Participants: Pr. Bill Santos
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201106
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00:03 Teaser: Benjamin Ewell is best remembered for
00:04 his 16 year tenure as the President of the College 00:07 of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. 00:11 For a century and a half, this prestigious Virginia 00:13 school had been a leader among American 00:16 universities. Then came the Civil War. In the hard 00:21 days of Reconstruction which followed, William 00:22 and Mary went bankrupt. 00:25 Soon it had a deserted campus, decaying 00:26 buildings, and no students. As with so many 00:29 Southern schools, after that tragic war, it was 00:34 written off as dead by everyone. Everyone, 00:35 except its president. 00:56 >>ANNOUNCER: IT HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME... 01:01 GOD'S BOOK, THE BIBLE. 01:03 STILL RELEVANT IN TODAY'S COMPLEX WORLD. 01:07 IT IS WRITTEN . . . 01:09 SHARING MESSAGES OF HOPE AROUND THE WORLD. 01:24 President Ewell had given his best years to that 01:25 school, he had mortgaged his own farm to fund the 01:29 school - he refused to give up now. So, every 01:33 morning, President Ewell went to the deserted 01:34 campus, climbed the tower of its main building, and 01:39 rang the bells, calling the school to class. He 01:44 acted as if the school was still there. People 01:45 thought he was crazy. But for seven years, every 01:50 day, President Ewell rang the bells at William and 01:55 Mary, in defiance of the despair and hopelessness 01:56 that would destroy everything he held 02:01 valuable. And eventually, miraculously, it worked. 02:09 Others caught his vision. 02:10 Students, teachers, and money returned. Today, 02:12 America's second oldest university thrives again, 02:13 because of the hope of a magnificent dreamer. 02:33 One of the most visionary prophets of the Old 02:34 Testament was a priest named Ezekiel. He lived 02:39 about 2,600 years ago. 02:40 He witnessed the terrible siege of Jerusalem by 02:46 the Babylonians in which Jerusalem fell in 587 B.C. 02:52 He spent years in exile, along with other Jewish 02:53 leaders. There the hand of the Lord was upon him 02:58 to proclaim hope in a time of hopelessness. Ezekiel's 03:04 most remembered vision is the one before us today. 03:05 It is the vision of the dry bones. If you have a 03:10 Bible with you then open it to Ezekiel 37: 1 - 10 05:10 It is sad that the vast majority of those watching 05:11 me today can visualize a valley of dry bones. 05:16 Whether anyone in Ezekiel's day could 05:21 visualize that scene, I don't know, but I know we 05:22 can. We have all seen the pictures of the 05:27 mass graves at Auschwitz, Kosovo, northern Iraq and 05:31 Ruanda. The killing fields of Cambodia also come to 05:32 mind. We know what Ezekiel saw and we also know that 05:37 had someone asked us what Ezekiel was asked in verse 05:41 3 of chapter 37 - "can these bones live?" We know 05:43 what we'd say and we know that from just the human 05:50 side of things our answer would be a resounding, 05:55 "No!" A few years ago I toured the Dachau 05:56 concentration camp some 16 kilometres northwest of 06:02 Munich. Dachau was the first Nazi concentration 06:09 camp opened in Germany. It was built on the grounds 06:10 of an abandoned munitions factory. At this place as 06:15 you view the pictures and the video footage and as 06:24 you visit the gas chambers and the crematoriums 06:25 you feel this overwhelming sense of death and 06:30 hopelessness. "Can these bones live?" No, they 06:38 cannot. From our human side of things the bones 06:38 cannot live. From our human side of things death 06:44 is the end. We cannot bring anyone back. Even 06:49 with the wonders of today's medical technology 06:50 there is nothing that can be done for even a body 06:55 that has been dead for more than five or so 07:01 minutes, much less for a body as far gone as to be 07:02 a skeleton. Ezekiel saw skeletons--lots and lots 07:09 of them. These were people who did not receive burial 07:16 for some reason. The sheer number of bones seemed to 07:17 indicate some kind of mass carnage or catastrophe. 07:23 The dry condition of the bones lets Ezekiel know 07:29 that these people have been dead a long time. 07:29 "Can these bones live?" 07:35 These long-dead, dehydrated, 07:35 jumbled-together remnants of people who are long 07:41 gone from this earth? 07:41 No, they cannot. Verse 2 tells us that God gave 07:45 Ezekiel a pretty thorough tour of this terrible 07:56 place. They walked back and forth, through and 07:57 among the bones. Ezekiel saw no life. Can these 08:04 bones live? The question was ridiculous. So much so 08:11 that Ezekiel was savvy enough to realize that it 08:12 is more of a rhetorical question. Perhaps that is 08:19 why Ezekiel is bold enough to swat the ball back into 08:25 God's court. 