The Valley of the Dry Bones

The Valley of the Dry Bones

Understanding Bible Prophecy

The Resurrection of National Israel

October 29, 2006

Click Here for a Full-Color Graphics Version of this Page

www.tribulation.com

"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD
and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones" (Ezekiel 37:1 NASB)

Replacement Theology Soundly Defeated (New Testament)

Romans Chapter 11:25 (NASB)

God Has Never Abandoned the Nation of Israel

Down through Church history, an heresy has been developed by some who claim that the Christian Church has replaced Israel. This doctrine is completely without Scriptural merit and has led to atrocities against the Apple of God's eye, Israel. Partial blindness to the Gospel of Christ has occurred to National Israel so that the Gentiles may be partakers of God's Eternal Gift. The Apostle Paul pre-empts this heretical teaching of "replacement theology" in his epistles. Though National Israel was scattered to the four corners of the Earth in 70 A.D., Paul prophesies that in the Last Days, after many of the Gentiles have heard and responded to the Gospel, God will take the spiritual blinders off of Israel:

25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery -- so that you will not be wise in your own estimation -- that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;

Replacement Theology Soundly Defeated (Old Testament)

Jeremiah Chapter 31:8, 10, 35-37 (KJV)

God Will Regather the Scattered Nation of Israel

As surely as the Sun rises by day and the Moon shines by night, Israel will return as a nation, saith the Lord:

8  Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the Earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
10  Hear the Word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, 'He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a Shepherd doth His flock.'
35  Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the Sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the Moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is His Name:
36  'If those ordinances depart from before Me,' saith the LORD, 'then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever.'
37 Thus saith the LORD; 'If Heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the Earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done,' saith the LORD.

The First Scattering Forewarned

Nehemiah Chapter 1:8 (NIV)

Israel Scattered Among the Nations?

Through Moses, God had forewarned that Israel would be scattered from their land. This occurred several times in their history:

8 Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations ...'

The First Scattering Remembered

Psalm Chapter 44:11 (NIV)

Israel Scattered Among the Nations!

Around 1000 B.C., King David of Israel, who wrote most of the Psalms, recalls that the Israelites had already been scattered to other nations of the Earth:

11 You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations.

A Prophecy of Redemption First ...

Isaiah Chapter 61:1-2 (KJV)

... A Prophecy of Armageddon Last

In Chapter 61 of the Israeli Prophet Isaiah, we find a statement of both the Grace and the Wrath of the God of Israel. Though Isaiah preached this hundreds of years before the Advent of Jesus Christ, it portrays the Messiah's Salvation and Second Coming in same sentence:

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me; because the LORD hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the Acceptable Year of the LORD, and the Day of Vengeance of our God ...

A Prophecy of Redemption First ...

Luke Chapter 4:16-21 (KJV)

Jesus Christ Comes as Humble Saviour First ...

After Jesus began teaching in the Synagogues, He returned to Nazareth, where He had spent His youth. It was the Sabbath day of the week and He entered a Synagogue where He read aloud from the Scripture. They handed Him the prophetical book of Isaiah and He found the appropriate passage to announce Himself. Those in the congregation were stunned at what they heard:

16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto Him the book of the Prophet Esaias (Isaiah). And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written,
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,"
19 "To preach the Acceptable Year of the Lord."
20 And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him.
21 And He began to say unto them, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears."

... A Prophecy of Armageddon Last

Isaiah Chapter 63:3-4 (KJV)

... Jesus Christ Returns as Conquering King Last

In chapter 63, we see that the Age of Grace, the Church Age has come to a close. The nations of the world have gathered to attack and destroy the nation of Israel over the city of Jerusalem just as Zechariah chapters 12 and 13 have predicted. Israel's Messiah, Jesus Christ, returns to save the Remnant of Israel and the Battle of Armageddon occurs. This Day of Vengeance is known as the Second Coming of Christ in Zechariah chapter 14 and Revelation chapter 19:

3 I have trodden the Winepress alone; and of the people there was none with Me: for I will tread them in Mine anger, and trample them in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment.
4 For the Day of Vengeance is in Mine heart, and the year of My Redeemed is come.

The Messiah Rejected

Luke Chapter 13:35 (KJV)

The Desolate House of Israel

Although part of God's Eternal Plan, the rejection of His Messiah, Jesus Christ, was nonetheless saddening to the Lord. The scattering of Israel from their homeland brought the world solidly into the Church Age. Israel would be scattered shortly after Christ's prophecy and in the Last Days they will recognize their Messiah when He returns at His Second Coming, as foretold in this verse:

35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me, until the time come when ye shall say, 'Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord.'

