Read Part 2

(6/9) Today we come one last time to this amazing prophecy of Ezekiel and this vision of the dry bones, and we don’t want to super spiritualize it because we have already looked and seen the historical significance of this text. But this morning I want to go deeper and to consider the prophetic witness of God’s ability to bring dead things to life. In other words, this extraordinary vision given to the prophet Ezekiel and this powerful imagery is not only historical but beautifully and amazingly relevant to us today as we explore how God has birthed the church. And the plans he has for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

If you have your Bibles, I would love for you to open them with me or go on your phone to the book of Ezekiel chapter 37. I want to share a message with you today that I pray God makes real to your heart like he has mine and I believe that he is going to speak to you in a powerful way. And so, let’s go to Ezekiel chapter 37 and pick up where we left off last week in verse fifteen.

"The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, 'Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.' Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, 'Ephraim's stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.' Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand" (Ezekiel 37:15-17).

Now, the context of this text and the two sticks refers to bringing the people of God, both the northern and the southern kingdom together under one king, the Messiah Jesus Christ. The two sticks are symbolic of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah which were formed in the days of Rehoboam, son of King Solomon. On the first stick he writes the name of Judah, the leading tribe of the southern kingdom, and Judah was composed of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin along with the Levites who served in the temple. On the second stick he writes the name Ephraim, the leading tribe of the northern kingdom, representing the other ten tribes of Israel who followed Jeroboam.

And so, God has brought Ezekiel to this valley full of dry bones, symbols of death and hopelessness, a scene that mirrors the spiritual condition of many around us today, lifeless, hopeless, without purpose, and disconnected from God. I want you to imagine these bones in the context of those areas of your life that seem to be beyond repair, dead and lifeless, whether relationships, lost dreams, or even a spiritual vacuum creating this distance between you and God. Surely, this is the human condition and, in this prophecy, we find these very dry bones now identified as two sticks separated, identified, and catalogued as Judah and Ephraim (or Israel).

But as we look off into the future, understanding that the meaning was not just for them, not just for now, but the consummation of all things in the last days. And so, we must go deeper, because in our twenty-first century New Covenant context we have greater revelation. In other words, we are no longer under the Old Covenant, we are living under the New Covenant in Jesus Christ and his kingdom that was and is and is yet to come.

And so, as we fast-forward in history, transitioning from the people of God scattered around the world, to the advent of Jesus, the birth of the church, and the giving of the Holy Spirit. We read in Ephesians chapter two that the Gentiles, all of the non-Jewish people are,

"Excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12).

In other words, the Gentiles are dead, scattered, dry bones as well, because this vision extends throughout the ages. And so, this vision of these dead and very dry bones scattered across the valley is unbiased, because death is without prejudice. And over the past weeks we have already discovered that this valley full of very dry bones was bigger than just an army that had been defeated. That this was symbolic of the house of Israel scattered around the world, two sticks scattered among the Gentile nations, and there was a noise, a rattling sound, because God was beginning to gather them.

In fact, we read in the book of Romans, chapter eleven, at verse fourteen, that God was going to, "Arouse my own people to envy and save some of them" (Romans 11:14). In other words, salvation was extended to all nations, and it was going to make Israel envious. And what God was doing in the church is really a prophecy, a foreshadowing of what he is preparing to do among the Jewish people, because the Bible says,

"His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility" (Ephesians 2:15-16).

Now, we have already seen that Ezekiel’s prophecy is too detailed to be applied to the church specifically. This is directed toward the Jewish people, but I believe the church is included, because Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones coming together extends far beyond the Babylonian captivity, beyond the rebuilding of the Temple, beyond the first coming of Jesus Christ, beyond the church age, to the consummation of all things.

And so, here in our text today, Ezekiel tells the people of Judah, a people in captivity, that God was going to reunite them. He was going to bring about transformation and renewal through the Messiah Jesus Christ. And so, in order to illustrate that, God tells Ezekiel to take those two sticks, Judah and Ephraim,

"Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand" (Ezekiel 37:17).

You see, all God ever wanted was that we would be a stick in his hand, like clay in the hands of the potter, something that he could work with. He didn’t need anything fancy, nothing big or smart, but just a stick that he could use.

In fact, you may remember from the life of Moses that God went to great extremes to get that stick. Moses ran from God, running from the call of God on his life, hiding in the desert for forty years when God came to him and spoke to him through a burning bush. Now, all Moses had was a walking stick in his hand and sandals on his feet but that was all God needed to work with. He said to him,

"Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5).

In other words, give me your shoes, I need you to stop running, because I have something better for you in this season.

Moses was afraid, he was overcome by fear, and he had a list of excuses why he couldn’t do what God asked him to do. First, he said,

"Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh" (Exodus 3:11).

In other words, I’m a nobody. "What if they don’t believe me or listen to me? What if they ask me your name? And besides, I have never been eloquent, I am slow of speech and tongue."

And so, he gave God a litany of excuses, but God said in reply,

"What is that in your hand?" "A staff," Moses replied. The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake and he ran from it" (Exodus 4:2-3).

Even without his sandals, in the hot sand, he was so terrified that he ran.

And I can relate, because I remember when God called me to pastor and teach his people I was terrified too. You have probably heard me say before that I am an introvert, I am uncomfortable talking in front of people, I have difficulty organizing my thoughts, and especially in front of large groups of people but here I am.

