EZEKIEL 37 HOW HOPELESS IS YOUR SITUATION2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 37 How Hopeless Is Your Situation

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

Well, we're in Ezekiel chapter 37 this evening, continuing our study. And man, 37 is another one of those chapters that is just so powerful. And there's a lot of things that God could use to speak to our hearts and encourage us. And really the focus, I believe, that God is calling us to this evening is to answer the question, how hopeless is your situation? You

You know, you and I as believers, as we talk to one another, as we hang out, we come in, you know, we talk, we say, hey, how's it going? And there's a lot of times, you know, that we're really struggling, that, man, life is difficult, things are tough, but we don't really want to get into it with everybody until, you know, burden them with all of our problems and things. But there's a lot of times that we're really discouraged, isn't there? There's a lot of times that we're really, like,

beat down and we look at the situation that we're in and man it seems hopeless and it can be depressing it can be discouraging it can be so overwhelming and this great burden that weighs upon us

How hopeless is your situation? But of course, when we walk through the door and someone says, hey, how you doing? We say, oh, I'm fine. Praise the Lord. You know, how are you? And we kind of leave it at that. But God wants to go a little bit deeper into our hearts than, you know, just the I'm doing fine answer this evening. And he wants to work in the area of hopelessness.

What we see here in chapter 37 is that God brings life into hopeless situations. Incredible, vibrant life into situations that really seem like there is not even a glimmer of hope, not even a little bit of a chance that anything could happen.

We also see a reunion take place here in chapter 37. And sometimes reunions seem to be hopeless, don't they? There's divisions between people. There's divisions within family. It seems that there could never be a reunion between that husband and wife or between those relatives or between those friends or between whoever that it might be.

And yet what we see here is in the midst of a hopeless situation and a hopeless division, God comes in. He steps in and He does an incredible and powerful work. And so the answer is,

How hopeless is your situation? Well, the answer is, well, it's not hopeless at all if God is involved. And so let's take a look at the hopeless situation we see here in chapter 37, starting in verse 1. It says,

Then he caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley, and indeed they were very dry.

What we see here is Ezekiel is taken by the Spirit. And whether he's physically taken somewhere by the Spirit or this is a vision that he is receiving, it's not exactly clear. You could kind of take it either way. But he's got this vision, he's taken in the Spirit, and he's taken to this valley that is full of bones.

So you could picture this valley that everywhere you look, spread out all over the valley, are these bones just scattered across the earth, across the valley. Now, we're going to learn in verse 11 that these dry bones in Ezekiel's vision are speaking of the nation of Israel. And so God is using this vision of this valley of bones to speak to him about the nation of Israel.

And the reality for the nation of Israel was they were in a terrible condition. And so a valley full of bones is a very apt picture of the nation of Israel for the state they were in at that time. Because the nation of Israel had been, first of all, divided into two nations.

We'll get into that a little bit later. The northern kingdom was Israel, the southern kingdom was Judah. And then each nation, both the north and the south, really turned away from God and began to pursue idolatry and immoral practices and disobedience to God. And so God brought judgment upon Israel.

Both nations, the northern kingdom, Israel, was conquered first, and then the southern kingdom, Judah, was conquered a little bit later. And so at this time, as Ezekiel is seeing this vision and writing these things for us,

The land of Israel, both kingdoms together, was completely desolate. There was no inhabitants. All of the cities had been destroyed. All of the strongholds had been knocked down. There wasn't walls. It was just a barren wilderness, desolate with nobody living there. And that was the state, that was the condition of the land of Israel.

And so God here is likening that condition to this valley full of dry bones. There's just death. There's no life. There's nothing vibrant. There's nothing refreshing. It's just dry bones. That's the idea of bones that have just been laying out in the sun. There's no moisture. There's no life. There's just no hope at all. And that was the condition of the nation of Israel.

