One Last Miracle

If you got your Bible, 2 Kings chapter 13, 2 Kings 13, just two verses tonight. This is our 22nd message on Elisha. We tried to cover all the verses that deal with this young man, I guess old man now because he dies. But we tried to cover all the verses that we can concerning this man to understand that everything about Elisha is influential, instructional, and inspirational. That sums up the life of Elisha. He is the miracle man. He performed a multitude of miracles. And we have looked at all of them together with you to help gain insight in terms of what it is God is doing and how he does it and why he does it.

And so as we come to the end of this man, we realize that it's a glad time. It's a sad time. We're glad because we finally finished Elisha, but we're sad because we're leaving the study of Elisha.

I mean, if you study Old Testament characters, you become very well acquainted with them during your time of study. If you spend any time at all with in-depth study, these characters become a part of your life. And we have had the wonderful privilege for the last several years to look at Old Testament characters with you on Wednesday evening, trying to spend Sunday mornings in the New Testament, Wednesday nights in the Old Testament, to preach to you the whole counsel of God so you get a perspective on all of them.

But to help you understand how these men, how these individuals are used by God in a significant way, just as God wants to use you in a very significant way as well. And the end of Elisha's life is summed up in just two simple verses. And those two verses have what we call a sacred conciseness. There is something unique about how the scripture says what it says and how it states it in very simple terms.

But the most amazing things that happen in scripture are stated in the most simple, sacred kind of ways. Let me read to you the two verses, 2 Kings 13 verses 20 and 21.

Elijah died and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. And as they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. When the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet. That's it. Two verses, one speaking about death, the other speaks about life. How much more practical can you possibly be? Life and death. How more real can you possibly be than to talk about life and death?

It's the Lord God who holds the keys to death and Hades. It's the Lord God himself who is the living God who gives life. So whatever happens in our lives, the most important things are life and death. And so Elisha's life is summed up in two words, life and death. And we have a story about Elisha dying and it's stated in a very simple manner. No parade around that, no big parties for Elisha or memorial services for Elisha. In fact, there are no memorial services in scripture for anybody who dies.

And so we begin to see that Elisha, up in the years, some 80 years of age, maybe beyond that, dies and is buried. He's buried in a grave, in a tomb. They didn't dig holes in the ground and put bodies in the ground in those days. The Jews don't do that. They dug out holes in rocks and caves. And they dug them big enough that you could walk into them and stand up in them for evidently this man who was revived, had a resurrection, stood up inside the tomb. And so they're big enough for you to stand up inside.

If you've been to Israel with me, you've been to the garden tomb, you know what it's like to go inside the tomb of the Lord Jesus and to be able to stand up right in that tomb because that's how they made them. And then they would hew out of the rock a place to lay their body or they would lay the body on the ground. And evidently they'd put the body on the ground of Elisha. And Elisha was there long enough for his body to decay and for there to be left nothing but bones. They would wrap the bodies up in linen and they would fill them with all kinds of spices and all kinds of perfume and incense to make the body smell nice.

But after a while it decays and everything is gone except for the bones. And evidently Elisha had been dead maybe a year, two, three, who knows how long he'd been dead, but all that was left were his bones. This young man was thrown into the tomb of Elisha. His body touches the bones of Elisha and is resurrected. Stands up in the tomb, runs out of the tomb, and joins the friends who threw him in the tomb. I would love to have been there on that day. But that's how the life of Elisha ends. And it ends in such a unique kind of way.

But I want you to notice three things about Elisha that everything about his life is influential, instructional, and inspirational.

Think of Elisha's life. We've studied it for 22 different weeks. And we've had the opportunity to begin his ministry with him when he was, we don't know how old he was when he began. Maybe he was a teenager, maybe he was in his 20s, maybe 30s, who knows. And so we began when he began with Elijah throwing the man along, Elisha, and Elisha following him. And so throughout this whole time, we have studied this man's life. And one thing about Elisha is that he was a very influential individual. He influenced everybody he came in contact with.