08:34 In the face of such a scene of hopelessness, 08:35 we have no choice but to throw it back into God's 08:42 hands. We know the answer to the question insofar as 08:46 our human perspective and ability is concerned. If 08:47 there is more that can be said in this situation, 08:53 God will have to be the one to say it. If there is 08:57 anything to be done for these bones, God will have 08:58 to be the one to do it. 09:05 "Can these bones live?" 09:05 The suspense of faith is holding our collective 09:10 breath to see what God says in answer to his own 09:11 question. Today we live in a reasoned age where hope 09:24 is written off as fantasy. 09:24 Petty, no-risk hopes too easily become our stock 09:31 in trade, even for Christians. We hope it 09:35 doesn't rain on the church picnic, that the offering 09:36 will be enough to meet the bills. We're taught to be 09:39 practical and productive - levelheaded achievers. 09:45 This means setting our sights only on targets 09:46 we know we can hit. How different were God's 09:53 people in the Bible! Those children of God who hoped 09:58 for the most were rewarded the most. Abraham set off 09:59 across the desert for a Promised Land, sustained 10:06 only by the wild promise from God that his 10:10 descendants would be as numerous as the stars. 10:11 In the Gospels, countless blind, diseased, lame, and 10:16 grieving people came to Jesus with pained longing 10:22 in their eyes. Jesus never failed to heal them. The 10:23 leaders of God's church more recently were just as 10:29 expansive in their hopes. 10:29 Luther gave birth to a greatly revitalized 10:36 church because he sought a purified one. The Pilgrims 10:40 founded a Christian land because they envisioned a 10:41 free "nation under God." 10:46 Today integration and racial harmony are 10:47 expected in the United States because Martin 10:53 Luther King, Jr. and others dared to say, "I 10:59 have a dream". Our world craves open-hearted people 11:00 who dare to dream big. The elderly and the unemployed 11:10 - many of them watching right now - stare at the 11:14 dropping temperatures and no one knows how they 11:15 can pay for fuel. Seven million refugees of famine 11:23 sit huddled in relief camps in Africa and no one 11:28 knows how many can be saved. 11:32 In only one place can solutions be born - in 11:33 hope. A vision of the future, what we call hope, 11:38 is the greatest animating force we know. Notice, 11:45 though, to be realistic, hope must trust in a power 11:46 greater than the problem it faces. For many 11:53 problems of the world, there is only one power 11:57 great enough to encourage hope. That's why Ezekiel 11:58 was quick to put the ball back in God's court "O 12:04 Lord God - You know". No one else could perform 12:10 such a miracle. This kind of hope is more than just 12:11 wishful thinking. It is the absolute confidence 12:17 the future will be good because the future is 12:23 God's. To have high hopes is not to dream the 12:24 impossible dream. With God, all things are 12:31 possible Paul said. What is your valley today? Is 12:40 it that the cancer is relentless? Or your 12:41 marriage is dead. Do you feel your job is 12:49 pointless? Or your grief is deep? Are your days 12:53 difficult and your nights long? And we must respond 12:54 like Ezekiel did, "can these bones live?' 'I 13:02 don't know. Only you know, Lord; it's in your hands. 13:08 I don't know if there is any life left in these 13:09 bones, any hope remaining in this valley. If there 13:13 is any hope in the midst of the valley of dry 13:18 bones, Lord, it's in your hands.' It's all too much 13:20 for our small minds to comprehend. Don't count 13:26 God out simply because you can't recognize Him or 13:31 understand Him. He hasn't counted you out. Martin 13:32 Luther, in later life, suffered periods of 13:38 depression when he thought so often of his problems 13:45 that he forgot God's promises. One day he 13:46 seemed especially gloomy, so his wife dressed 13:53 herself in black mourning clothes. When Luther 13:59 demanded to know why she was in mourning, she said, 14:01 "I thought God died." 14:06 Luther got the message. 14:06 Ezekiel 37: 10 - 13 15:12 In verse 11 of this passage we hear God quote 15:13 a saying or a sentiment that had been circulating 15:18 among the exiles in Babylon. With Jerusalem 15:23 destroyed, the Temple in ruins, many of their 15:24 children and loved ones dead, it seemed to most 15:31 Israelites like the end of the world. So they'd 15:37 gather together in little clusters of lament and say 15:38 to one another, "Our bones are dried up! Our hope is 15:44 gone! We are cut off from all joy!" The Israelites 15:49 had become the living dead. Their spirits were 15:50 shriveled up within them. 15:55 What was next for Israel? 15:55 Out of this time of profound spiritual crisis 16:05 emerged the distinctive voice of the prophets. 16:06 The job of Ezekiel was to declare that God was not 16:12 undone by the catastrophe of recent days. Can these 16:19 bones live? No. Even if somehow sinew and tendon 16:20 and flesh could be put back onto them, as happens 16:30 in verses 7-8, can they breathe and be whole and 16:32 complete living souls again? No, not unless God, 16:33 as He did in the beginning with Adam and Eve, 16:41 personally blows the breath of life back into 16:46 their nostrils! It is all of God. I talk with a fair 16:47 number of people who have lost contact with God. 16:55 I understand that. If you think you've lost God, or 17:01 if you feel that you never had God - this is what I 17:02 want to say. Breathe. You have to anyway. 17:13 Take a breath. Take a deep breath. God is closer than 17:20 the air we breathe. I watched a two-year-old 17:21 once throw a temper tantrum. He screamed 17:30 to the top of his lungs. 17:31 When that didn't work, he decided to stop breathing. 17:37 His face turned red. 17:38 His lips turned blue. I wondered what his 17:43 mother would do. She did nothing. She knew he would 17:51 eventually breathe - and he did. I've thrown 17:52 my fair share of temper tantrums with God 18:02 - decided in anger or grief to stop breathing 18:07 spiritually. When God didn't respond the way I 18:08 wanted Him to, I concluded He was not there. But like 18:12 that mother, He is there all the time. He said, 18:17 you'll breathe again at the right time, in the 18:18 right way. When God first told young Abraham he 18:27 would be the father of nations, God never 18:33 mentioned Abraham would have to wait until he was 18:34 over 100 years old to have a son. When King Solomon 18:38 prayed to God for wisdom to rule, instead of 18:45 wealth, a delighted God gave him both. When 18:46 downtrodden Israel, under the Romans, prayed for a 18:52 Messiah to save them, no one dreamed he would be 18:56 born in a stable in Bethlehem. God will never 18:57 forsake our sincere hopes, but He seldom will give 19:05 us exactly what we expect. 19:05 Usually His gifts are grander but less 19:11 recognizable than we ever imagined. We hope for a 19:18 cure for an illness but, instead, uncover untapped 19:19 reserves of strength, love, and wisdom for 19:27 dealing with it. We hope for adequate rains and a 19:32 big harvest to end a famine but, instead, are 19:33 overwhelmed by donations to help the victims. We 19:38 hope for happiness through a comfortable lifestyle 19:44 but, instead, find joy in simple living. It's a 19:45 magnificent hope. It dares believe an unseen God 19:52 will enter our lives and influence our future. For 19:59 countless Christians it's been the only thing that 20:00 has pulled them through the pits of despair. The 20:05 philosopher Kierkegaard used to pray it this way: 20:27 Science or any other strictly human perspective 20:28 cannot extend us any hope. 20:34 Can these bones live? That is the burning question of 20:35 human life. In Ezekiel 37 it is God, however, who 20:44 asks the question and so Ezekiel turns the question 20:52 back on God, too. "You tell me, O God. Can these 20:53 bones live?" The answer of Immanuel, who is the 20:58 resurrection and the life, the alpha and the omega, 21:04 the great shepherd of the sheep and the firstborn 21:05 of all us dead and dying folks--his answer to this 21:12 question is simple, clear, and redolent of hope: Can 21:17 these bones live? Yes. 21:18 The Sovereign God in Jesus Christ our Lord has spoken 21:25 it. 21:37 I HEAR THE SOUND 21:40 OF A MIGHTY RUSHING WIND 21:48 AND IT'S CLOSER NOW 21:53 THAN IT'S EVER BEEN 22:00 I CAN ALMOST HEAR THE TRUMPET 22:07 AS GABRIEL SOUNDS THE CALL 22:15 AT THE MIDNIGHT CRY WE'LL BE GOING HOME. 22:27 WHEN JESUS STEPS OUT 22:34 ON A CLOUD TO CALL HIS CHILDREN 22:41 THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE 22:47 TO MEET HIM IN THE AIR 22:54 AND THEN THOSE THAT REMAIN 23:01 SHALL BE QUICKLY CHANGED 23:09 AT THE MIDNIGHT CRY 23:14 WHEN JESUS COMES AGAIN 23:41 I LOOK AROUND ME 23:45 I SEE PROPHECIES FULFILLED 23:53 AND SIGNS OF THE TIMES 23:58 ARE APPEARING EVERYWHERE 24:05 I CAN ALMOST HEAR THE FATHER 24:12 AS HE SAYS 24:13 "SON GO GET MY CHILDREN." 24:20 AT THE MIDNIGHT CRY 24:25 THE BRIDE OF CHRIST WILL RISE. 24:32 WE WILL ARISE 24:35 WHEN JESUS STEPS OUT 24:39 ON A CLOUD TO CALL HIS CHILDREN 24:46 THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE 24:52 TO MEET HIM IN THE AIR 24:59 AND THEN THOSE THAT REMAIN 25:06 SHALL BE QUICKLY CHANGED 25:14 AT THE MIDNIGHT CRY 25:19 WHEN JESUS COMES AGAIN 25:27 AND THEN THOSE THAT REMAIN 25:33 SHALL BE QUICKLY CHANGED 25:41 AT THE MIDNIGHT CRY 25:46 WHEN JESUS COMES AGAIN 25:55 AT THE MIDNIGHT CRY 26:00 WHEN JESUS COMES AGAIN 26:07 WHEN JESUS COMES AGAIN. 26:22 >>BILL: AS AN OFFER TO OUR VIEWERS, WE'D LIKE TO 26:23 SEND YOU THE BOOKLET "2012 DOOMSDAY OR DISTRACTION?" 26:26 IT IS A GIFT FROM IT IS WRITTEN TO YOU OUR VIEWER. 26:34 HERE'S THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO GET YOUR COPY. 27:36 LET ME THANK YOU FOR JOINING US HERE ON THE "IT 27:37 IS WRITTEN" PROGRAM. 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Revised 2015-02-05