And as we look at the situations in our lives, sometimes we can feel exactly the same way. I like in verse 2 how it says that the Lord caused them to pass by all around and behold, there was, you know, very many and indeed they were very dry. And in

when we're in those situations that seem hopeless, that's what we do, huh? We kind of walk around, we look at it from all different sides, and every side we turn, it's like even more overwhelming because there's just no hope in the situation that we face.

But there is hope in God, and we see that as we go forward in verse 3, it says, And He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? So I answered, O Lord God, you know. Again, He said to me, prophesy to these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

Verse 7.

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise and suddenly a rattling and the bones came together bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sunus and the flesh came upon them and the skin covered them over, but there was no breath in them. So here is Ezekiel. He sees this valley that's full of dry bones and God asks him a question. He says, Hey, Ezekiel,

Can these dead, dry bones have life? Can there be life again where there's just this great amount of death, where it's completely hopeless? Can these bones live? And I like Ezekiel because he's a little bit cautious. He says, well, you know, Lord, it's not about what I think or what I imagine, what I want. You're capable, Lord. You know if they can live or not.

And so God gives him some instruction. He says, okay, so what I want you to do, Ezekiel, is I want you to prophesy. I want you to speak to these dry bones. And I want you to tell them that they will have life. And so what does Ezekiel do? Well, he obeys God and he prophesies. And he speaks to this valley of dry, dead bones. And as he obeys God, as he speaks to them, the word of the Lord comes.

Something amazing happens. I wonder, sometimes I kind of picture myself in this situation, I wonder if it kind of freaked Ezekiel out a little bit.

There he is in the vision. He speaks forth and then he hears this rattling. Have you ever been in kind of an eerie situation, right? And then you hear a noise. You're like, ooh, what was that? It kind of gets you freaked out, right? Well, he speaks forth. He's in this valley of just bones all over the place. And as he speaks forth, he hears this rattling. And all these bones, you can kind of picture them hitting against each other, coming together. They're kind of like scattered and spread out.

eaten by, you know, different animals and birds and such. And so, you know, they're just scattered all over the place. And then they begin to rattle as they hit each other and come together. And then skin begins to grow and then the meat begins to grow. And pretty soon there's, well, there's bodies lying all over this valley as the bones come together to bring forth the

Now he points out there in verse 8 that there was no breath in them yet, so there was not life yet, but the bones have come together, the bodies have been restored. And so God asks Ezekiel, can these bones live? And in the situations that we face when there's that hopelessness, that's the question that God would ask us.

Can these bones, this situation that you're looking at, which has no promise of life at all, can those bones live? Can God bring hope into that hopeless situation? Have you been in a hopeless situation? Some of you actually are in a hopeless situation right now. You look at what lies in front of you. You look at the bills that are due. You look at the job situation. You look at the housing market. You look at the economy. You look at whatever you want to look at.

A lot of times it's many different things at once. And man, it just seems so hopeless. You look at perhaps the dreams that you once had. You know, the things that you wanted to accomplish. Or perhaps you look at some of those promises that you've received from God. And you look at your life, you look at the situation that you're facing and the context of your life and how things are going.

And it just seems that that promise that God gave you could never be fulfilled. It seems that that dream that you once had could never be accomplished. That those things that are there before you could never have anything good come from them. And you know what it's like to be in that kind of situation. And so what does Ezekiel bring into that situation? Well, he brings the word of the Lord.

God tells him to prophesy. And so it says that he speaks forth. He says in verse 4, to the dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord. Listen to the word of the Lord. He takes God's word and he says, alright, dry bones, hopeless situation, you listen up. This is what God says.

It's not about what I can see or what I think or what I perceive or what I can see happening in the situation. Here, dry bones, hopeless situation. Here's what God says. God says, you are going to have life. And what happens? Well, God begins to work. I think it's interesting as well that you see the bones come together, but there's no breath in them yet. That the work...

began to take place immediately, but it wasn't all done at once. There was a process. There was a process of events that led to the life that God was going to bring. Now, it doesn't mean that, of course, we can just, you know, wish and hope for everything that we want and everything we want is what we get. It's according to the Word of God and it's according to the will of God.