Don't think for one moment that he did not influence the parents of the 42 youths that died because they called him baldy. And he commissioned the bears to come out of the woods and eat those 42 lads. Very influential in the lives of their parents. Very influential in the kings of Israel. He served during the span of 11 kings, 6 in the Northern Kingdom, 5 in the Southern Kingdom. So Elisha's ministry spanned 11 different kings. And he had much influence over those kings. He made quite an impact on those kings.

And even though the nation of Israel did not repent and did not turn back to the Lord under his ministry, there were those who did. And yet as a whole, they did not. But that does not minimize the influence of Elisha. Think about the Shunammite woman and the influence he had with her by causing a barren woman to become pregnant and then for that son to grow up and then die at a very early age and then for Elisha to raise him from the dead. And then to help her understand that the phantom was coming to move her from the land of Israel to a place where she would survive for seven years and then come back to her land again and be able to, in a miraculous way, obtain once again her land.

Oh, he was very influential in her life. Think about the sons of the prophets. The school of the prophets that Elisha and Elisha taught in. Don't think for one moment that those men weren't influenced by the life of Elisha. They were. And so when you look at the life of Elisha, the one thing that pops out in your mind is that he was very influential in the lives of everybody he came in contact with.

Think about this. There is no record of Elisha's life compromising anything. There is no record of any sin recorded in Elisha's life. It doesn't mean that he didn't sin. He did. And yet this man made such an impact on people's lives that he changed the course of people's lives. Think about Naaman when he was healed of his leprosy. He was a converted man. He was a changed man. Think of King Ben. Hey, dad, he had witnessed the miraculous powers of Elisha and yet he never turned from his wicked ways.

Neither did the northern kings of Israel. But it did not mean that Elisha's life was not filled with much influence, which begs the question, how much influence do you have with the people you come in contact with? How influential is your life when it comes to the lives of others? Think about it this way. When Elisha, during the famine, went to Syria, everybody knew he was the man of God. They whispered, the man of God, there he goes. There's the man of God. There he is. And the king found out through the people in the town that the man of God had arrived in Damascus.

Think about that. Think about the influence he had, not only in the land of Israel, but in Syria, outside the land of Israel. This man had influence. And notice, they said, the man of God.

That is the phrase used of Elisha more than any other phrase. Now think about it this way. They didn't say, the miracle man is here. They said, the man of God is here. Even though he performed a multitude of miracles, he is never called the miracle man. He is called the man of God. Why? Because it's always more important who you are than what you do. You want to be known for who you are. You don't want to be known for what you do. Because what you do comes and goes. Who you are speaks to character, and character lasts forever.

That's very, very important. You see, we got that all mixed up. We ask children what they want to do when they get older. Here's a famous question. When you graduate from college, what do you want to do? And all of a sudden, we begin to associate doing with importance, rather than being as the all-important thing. At a very early age, when we ask our children in kindergarten, what do you want to do when you get older? And they say, well, I want to be a doctor, or I want to be an athlete, or I want to be a preacher, or I want to be a coach, or I want to be a lawyer, or I want to be this.

All of a sudden, we are associating what we do with who we are. And all of a sudden, we have a misplaced identity, and we got major problems. But the miracle man was never associated with his miracles. He was associated with the character that distinguished him from other people. The man of God. So I beg the question, what kind of influence do you have? When you go to work, what is the influence you have in your workplace? In your home, what kind of influence do you have? What kind of impact do you have with those closest to you?

You see, for us to study the life of Elisha, and leave the study without recognizing the kind of influence we need to have, wherever we live and whatever we do, we've missed the study of Elisha. He was a very influential man, because he was the man of God. Are we men and women of God, so that when people see us, they know that's who we are? And that they ascribe to us a character trait that describes the impact and influence we have had on those not just closest to us, but those that might not even know who we are, like the people in Damascus.

They just knew that Elisha, the man of God, had arrived. Elisha's life was very influential. So, that's the first thing you need to know about Elisha.

The second thing about Elisha is that his life was very instructional. Not just influential, but very instructional for you and me. For every time we gather together and study the life of Elisha, we are instructed from the word of God as to how we are to live, what we are to do, how God operates. We are instructed, and we have been for the last 22 weeks, about the providence of God, the power of God, the purposes of God, the plan of God, the promises of God. Everything about God has been given to us by way of instruction through the life of Elisha.