Israel Led Away Captive Into All Nations

Luke Chapter 21:24 (KJV)

Jesus' Prophecy of the 70 A.D. Diaspora

Shortly before His Crucifixion, Jesus Christ Himself prophesied of the siege of Israel and Jerusalem by Titus Vespasian, which would occur nearly four decades later in 70 A.D. At least 500,000 Jews were killed in that siege and the Second Temple to God was laid waste:

24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

The Prophecy of Israel's Rebirth

Isaiah Chapter 66:8 (KJV)

The Nation of Israel Reborn in a Single Day

Here is a reference to the impossible: An entire nation reborn in a single day. This feat is impossible except in the case where a nation's descendents were scattered to all other nations of the Earth. The Wandering Jew was a citizen of every nation but his own for 1878 years. In 70 A.D., the Roman Emperor Titus Vespasion attacked Israel, destroyed the Second Temple to God (except for the Western Wall), killed at least 500,000 Jews and initiated the Diaspora. In the Diaspora the Jew fled his own land to become a resident of all other nations for nearly 1900 years. On May 14, 1948, by United Nations decree, a nation was born, calling the Jew from every corner of the Earth back to his homeland. An amazing homecoming foretold:

8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the Earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

Israel Revived After Two "Days"

Hosea Chapter 6:2 (KJV)

On the Third Day, Israel Lives in God's Sight

Knowing that National Israel was destroyed in the Diaspora of 70 A.D. and brought again to life 1878 years later in 1948, a prophecy from Hosea illustrates that two days have passed and a Third Day approaches. This "Third Day" is the 1000-year Millennial Reign of Christ on Earth. We are living in the time between the 2nd and the 3rd Day or more accurately, the evening of the 2nd Day:

8 After Two Days will He revive us (Jews): in the Third Day He will raise us up, and we (Israel) shall live in His sight.

A Thousand Years in Human History

Psalm Chapter 90:4 (KJV)

2nd Peter Chapter 3:8 (KJV)

Are But A Single Day to Almighty God

We now live nearly 2,000 years since the Advent of Christ Because of an error in the Gregorian calendar, the year of His Crucifixion and Resurrection was 29 A.D. ("Anno Domini" is Latin for "In the Year of Our Lord"). Scripture presents us with two interesting statements about God, that 1000 years passes in our sight as if it were a single day to Him:

Psalm 90:4 For a Thousand Years in Thy sight (God's) are but as Yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that One Day is with the Lord as a Thousand Years, and a Thousand Years as One Day.

God Will Regather Israel from the Nations - (1)

Ezekiel Chapter 34:13 (KJV)

Brought Again Unto Their Own Land

Here, as elsewhere in the Scriptures, God makes it clear the regathering of Israel will be brought about by His Own hand:

13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

God Will Regather Israel from the Nations - (2)

Jeremiah Chapter 23:7-8 (KJV)

Brought Back From the Lands to Which They Were Scattered

Once again, the God of Israel reiterates that He scattered Israel, and that in the Latter Days He will be known as the Lord Who brought Israel back from those lands He scattered them to:

7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, "The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;"
8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

God Will Regather Israel from the Nations - (3)

Isaiah Chapter 43:1, 5-6 (KJV)

From the Four Corners of the Earth; Back Into the Land of Israel

It is the God of Israel Who brings the Jews back from the East and the West, from the North and the South, back into the land which He gave them:

1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine."
5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the East, and gather thee from the West;
6 I will say to the North, "Give up"; and to the South, "Keep not back": bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the Earth;

The Jews are Going Home to Stay

Amos Chapter 9:15 (NIV)

Israel Will Never Again Uprooted

God makes another amazing statement. He will replant Israel back into their homeland and they will never again be driven from it:

15 "I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the Lord your God.

The Return of the Nation of Israel

Ezekiel Chapter 36:24 (KJV)

Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!

A simple, direct prophecy from God Himself declares that in the Last Days, He will bring the Jew from all foreign lands back to the land He gave them long, long ago. A clear indicator of the End of the Age, the worldwide return of the Jew is in progress now:

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

The Reborn Nation of Israel

Ezekiel Chapter 37:1-28 (KJV)

The Dry Bones Resurrected

Here God directs Ezekiel to prophesy to the land of Israel. After Adolph Hitler's campaign of genocide against the Jew during World War II, it appeared that the Jewish people were all but extinct. Not only would they not obtain national status as first afforded by the Balfour Declaration of 1917, it appeared they were hopelessly lost as a people. The soil of Germany and ovens of the Third Reich contained some six million (6,000,000) Jewish skeletons. It appeared all was lost.

But God would snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and Ezekiel wrote of this more than 2,500 years before it happened. The founding of the United Nations in 1947 established the governing body that, out of sympathy due to the Holocaust, reestablished National Israel to the land God gave to Abraham. The prophecy of Romans 11:25-29 will come true:

1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry.
3 He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord GOD, You know'.
4 Again He said to me, 'Prophesy over these bones and say to them,' 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.'
5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.'
6 'I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.
9 Then He said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath,' Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.'
10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.'
12 'Therefore prophesy and say to them,' Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.'
13 'Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people.'
14 'I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,' declares the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again to me saying,
16 'And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it,' For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions; 'then take another stick and write on it,' For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.
17 'Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.'
18 'When the sons of your people speak to you saying,' 'Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?'
19 'say to them,' Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.'
20 'The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.'
21 'Say to them,' Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;'
22 'and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.'
23 'They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.'
24 'My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.'
25 'They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever.'
26 'I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.'
27 'My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.'
28 'And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.'

