They were already defeated!
Hundreds of soldiers lay upon the ground, nothing but dry bones to the passers-by who may have accidentally wandered through the ancient battlefield. The battle had passed, the war was over, and dry bones was all that remained. You think to yourself, "Victorious warriors have marked graves, elaborate tombs and proper burials. You do not find their remains left behind." But these were fallen men, broken and beaten. Not much left to do but shrug your shoulders at the sight, perhaps offer a sigh of regret for their demise, and continue on to other destinations. This was the field of the defeated.
And we walk through society with the same aire of regret and disconnection for the swath of humanity that lay upon the fields of failure, who are scattered like so much debris across the vast plains of the current culture and are deemed defeated. There's nothing to do but offer our feigned sympathies and move along to our other destinations. We have no time for those who are the failures, who are the thrown-away wretches.
But God does have time for them.
God sends His prophet to the very field of bones, the scattered remains of the vanquished who lay sprawled out across the wasteland of the forgotten and sets His purpose to do something.
"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry." ~ Ezekiel 37:1-2
Oh, my friends, you may think that you're defeated, that your life is nothing better than a pile of dried bones that have been left to the ever-encroaching decay of life. You may have been broken by any number of enemies that rampage our culture. Sexual temptations, drug addictions, alcohol, and a myriad of other battalions wage war against your heart and soul. You may have succumbed to their advancements and now lay upon the field of the defeated. I want to tell you - it's not over! God is here and He asks a very important question.
"And he said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord GOD, you know.'" ~ Ezekiel 37:3
Come back next week when we discover Victory from the Ashes of Defeat - Part Two.
Hundreds of soldiers lay upon the ground, nothing but dry bones to the passers-by who may have accidentally wandered through the ancient battlefield. The battle had passed, the war was over, and dry bones was all that remained. You think to yourself, "Victorious warriors have marked graves, elaborate tombs and proper burials. You do not find their remains left behind." But these were fallen men, broken and beaten. Not much left to do but shrug your shoulders at the sight, perhaps offer a sigh of regret for their demise, and continue on to other destinations. This was the field of the defeated.
And we walk through society with the same aire of regret and disconnection for the swath of humanity that lay upon the fields of failure, who are scattered like so much debris across the vast plains of the current culture and are deemed defeated. There's nothing to do but offer our feigned sympathies and move along to our other destinations. We have no time for those who are the failures, who are the thrown-away wretches.
But God does have time for them.
God sends His prophet to the very field of bones, the scattered remains of the vanquished who lay sprawled out across the wasteland of the forgotten and sets His purpose to do something.
"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry." ~ Ezekiel 37:1-2
Oh, my friends, you may think that you're defeated, that your life is nothing better than a pile of dried bones that have been left to the ever-encroaching decay of life. You may have been broken by any number of enemies that rampage our culture. Sexual temptations, drug addictions, alcohol, and a myriad of other battalions wage war against your heart and soul. You may have succumbed to their advancements and now lay upon the field of the defeated. I want to tell you - it's not over! God is here and He asks a very important question.
"And he said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord GOD, you know.'" ~ Ezekiel 37:3
Come back next week when we discover Victory from the Ashes of Defeat - Part Two.
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