But we need to be like Ezekiel and have faith and be obedient when God has spoken to our hearts. When we are in the midst of those hopeless situations, we need to be able to speak forth the word of God and say, listen up. I know it looks like nothing good could come from this, but here's what Romans 8.28 says. All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

And so we can speak forth the word of God into these hopeless situations and say, listen up, you hopeless situation. Listen up, you difficult job market, you difficult housing market, you difficult economy. Listen up, whatever situation you might be facing. God is going to work this for good. And as you speak forth, as Ezekiel spoke forth and prophesied the word of God, God was already beginning to work.

And in the same way as we bring forth God's word into the situations that we face, God is already beginning to work. Now this prophecy was something that is taking place really right now with the nation of Israel.

This is the present condition there in verse 8 when it says that the flesh came on them, the skin covered them over, but there was no breath in them. These bones came together. There was a restoration of the bodies, but there was still no life in them. That is the present condition of the nation of Israel. Israel is in the process of being gathered together. The Jews are being brought back to the land of Israel. And that is a miraculous work of God.

But there's still no real life in them. The ultimate fulfillment of these things, as we'll see in the next verses, is during the millennial kingdom when Jesus comes to rule and to reign for a thousand years. But it's in the process right now. The people are being brought back together. The bones are being brought together. But there's just no spiritual life. There's no real life in the nation of Israel.

And so it's amazing, we're watching these things come together even before our eyes. Look at verse 9. Also he said to me, prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, thus says the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on those slain that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me.

And breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet an exceedingly great army. So Ezekiel prophesied when God told him the first time, and he said, God says you're going to come together and you're going to have life. And so then the bones rattled and began to meet together, and the flesh began to grow on them, the skin covered them, but there was still no life.

So now God speaks to Ezekiel again and say, alright Ezekiel, prophesy again. And speak to the wind, speak to the breath to breathe life into those who have been slain. Into these bodies that have been restored. And Ezekiel prophesies just as God commanded him. And then the breath came into them. And notice they lived and stood on their feet and they were an exceedingly great army.

What an incredible scene. To be taken from a valley of dry bones to a valley filled with an exceedingly great army full of life. There is no situation that is really hopeless when God is concerned, when God is involved. As we look at our valleys of dry bones, we could think, man, there's nothing. There's no life there. It's worthless.

Gives me the heebie-jeebies. I don't even want to be around this valley of dry bones. But God can work in that situation. He can work in those things. And He can bring life. And that's what He's in the process of doing with the nation of Israel. See, they were crying out. And they were saying, man, our situation is terrible. All hope is lost. And what God is saying is, no. All hope is not lost. God is still on the throne.

Something I think that is interesting here that we see here in verses 9 and 10 but also in the verses we just studied is that Ezekiel is involved in the process. He has to participate. He has to speak out in faith for these things to be accomplished. And I think that's important for our lives as well that

We need to have faith. And we need to speak out in faith. And we need to trust the Lord and take steps of faith and obedience. Even if it seems like God's telling us to speak to a bunch of dead, dry bones.

Even if that just seems ridiculous, what it is that God's asking us to do and how could that help and really what difference would that make? And yet, we need to be obedient to God because even in the midst of that incredibly hopeless situation, God could do something miraculous. We need to engage in the work of God and bring forth the Word of God and speak it forth into those situations that we face, however hopeless it may seem. Verse 11 says,

Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off. Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves and bring you into the land of Israel.

Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live. I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, says the Lord. God now explains to Ezekiel why he's given him this vision, and really why this vision would be so important to the people of Israel.

Because this is what they were saying at the time. They're looking at the land of Israel. They're saying, man, there's no inhabitants. All the cities are conquered. Everything is just wiped out, wasted. The survivors are scattered all over. There's only a few of them. Many of them are held captive in the nation of Babylon. And so the people of Israel at that time were describing their situation as their bones being dry. There's just no life there. They're

They're broken. They're frail. They said, all hope is lost. And we ourselves are cut off. So the people were looking at their situation and they're saying, it's hopeless. We're cut off. All hope is lost. We're in a terrible condition. They were discouraged. They were depressed. They were in that situation because of their rebellion against God. But here God is bringing comfort to them to remind them, I'm not done with you.

I'm not finished with you. All hope is not lost. And so he gives Ezekiel this vision to share with the people so that those who are saying, man, our bones are dry and dead. All hope is lost. Then Ezekiel comes with this vision and say, God says the valley of dry bones will have life once again. That situation that they were looking at, it wasn't hopeless.

God still had plans and he was going to do something miraculous. They couldn't see it. It didn't seem to make sense. They thought it was hopeless. How hopeless is your situation? The situations and the things that you face. Some of those desires, some of those promises of God, you look at them and like the nation of Israel, it just seems like barren wilderness and everything is destroyed, that there's no hope anymore.

Of those things being established. That there's no hope of joy. That there's no hope of life. That really you have nothing to hold on to any longer. But God says, I can bring life. You know, the nation of Israel today is an absolute miracle. The fact that it exists today is insane, really, when you begin to think about it and consider. The nation of Israel was conquered.

By Babylon, we just saw that in the last couple of weeks in the book of Ezekiel.

We've seen that really in Jeremiah and Ezekiel the whole time, that Babylon came and conquered the nation and took everybody captive. But then 70 years after captivity, they were able to come back and they didn't become a strong superpower like they once were, but they were able to inhabit the land. They did so for a while and then of course Jesus was born. But then in 70 AD, Jerusalem was once again conquered by the Romans.

And the Jews were scattered once again all around the world. And their nation was stripped from them, taken from them. They did not have a homeland from 70 AD to 1948 AD. For almost 2,000 years, they did not have a homeland. Now that's pretty incredible. Could you imagine, just for fun, okay, the state of California gets conquered.

And all of us, we get scattered all throughout the rest of the United States. Texas and Arizona and Washington and Oregon, they all come down, they conquer California. And they scatter us all across the United States. And then 2,000 years pass. Your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandkids say, yeah, I'm a Californian.

No, it's not going to happen, right? They're going to say, I'm a Texan, I'm a Floridian, or whatever they are. I'm from Oregon, I'm from New York. The people of California would be, well, they just kind of vanish. Yeah, maybe the next generation might say, oh yeah, we're from California. But it wouldn't take more than a couple of generations and all of that heritage would be lost. Right?

But the nation of Israel, keep in mind, the land of Israel, we're talking about California, that's a whole lot bigger than the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel is about the size of the county of San Bernardino.

about the same square mileage as the county of San Bernardino. So it's not very big. There's not a lot of people. They were reduced to almost nothing in all of these wars and battles. They're scattered around the earth.

Not even all in one place, but they're all over the place. And yet they maintain their national identity, their heritage, they maintain their culture. And then after 2,000 years of having no homeland, they come back and are reestablished as a nation. That is a miracle that is unsurpassed in all of history. No other nation has done that.

The Philistines didn't do that. You can go down the list. All of those nations that existed, they didn't do that. When a nation got conquered and scattered, it just became assimilated into those other nations where they were scattered. But the nation of Israel, this is a miracle. What we have today in the newspapers, on almost the front page of every newspaper, the things going on in Israel, the things going on in Jerusalem, it is absolutely miraculous.

It is Ezekiel 37 being fulfilled. The bones have come together. He's brought them back into their own land. He says in verse 14, I'll bring you back. I'll place you in your own land. That's miraculous. That's amazing. It's pretty radical. God can do things to us that seem hopeless,

that seem that they're just so far beyond hope that it just seems even ridiculous to have a little bit of hope, God can work even in those situations. Now the final fulfillment of these things of course will be in that thousand year reign of Christ, the Millennial Kingdom. But we're seeing it already in the works. The process has begun. And the prophecy that God gave to Ezekiel in that day is being fulfilled.

