WEBVTT 00:00:00.330 --> 00:00:06.950 From the 24th chapter of Matthew. Verily I say 00:00:06.950 --> 00:00:11.369 unto you, this is Jesus speaking, this generation 00:00:11.369 --> 00:00:16.570 shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. 00:00:17.329 --> 00:00:22.230 Now watch something very carefully. Heaven and 00:00:22.230 --> 00:00:28.750 earth shall pass away, but my words shall not. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:34.140 pass away. You have heard me say it over and 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:40.659 over again. God's Word needs no defense. The 00:00:40.659 --> 00:00:44.600 Bible needs no defense. God needs no defense. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:49.840 Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the true Messiah, 00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:53.960 needs no defense. The Holy Spirit needs no defense. 00:00:56.840 --> 00:01:03.380 The Word of God speaks for itself. And the greatest 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:07.159 proof for the authenticity of the Word of God 00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:12.060 is prophecy. Always know that. Never forget it. 00:01:12.620 --> 00:01:16.680 And I repeat it. The greatest proof that you 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:24.219 and I have for the authenticity of the Holy Bible 00:01:24.890 --> 00:01:31.250 of God's Word is Bible prophecy. God cannot lie. 00:01:31.689 --> 00:01:35.269 The one who has kept His Word in the past will 00:01:35.269 --> 00:01:42.849 keep His Word today. The Bible is not just a 00:01:42.849 --> 00:01:46.650 treatise on theology or morals or history or 00:01:46.650 --> 00:01:51.010 science or any other topic. It is a revelation 00:01:51.010 --> 00:01:53.629 of God, of the fallen man, the way of salvation. 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:59.379 and of God's plan and purpose in the ages. You 00:01:59.379 --> 00:02:06.299 and I can stake our very life on the faith of 00:02:06.299 --> 00:02:16.900 the Lord. Ezekiel had a vision that God gave 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:24.610 unto him. And think how many years ago More than 00:02:24.610 --> 00:02:33.169 1400 years before Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. 00:02:33.270 --> 00:02:39.289 Think of it. God knows no such thing as time. 00:02:40.030 --> 00:02:44.530 And one thing is sure. God will keep his word. 00:02:45.250 --> 00:02:51.289 Not only to Israel. Not only to Abraham and the 00:02:51.289 --> 00:02:55.479 seed of Abraham. Every one of us personally. 00:02:55.960 --> 00:03:00.080 All right? Let us take just a few minutes and 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:02.659 review Ezekiel's vision of the Valley of Dry 00:03:02.659 --> 00:03:06.939 Bones. And the 37th chapter of Ezekiel opens 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:11.060 with this strange sight. It was a strange vision, 00:03:11.139 --> 00:03:16.319 believe me. Which God gave to the prophet Ezekiel. 00:03:17.219 --> 00:03:22.080 And the amazing thing is... that before the vision 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:26.979 ended, God himself gave the interpretation. There 00:03:26.979 --> 00:03:31.879 could be no mistake whatsoever as to the interpretation 00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:38.580 of the vision that God gave to Ezekiel. Listen. 00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:43.360 The hand of the Lord was upon me, carried me 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:46.719 out in the spirit of the Lord. set me down in 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:48.919 the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:54.560 and caused me to pass by them round about. And 00:03:54.560 --> 00:04:01.000 behold, they were very many in the open valley, 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:08.819 and, lo, they were very dry. I just read the 00:04:08.819 --> 00:04:12.000 first and second verses from the 37th chapter 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:17.610 of Ezekiel. upon this valley, filled with the 00:04:17.610 --> 00:04:22.970 bones of human skeletons. Something happened. 00:04:23.589 --> 00:04:28.470 He spoke instinctively. He asked a question. 00:04:28.930 --> 00:04:36.850 Can these bones live? Can a miracle take place? 00:04:36.850 --> 00:04:42.529 Is it possible, humanly speaking, for these skeletons, 00:04:43.029 --> 00:04:46.439 these human skeletons, skeletons, glitched and 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:56.279 dry, to live? And while he was asking the question, 00:04:56.379 --> 00:05:08.480 he also answered it. Oh, Lord God, thou knowest. 00:05:10.459 --> 00:05:14.000 Continue reading. Fourth to the sixth verses. 