And so to spend 22 weeks looking at this man's life and miss the instruction that he gives us about the character and nature of God, we have missed the study. We have missed the time that we are together. And I don't want you to miss those opportunities. I want you to be able to grasp them, firmly grip them, understand them, and leave understanding the character and nature of God because of what God did in the life of Elisha. Very important. So in our study, when it comes to the instruction we see tonight, we have the man, the man in the grave, who is Elisha, and we have the miracle in the grave, which is the man we don't know who was raised from the dead.

So from the instructional standpoint, we have the man in the grave and the miracle in the grave. And the man in the grave teaches us two things. It teaches us about the certainty of death, right? What else is it going to teach us? Elisha's dead. So it helps us understand, once again, that death is inevitable, right? It's appointed that a man wants to die. So we know, and should know, very well, that death is a certainty. Elisha died and was buried. We come to a very instructional aspect of our lives, and that is a certainty of death.

If you talk about the certainty of death, you must talk about the brevity of life, right? Because no one lives forever. Now I know that when we're younger, we think that, boy, I tell you, we have so much time in front of us. We're going to live forever, and all these things we want to do, we make up our bucket list in terms of the things we want to accomplish before we die one day. But we think we're going to live a long, long, long, long time, and we just never do. Think about it in comparison to eternity.

It's just a drop in the bucket. That's why the Bible calls our lives but a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. Our life is like grass. It's green one moment and dead the next. So if you talk about the certainty of death, you have to talk about the brevity of life, but you also must talk about the inevitability of judgment, right? It's the point of the man who wants to die after that what? The judgment, right? So you must talk about the inevitability of judgment. If you're going to talk about the fact that everybody's going to die, then you've got to talk about the inevitability of judgment because everybody's going to be judged.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5.10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone will receive that which is done on his body, whether it be good or bad.

That's for the believer. That judgment seat is called the Bema seat. That judgment seat is a reward seat. That Bema platform is where the warrior would stand once having run the race, won the race, receives the victorious wreath. So 2 Corinthians 5.10 speaks to us about that Bema seat, that judgment seat, where we as believers receive our rewards. We're not judged according to our sin because our sin was judged at Calvary. So our sin is never in question at the Bema seat of Christ. There we receive the victor's reward.

But for the unbeliever, he doesn't stand at the Bema seat, the judgment seat of Christ. He stands at the great white throne judgment, Revelation 20, 11 to 15. And there the books are open. And there that man's life is put under a microscope. And all of his deeds are judged according to the standard of God's law. And those not found written in the book of life, and believe me, if you're at the great white throne judgment, your name is not written in the book of life. And those whose names are not written in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire, and there they will face eternal damnation forever.

So if you're going to talk about the certainty of death, you've got to hit the brevity of life. Even though Elijah is somewhere between 80 and 100, when you look at it in comparison to eternity, it's just a vapor.

But you have to talk about the inevitability of judgment. If you're talking about the inevitability of judgment, you must talk about the iniquity of man. Because why does a man die? Because of sin. If there was no sin, man would never die. But Adam and Eve were told, the day you eat, you're going to die. And they died spiritually. And then they would die physically because they brought death into existence. And death is passed upon all men now because all have sinned. We are now born with a sin nature.

So that little baby that comes out of the womb that's so cute and pretty is a sinful, dead person, dead in their trespasses and sin, and is in need of the saving grace of Almighty God. If you're going to talk about the iniquity of man, then you must also talk about the necessity of salvation. Because without man being born again, he'll never face eternity with the living God. And so there's a whole boatload of information when you talk about the phrase, and Elijah died and was buried. So much more than just his death.

It's everything surrounding his death and what happens after his death. Because him dying is not the end. We tend to think that that's it. It's not. It's the beginning of the end. So when man dies, it is really the beginning of eternity for that man. And whether he will live with God or without God, Elisha will live with God. Elisha didn't get the Elijah experience to be able to sail off into glory in a whirlwind. He didn't get the Enoch experience where he just kept walking right up to heaven with God.

I'm not sure Elisha even ever expected that. Elisha faced the end of every man, death. And so when it was time for him to die, which begs the question of the sovereignty of God. When you talk about the inevitability of judgment, the certainty of death, the bread of your life, the necessity of salvation, the iniquity of man, you got to talk about the sovereignty of God because everybody dies on time and nobody dies by accident. Everybody dies by divine appointment. It's appointed a man who wants to die.

