping, reckless, at ease, and without living truth. They have religious form and ceremonies instead of a vitalizing, sanctifying, experimental knowledge of the power of truth. They remain in darkness without a living experience of what Christ is and will be to them. God cannot use His people until He breathes life into them, and that breath is the deep, life-giving moving of His Spirit and Holy Spirit upon the heart.
The church in Battle Creek is like the valley of dry bones, spiritually dead and needing to be stirred by some power to give it life. That life comes by receiving needed light and knowledge. Gaining a hearing for that light requires work and prayer, because those in responsible positions close the door against it. Without that life-giving influence of the Spirit, truth becomes a dead letter.
Icy, cold hearts that have only a legal religion need a life-giving message taught in the Bible light on sin and atonement. That message shows that Christ and His righteousness are provided for them and makes them see the better things provided for them. Only power from God can give this life. Those who receive it can give the light to others and work together with God in gathering in and bringing home the sheep of His fold.
When the Word is sought and followed and the soul is humbled before God, steady advancement is made as God changes purposes and works in His people. Hearts at ease are brought to no longer sleep but to watch and be sober in view of the nearness of the end. The will is yielded as clay into the potter's hands, cooperating with God to become a vessel molded unto honor. Such stand in the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness where no earthly or selfish motive is allowed to live, and thus are renewed in the divine image.
The promise means revival for mission, so that self-denying, self-sacrificing workers will carry the last message of mercy to new fields and to those who have not heard it before Christ's second coming. That last message is the third angel's message. Churches stuck on a dead, lifeless level live again when the breath of life enters them through regular, organized efforts for others that involve church members. That breath comes by sending workers into the churches to set the principles of health reform before them and by combining medical missionary work with the proclamation of the third angel's message.
God promises to cause breath to enter dead bones so that the slain live again, and when Ezekiel prophesied to the wind they stood up as an exceeding great army. The dry bones are the house of Israel, His own people in their lifeless condition, which is the spiritual state of churches, members and professed believers who are sleeping and at ease with religious form instead of a living, experimental knowledge of truth. The breath He promises is the Holy Spirit breathed upon the people, a deep life-giving moving upon the heart that revives and energizes them so they can stand and live, without which truth is only a dead letter. The figure was given to show that no work of restoration is too hard for God, so those who trust Him need never say their hope is lost even in apparent disaster and defeat. When that life enters, icy hearts are warmed, souls humbled before God advance and cooperate with Him until renewed in the divine image, and churches on a dead level live again through organized efforts for others and medical missionary work combined with the proclamation of the third angel's message to new fields before Christ's second coming. In His own time God will also literally call forth the dead by putting the breath of life into them again, each one rising with his own preserved character and recognizable individuality in a new, finer spiritual body free from disease and defect.
Promise of Life
Thus says the Lord God to the bones that He will cause breath to enter into them so that they shall live, and the slain live again when Ezekiel prophesies to the wind, for in answer to his word life is restored and they stand up as an exceeding great army. The figure was given to show that no work of restoration is too hard for God to do. None who trust in Him need ever say their hope is lost, for in the midst of apparent disaster and defeat His providence is working out His purposes, and His chosen servants press upward through opposition and reproach and persecution from darkness into light.
The dead, dry bones are the house of Israel, God's own people in their lifeless condition. The breath promised is the Holy Spirit breathed upon His people to bring them to life and energize them. God gives breath and life to what is lifeless and spiritually lifeless, and the Lord must breathe life into the dry bones before they can live and stand and live. That breath is the deep, life-giving moving of the Spirit of God upon the heart with its life-giving influence, needed by the church and its workers and by professed believers who are sleeping and reckless and at ease and without living truth and a vitalizing, sanctifying, experimental power of truth, having only religious form and ceremonies. Without that influence truth becomes a dead letter, and God cannot use His people until He breathes life into them, but when the Word is sought and followed and the soul is humbled before God He revives backslidden hearts unto watchfulness and sobriety in view of the nearness of the end, yielding the will as clay into the potter's hands and cooperating with God to become a vessel molded unto honor, standing in the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness where no earthly or selfish motive is allowed to live and thus renewed in the divine image.
In His own time God will call forth the dead by putting the breath of life into them again and commanding the dry bones to live. The resurrection preserves personal identity and character, which is kept with God, so each person comes forth with his own character and the same form and individuality of features that friends will recognize friends. The risen body is not made from the same identical particles of matter that went into the grave, but is a new creation and new birth of much finer material, free from disease and every defect and pleasing to God, sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body.
Revival for Mission
The dry bones are churches, members, workers, and professed believers who are sleeping, reckless, at ease, and without living truth. They have religious form and ceremonies instead of a vitalizing, sanctifying, experimental knowledge of the power of truth. They remain in darkness without a living experience of what Christ is and will be to them. God cannot use His people until He breathes life into them, and that breath is the deep, life-giving moving of His Spirit and Holy Spirit upon the heart.
The church in Battle Creek is like the valley of dry bones, spiritually dead and needing to be stirred by some power to give it life. That life comes by receiving needed light and knowledge. Gaining a hearing for that light requires work and prayer, because those in responsible positions close the door against it. Without that life-giving influence of the Spirit, truth becomes a dead letter.
Icy, cold hearts that have only a legal religion need a life-giving message taught in the Bible light on sin and atonement. That message shows that Christ and His righteousness are provided for them and makes them see the better things provided for them. Only power from God can give this life. Those who receive it can give the light to others and work together with God in gathering in and bringing home the sheep of His fold.
When the Word is sought and followed and the soul is humbled before God, steady advancement is made as God changes purposes and works in His people. Hearts at ease are brought to no longer sleep but to watch and be sober in view of the nearness of the end. The will is yielded as clay into the potter's hands, cooperating with God to become a vessel molded unto honor. Such stand in the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness where no earthly or selfish motive is allowed to live, and thus are renewed in the divine image.
The promise means revival for mission, so that self-denying, self-sacrificing workers will carry the last message of mercy to new fields and to those who have not heard it before Christ's second coming. That last message is the third angel's message. Churches stuck on a dead, lifeless level live again when the breath of life enters them through regular, organized efforts for others that involve church members. That breath comes by sending workers into the churches to set the principles of health reform before them and by combining medical missionary work with the proclamation of the third angel's message.