Now, your calling may not be the same as mine, but you do have a calling on your life and so you will have to confront your fear if you are going to fulfill the purposes of God in your life. If Moses had never gone through the desert for forty years, if he hadn’t been a shepherd in the wilderness, he never would have picked up that stick, and he wouldn’t have been able to fulfill the purpose of God in his life. In other words, wherever life leads you, when you go through a wilderness experience, a dry time, a hard time or a trial, it could be a set up because God is equipping you with something that you are going to pick up that he will use mightily in your life.

The Lord said to Moses, "Throw down your stick" and he threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. The Lord said,

"Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (Exodus 4:4).

In other words, "Moses, I want you to pick it up, I want you to confront your fear."

Now, I know enough about snakes that you don’t pick them up by the tail because it will bite you. And so, you want to grab it right behind the head, but God told Moses to trust him. He said, "But it by the tail, pick it up by the tail, and I will take care of the consequences."

Now, for forty years Moses had run from his calling, running from the snake, and God said, "I want you to confront your fear."

"So, Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand" (Exodus 4:4).

In other words, when he obeyed God, what he was afraid of became something that was useful in his hands. This staff, his walking stick, something that was so common, so ordinary and average, when he took his hands off of it, when he gave it to God, suddenly it became supernatural. Suddenly that stick could perform miracles, delivering God’s people, parting the Red Sea, bringing water from a rock, and in the same way, God says to Ezekiel,

"I am going to take the stick of Joseph — which is in Ephraim's hand — and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah's stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand" (Ezekiel 37:18-19).

You see, all God needs is your stick. Just a stick. And so, when Moses and the Israelites were standing at the Red Sea, and Pharaoh and his army were chasing them down, they were terrified and cried out to the Lord. He said to Moses, "Take your stick and raise it up..."

"Stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground" (Exodus 14:16).

Moses believed and obeyed God and suddenly the Red Sea parted before them because all God needs is a stick.

Today, I want you to know that all God needs to do something significant in your life, is someone common and ordinary who is willing to be a stick in the hands of our mighty God. Someone who hears the voice of the Lord saying,

"Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" Someone who will say, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8).

When I look back at my life, I am amazed at how God has used me because I started out as a stick, just an average stick. In other words, I’m from Carroll County, Maryland, I grew up in a cornfield with cows and pigs. And so, I’m as country as country ham and cornbread, and sometimes it boggles my mind that God would use me. But the Scriptures make it clear that he is not looking for those who are eloquent, he is not looking for those who are wise or influential, he’s just looking for a stick, someone that is available and willing to be used by him.

Someone who is willing to say, "Not my will but yours be done." Someone like Jesus who declared to Nicodemus,

"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up…" (John 3:14-15).

And I wonder if the reason we don’t see more signs and wonders, more miracles and supernatural works of God in our lives today, in our families and in our churches, is because God can’t find people who are willing to obey him and lift up the snake in their hands.

Now, I don’t think God ever used a snake again, but I do know that God blesses those who are willing to be a stick in his hands. Not so that we could be famous, not so that we would become proud and arrogant, not so that we would be distracted from his purpose, but so that we could serve in the church and in ministry to Jesus. In fact, Jesus said in Mark chapter sixteen, verse seventeen,

"These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up" (what?) "snakes with their hands; and… it will not hurt them at all" (Mark 16:17-18).

I wonder if there are any of you here today that are willing to obey him and pick up snakes in your hands, believing that you will have supernatural success that swallows up the competition. Like Moses’ snake swallowed up the Pharaoh’s snakes and that God could trust us to go back to being just a stick. That we wouldn’t let it go to our head because we are so blessed, because we are surrounded by all of this stuff, but that we would go back to being just a stick that can be used by God.

In fact, one of the most overlooked miracles in the Old Testament was when God validated the first high priest Aaron. This was when Israel was still in the wilderness, they hadn’t made it to the Promised Land yet, and they were still together as twelve tribes. But there was a lot of murmuring, grumbling, and complaining, because every tribe had a leader who thought they should be the high priest. And so, God said to Moses,

"Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. On the staff of Levi write Aaron's name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe" (Numbers 17:2-3).

And so, they took the twelve staffs, twelve sticks that were cut off, twelve sticks that were dead, twelve sticks representing the twelve tribes, and God told them,

"The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout" (Numbers 17:5).

In other words, the dead stick that comes back to life, sprouting buds and blossoming, the name on that stick, the owner of that stick will be the one God has chosen as high priest over his people.

And so, they placed the twelve dead sticks, that were dry, very dry, twelve of them side-by-side in the tent of meeting, in front of the ark of the covenant, the testimony where God met with them.

"The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds" (Numbers 17:8).

In other words, all twelve of them were dead, but twenty-four hours later, one of them came back to life, budded, blossomed, and produced fruit.

In the same way, Mohammed died, Buddha died, and Jesus died. They placed each one of them in a tomb, but on the third day only one of them came back alive. Only Jesus rose from the grave and today his invitation remains the same,

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).

As we close, if you will come to him today as a stick and say, "Lord, here I am, use me." You don’t have to be super talented or intelligent, but simply give him yourself and all that you possess. When you do, he will raise you up and transform you in an instant.

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott