I Will Be Their God
By Rev. Mario Gonzalez
I. Scripture: Ezekiel 37:22-23
“22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. ”
II. Prayer
III. Introduction
Most people in speaking on Ezekiel chapter 37 would inevitable concentrate their efforts on breaking down verses 1 through 10 and would disregard the importance of the balance of he chapter. This particular portion of scripture speaks to a fantastic manifestation of the power of God through a vision that he gave his servant the prophet Ezekiel. The visualization of this vision rivals anything Hollywood could possibly produce in terms of special effects.
The vision ominously presented a dry valley full of bones. In verse 2, God conveys, through the vision, two critically important components of the revelation that he was trying to make clear to his prophet Ezekiel. A concept that translates to us today:
1. Firstly, he wanted to communicate the concept of “mass” by saying, “there were very many in the open valley.” The over-abundance of bones spoke to there having been the presence of a multitude of people.
2. Secondly, he wanted to emphasize the extent of their spiritual decay; of the apparent hopelessness of their spiritual condition by saying, “…and, lo, they were very dry.”
In the church today we see a manifestation of these prophetic conditions. As we have set off in abandon from the land, the foundation if you will, on which we lived as true followers of Christ, we have gone further and further into an ocean of confusion and compromise.
We have, because of our own haste in trying to achieve personal satisfaction outside of Christ, journeyed into a vast sea of lifelessness. As we have drifted farther and farther offshore, or away from Christ as a nation, we have found ourselves ironically surrounded by water, but nonetheless unable to drink in order to quench our piercing, life threatening thirst. So much of what surrounds us “appears” to be the solution to our need. Temptations abound, more so now than at any time of human history. And yet every single drop of these contaminated waters, if consumed, would be toxic to our system, and ultimately incapable of quenching our desperate thirst.
I believe that we have reached a point of no return my friend. Out of the perceived hopelessness of our condition promoted by the Devil, the church in particular and America as a whole has begun to drink from these forbidden convenient waters that surround us only to find that doing so has only served to promote spiritual dementia. False doctrine has now become the rule instead of the exception, and we stand in danger of loosing ourselves, and most certainly our very souls.
We have become a spiritual wasteland. And so this message to Ezekiel could not be more fitting to us here today.
IV. Body of Sermon
A. The Question
Ezekiel 37:3
“3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live?”
Was it a request for information? Did God not know if they could or couldn’t? Ezekiel’s response showed the prophet’s intimacy with God, “And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.”
Irrespective of the apparent hopelessness, Ezekiel knew that God could change it all. And so God now asks you, “Do you feel the same conviction today? Can God still change your condition? Can the death and dryness in your life be reversed? Is God still your God?”
B. The Action
Ezekiel 37:4
“4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD…”
Principle: God will have us believe the impossible and then do the ridiculous in order to glorify himself in our lives.
I want you to notice that God never answered the question. He never revealed with certainty to Ezekiel that the miracle was even possible.
AND THAT’S THE PONT. It didn’t matter.
Though it might have seemed impossible to man - impossible to you and me, it and every other impossible circumstance or condition in your life is NEVER impossible for God.
My friend, with God, as proclaimed in Matt. 19:26, and Mark 14:36, ALL things are possible. The question is, will you believe the impossible and are you willing to do the seemingly ridiculous in order to receive our miracle from God?
What did God do as a result of Ezekiel’s obedience? Well, all kinds of weird stuff, you can read all about it in Ezekiel 37:7. The earth shook, bones came together, tendons, muscles and blood appeared, and skin covered it all revealing a multitude of dead bodies. Verse 8 puts it this way,
Ezekiel 37:8
“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.”
Interestingly, God had taken care of the mechanics, but life was still absent.
Perhaps the mechanics of your situation appears to have been addressed. Maybe you have already prayed, and maybe you have seen a manifest change in your situation and/or circumstance, but something is still missing.
This is where Jesus comes into the picture. Jesus himself said,
“John 10.10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
The enemy has come to steal what belongs to us. To kill the joy out of our lives so that we’re just lifeless bodies, simply existing from day to day. And to destroy the work that God has begun in us. God’s desire is not only that we live, but that we live our lives to the fullest.
He does this so that we can fully enjoy our lives.
And so there is one more prophetic task left to Ezekiel,
Ezekiel 37:9-10
“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.”
The Bible says in Genesis 2:7
Genesis 2:7
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
It wasn’t until God breathed into this lifeless body that man became a “living being.”
Many of us need the breath of God in our lives. We need his reviving Spirit to lift us up out of our spiritual death, our state of separation from God. God can fix the mechanics of your situation, but unless he breathes into you, you will remain lifeless.
C. The Analogy
Ezekiel 37:11
“11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.”
He starts off by explaining that the multitude of bones shown in the vision represented “the whole house of Israel.”
• Talk about the fact that it is just not “some of them.” The weight of the burden falls on all of us. We should weep when we see our brethren led astray by false doctrine. When they are confused by false teachers and led astray. As the Spirit of the Lord reminded us last week, we are our brother’s keeper.
He continues by saying,
Ezekiel 37:11b
“They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’”
What is critical here is to note whose negative confession this is. Others aren’t saying this of Israel. Israel is saying this of themselves!
• Talk about how we know where we are spiritually.
Notwithstanding the truth behind their spiritual condition, “our bones are dried up,” the conclusions drawn, “…and our hope is gone; we are cut off,” are a lie from the pit of hell. The Devil has been, is, and will remain the your accuser. Revelation 12:10 puts it this way,
Revelation 12:10
“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”
If you’re sitting here today saying to yourself “I’m hopeless and cut off from the promises of God,” Jesus has a different story for you today!
Listen to what God told them. It’s the very same thing he is telling you and me today,
Ezekiel 37:12
12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people,
Ooooo My people!!! Let me tell you this morning, it doesn’t matter how far you’ve strayed. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter how dead is dead.
You can be dead, you can be dried up, you may have degenerated into a lump of dry bones in the middle of your spiritual desert, but I’m here to tell you that you are still a child of God, that he is still your father and that he has the power to lift you up out of that barren wasteland. He will breathe his Spirit into your body and once again make you a living being.
This is what the Lord says,
Ezekiel 37:12b
I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. [Notice how he repeats this] 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD!!!’”
When thinking about the valley of dry bones, we concentrate on the theatrical and spectacular nature of the vision, but forget the miraculous work that it represented in real life. Israel was not just dead spiritually, they were a pile of bones.
• Talk about how many might today might have come feeling dry and dead inside.
God is here to give you life, for he is a God of the living. He will pick you up and draw you out. This is the promise that he gave to Ezekiel, a promise that he has asked me to repeat to your this morning,
Ezekiel 37:21-22
“21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen [separation from the things of this word], whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land [a place, ministry, office that God has given you]: 22 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.”
This is just not God’s promise to unite the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel; it is a promise to the church of the last day. It is a promise to you and to me. He says later in verse 25, “and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.” He’s not speaking about a physical Israel here folks. He is speaking of a spiritual Israel. One whose King has an everlasting kingdom.
Ezekiel 37:23
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
He is not just the God of national Israel. He is the God of all whose faith is on the Lord. The apostle Paul put it this way,
Romans 2.29
“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. ”
Will you let him not only be your savior, but be your God?
