3 Resurrections Part 1 National Israel Kathryn Kuhlman Valley of Dry Bones

Today I'm going to begin a new series of messages that I pray with all of my heart will be a real inspiration, a genuine blessing to you. I mean that. I want more than anything in the world that this new series of messages shall do something to you that will take you deeper in the things of God than you have ever gone before, that will make you appreciate your salvation more than ever, and that will give you a clearer understanding and knowledge of the Word of God. This new series of messages will be on the resurrection. And as I... close my little heart -to -heart talk today. I'll go just as far as I possibly can. Then I shall continue with the same subject in my next heart -to -heart talk with you until we have covered all three of these resurrections. For the Scriptures clearly speak of three definite kinds of resurrection. a national resurrection, a spiritual resurrection, and that all -important resurrection, the material resurrection. All right, for just a very few minutes, let's begin with the national resurrection. Of course, this refers to Israel. And in the sixth chapter of Hosea, in the Old Testament, the first two verses, we read these words, Come, and let us return unto the Lord, for he hath torn, and he will heal us. He hath smitten, and he will bind us up, and after two days he will revive us. In the third day he will raise us up. and we shall live in His sight. Oh, let me repeat a part of that. This is very marvelous to remember something. This is the very day, this is the very generation that this portion of the Word of God is being fulfilled before our very eyes. After two days, Will he revive us? And in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight. There are several things in this passage worth noting. First, we see from the context that the words of the prophet are addressed conclusively to the Jewish people and to the whole twelve tribes. And these twelve tribes are represented by Ephraim and Judah. Read it. It's there. The sixth chapter of Hosea. And it is the whole house of Israel that says, Come and let us return unto the Lord. In these words, we have the cry of repentance, not of an individual. But it's to cry repentance of a nation that has been torn and smitten by the Lord. It's not to cry a person's dead in their graves. The healing does not refer to a resurrection from the dead. And the binding means that the whole twelve tribes will... be rebound into one nation again in their own land. The expression, will revive us, does not mean a resurrection from physical death. For the word revive simply means what we mean when we speak of a revival religion, which is a... spiritual and not a physical resurrection. Now, the remarkable statement in the passage, this passage that I've just now given to you, to me the most remarkable thing about the whole passage is the time of the revival. It says after two days. It's clear that those Two days are not literal days or 24 hours. No. For more than two such days have gone by. Sure. For these words were spoken by the prophet about B .C. 780 or about 2700 years ago. And... therefore, must be interpreted on the scale of that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years. Go to 2 Peter, the third chapter, and it's about the eighth verse. And you'll find the scripture that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years. Taking that scale of time, We see that Israel is now well along in the third thousand years of her rejection. And it's been during this generation, our generation, that the Jews have been regathered and are now a nation and Israel is recognized. as a nation by all other nations in the world. Oh, to me, that's thrilling. It's marvelous. You know, if it were suggested that we discuss the future of any other nation than the Jewish nation, I, for one, would not attempt it. The task would be simply a speculative one based on probabilities that would be likely to be upset by unforeseen circumstances. But I want you to know something. The Jewish nation has the unique distinction of having for its historian the Holy Spirit, who has not simply recorded the past history of that nation, but has outlined the future. We have the history, the complete history of the Jewish people so far as their past is concerned. If you want to know the future of the Jewish people, if you want to know the future of Israel, turn to God's precious word. Turn to the Bible. And we have a perfect revelation. regarding the future of this nation. Isn't that marvelous? Oh, beloved, this should be not only very thrilling to you and to me as Gentiles, but I should think this would be one of the most thrilling things in the world to the Jewish people. Oh, this to me is marvelous. You know, long before Israel... became a nation in our generation. And of course that took place in 1948. May the 16th, 1948, when again the Jews were gathered together and Israel was acknowledged, accepted as a nation. Your generation, my generation, and yet this thing was prophesied 2 ,500 years ago. Sure, the restoration of the... was prophesied 2 ,500 years ago as a fact. I'm going to show you in just a second how marvelous the Word of God. The 30th chapter of Jeremiah. Oh, I know there are folk who feel the Bible is outdated, outmoded. It's the most up -to -date reading. that we have in the world today. More up -to -date, more informative than tomorrow morning's newspaper or your world commentator tonight. That's right. The 30th chapter of Jeremiah. Therefore fear not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord. Neither be dismayed, O Israel. For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee. Though I make a full end of all nations, whether I have scattered thee yet, will I not make a full end of thee. I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and drink. the wine thereof. They shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land. Oh, that's it. I've just read to you a portion from the ninth chapter of Amos. That's it. But somebody may say this prophecy was fulfilled in the restoration from the Babylonian captivity. Not so. For at that time they were driven out of the land after that. And this promise is that they shall no more be pulled up out of their land. And this... was a future restoration. And that restoration has taken place in our generation. Let me go a little further with this. The 37th chapter of Ezekiel, the same picture is given, exactly the very same picture. Here it is. And the hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. How often I've heard preachers using this valley of dry bones regarding the dead spiritual church members who fill their pews. I know some of you ministers have an awful lot of dead bones parked in your pews on Sunday morning. Oh, but there's flesh on those bones. And this, of course, the Word of God does not refer to Gentiles. It does not refer to those dead, spiritually dead church members that you've got in your churches. This refers to the restoration of Israel. The bones are the whole house of Israel who shall one day live. The graves are the nations where they dwell. Watch. And he said unto me, Son of man, Can these bones live? There was a time for generations when men and women the world over wondered if the prophecy could possibly be fulfilled, when the Jews who had been scattered to all corners of the earth could be restored again as a nation. Can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. Watch now. and I will lay sinews upon you, and I will bring up flesh upon you, and I'll cover you with skin, and I'll put breath in you, and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. I'm reading God's word. Now, here is something. Watch that 11th verse. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are. the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost. We are cut off from our parts. Here comes the first of all the resurrection, the national resurrection of Israel. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. Behold, O my people, I will open your graves. Here comes your national resurrection of the Jewish people of Israel. I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. And that glorious resurrection of the Jewish people, of Israel, has taken place in our generation. And as surely as we have seen this national resurrection, we will also experience the second resurrection, which is spiritual, third resurrection, which is material. God will keep his word. Amen.