An Attack on Israel in the Latter Years

Ezekiel Chapter 38:8-9 (KJV)

The Gog and Magog War

In the Latter Years, another term for the Last Days, Israel is attacked by enemies from the north (vvs. 38:6, 15, 39:2) after she is restored to her land. This attack is likened to a storm and it comes against Jews brought back into their land from the nations of the Earth to which they were formerly scattered:

8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the Latter Years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

The Land of Israel Divided in the Last Days

Daniel Chapter 11:38-39 (KJV)

Honoring a Strange "god" and Dividing the Land of Israel

When the Antichrist arises to power, he honors a "strange god" not known by his ancestors. This "god of forces" is not the God of Israel, but rather a god of fortresses, whom the Antichrist honors with jewels and precious metals. And the Antichrist will divide the land of Israel, the land of God, for political profit:

38 But in his estate shall he honour the god of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.

Dividing the Land of the God of Israel

Joel Chapter 3:2 (KJV)

Passport to The Valley of Jehoshaphat (Armageddon)

In this passage, the prophet Joel prophesies of the Valley of Megiddo, also known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where Armageddon will occur as a result of the Antichrist's oppression of the Jews and his dividing the land of God:

2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for My people and for My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted My land.

A Third Temple to God in Jerusalem, Israel

Revelation Chapter 11:1-2 (KJV)

Outer Court under Gentile Control for 1,260 Days

In Revelation, the Apostle John is told to measure the Temple to God. John receives this in 95 A.D., or 25 years after the Second Temple to God was destroyed by Titus Vespasian in 70 A.D. Therefore we are learning that a real Third Temple will eventually be constructed, even though (in our time) 1900+ years have passed since this prophecy was given. One-half of the 7-year Tribulation Period is also referenced in the 2nd passage:

1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the Temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the Holy City (Jerusalem) shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

A False Peace Plan That Destroys Many During the Tribulation

Daniel Chapter 8:25 (KJV)

Antichrist is Defeated by Jesus Christ at His Second Coming

In Daniel chapter 8, we are instructed that the Antichrist, as a "False Messiah" will institute a deceptive "peace" plan that will destroy many people. Eventually he will battle Jesus Christ at the Second Coming and will be summarily defeated:

25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes (Jesus Christ); but he shall be broken without hand.

The Antichrist Declares Himself to Be "God" in Jerusalem

2nd Thessalonians Chapter 2:3-4 (KJV)

The False Messiah Abominates the Third Temple to Israel's God

In 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul teaches the Church at Thessalonica that the Antichrist will be revealed before the Second Coming of Christ. He will sit in the Third Temple to the Real God of Israel and declare himself to be "god" and this will be the abomination that causes desolation:

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that Day (Day of the Lord's Return) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Daniel's Prophecy of the Abomination of the Third Temple in Jerusalem

Daniel Chapter 9:27 (KJV)

First we review the prophecy given by the Angel Gabriel to Daniel while Daniel was in Babylonian captivity. In this passage Gabriel is speaking of the last 7 years of judgement decreed upon Israel, also known as the Time of Jacob's Trouble:

27 And he (the Antichrist) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (7 years): and in the midst of the week (3.5 years into the 7 years) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Matthew Chapter 24:14-16 (KJV)

Christ Confirms the Prophecy Given to Daniel the Prophet

In Matthew 24 Jesus Christ is speaking of the End Times. He tells us the Gospel will be preached in all Nations (and eventually by an Angel in Revelation 14) before the End of the Age. He confirms an abomination by the Antichrist in the Holy Place which is a clear reference to the Holy of Holies inside the Third Temple to God (this did not occur in 70 A.D.). He informs the residents of Judea that they will need to immediately flee to the mountains, no doubt referring to Petra in Jordan:

14 And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the World for a witness unto all Nations; and then shall the End come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the Holy Place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

National Israel has been Resurrected. This is a striking fulfillment of Bible Prophecy in the 20th Century.

Click Here for a Full-Color Graphics Version of this Page

[ Home ] [ Great Tribulation dot Com / Tribulation dot Com Bible Prophecy Homepage! ] [ Woman, Dragon and Child! ] [ Imminency! ] [ Popular Myths About the Bible ] [ Parakletos: Greek for Holy Spirit ] [ Armageddon - Why Study Bible Prophecy? ] [ Prophecy Tour! ] [ Two Witnesses! ] [ The Antichrist Beast! ] [ Which Jesus? ] [ Petra! ] [ Harvest Time! ] [ Whore of Babylon ] [ Jerusalem! ] [ Nebuchadnezzar's Dream! ] [ Jacob's Trouble! ] [ The Valley of the Dry Bones ] [ Ten Commandments! ] [ Bible Flowchart! ] [ Y2K! Year 2000! ] [ The Tower of Babel ] [ Rapture of the Christian Church! ] [ The Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts ] [ The King James Bible ] [ Iraq and Armageddon! ] [ Russian Bear in Prophecy! ] [ Babylon Is Not Iraq! ] [ Salvation! ]

www.tribulation.com

MIDI Music: "He is Risen"