And so how hopeless is your situation? If God can do that, what can God do with the things that you're facing? The things that are going on in your life. The things that are happening around you. God can bring hope and life to the worst and most difficult situation. Well, as we go on to the second half of the chapter, now we're looking at still the same context and speaking roughly about the same thing. But he changes his...

illustration a little bit and he begins to talk about the two sticks. Look at verse 15 with me. It says, again the word of the Lord came to me saying, as for you son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it for Judah and for the children of Israel his companions. Then take another stick and write on it for Joseph the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions.

So God now gives Ezekiel some more instruction. He says, Ezekiel, I want you to get two sticks. On one stick, you're going to write, for Judah and all of Israel. And then on the other stick, you write for Joseph and all of Israel. Now the reason for the two sticks is each one represents the divided nation of Israel.

So if you remember back in Israel's history, the kingdom really began with King Saul. And he reigned for 40 years over the entire nation of Israel. And then came David. And David reigned over the nation for another 40 years. And then came Solomon. And Solomon reigned over the nation for another 40 years. So they had 120 years of a united kingdom.

But Solomon's son, as he took the throne, he really blew it. The people wanted a break from the taxes. And so Jeroboam, he represented the northern part of the nation of Israel. And he says, hey, can you give us a break? Can you cut down our taxes? And if you do, then hey, we'll gladly serve you. But if you don't, we're going to split away and we're going to do our own thing. And Solomon's son, Rehoboam, he said,

didn't listen to them, he disregarded them, and he kept the taxes. In fact, he said, I'm going to make it even more difficult for you and raise your taxes. You can read all about this in 2 Chronicles chapter 10. And so at that time, the kingdom divided. The northern kingdom was called Israel. That's the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom. And then the southern kingdom was only two tribes. It was the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin.

And so the southern kingdom kept the name of Judah and it became the nation of Judah. So you had the nation of Israel and then the nation of Judah, where at one time they were united. That happened at around 930 BC. 200 years later, the northern kingdom, the nation of Israel, was conquered by Assyria.

The nation of Judah lasted a little bit longer. It lasted 340 years after that division, and then it was conquered by Babylon. Both of these nations, they were split, they were conquered because of their rebellion against God. But the point here that I'm alluding to, that I'm bringing up is, the nation of Judah, as Ezekiel is writing these things,

They'd been divided from Israel for almost 350 years. There was this division between the two kingdoms. They battled, they warred throughout their history. They had grudges against each other. Sometimes they would lay those things aside and try to get along, but it would always end to more battles between them. So there was this constant division and friction between these two kingdoms.

And so God says, okay, here's what I want you to do, Ezekiel. Take one stick and it represents the southern kingdom, the nation of Judah. And then take another stick and it represents the northern kingdom, the nation of Israel. And then what you're going to do is you're going to make them one. Look at verse 17. He says, then join them to one another for yourself and to one stick and they will become one in your hand.

And when the children of your people speak to you saying, will you not show us what you mean by these? Say to them, thus says the Lord God, surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will join them with it to the stick of Judah and make them one stick and they will be one in my hand. And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes."

So God says to Ezekiel, look, this is a visual illustration for the people to understand that I'm going to take both nations and unite them together. What they previously thought would be impossible, this grudge that they've had for 350 years, this division that's been there, God says, I'm going to do a miraculous work and bring unity to that great division.

And the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be united in My hand, God says. And so He tells Ezekiel to put the sticks together and then to hold them both in His hand as one stick. They're going to be fastened together. They're going to be gripped together. So they're going to be as one. Wherever one stick goes, the other stick goes. They're glued together, fastened together. And God says, that's how these two nations are going to be in My hand.

