Title: Hope Even for Dry Bones
Content r> Dear saints, do you think our Adventist church is going to have a revival? Don't you think you can? What are your thoughts on our church? Two images appear in the text. It is dry bones in verses 2-4 and God’s great army in verse 10. Where is our church now? Is it like dry bones? Or is it like the army of God?
Our church is more like dry bones than God's army. I feel a sense of despair that comes from the fact that I don't think I'll ever be able to revive. Others go beyond despair and reach indifference. I haven't been here in a while, but I have a sense that our church is not. I have seen deep wounds and disappointments towards spiritual leaders. I felt frustrated that common sense did not work in the church. We met a negative image of our church that is deeply engraved in our community. It is the atmosphere of the wave at the end of the country market. What fuels this atmosphere even more is the growth of neighboring churches. Seeing them makes us feel like dry bones without hope.
To be honest, we have a sense of crisis right now. No, we have a sense of despair. But, dear saints, there is no despair for us who believe in the living God. For even the dry bones in the valley have hope. Even dry bones can come to life. Even dry rice can survive and become God's great army, God's mighty army.
That's right. Advent Church, like dry bones, can also be revived. revive. It revives. It will be God's mighty army. It is because the revival and revival of the Church of God does not depend on the environment. The church is not revived by circumstances, but by life and power. It is a superstition to believe that there are no problems in this world. All churches have their own problems, only different types. Our Adventist church also has problems. Therefore, we are called by God to solve this problem. I was also called to the Advent Church to solve these problems and revive them. If the conditions were the conditions for revival, the early church would never have been able to revive. They had no meeting places, no lavish buildings, no Bibles to read, no trained leaders, no freedom to worship. Nevertheless, the early church was revived. Compared to them, our Adventist Church has many things. Brothers and sisters, from now on, let's drive away the sense of defeat. Let's reject the idea that we can't. With God, we can too. Even dry bones can be revived alive. Just do it.
Then how can dry bones live and be revived as God's army? I want to look at the method through today's text. What are they? Before answering, I want to first look at the historical background of the text.
1. The destroyed Israel was like dry bones. (Verses 1-2)
It is the image of Israel that was destroyed by God's judgment. See verse 1. “The Lord came upon me with power, and with his spirit he took me and placed me in the middle of the valley, where it was full of bones.” God came upon the prophet Ezekiel by the power of the Holy Spirit and placed him in the middle of a valley in a vision, where it was full of bones. Verse 2 describes the state of the bone. “Behold, he made me pass on all the bones of the valley, and there were very many bones on the ground of the valley, and it was very dry.” The bones were completely dry. The Bible itself explains this dry bone. What do you say these bones represent? Verse 11. It is a symbol of the house of Israel. When the prophet Ezekiel received these words, the kingdom of Judah had already come to an end.
This suggests that the state of the nation of Israel has already reached a desperate situation. There are no traces of life left. This is the story of the end of the nation of Israel. It is a state of complete despair, from which recovery is impossible. The land of Babylon where they currently live is a valley. Verse 12 describes this valley as a grave. It is said that he died and became dry bones. The people of Israel knew this too. See verse 11. “And he said to me, Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel; for they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, and we are all cut off.”
The Israelites had already experienced God's judgment. The temple collapsed. David's kingdom was destroyed. brought into captivity by Babylon. It was like lifeless dry bones, a state in which no more life could be expected, and a state of being sentenced to death without hope. This was the state of the nation of Israel at that time.
2. Even dry bones have hope. (verse 3)
Even those with dry bones had hope. They themselves had no hope. There was no hope in the circumstances around him. Their hope was in their God. God's concern for them as dry bones. This is God's vision for them. Look at verse 3. God's question begins. God asks questions to make the people of Israel aware of their condition before starting a new history, and then to have a new hope in their relationship with God. “He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live?”
When God asked, “Son of man, can these bones live?” What was your answer? What would you say? This is the question God asks while showing us the dry bones that are wallowing in the valley. Showing the spiritual condition of our church, if we ask, “Can these bones live?”, what is your answer? Please answer with “Amen”. Does the problem facing our church seem big? God will give you greater power. Does the problem facing our church seem difficult? God will give you greater wisdom. I always think that my ministry at Daelim Church is easy. My ministry cannot be done on my own. It is only possible through God-given power. Therefore, if I rely only on my own strength, my ministry is not difficult, but impossible. However, if God's power is revealed in my work, my work will be an easy task and a miraculous work that makes the impossible possible. You will do the miracle of raising dry bones and turning them into the army of God.
