BACKGROUND

• Ezekiel, Jeremiah & Daniel

• Written 6th Century BC from exile in Babylonia

• Ezekiel 37 “Dry Bones” images

“And the word of the Lord came to me saying”

(Ez 22:23)

“Son of man say to her (Israel), ‘You are a land that is not cleansed

or rained on in the day of my indignation” (24)

“There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the

prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows

in the midst of her” (25)

“Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane and they have not taught the difference between the clean and the unclean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths and I am

profaned among them.” (26)

“Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey by shedding blood

and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain.” (27)

“Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining

lies for them saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God’ when the Lord has not spoken”

(28)

The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery and

they have wronged the poor and the needy and have oppressed the sojourner

without justice.” (29)

There are amazing parallels between this devastating critic of Israel and America’s public institutions today:• Politicians• Courts• Academicians• Church leaders• Main Stream Media• Unscrupulous financial and business

leaders

PARALLELS

“devoured lives”…failing public schools

“taken treasure and precious things”…$16 trillion in debt

“made many widows”…Welfare rules that drive husband’s from the home

“priests have done violence to My laws”…ordaining homosexuals and blessing gay marriages

PARALLELS“no distinction between holy and profane”…gender neutral Bibles

“tearing the prey and shedding blood for dishonest gain”…abortion

“smearing whitewash for them”…main stream media

“oppressed the sojourner”…broken immigration laws

“I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the

gap before Me for the land so that I would not destroy it.” (30a)

THE POWER OF ONE

• William Wilberforce• Elijah and the prophets of Baal (I Kings 18:17-40)• North Carolina Marriage Amendment• Jesus

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CHURCH TODAY

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before

you life and death, blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live,

you and your descendents.” (Deut 30:19)

Choose life…”by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice and by holding fast to Him…” (Deut 20:20a) and secure God’s

blessing for you and for generations to come.

Like the children of God in Ezekiel’s day, today’s Church is: • Marginalized• Intimidated• Ineffectual• Complicit?

“I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the

gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it…But I found no one

What will God find in our church?

Are you willing to build up the wall and stand in the gap?

We face a choice Tuesday…and we must turn out and choose life and preserve God’s blessing for generations to come.

BUT THERE’S MORE:Are you willing to build up the wall and stand in the gap daily:• In the marketplace?• At home?• With your friends and neighbors?

Christian, it is time to rise up… will you be the one