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:20.100 And God spoke to Ezekiel, saying, and this is 00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:23.920 what God said, Prophesy upon these bones and 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:27.660 say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:30.819 of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these 00:05:30.819 --> 00:05:36.120 bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:39.620 you, and ye shall live. i will lay thin news 00:05:39.620 --> 00:05:44.519 upon you and will bring up flesh upon you and 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:48.959 cover you with skin and put breath in you and 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:57.560 ye shall live and ye shall know that i am the 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:04.939 lord what a prophecy what a prophecy don't stop 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:11.759 there Whatever you do, don't stop there. The 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:16.079 prophet was obedient unto the Lord. And it continues. 00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:21.819 And so I prophesied as I was commanded. And as 00:06:21.819 --> 00:06:25.439 I prophesied, there was a noise. And behold, 00:06:25.540 --> 00:06:28.540 a shaking. And the bones came together, bone 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:33.860 to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews 00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:37.730 and the flesh came upon them. and the skin covered 00:06:37.730 --> 00:06:44.949 them above. But there was no breath in them. 00:06:46.189 --> 00:06:50.850 This is amazing. The prophet had just looked 00:06:50.850 --> 00:06:54.970 upon a valley of dry bones, human skeletons, 00:06:55.209 --> 00:06:59.250 parched and dry. And the word of the Lord said, 00:06:59.389 --> 00:07:03.500 prophesy unto them. And as he did so, Something 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:07.600 happened. Flesh and sinew came upon these bones. 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:16.439 Something else happened. And breath came into 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:27.500 them. That breath signifies spiritual life. Ezekiel 00:07:27.500 --> 00:07:32.269 continues. Thus saith the Lord God. come from 00:07:32.269 --> 00:07:36.110 the four winds o breath breathe upon these plain 00:07:36.110 --> 00:07:39.649 that they may live and so i prophesied as he 00:07:39.649 --> 00:07:43.670 commanded me and the breath came into them and 00:07:43.670 --> 00:07:52.129 they lived and stood up upon their feet an exceedingly 00:07:52.129 --> 00:08:01.269 great army what a sight What a sight to behold! 00:08:02.250 --> 00:08:05.170 How the prophet must have stood there in amazement, 00:08:05.170 --> 00:08:09.769 in wonderment, to see this great miracle take 00:08:09.769 --> 00:08:15.029 place before his very eyes. But the amazing thing 00:08:15.029 --> 00:08:19.149 is, God did not leave the prophet in doubt. He 00:08:19.149 --> 00:08:23.230 did not leave you. He did not leave me. He did 00:08:23.230 --> 00:08:27.050 not leave the Gentile world, neither Israel, 00:08:27.189 --> 00:08:34.259 in doubt. as to what he was talking about. Immediately, 00:08:34.539 --> 00:08:39.840 he gave the interpretation of the vision. The 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.379 same chapter. I'm still in the 37th chapter of 00:08:43.379 --> 00:08:48.659 Ezekiel. You've got to accept it. You can't explain 00:08:48.659 --> 00:08:52.220 it away. You can't spiritualize it. You can't. 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:56.659 It's there. All right. Begin with the 11th verse. 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:04.720 There it is. These bones are. Now, I'm not taking 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:08.559 some man's interpretation. I am taking the very 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:13.559 word of God, the highest authority in heaven 00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:19.820 and earth. These bones are the whole house of 00:09:19.820 --> 00:09:24.600 Israel. Now, the graves that he was talking about 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.419 are the nations of the world. in which Israel 00:09:27.419 --> 00:09:32.320 had been buried nationally for centuries. And 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:36.259 always remember, whenever we speak of Israel, 00:09:36.539 --> 00:09:40.419 whenever we think of the Jew being God's chosen 00:09:40.419 --> 00:09:47.259 people, they are an earthly people. And this 00:09:47.259 --> 00:09:52.860 earthly people has been buried nationally for 00:09:52.860 --> 00:09:58.899 centuries. But the day has come, even in our 00:09:58.899 --> 00:10:06.000 present generation, when the Jew has been established 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:13.899 again as a nation. And these graves are the nations 00:10:13.899 --> 00:10:18.360 of the world in which the Jew has been buried 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:24.320 nationally for centuries and literally centuries. 