So Elisha's death was a divine appointment, like everybody's death is, because Christ holds the keys to death in Hades. He's in charge of who dies, when they die, and even how they die. You know, all of that just frees us up as believers when we encounter a death experience. Because if we talk about all that, you must add to that the tranquility of scripture, right? Because only scripture can bring you the peace amidst a difficult time that you're experiencing. For without the word of God comforting us amidst our time of tragic death, we would have no comfort.

And the spirit of God uses the word of God in our lives. And so everything about the certainty of death with Elisha opens up a whole can of worms concerning everything surrounding life and death. But notice this, there's also the consequences of what happens when the righteous man dies.

Look what it says, Elisha died and they buried him. Very next phrase. Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. That's not by coincidence. The Moabites had been waiting for more than 50 years for Elisha to die. Way back in second Kings chapter 1, when Elisha, because he was a part of the army of Israel, had gathered together the three kings of Israel, and in a miraculous way defeated the Moabites, during his tenure, the Moabites stopped invading the land of Israel.

It's not by coincidence that now that Elisha is dead, here they come again. They have been waiting, they have been chomping at the bit for Elisha to die, for Elisha to go off the scene, for something to happen to this guy, so they can begin marauding with their bands the land of Israel. Happens in the springtime, when the harvest is plentiful. And now that Elisha is dead, they can do that. You see, there's something about the godly man, there's something about the righteous man, that deters sinful behavior, and keeps peace in the arena.

There's something about that. Think about it this way. A number of years ago, I had a grandmother come to me and say, I need you to pray for my family. I said, love to. She said, I am the only saved one in my family. My husband wasn't saved. I have dragged my family to church. I have made sure that what happens in the home, happens for the glory of the Lord. But I'm going to die. And when I die, I have no idea what's going to happen to my family. Because I am the only righteous one in the family.

She goes, I don't say that to be arrogant, but without me, they wouldn't be in church. Without me, they wouldn't read their Bible. Without me, they wouldn't memorize scripture. Without me, there'd be no family devotions. Without me, there would be no opportunity to serve the Lord. Without me, none of this would happen. And I keep telling them, you need to give your life to Christ. You need to be born again. You need to be saved. You need to be in church. You need to be in a Bible teaching church.

You need to be involved in the ministry of the church. When I die, I have no idea what's going to happen next. So I prayed with her and ministered to her family. And when she died, one by one, they stopped coming to church. And I would call them and I would talk to them and try to encourage them. And I would remind them, remember what your mother said to me or your grandmother said to me before she died. Let me reiterate in your mind what she told me.

And I would reiterate that to them and it would go in one ear and out the other. You see, there was something about the godly woman in the home that preserved the home. Remember in 1 Corinthians 7, it talks about how, and even in 1 Peter 3, how that godly woman who is born again, married to an unsaved man, brings an umbrella of protection to the family. And that man who's unsaved falls under that umbrella of protection because she is a righteous person. There's something unique about what happens to those around the righteous, that they are able to partake of some of the protection that the righteous person receives because they are in a close proximity to that person.

But when the righteous person dies and goes off the scene, that umbrella of protection is taken away. Think about it this way. Paul in Acts 20 said to the Ephesian elders, After my departure, savage wolves will come from within the assembly. Not from without, but they will rise up from within the church and lead people astray. He warned the Ephesian elders. They were godly men, but Paul was the apostle. Paul was that leader. Paul was that instrument of righteousness. And Paul knew that after three years of his ministry, after he would leave, there would be savage wolves who would rise up in the church.

And they did. That's the way it happens. How many churches do you know that you have heard of, that godly men were pastors of, had led the churches down a righteous road. But when they died, another man came along, not nearly as committed to the purity and holiness of the church as the previous guy was, and the church began to compromise a little bit here, a little bit there, a little bit here, a little bit there. And then before you know it, the church is going down not a righteous path, but a wicked path.