What we see here is a picture of a reunion that in man's eyes would be impossible. A reunion that would not be thought it could be accomplished. God's going to unite them together and make them one. It would be maybe something like if we were to unite the Republican and the Democratic parties and make them just one big party.

How well do you think that would go? It would be a mess. That would have been similar to what they would have thought about uniting with the nation of Israel. Or Israel thinking about uniting with the nation of Judah. They would have thought, no way, it's just not going to happen.

But God says, "I'm going to make it happen." And Ezekiel, I want you to show them that I'm going to make this happen and demonstrate it with this stick or these two sticks that are together. And when they ask you about it, then tell them, "I'm going to bring unity in the midst of this division. I'm going to do an incredible work." In man's eyes, it seemed hopeless. They could never come together.

They could never have peace. They could never coexist and not just, you know, kind of get along, but to be one like they once were. It was hopeless, but not to God. So he says, I'm going to do this. Verse 21. Then say to them, thus says the Lord God, surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations wherever they have gone.

and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all. They shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions, but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned,

and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. So God says, I'm going to reunite them. I'm going to bring them back into the land. Wherever they've gone, however they've been scattered, whatever nations they're in throughout the world, they're going to be drawn back, brought back, and reestablished in the land that I have given to them. And that's where the nation of Israel is today. The same place that Abraham walked, where God said, I'm going to give you this land and give it to your descendants.

And that's where the nation of Israel is. That's where the Jews are being gathered. That's what's being established. It's one nation. It's not two nations anymore. And it's going to be established. It's going to be the center of Jesus' kingdom when he comes to rule and reign upon the earth for a thousand years. And so God tells Ezekiel, tell them this. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to gather them.

To their own land. Now again, that is miraculous. They did not inhabit the land for almost 2,000 years and yet they were able to come back and be reestablished as a nation.

Incredible history there. And I encourage you, if that's something that's interesting to you, to look it up and spend some time considering how Israel became a nation once again. It wasn't through the genius of man. It was through the miraculous hand of God. And they became a nation once again. It was one nation. Now again, we see this partially fulfilled right now, but the ultimate fulfillment of these things will be during that millennial kingdom where Jesus reigns. Verse 24 says,

Verse 1.

Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them. Indeed, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore."

And so God is declaring here that He is going to do a great work and the work is going to be so great that all of the nations will take note. They will recognize, wow, they really are God's people. He really is on the throne. He really is God. He's going to bring them back. He's going to unite them. They're going to be back in the land that He has given to them. They're not going to be worshipping idols anymore.

And here he says that David, his servant, will be king over them. This reference to David is an interesting one. It could be a reference to Jesus, who is a descendant of David, who will be on David's throne. He's in the line of David, and so he has the right to David's throne. He'll sit on the throne of David.

And that's a very good possibility. Another suggestion that scholars have proposed is that it really will be David. Because if you remember, this is going to take place during the millennial kingdom. We've been talking about that on Sundays, right? What happens when Jesus comes back in his second coming? Who comes with him? The saints do. Those who are caught up in the rapture. But also those Old Testament saints do.

who died in faith, who were taken from Abraham's bosom into heaven when Jesus ascended, they will come back with Jesus. And so it could be the resurrected David that is ruling in the nation of Israel. And Jesus, of course, is ruling over the earth. And David is kind of a co-regent or like a governor of the nation of Israel during that thousand-year reign of Christ. Could be interesting possibility, right?

But you can't be certain really either way. But someone's going to rule. Jesus, of course, is going to rule. Perhaps resurrected David will be there as well. There's going to be peace. He's going to multiply them. He's going to establish his sanctuary in the midst. Now again, remember the context. What's happening when Ezekiel is writing this?

When Ezekiel is speaking to the people, what's the condition of the land? It's desolate. It's barren. All of the cities are knocked down. There's no inhabitants. This does not seem like a possibility. How could it be that this barren, desolate wilderness could be once again filled with the children of Israel when there's so few left? How could it be that God's sanctuary will be there when...

Babylon just came and destroyed it. And even later when they were able to come back to the land and rebuild the temple, there was people who remembered the former temple and they wept because it was nothing compared to the former temple. How could God's sanctuary be there once again? How could that happen? They could not see it take place. They couldn't imagine. It was too ridiculous to even think about. God says that there's going to be peace.

They've just been experiencing a lifetime of war. Those who are alive in Ezekiel's day from the nation of Israel, pretty much all their life they've experienced war. They've experienced the threat of these nations coming against them. They've always been on the defense. They've always been prepared for these sieges and battles that would take place. Peace? It just seems impossible. How could it take place? How could it happen? Even if you think about today.

Peace in the Middle East. It seems impossible, doesn't it? But not for God. The most difficult things for us are so easy for God. He can do way beyond what we could ever ask or think. And He wants to do way beyond whatever we ask or think. And so once again I ask, how hopeless is your situation?

As we see this prophecy that God gives to Ezekiel to give to the people, to give them hope, and as we see even today some of these things being fulfilled, looking forward to their ultimate fulfillment, but they're already in the works, and we can take hope and we can see that God's word is true, that it's fulfilled just as He declares that it will be, then as we look at our situations and the things that we face, how hopeless we are.

are those things. How hopeless is your situation? Whatever it is that you go through, that I go through, we must remember that God can breathe life into the most hopeless situation. When it just seems like it's a valley full of dead, dry bones, God can bring life. He can renew. He can restore. He can burst forth springs in the wilderness. It says in another scripture,

He turns the deserts into pleasant places. Refreshing. What is it that you're going through? What is it that you face? How hopeless is your situation? We can look around and there's a great temptation for us to be discouraged. For us to be like the nation of Israel in that time. To look and say, man, I'm never going to experience those things that God put upon my heart and God promised. I'm never going to experience the peace and the joy. I'm never going to

Be able to provide for my family. I'm never going to be out of debt. I'm never going to get out of this situation. I'm never going to experience and enjoy life. How can I in the midst of this hopelessness? All that's going on. Or maybe you're looking at a situation between you and someone else. And you're thinking, man, it's hopeless. This division, it's too bad. It's too hard. There's been too much hurt.

There's too much history. There could never be reunion. Husband might think, you know what? I could never be reunited with my wife or vice versa. There's just been too much that's gone on. Listen, not when God is in the midst. Siblings get divided. Words are shared. There's just been too much hurt, too much bitterness. That could never be restored. Parents and children,

co-workers, you name it. We get divided in all kinds of different ways. And we could easily think that there's just no hope of that relationship ever being restored. That's what they thought in regards to the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah. God said, I'm going to reunite them. We're seeing it happen. And God can do it in your life as well. Or maybe that division isn't between you and some other person, but maybe you...

Maybe you're experiencing that division, that separation, that hopelessness that it could never be restored in your relationship with the Lord. You just feel like, I can never get back to where I once was. And you remember those days? Oh, it was glorious, man, walking with the Lord. But I mean, I love God and I want to walk with Him. But man, it's just never going to be like it used to be.

That relationship will never be that joyful, that fullness that it once was. Notice what God says. I will be their God and they shall be my people. There in verse 27. God was going to even restore that relationship that he had with them, that they once had with him.

Even though they've been rebellious, even though they've blown it, even though they've been disregarding God and continually just insisting on disobeying Him, God says, I'm going to restore our relationship. It's never too far. It's never hopeless. Whatever situation we're in, if God's in the midst, He can bring life.

He can bring reunion. He can do an incredible and awesome work. So great and so incredible that it exceeds those things that we're too afraid to imagine or to consider. Something that seems ridiculous to even hope for, God can do. Now it took place as Ezekiel spoke forth the word of God.

