King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Wednesday, September 08, 2021
Chapters: Ezekiel 37-39
Message: One Stick
Hello My Friend,
I have been in my new house for a little over a week now, and let me tell you, moving in was the easy part, the hard part is putting everything together. And let us just say, if the house had previous owners, we also have to clean up what they left behind. Now, I have to say, that moving into a house that was previously occupied by someone else must be the way Jesus feels the second we receive Him as our Saviour, a big mess of flesh that He cleans one piece by piece. Yes, Jesus cleanses our soul forever the second we receive Him, but as for the rest of our body, well, He has a lot of work to do, which is why we are saved by grace and not our works. I do not know about you, but I cannot wait for the day that Jesus gives me my new glorified body.
[Revelation 21:3-4,7-8 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.]
One of my favorite passages from the Bible is the valley of dry bones, as we continue in our reading of Ezekiel, God leads Ezekiel by the hand and in His Spirit to a valley, a grave actually, full of dry bones, and he is commanded to speak to the bones. And if there is any picture in our heads regarding the resurrection and what will take place when Jesus returns, this should.
[Ezekiel 37:1-6 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.]
[O Lord GOD, thou knowest.] The first key to our faith is believing in the resurrection. We can believe all we want that Jesus died on the cross, but if we do not believe that He resurrected, or even that we too would be resurrected, then we would not be saved. In order for Jesus to save us, we must believe in the entire Gospel, [Romans 10:9-10]. Now, Ezekiel begins to speak to the bones, and the most witnessed the most incredible sight, and keep in mind that this is Jesus that God is speaking to at this point.
[Ezekiel 37:7-10 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.]
[and the bones came together,] These bones were not just in the form of skeletons laying on the ground, they were literally scattered all over the place. The second Jesus spoke to them, not only did the bones find their place, they were given new joints and flesh. [but there was no breath in them.] This is our state before we receive Christ as our Saviour, just a shell of a body with no live to our soul, but the second we receive Him, God’s Spirit enters our soul and gives it everlasting life, [Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.]
Now, I just need to complete the passage because it so incredible and brings me to tears every time I read it. God tells us what this great army is, [Ezekiel 37:11-14 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.]
[these bones are the whole house of Israel:] Remember, God is not referring to just believing Jews here, these are believers of every nation coming together as one nation. God will save a soul of the most vilest as long as they believe that Christ is the one who saves them, but He will not save one soul that rejects His Son, [Matthew 10:32-34 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.]
There is an honest to God, good reason why Jesus sends a sword before He sends peace. He does this to separate those who confess Christ from those who deny Christ, and sadly, that happens also within our very own family. You see, while we may all be a creation of God, we are not all from the family of God, He only accepts those into His family that not only believe in Him, but receive Him. There will come a day when God will gather all His children, what we call that the midnight cry [Matthew 25:6], and He will also restore Israel as a whole. Through an illustration of a stick, God reveals when Israel will be divided no more.
[Ezekiel 37:16-19 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. 18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? 19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.]
[and they shall be one in mine hand.] Every soul that receives Christ is in the hand of Christ, He takes a hold of them with His mighty hand, and nothing and no one can pluck them from His hand. We become one nation under God, and will no longer be labeled as a Jew or Gentile, but rather, a people of God. This is the everlasting covenant that God Himself makes with every person who comes to Him through His Son.
[Ezekiel 37:22,26-28 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.]
[and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.] Of course, we know that this is Jesus Christ Himself, and he will be King over all His people. It is with very good reason that we ought to look to Jesus, and proclaim Him as our King, He gave His life for us, and since He is God in the flesh, only He has the power to give and take life. All these people trying to stop the planet from being destroyed by controlling the population, killing off cows, or shooting chemicals up at the sun in hopes that it will cool down, have zero faith in God, and will have a huge awakening. Gog and Magog, these two places are only mentioned in God’s Word twice, and if you are a regular reader, then you would know that they have something to do with the return of Christ and Armageddon. Through Ezekiel, God first foretells of Gog, who knew the warnings, but were not prepared.
[Ezekiel 38:2,14,17-18,23 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? 17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? 18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. 23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.]
[Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time] When Christ returns He is not going to be the meek and mild man that He was the first time, He is coming back with a vengeance and all will know that He is the powerful and Almighty God. Many see a reference to the northern European powers headed by Russia in the last days to wage a great war, and this is why. Mesheck (Moscow) and Tubal (Zobolsk) is thought to be clearly identified where the future battle of Armageddon will take place. Judgment Day is not something new, it actually became a part of God’s plan the second the curse of sin was places upon all the world, and not just man. We do not know when Christ will return, but we can be prepared, and it would be wise that His people be ready for that day. Through Ezekiel, God foretells what will happen to Magog, and when all will know who Christ is.
[Ezekiel 39:22-25,28-29 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward. 23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them. 25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; 28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. 29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.]
[Neither will I hide my face any more from them:] Christ had one purpose by coming to earth the first time, and that was to put an end to the death and hell curse that was placed upon all mankind for sin. When He died a sinless death on the cross, He died for all mankind, past, present, and future, the curse would be removed for anyone who believes in and accepts Him. Every knee will bow and every tongue will acknowledge Christ as LORD, but sadly, many will realize it when it is too late, [Acts 4:10-12 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Ezekiel 37:5-6 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 37:24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for taking my place on the cross, and for giving me victory over death when You resurrected three days later. It is because of Your resurrection that we have hope of our own, when our bodies will be clothed our new glorified bodies. Praise God! We will no longer be acquainted with sickness, sorrow, pain, or sin, and the temptation to sin will not even exist and neither will our adversary, the devil. What anticipation this builds when we see You face to face in our glorified bodies. Lord, Keep us faithful and looking unto You until the day of Your return, let us walk with You daily and be transformed into Your image as we allow You to cleanse us piece by piece. I ask this in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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