And the people of the church are going the wrong way because the man in charge is leading them the wrong way. Happens to countless of churches. It's happened to denominations across our country. It's happened to Christian schools across our country that were once started by righteous holy men. But over time, those righteous holy men died and went off the scene, and ungodly men took their place and led the school down the wrong road. It happens. And it happens more often than we'd like to admit. And when Elisha, who was, as Joash said, that great eulogy, the only eulogy that is a biblical eulogy, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen, that is the only biblical eulogy.

And it's spoken of twice in Scripture. I mean, that is a, listen, a God-breathed eulogy. It's in Scripture. It's inspired by God. That is a God-breathed eulogy. That is a eulogy that every person should aspire to. Forget about anything else you've heard. Forget about all the people who wax eloquently about whatever life you had. My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen is a God-inspired, God-breathed eulogy. The provider and the protector of Israel is now dead. What will happen to Israel?

What's going to happen to the land of people? This man, who had provided an umbrella of protection for the nation during his earthly ministry, having followed Elisha, who was able to help Israel defeat and miss the armies of Syria, a man who was able to keep Moab out of the land of Israel, a man who constantly would point Israel in the right direction toward the things of God, this was the man who was the provider and protector of Israel. He was the chariot of Israel. He was Israel's horsemen. He was the father of Israel.

Now he's dead. Now what happens? Very important. You see, the life of Elisha is extremely instruction. It instructs us on how to live. It teaches us about life and death. It teaches us about what's important. To be is always more important than to do. Being outweighs doing every time. And yet we're so focused on doing and not being. We're focused on making more money instead of being the man of God God wants me to be. We're focused more on getting an education than we are at becoming more and more like God wants us to be.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't get an education. That doesn't mean you shouldn't get a good job. But don't be defined by your education. God forbid. And don't be defined by your job. God forbid. Because that makes you a very, very shallow person. Very shallow. Because what you do does not define you. But who you are does. What you do will die when you die. But who you are carries on after your death. So that's the man in the grave. That's Elisha. How about the miracle in the grave? Quite a miracle, is it not?

And isn't it interesting that there's no elaboration to the miracle? It's very simply stated. I mean, there's nothing big and bodacious about it. There's no commentary on it. In fact, you can read very little in commentaries about this particular miracle. In fact, very few even write on it. It's so, for lack of a better phrase, minuscule. But it is a miracle. I mean, how many people can you throw into a grave and they touch the bones of somebody else and they're resurrected? Answer? Nobody. This is the only time it ever happens.

So it's got to be a pretty big event. Especially because God put it in the Bible. It's a God-inspired miracle. And so, what lessons do we learn from the miracle in the grave? Can I give you three of them? And please keep me posted on the time. I think it was last week or two weeks ago. I went really, really long. So keep me posted on the time so I can remember how much time I have left. So here's the deal. Three lessons. Number one, first lesson I want to teach you is about the reminder of God's power.

The first lesson is a reminder of God's power. Now these young men, carrying this dead body, were in a hurry because the Moabites were coming. Now one thing, they rolled the stone away because, you know, in Israel, and you can go in the land of Israel and see a lot of these graves carved out of stone. There's just not the garden tomb. And there are many of them all over the land of Israel. And they rolled tombs or stones in front of the entryway. So whether or not they actually took the time to roll the stone away, they didn't say they did.

Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Maybe it was already rolled away. I don't know. But they tossed the body into Elisha's tomb. And maybe they didn't even know it was Elisha's tomb. He had been dead for a while. And there is no hoopla surrounding his death. So I'm sure there wasn't any memorial service, any graveside service for Elisha. And so he was buried there in some tomb. And maybe these guys had no idea it was Elisha's tomb. And all they knew is that the Moabites were coming, and they had to get rid of the body because they can't carry a body and run very fast.

So they threw the body into the tomb, and that happened to be Elisha's tomb. And Elisha's bones were there. And the body touched the bones and was resurrected, revived, came to life, and stood up, ran out of the tomb, and joined the other men who threw him in the tomb. And that's all we have. That's the story. And yet it teaches us, gives us the reminder of God's power. Can I remind you that Elisha, although he's called the miracle man, never performed a miracle outside the power of God. Elisha's power was God-infused power.