And so as you consider whatever situation might be facing you, whatever you might be going through, I want to encourage you, I want to challenge you this evening to speak forth the Word of God into that situation. I'm not saying name it and claim it, grab it and grab it, all that junk. You know, just wish for whatever you want and God's supposed to give it to you. No, no, no, no, no, no. Ezekiel spoke because God had spoken to him.

He prophesied what the Lord had given him to speak. So I'm not saying, you know, just wish for and God wants you to be healthy, wealthy and wise and you'll never have problems. That's not true. But even in the midst, we saw that last Wednesday, even in the midst of difficulties and problems, God can bring forth great joy and life like we've never known before. So I want to encourage you, seriously this evening,

To speak forth the Word of God. I know that sounds a little Pentecostal and some of you are getting a little uncomfortable, but you need to speak forth the Word of God into those situations. And as you look at it and stare it right in the face and you know, man, this situation looks hopeless, but God says, all things work together for good. And this situation, listen up situation, listen up relationship, listen up thing that I'm facing, you will work together for good.

Because I love God and I'm called according to His purpose. You're going to be good. You're going to accomplish good. I'm going to be thankful for you. And the bones will begin to rattle and come together. As you speak forth the Word of God, as God gives you those words to speak, as He speaks to you in His Word, hold fast, believe it, trust it, and then take those steps of faith and speak out loud to a valley of dry bones if that's what God tells you to do.

If that's the message that God gives you, because it's not hopeless. As you bring forth the Word of God into the situation, things begin to happen. His Word does not return void. But Ezekiel participated. He had to speak forth in faith and in obedience. James tells us that sometimes we don't have because we don't ask.

And sometimes we don't have because we ask, but we're asking amiss. We're asking with wrong motives because we're just seeking to pleasure ourselves. We need to ask. We need to speak forth the Word of God to accomplish His purposes for His glory. It's God who does the work. Ezekiel didn't run and put all the bones together. God did the work. He just did His part, which was to speak forth the Word of God, to ask.

Again, it's not that we get everything that we want, but we do get everything God wants when we ask and when we speak forth those things that he's put upon our heart. You know, he's looking at this valley of dry bones and God says, hey, can they live? And Ezekiel says, you know, Lord, we look at situations. There's situations right now in the body. Man, people could really use a healing. Others could really use a job.

Others could really use a touch from the Lord. Others could really use some place to live. Others could really use... There's lots of seemingly hopeless situations that we face. Now, we know God could do whatever He wants. We know He has the cattle on a thousand hills. We know He is able. It's not that His arms are short to save. It's just, Lord, what is Your will? So as we look at these situations, it's wise to be like Ezekiel.

Say, well, you know, Lord, what do you want to do? I don't have the authority to just, you know, say God's going to do this and accomplish whatever, you know, I just, I feel like that I want to happen. But I can look to God and say, Lord, you know, what do you want to do here? As God speaks to me, as God shows me His Word, I need to speak forth the Word of God into that situation. And then just watch Him work. Watch Him do the miraculous. I've seen it. You've seen it. But so many times we forget.

And so we get hopeless and discouraged and down. Ezekiel spoke forth the word of God and it brought the breath of God. And I want a fresh move of God's Holy Spirit, the breath of God to come upon us. I want to see him work. And so I'm looking at God like Ezekiel and saying, Lord, you know, look at this situation. You know what's going on. Lord, what do you want to do?

The ladies are going to come up and lead us in a song and as they do, let's take this time to look to the Lord and say, you know, Lord, take Him, take to Him your hopeless situations. Talk it out with Him. Share with Him. Look, this is like a valley of dry bones. It just doesn't seem possible that our relationship could be restored, that we could be reunited. It doesn't seem possible that this thing could be resolved. But Lord, you know, what do you want to do?

Let's ask God to speak to our hearts about those hopeless and difficult things, trusting Him that He can do great things and that He's promised to do great and mighty things beyond all that we could ask or think. And so let's just take this time to present those situations in our hearts to the Lord as we worship Him together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.