Dear saints, I hope that believers who believe in God will never have despair. Even if we are blocked in all directions at home or in business, God is our hope. So, always be positive in Jesus. May you always have hope. I hope you do not look at the environment, but look at the God who rules and governs the environment. What was Ezekiel's answer in the text? He gave a very bizarre answer. “You know.” Yes. The Lord is the way, the truth, and the life.
3. God told Ezekiel to prophesy. (Verses 5-10)
According to God's command, Ezekiel prophesied in two stages. In two steps, God raised the dry bones to life and made them into God's army. In other words, God resurrected the nation of Israel first with the Word and then with the Holy Spirit.
First of all, God tells us what He will do with those bones in general. Verses 5-6. “Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, I will bring breath into you, and they will live. I will put sinews on you, I will clothe you with flesh, I will cover you with skins, and I will put breath within you, and you will live, and you will know that I am the Lord.”
1) It is the ministry of the Word. (Verses 7-8)
The prophet Ezekiel begins to prophesy first. See verses 7-8. “Then I prophesied as I was commanded, and while I was prophesying, there was a sound and movement, and one bone and one another fit together, and the bones came into contact with each other. And I looked, and there were tendons in the bones, and flesh grew, and skins were over them, but there was no life in them.” This is the work of the Word.
When Ezekiel prophesied about the Word of God, the bones that were wallowing met and joined together, and flesh rose, covered with skin, and a human image was formed. But there was still no life in it. This is the first stage of work. Only the word worked. Through the Word, the image of a person who can act as a person has now been prepared. Ready. However, there is no mention of animation yet.
2) It is the work of the Holy Spirit. (verses 9-10)
Ezekiel prophesies a second time. Look at verses 9-10. “Then he said to me, “Son of man, prophesy against the breath, and prophesy against the breath, saying, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says, Come from the four winds, and blow on these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded, and the breath came to them. And when they entered, they immediately came to life and stood on their feet, a very large army.”
The original word for the word ‘vigorous’ here is ‘ruach’. It can be translated as the word ‘vigorous’, but at the same time it can also be translated as ‘wind’ or ‘breath’ or ‘spirit’. In other words, ‘the spirit enters’ can be interpreted as ‘the Spirit enters’. I think it's more accurate to say 'the Spirit entered them' rather than 'the breath of life entered them'. See especially verse 14. “And I will put my Spirit within you, that you may live.” The Holy Spirit entered those who were prepared with the Word, gave them life, and gave them power, establishing them as God's mighty army.
4. We also need the work of the Word and the work of the Holy Spirit.
1) We absolutely need the work of the Holy Spirit.
We saw that Israel, like dry bones, needed two things in order to come to life and be established as God's army. It is the work of the Word and the work of the Holy Spirit. The first was to work only with the Word. Then the human form was formed. But that wasn't enough. The work of the Holy Spirit was necessary for them to come alive and become God's army decisively. Only then can they become living creatures and begin to move as the army of God.
2) We need the ministry of the Word.
We must see the fact that there is the work of the Holy Spirit after the work of the Word. Without the work of the Word, there would be no work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit came upon the work of the Word. The disciples who experienced Pentecost also had the ministry of the Word for three years first. In all the revival history of the church, there must have been a powerful work of the Holy Spirit after the truth of justification by justification was rediscovered. This shows the importance of the ministry of the Word.
Dear saints, our Adventist Church is like dry bones. Dry bones that are not connected to each other and are scattered. Bones that have dried up in the valley for a long time There is no hope in itself. There is no hope for the environment either. But we want to see our Adventist Church marching with this powerful army of God. I hope to see them used as God's army to overcome the devil and the world. Such victory is always possible if there is the work of the Word and the Holy Spirit. This is God's vision for us. This is also my dream. I hope this will be your fantasy.
Life is what saves life. Fire is what sets fire. If there is no leader who is burning with the Holy Spirit along with the Word, the church will not be able to revive. It's not just words. Our vision will not be fulfilled unless leaders are nurtured by the Spirit. Our dreams will not come true without the saints who pray with the Word and the Holy Spirit. Dry bones are revived by the Word and the Holy Spirit. Dry bones are built up as God's army by the Word and the Holy Spirit. Have a dream. Look at the fantasy. Our hope is in God. We too can be revived. Just do it. Let's do it. You can. I hope you believe,