00:10:25.070 --> 00:10:28.370 Oh, sure, for a very long, weary period of the 00:10:28.370 --> 00:10:32.889 world's history. The oppressed Jew has said, 00:10:33.129 --> 00:10:42.370 Our bones are dry, they're parched. Our hope 00:10:42.370 --> 00:10:47.629 is lost. But sometimes I wonder, if really away 00:10:47.629 --> 00:10:51.370 down deep in the recesses of their heart, they 00:10:51.370 --> 00:10:56.190 really had never lost hope. Sometimes I wonder, 00:10:56.450 --> 00:11:02.149 I wonder if instinctively the Jew, whether it 00:11:02.149 --> 00:11:07.590 was in Germany or Russia or here in the United 00:11:07.590 --> 00:11:12.629 States of America, if somehow instinctively he 00:11:12.629 --> 00:11:18.350 knew that there was hope and that he would be 00:11:18.350 --> 00:11:24.799 returned to his own country. Now the Lord has 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:29.600 a message for his people. In the 12th and the 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:33.820 14th verses, I'm continuing to read from the 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:39.940 37th chapter of Ezekiel. Behold, O my people. 00:11:41.019 --> 00:11:45.039 Now watch. We know this is not to the Gentile. 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:52.600 For he has just said, these bones are. the whole 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:58.779 house of Israel. He continues talking about the 00:11:58.779 --> 00:12:03.820 same people. Behold, O my people, I will open 00:12:03.820 --> 00:12:08.179 your graves and cause you to come up out of your 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:12.200 graves and bring you into the land of Israel 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:17.759 and shall put my spirit in you and ye shall live 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:22.830 and I will place you in your own land. Then shall 00:12:22.830 --> 00:12:30.110 ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, performed 00:12:30.110 --> 00:12:36.509 it, saith the Lord. Oh, this is thrilling. This 00:12:36.509 --> 00:12:39.429 vision of the restoration of the nation of Israel 00:12:39.429 --> 00:12:45.690 does not represent, as some may think, a physical 00:12:45.690 --> 00:12:49.289 resurrection to a second chance. It's amazing 00:12:49.289 --> 00:12:53.730 sometimes. how stupid even some of our best Bible 00:12:53.730 --> 00:12:59.029 scholars can be. We always like to spiritualize 00:12:59.029 --> 00:13:02.149 things. We always like to put a different interpretation 00:13:02.149 --> 00:13:07.570 on it than God intended. When it is so plain 00:13:07.570 --> 00:13:10.049 that if you're spiritual at all, if you have 00:13:10.049 --> 00:13:13.269 any leading of the spirit, and if you're just 00:13:13.269 --> 00:13:17.960 without... prejudice, let the Holy Spirit be 00:13:17.960 --> 00:13:21.019 your teacher, the one who has spoken, is as simple 00:13:21.019 --> 00:13:30.080 as can be. Yeah. This nation of the restoration 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:35.539 of the nation of Israel does not represent a 00:13:35.539 --> 00:13:40.769 physical resurrection to a second chance. This 00:13:40.769 --> 00:13:43.210 would be absolutely contrary to all the positive 00:13:43.210 --> 00:13:47.649 teaching of the Word of God. What a man does 00:13:47.649 --> 00:13:53.370 with the Lord Jesus Christ in this life determines 00:13:53.370 --> 00:13:56.549 forever the destiny of his never -dying soul. 00:13:57.769 --> 00:14:03.610 We do not have another chance, whether we be 00:14:03.610 --> 00:14:10.720 Jew or Gentile. We do not have another chance 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:17.759 after death. Our destiny, so far as spiritual 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:22.779 life is concerned, is determined right here before 00:14:22.779 --> 00:14:26.139 the soul leaves the body. And you cannot absolutely, 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:29.519 there is no scripture, I'll challenge any Bible 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:35.100 teacher to show me any scripture that proves 00:14:35.100 --> 00:14:40.519 that we have a second chance after death. Now, 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:43.639 here, right here in this life. And what is true 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:46.940 for the Gentile? What is true of the Church of 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:49.759 the Lord Jesus Christ? What is true of the Gentile 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:57.320 is true of the Jew also. I repeat, what a man, 00:14:57.460 --> 00:15:00.500 whether he be Jew or Gentile, does the Lord Jesus 00:15:00.500 --> 00:15:05.850 Christ in this life. Now, determines forever 00:15:05.850 --> 00:15:09.710 the destiny of his never -dying soul. Moreover, 00:15:10.090 --> 00:15:13.730 as we have often said, that every individual, 00:15:13.950 --> 00:15:17.570 whether he be Jew or Gentile, must accept Christ 00:15:17.570 --> 00:15:19.669 as his own personal Savior if he would spend 00:15:19.669 --> 00:15:25.570 eternity with Him. What we see in this 37th chapter 00:15:25.570 --> 00:15:31.090 of Ezekiel is God's prophecy of Israel's national 00:15:31.090 --> 00:15:39.769 resurrection. Keep that in mind. God's covenants 00:15:39.769 --> 00:15:45.629 to Abraham and Abraham's seed are earthly covenants. 00:15:46.830 --> 00:15:51.909 The Jew as a chosen people are an earthly people. 00:15:52.110 --> 00:16:00.250 Know that. For many dreary centuries, the Jew 00:16:00.250 --> 00:16:03.309 has been buried in the cemetery of the Gentile 00:16:03.309 --> 00:16:12.120 nations. But today, the Jew has come indeed into 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:17.220 his own, when God has opened the graves, so to 00:16:17.220 --> 00:16:21.419 speak. He has led his people back to their own 00:16:21.419 --> 00:16:28.179 homeland. National Israel has long been dead 00:16:28.179 --> 00:16:34.139 in the graves of Russia, of Germany, of England. 00:16:34.509 --> 00:16:40.289 of France, of Italy, of Canada. Long the Jew 00:16:40.289 --> 00:16:47.610 has been dead nationally in the grave. But the 00:16:47.610 --> 00:16:51.429 Word of God, and it's here in the 37th chapter 00:16:51.429 --> 00:16:56.129 of Ezekiel, tells us that the day would come 00:16:56.129 --> 00:17:01.250 when the Jew would be taken out of her graves, 00:17:01.509 --> 00:17:07.859 and this... is exactly what has happened in our 00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:13.960 generation. Think of it. Sure, bones have been 00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:18.579 bleached throughout the passing centuries in 00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:22.640 the valley of the nations of the world. But a 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:27.039 glorious resurrection has happened. A wonderful 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:31.599 resurrection. And if you are a person of any 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:35.599 intelligence whatsoever, You cannot take issue 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:38.880 with the fact that there has been a wonderful 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:46.140 national resurrection in Israel. It's there. 00:17:46.859 --> 00:17:52.440 You cannot close your eyes to it. It's there. 00:17:54.940 --> 00:18:00.900 They are now the head of the nation and not the 00:18:00.900 --> 00:18:05.059 tail. All right, now watch. They're coming together, 00:18:05.299 --> 00:18:08.579 the dry bones, as I've been reading to you from 00:18:08.579 --> 00:18:13.740 the 37th chapter of Ezekiel. And indeed, they've 00:18:13.740 --> 00:18:16.519 been covered with sinews and flesh and skin, 00:18:16.700 --> 00:18:21.680 represent exactly what we are witnessing today 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:28.880 in Israel. Think of the thousands and thousands 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:33.180 of Jews who've returned to their homeland. But 00:18:33.180 --> 00:18:37.259 remember, they are returning, they have returned 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:42.359 in unbelief. Now, when I say in unbelief, I do 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:47.240 not mean in unbelief so far as God is concerned. 00:18:47.500 --> 00:18:54.400 Know that. Oh, sure. I just read to you from 00:18:54.400 --> 00:19:01.460 a newspaper. of May the 31st, 1967. The Israelis 00:19:01.460 --> 00:19:10.480 pray beside their tanks. They chant King David's 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:15.980 Psalms. They have not returned in unbelief so 00:19:15.980 --> 00:19:20.339 far as God is concerned, but it's still unbelief 00:19:20.339 --> 00:19:27.769 so far as the Messiah is concerned. But the day 00:19:27.769 --> 00:19:37.769 will come when they will accept Jesus Christ, 00:19:38.009 --> 00:19:45.869 not as an imposter, but they will accept him 00:19:45.869 --> 00:19:52.809 as the nation, as their true Messiah.