MEN OF VALOUR: THE RISING OF A VAST ARMY -PART 1

Part 1 – GOD’S METHOD IS MAN

“So, I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army” (Ezekiel 37:10)

Behind every great move of God, both in the generations and nations past and in the contemporary times, is always a man. This is a timeless biblical truth. E.M. Bound, that great man of prayer, also subscribed to this assertion when he said, “God’s method is man.” God, right from creation has taken interest in building army of believers that he could trust with His power to make His glory known in the land.

 One thing we will quickly discover from studying the scriptures, especially when we take a critical perusal of the account of creation is the fact that God has a purpose in raising His own army, He has a way of equipping His own army, and with that equipping their weaponry in combating the foes were very effective.

However, what we see in our days is very different. This was the same vision Ezekiel saw of a vast army in the valley but they were weak and inactive. This is very descriptive of the present generation of the members in the church of Jesus.

Today, both in the church and in the secular world, what we concentrate on is an invention of new methods to get things done for God, but God is preoccupied with looking for better men to get things done through them. There is a big difference between the two. Today, God’s method of doing His work is totally abandoned and so the authentic revival is far from us. People of old experienced an authentic revival because the right men with the right methods, utilizing the right force, were in place. The revival of their time was unprecedented and distinctive. What we have today is not revival but rather rivalry.

The early believers moved in the power of the Lord and were daily agonizing under God in prayer in the upper room as they invaded the kingdom of hell with the life-giving Spirit of the Lord, thereby bringing glory to God and expansion to His kingdom. Whereas, in our days what we see in the church are believers gathering in the feasting roomonly organizing. The fact remains that new methods without a new (regenerated and revived) man, that is sent from and anointed by God will only end up as ordinary acrobatic exhibition of human will and agenda which will not make an eternal impact upon this present generation that is laden with evil.

 The truth of the scriptures is that God is committed to using men. Man is very central, crucial and unique for the fulfillment of His ultimate purposes and desires here on earth. Problems, either in the church or world remain unsolved as long as the right man with the “technical know-how” is not found. These are men referred to as “solution carriers.” These are enlisted soldiers in God’s army who have been equipped with necessary weaponry for the prompt discharge of their responsibilities. God’s heart cry always is “whom shall I send and who will go for us…” (Isaiah 6:8). These are men who are filled with nothing else but God himself.

God used men both in the old and New Testament times and He is still using men to realize His great purposes on earth. The eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews listed their names.  These are heroes of faith who attained this status not because of the size of their wealth or earthly possessions or their bogus academic titles but because of the measure of God’s Spirit that possessed them. These are men who walked with God by faith; men who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, shut the mouth of lions, quenched the fury of the flames and escaped the edge of sword.

God is still looking for such men. He still longs for such army that would carry such marks and make more impact. His desire is still to raise a great army that will invade the various harvest fields that is white already for harvest (John 4:35). Heaven still reserved revival rain that could still come upon men so much that they would be soaked as they bear His glory around, as far as the earthen lands are concerned (Joel 2:28).

The big questions, however, are, can God still get such men? Where are they located and what kind of preparation and equipping do they need?  Prophet Ezekiel in our text above (Ezek. 37: 1-10) presented a true picture of how God prepares and equips His own army. From that passage we could see what renders God’s army impotent, the nature of the power the army of God supposed to carry and how this power came about and what always guarantee their consistent victories.

God is very consistent in all ages. His principles of operation remain constant. God has a way He has been preparing His workmen right from creation and the pattern remains the same even in the New Testament dispensation. For this reason and for the purpose of comprehension, I will like us to examine the preparation of God’s army from the creation story down to the New Testament era taking clue also from Ezekiel revelation of the valley of dry bone.