Tag: Ezekiel 37

The FIRE of GRACE: How God RESUSCITATES Dead SOULS

The enemy’s camp is ablaze with a lie: that man, in his own strength, can climb to God. This falsehood has chained countless souls, convincing them they can save themselves. But the Word of God thunders a different truth—a truth that shatters pride, revives the dead, and sets captives free. Like Samson tying firebrands to foxes to burn the Philistines’ fields (Judges 15:4-5), we must send the fire of divine revelation to torch the enemy’s deceptions. The scriptures declare: salvation is God’s work, from first breath to final glory, and only the humble receive His grace.

Dead Bones and the Breath of God

Picture a valley of dry bones—bleached, scattered, lifeless. This is humanity apart from God. Ezekiel 37:1-14 paints a vivid portrait of our spiritual state: “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). These bones can’t stitch themselves together, nor can they choose to live. When God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” the prophet doesn’t point to human effort. He replies, “O Lord God, thou knowest” (Ezekiel 37:3). Only God can act, and act He does. He commands Ezekiel to prophesy, and the Spirit—the “ruach”—breathes life into the lifeless (Ezekiel 37:9-10). The bones rattle, flesh forms, and an army rises—not by their own power, but by the breath of God.

This is the starting point of salvation. We are not merely sick or struggling; we are spiritually dead, incapable of responding to God without divine resuscitation. The lie of self-salvation crumbles here. No amount of good deeds, religious rituals, or willpower can spark life in a dead soul. As Ephesians 2:5 declares, “Even when we were dead in sins, [God] hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).” Salvation begins with God’s initiative, not ours.

The Son of Man Seeks the Lost

Enter Jesus, the Shepherd of souls, who declares His mission: “For the Son of man is come TO SEEK and TO SAVE that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Like a heat-seeking missile, Christ locks onto the lost—those spiritually adrift, weary, and yearning for life. But who are the “lost”? They are not the self-sufficient or the proud, who think they need no savior. They are the “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3), those who sense their emptiness and cry for life. Jesus doesn’t wait for them to find Him; He seeks them, as a shepherd pursues a stray sheep (Luke 15:4-7).

Yet this seeking is not universal in its outcome. Not all respond, for not all are drawn. Jesus Himself reveals the divine prerequisite: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44). The Father, through the Holy Spirit, initiates the pull, stirring the dead heart to life. This drawing is the breath of Ezekiel’s vision, the grace that enables a response. The lie of human autonomy burns here: we don’t choose God until He first chooses to awaken us. As Romans 2:4 proclaims, “The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” Salvation is God’s pursuit, not man’s achievement.

Salvation to the Uttermost

For those who are drawn, the promise is staggering: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost THAT COME unto God BY HIM, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus’ salvation is complete, eternal, and unshakable. The phrase “to the uttermost” is a divine shout—there is no limit to His saving power for those who come. But notice the condition: “that COME unto God BY him.” This coming is not a work we muster; it’s a response enabled by grace. As in the Genesis dawn, when God said, “Let there be light,” and the Word shaped creation while the Spirit hovered over the formless deep, so too in redemption: the Father draws, the Spirit breathes, and the soul, now alive, runs to Christ. Just as God commanded light to shine out of darkness, He now makes His light shine in our hearts to reveal the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6), awakening us as a new creation in His boundless grace.

Who comes? The humble, the broken, those who know they’re spiritually bankrupt. Jesus said, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance – Matthew 9:12,13. Jesus uses the metaphor of a physician to explain His mission. The “whole” refers to those who consider themselves righteous, self-sufficient, or spiritually healthy, feel morally upright and does not need repentance. The “sick” represents sinners—those who recognize their spiritual brokenness, moral failings, or need for forgiveness, such as those marginalized by society.

Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, saying, “I will have MERCY, and not sacrifice,” emphasizing that God desires compassion and a heart oriented toward repentance. His mission is to call “sinners to repentance,” inviting those who acknowledge their need for grace to follow Him, rather than those who feel they are already whole. The people which sat in darkness SAW great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Matthew 4:16). The people which sat in darkness saw great light,” comes from Matthew 4:16 in the New Testament, quoting Isaiah 9:2 from the Old Testament, which represents spiritual ignorance, spiritual lostness, sin, despair, and separation from God.

Grace and truth CAME through Jesus Christ (John 1:17), and the grace of God that brings salvation HATH appeared to all men (Titus 2:11), leaving none with excuse. Jesus, the embodiment of grace, stands at the door and knocks on every heart (Revelation 3:20). Yet not all respond, nor can all receive, for “this is the condemnation, that light IS COME into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Those who do evil hate the light and shrink from it, lest their deeds be exposed (John 3:20), but he that doeth truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, wrought in God (John 3:21). This movement toward the light cannot occur without the work of grace in a heart, for no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). The soul’s motion toward God is sparked by the Spirit’s divine work, as no one can come to Christ unless drawn by the Father’s grace (John 6:44). Without this grace, the natural inclination is to remain in sin, loving darkness (John 3:19). To “do truth” is to live in alignment with God’s will, embracing honesty, righteousness, and faith—not merely intellectual assent but a lifestyle of sincerity and obedience to the truth revealed in Christ. But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. – Romans 6:17. This reflects a heart already touched by grace, for only those regenerated by the Spirit can genuinely seek truth, responding to God’s initiative rather than relying on self-generated effort. Coming to the light means accepting Jesus, confessing sin, and submitting to His truth in an act of faith and humility, acknowledging the need for salvation. Just as the people who “sat in darkness” were passive until the great light dawned (Isaiah 9:2, Matthew 4:16), so too in John 3:21, grace moves a person from spiritual passivity to actively seeking the light, fulfilling God’s redemptive promise. This underscores the synergy of divine grace and human responsibility: God’s grace initiates, but individuals must respond through faith and obedience. Coming to the light is transformative—it exposes sin yet empowers righteous living through the Spirit, shifting one from hiding in darkness to standing openly before God.

God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). The proud, with no room for God in their thoughts (Psalm 10:4), build towers of self-reliance, unaware of their spiritual deadness. Yet the humble, awakened BY grace to their spiritual poverty (Matthew 5:3) and lack of strength (Romans 5:6), recognize their need and cling to the Savior. Jesus exalts them, for “he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). Some hearts, like stony ground or thorn-choked soil, cannot receive the seed of grace, while the good ground of the humble heart yields fruit (Matthew 13:3-23).

This redemption mirrors the Genesis dawn, when God said, “Let there be light,” the Word shaped creation, and the Spirit hovered over the formless deep (Genesis 1:2-3). Likewise, in salvation, the Father’s grace pierces the darkness of the humble heart, where the Spirit moves as over the deep; the Word incarnate brings redemption, and the Spirit breathes life, awakening the soul to embrace Christ.

Burning the Falsehood

The enemy’s lie—that we can save ourselves—crumbles under the weight of these truths. Consider the implications:

– “Dead souls can’t save themselves.” Like dry bones, we need the Spirit’s breath to live (Ezekiel 37:9; Ephesians 2:1-5).

– “God initiates salvation.” Jesus seeks the lost, and the Father draws them (Luke 19:10; John 6:44).

– “Grace enables response.” We repent and come because God’s goodness leads us (Romans 2:4; Titus 3:5).

– “Humility receives grace.” The proud are rejected, but the humble are saved to the uttermost (James 4:6; Hebrews 7:25).

This is no scattershot salvation. God’s grace is precise, like a laser targeting the weary, the lost, and the poor in spirit. Not all are drawn, and not all respond, but those who do are saved completely. The lie of self-salvation fuels pride, but the truth of grace humbles us before a sovereign God.

A Call to the Humble

If your heart stirs as you read this, it may be the Spirit’s breath, drawing you to the Savior. Don’t trust in your own strength—it’s a lie that leads to death. Instead, humble yourself before God. Cry out as the tax collector did: “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Jesus seeks you, the Father draws you, and the Spirit empowers you to come. And when you come, Christ saves you to the uttermost. Jesus said, All that the Father giveth me SHALL COME to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out – John 6:37.

For believers, this truth is a firebrand to carry. The world is choking on the falsehood of self-reliance. Like Samson, tie these truths together—God’s initiative, grace’s power, and salvation’s completeness—and send them into the enemy’s camp. Proclaim that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Let the proud stumble, but let the humble rise, revived by the breath of God.

Conclusion

The valley of dry bones lives because God breathes. The lost are saved because Jesus seeks. The humble are exalted because grace draws. This is the gospel that burns away falsehood and opens blind eyes. Salvation is not man’s work but God’s glory. So come, you weary and poor in spirit. Come to God by Christ, and be saved to the uttermost. And for those who know this truth, let’s set the enemy’s lies ablaze with the fire of grace.

