Ezekiel 37:11-14 (NIV)
11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.'"
Just what is this standing army in Ezekiel 37? Well it represents the nation of Israel as she had been scattered throughout the world because of her rebellion to God. She was dead in her sins and she had no desire to love the Lord her God.
Those who were of Israel and remembered her history looked at the present situation and saw the emptiness of the national life, the powerlessness of the people and they were convinced that there was no hope of ever being restored. They could never in their wildest imagination even consider that Israel would be re-gathered as a nation at the end of history.
We can apply this to the state of the church in our culture presently. Take a good look around and what do you see? Churches filled with idolatry, little love for the Word of God, little testifying in the open about the goodness of God, far too little true conversions being experienced in the church. Immorality and pagan influences are found in every church in America. If you were to look at what your eyes could see you would reach the conclusion that we too are dried up, our hope is gone, we are cut off. But God has only arranged this to cause you to see that your hope is not found anywhere but in Him and His Word.
Consider his command to Ezekiel again, "Prophesy and say to them . . ." The hope that we have is that God is speaking His Word over us. The same way that Ezekiel was told to prophesy over this valley of dead bones and they were brought to life is the same way we are called to speak to our culture and trust that God will bring to life those he desires.
I believe we are going to see a great move of God in our day soon. There is a growing hunger for the Word of God being experienced by many in our culture and we can join in God's great work of bringing in the last of the elect in this day as we stay committed to His Word and stay committed to preaching and teaching the truth of this great Book.
How can this be some of you may ask? It is only because God alone has the power to bring us up out of our spiritually dead cemeteries and breathe life into us by His Spirit. Let us give ourselves to prayer and to the study of His Word and to the teaching of it to those that we know so we will be able to join God in this great work of revival in our day.
Praying, preaching and studying the Word for the sake of Christ in the Revival in the end of days,