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A VALLEY OF BONES

The Prophet Ezekiel was among those Jews who had been relocated to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar defeated them and destroyed Jerusalem along with the Temple of Solomon that stood there.  The Jews had been very disobedient to God and had turned to worshipping the idols of the nations around them.  The Lord was very displeased with His people and had pleaded with them repeatedly through the words of His prophets, but they would not respond to Him and repent.  Finally, God warned them one last time that a stronger nation would come, defeat them, and carry them away from their homes in Israel.  In the book of Ezekiel, there is a very unflattering picture of the Body of Christ.  In chapter 37 God showed His prophet a valley full of dry bones that were scattered all over the ground and bleaching in the sun.  The Lord told Ezekiel, “... these bones are the whole house of Israel .”  So, the Lord was likening the scattering of His people to the scattered bones i...

"WHEN I HAVE A CONVENIENT SEASON..."

Around the year 57 A.D., the Apostle Paul determined to go to Jerusalem.  He knew he would be arrested by the Jews, imprisoned, and possibly put to death as a result of that decision.  He knew this in his spirit, but also because a prophet by the name of Agabus had foretold it.  In Acts, chapter twenty-one, we read, “And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.  And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles .  And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.  Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus .” (Acts 21:10-13).  Paul did ...

BUT WHO MAY ABIDE THE DAY OF HIS COMING?

“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” (Joel 2:1).     "Behold, I will send My messenger , and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant , Whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.   But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth ? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness ." (Malachi 3:1-3).   About 400 years before John the Baptist was born, or Jesus Christ began his earthly ministry, the prophet Malachi foretold the arrival of these two messengers.   The first messenger,...