07-26-09
Sorry, you must have Windows Media Player 9 or higher. This is a large file which may take a few seconds to start Windows Media Real Audio MP3 Click here, or scroll down to view today's diagram THE VALLEY OF DRY BONES (Ezek 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, 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 [water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit]. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath [Heb: wind: spirit] to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews [Heb: tendons] 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. (Ezek 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. 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. 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. 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. 1. Commentary: This army is portrayed in action in Joel 2:1-11. 2. Commentary: Picture the horizontal Tabernacle of Moses, which is the body of Christ standing up vertical. (see diagram) (Ezek 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. 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. 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, 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. THE BODY (ARMY) OF CHRIST STANDING UP (1 Th 4:13-18) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren [saved, born-again children of God], concerning them which are asleep [Gk: dead], that ye sorrow not, even as others [who are not saved] which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep [Gk: are dead] in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the [second] coming of the Lord shall not prevent [Gk: precede (go before)] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ [the Moses company] shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain [the Elijah company] shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. THE SIXTH SEAL DEALS WITH ALL THE HEATHENS, CONCURRENTLY The sixth seal opens concurrently with all the latter verses above which deal with all the saints. The sixth seal corresponds to the sixth feast of God, The Day of Atonement, and deals with all the heathens (unsaved). (Rev 6:12-17) And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal [immediately after the conclusion of the 5th seal of Great tribulation: Rev 6:9-11 through Rev 7:9-17, and the 5th feast of God, The Feast of Trumpets], and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth [symbol of mourning and repentance] of [goat’s] hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb [to come, i.e., the 7th seal]: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand [answer: none except the Army of God]? THE FIRST RESURRECTION (Rev 20:4-6) And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they [the saints] lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead [the unsaved heathens] lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 1. Commentary: The “first resurrection” (Rev 20:4-6) is portrayed by the valley of dry bones standing up (Ezek 37:1-14), and by the “rapture” verses (1 Th 4:13-18). All three passages focus upon the saints and are different descriptions of the same composite event. The “sixth seal” (Rev 6:12-17) focuses upon the unsaved during the same time period that the other three passages focus upon the saved. Thus, all humanity is dealt with on The Day of Atonement. “Afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD… afflict your souls.” (Lev 23:27 & 32). a. afflict = Heb: [through the idea of looking down or browbeating]; to depress:--abase self, afflict (-ion, self), chasten self, deal hardly with, humble self, submit self, weaken, X in any wise. Amen Previous Chapter Table Of Contents Next Chapter Click here to download a printable version of this message Click here to download a DOC version of this message
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(Ezek 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, 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 [water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit]. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath [Heb: wind: spirit] to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews [Heb: tendons] 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.
(Ezek 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. 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. 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. 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.
1. Commentary: This army is portrayed in action in Joel 2:1-11.
2. Commentary: Picture the horizontal Tabernacle of Moses, which is the body of Christ standing up vertical. (see diagram)
(Ezek 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. 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. 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, 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.
(1 Th 4:13-18) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren [saved, born-again children of God], concerning them which are asleep [Gk: dead], that ye sorrow not, even as others [who are not saved] which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep [Gk: are dead] in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the [second] coming of the Lord shall not prevent [Gk: precede (go before)] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ [the Moses company] shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain [the Elijah company] shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
The sixth seal opens concurrently with all the latter verses above which deal with all the saints. The sixth seal corresponds to the sixth feast of God, The Day of Atonement, and deals with all the heathens (unsaved).
(Rev 6:12-17) And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal [immediately after the conclusion of the 5th seal of Great tribulation: Rev 6:9-11 through Rev 7:9-17, and the 5th feast of God, The Feast of Trumpets], and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth [symbol of mourning and repentance] of [goat’s] hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb [to come, i.e., the 7th seal]: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand [answer: none except the Army of God]?
(Rev 20:4-6) And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they [the saints] lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead [the unsaved heathens] lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
1. Commentary: The “first resurrection” (Rev 20:4-6) is portrayed by the valley of dry bones standing up (Ezek 37:1-14), and by the “rapture” verses (1 Th 4:13-18). All three passages focus upon the saints and are different descriptions of the same composite event. The “sixth seal” (Rev 6:12-17) focuses upon the unsaved during the same time period that the other three passages focus upon the saved. Thus, all humanity is dealt with on The Day of Atonement. “Afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD… afflict your souls.” (Lev 23:27 & 32).
a. afflict = Heb: [through the idea of looking down or browbeating]; to depress:--abase self, afflict (-ion, self), chasten self, deal hardly with, humble self, submit self, weaken, X in any wise.
Amen
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