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The SEEDS of Dry Bones: Israel’s SCATTERING to God’s Army

Introduction: The Vision Unveiled

What if the dry bones rattling in Ezekiel’s vision weren’t a dusty relic of prophecy, but God’s breathtaking blueprint for the salvation of the world? Picture a field—barren, lifeless—where a farmer scatters seeds not in despair, but with unshakable purpose. Those seeds are Israel, chosen to fall into the earth, to die, and to rise through Christ as an army of light spanning the globe. This isn’t conjecture; it’s a truth woven through scripture and history, hidden in plain sight, shaking awake anyone who dares to see.

Through four steps—scattered, reassembled, revived, and raised as an army—God unfolds His plan: Israel’s exile sows the seeds, Christ’s cross binds them into one, the Spirit breathes life, and the elect stand as a host for eternity. This revelation hit me like a thunderbolt, tying the lost sheep of Israel to the body of Christ, from Assyria’s conquest to the end of days. It’s not just a story—it’s a seismic truth, demanding we reexamine God’s Word and our place in His field.

I. Scattered: The Seeds of Israel (Step 1)

Ezekiel stood in a valley of dry bones and heard God’s voice: “These bones are the whole house of Israel” (Ezekiel 37:11). Scattered, they cried, “Our hope is lost.” But was it? Scripture shouts no. The northern tribes—ten lost sheep—were carried off by Assyria in 721 BCE, their kings and dynasties devoured by history (Jeremiah 50:6). Not a corner of the earth escaped their dispersion (Deuteronomy 28:63-64), their seed sown among the nations (James 1:1). Judah followed, exiled to Babylon from 606 to 586 BCE, yet returned after 70 years in 539 BCE to fulfill God’s word (Jeremiah 29:10-14). Historians call them “lost,” their bloodlines blurred by centuries. God calls them seeds.

“I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man,” declares Jeremiah 31:27—a promise echoed in Hosea 2:23: “I will sow her unto me in the earth.” Psalm 119:176 mourns, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep,” yet Jesus seeks them: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). Why scatter them? Isaiah 49:6 reveals it: “I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” Amos 9:9 adds, “I will sift the house of Israel among all nations,” and Zechariah 10:9 confirms, “I will sow them among the people.” This wasn’t failure—it was divine planting. Like a corn of wheat falling to die (John 12:24), they were buried to bear fruit, sown into every nation to till the soil for God’s kingdom. What looked like loss was the genesis of life.

West Asia:

Mizrahi Jews

Babylonian Jews (Iraqi Jews)

Kurdish Jews

Persian Jews

Yemenite Jews Palestinian Jews Lebanese Jews

Omani Jews Syrian Jews

Subbotniks (Jews from Azerbaijan and Armenia)

Sub-Saharan Africa:

Beta Israel or Falashim (Ethiopian Jews)

Descendants of the Jews of the Bilad el-Sudan (West Africa)

Lemba people in Malawi

South, East, and Central Asia:

Malabar Yehuddim/Cochin Jews (Indian Jews)

Bene Israel (Jews of Mumbai, India)

Bukharan Jews (Jews from Central Asia)

Baghdadi Jews (Jews from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Arab countries)

Bnei Menashe Jews in Manipur and Mizoram in northeastern India) Bene Ephraim (Telugu-speaking Jews of Kottareddipalem in Andhra Pradesh, India)

Chinese Jews (Kaifeng Jews in China)

Pakistani Jews

Afghan Jews

Tamil Thattar Jews in Sri Lanka

Americas:

Sephardic Bnei Anusim

Amazonian Jews

Iquitos Jews

B'nai Moshe (Inca Jews)

Veracruz Jews

Israel:

Ashkenazi Jews Mizrahi Jews
II. Reassembled: One Fold in Christ (Step 2)

Dry bones don’t stay scattered. Ezekiel saw them knit together—bone to bone, sinews and flesh clothing them—yet lifeless (Ezekiel 37:7-8). So it was with Israel’s seed, dead in spirit until the Seed of David arrived. “Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3), He emerged from Judah’s soil, trained by centuries as a priestly nation (Exodus 19:6) to offer the Lamb. Passover sacrifices (Exodus 12) and the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) pointed to Him, the One who “taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), propitiating all (1 John 2:2).

Jesus declared, “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Who are these sheep? The scattered seeds of Israel, mingled with Gentiles, now “reconciled in one body by the cross” (Ephesians 2:16). Galatians 3:28 proclaims, “There is neither Jew nor Greek… for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” The cross stitched flesh to bone, uniting the lost with the found. Israel’s rejection wasn’t a misstep—it was required: “Through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles” (Romans 11:11), fulfilling Isaiah 53:3’s despised servant. Christ fell—“except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone” (John 12:24)—and the seeds became one.

This staggers the soul. The dragon of Revelation 12 raged against the woman who birthed the child, his wrath—“the dragon was wroth with the woman” (Revelation 12:17)—fueling anti-Semitism’s bitter persistence. No wonder the world hates Israel; she bore the Seed Satan sought to devour. Yet God’s plan held firm, hiding His treasured ones in the world’s field (Matthew 13:38; Psalm 83:3), awaiting the breath of life.

III. Revived: Life from the Grave (Step 3)

Then came the wind. “Prophesy unto the wind,” God told Ezekiel, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live” (Ezekiel 37:9). The bones stood, alive at last. So it was with Israel’s seeds. Scattered and reassembled, they needed the Spirit’s breath, which roared at Pentecost, igniting the Gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, tracing the paths where Israel’s seeds had fallen—Asia Minor, Rome, beyond.

Isaiah 42:7 promised, “To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness.” Luke 1:79 echoes, “To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.” The Gospel took root in seed-sown zones, where the lost sheep wandered (Matthew 15:24), sprouting as “the children of the kingdom” (Matthew 13:38). This wasn’t mere revival—it was resurrection. Once bound in affliction and iron (Psalm 107:10), they rose as the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), witnesses to His plan (Isaiah 43:10). The Spirit plowed hearts with God’s Word, fulfilling Isaiah 40:5: “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

Here the Church emerged, a temple of God (1 Peter 2:5), sown from Christ’s seed to defy the darkness. Satan struck from Pergamos’ throne (Revelation 2:13), where “the seven churches” stood at his root (Revelation 2-3), but the Gospel prevailed, scattering light where Israel’s seeds had prepared the ground. The world awoke because Israel fell.

IV. Army: The Exceeding Great Host (Step 4)

“And they stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army” (Ezekiel 37:10). From scattered seeds to a unified host, Israel’s journey ends in triumph. Song of Songs 6:4 sings, “Thou art… terrible as an army with banners,” a glimpse of Ecclesia—the called-out ones (1 Peter 2:9). This army wields not swords but light, fulfilling Isaiah 49:8: “I will preserve thee… to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.”

In tribulation’s furnace, they shine. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3) prefigure the sealed elect (Revelation 7:3-4), unbowed by fire. Here stand the 144,000, “sealed from all the tribes of the children of Israel” (Revelation 7:4-8), redeemed to follow the Lamb on Mount Zion (Revelation 14:1-4). Not just the Church, but Israel’s remnant—12,000 from each tribe—preserved as God’s eschatological promise, fulfilling Romans 11:26: “All Israel shall be saved.” Revelation 18:4 cries, “Come out of her, my people,” and they do, escaping Babylon’s plagues (Luke 21:36), a residue of grace (Romans 9:25-26).

Satan struck from Pergamos (Revelation 2:13), but this host turned a world once hellish—rife with war—into one plowing peace (Isaiah 2:4: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares”). The earth fills with God’s knowledge (Isaiah 11:9), a contrast like heaven to hell, birthed from Israel’s fall with Christ (John 12:24). “To the Jew first” (Romans 1:16) wasn’t exclusion—it was the spark that lit the nations. From dry bones to an exceeding great army, Israel’s scattering became our salvation, a truth vast enough to shake eternity.

Conclusion: Seeds of Today

This vision—seeds scattered, reassembled, revived, and raised—shook me awake. It’s not just Israel’s story; it’s ours. Ezekiel’s dry bones are God’s kingdom seeds, and we stand in their harvest. The lost sheep weren’t forsaken—they were sown. The cross didn’t divide—it united. The elect don’t cower—they conquer. See Israel anew—not abandoned, but foundational; as seeds, falling to bear fruit in a darkening age (John 12:24). God’s plan marches from Assyria to eternity, and we’re in it—an exceeding great army, born of dry bones, alive in Christ. This is the revelation that pierces the soul: God so loved the world, He scattered His people to save it. While many await Romans 11:15’s fulfillment in a distant millennial age, Paul unveils a mystery already unfolding: “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” This is the work of regeneration. The Spirit breathes into these bones even now, regenerating the world through Israel’s scattered seeds.

For the covenant belongs to Israel, “to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came” (Romans 9:4-5), anchoring God’s eternal purpose in their enduring call.