There are many times Elisha could have performed a miracle, but he didn't. There were many opportunities he had, but he didn't. It was all about God and God's timing and the way God wanted to do it. Thus saith the Lord, God has spoken, God has declared, and so he would do it based on what God had said or God had told him to do. Because God infused him with the power to do what needed to be done for the glory of God. And so, even though he's called the miracle man, Elisha performed no miracles. It was the God of miracles who performed the miracles.

Elisha just was a representative of the power of God. And Elisha, whose name means God is my Savior, God is my Salvation, God is my Deliverer, reminds Israel, even after his death, that the delivering power of God is still available to them. In spite of their rebellious state, the opportunity to repent, the opportunity to return back to God, the opportunity for them to understand the miraculous power of God can still be seen in their lives. Because God is that delivering, powerful God. Can you imagine the story these men had to tell?

Wouldn't you want to be surrounding these young men as they would run back to their village, to their town, and tell the people what just happened? We threw Michael into the grave, and next thing we knew, Michael was running with us. I mean, can you imagine that? And can you imagine the story that would spread in the land of Israel? Because God knew they needed a reminder. Because I'm sure they had forgotten. I mean, he was dead, had been dead for a while. And you know, out of sight, out of mind, right?

He's not there. We can't see him. Well, let's forget about him. So God was going to send a reminder to them. A reminder that they, in turn, could experience the delivering power of Almighty God, which is a reminder to us. The same God that empowered Elisha is the same God that empowers us. If God can use a dead man's bones to raise a dead man from the dead, can you imagine what he can do in your life today? Just imagine what he can do. What he can do in your own personal life, your family life, your marriage life, your work life.

God wants to infuse you with the power of a spirit. He wants you to rely upon him. Israel is reminded that the power of God is still available to those who call upon the name of the Lord. It's still there. Unfortunately for Israel, they missed that. They were like those who go to church and hear the 22 sermons on Elisha and leave the same way they came in 22 weeks ago. Listen, if you can come in here after 22 weeks and leave the same way you arrived 22 weeks ago, can I just say, you probably ought to stop coming.

Because you're wasting your time. You're just wasting your time. It's not that I don't want you to come to church. I do. It's not that I don't want you to hear the word. I do. But listen, if you're going to come in here after 22 weeks and miss everything about the divine power of almighty God wanting to work and to revolutionize your life that you might be used in a mighty powerful way for him, why are you even here? Why do you come? Why even show up? Right? See, I'm here because I actually believe this stuff.

I really do. I actually believe what I read in Scripture. So much so, I'm sold out on it. That my life's consumed with it, with the study of it, the preaching of it, the teaching of it. I'm consumed with it. And I just want you to be consumed with it. I want you to be passionate about it. I want you to be driven by it. And so the reminders given to Israel, they didn't accept the reminder. They refused to believe and to adhere to the reminder. We can't be that way. We can't afford to be that way. So may God give us the grace to take the lesson that reminds us of the God's power and adhere to it, that we might live for the glory and honor of God.

Second lesson. It's not only a reminder of God's power, but the restoration of Israel. The restoration of Israel. This I believe in a prophetic sense. Excuse me. It's all about the restoration of Israel. Remember Ezekiel 37? Excuse me. The vision of the valley of dry bones that come to life. This is a very important passage of Scripture in Ezekiel 37 that deals with the restoration of Israel. We go to Masada in the land of Israel. Having climbed the Mount of Masada, we make our way on top and move toward the synagogue that's been excavated on top of Masada.

And we go there because of this passage of Scripture in Ezekiel 37 verses 11 to 14. It was found on a scroll in the synagogue excavated on top of Masada. In 1974, when it was found, Yigal Yadin, who had led the excavation on top of Masada, said that all excavation at that time stopped when they found the Ezekiel 37 scroll. Because in the words of Yigal Yadin, who led the excavation on top of Masada, said, we all realized at that moment that we as a nation were a living proof of the fulfillment of Ezekiel 37.

Now I'm here to tell you he was only partially right, not fully right. And it was right for all excavations to stop and for them to reflect on this. Because listen to what it says. Verse 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. 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.

Very important statement. God calls it the land of Israel. It is not the land of Palestine. God never called it the land of Palestine. Never in scripture is it referred to as Palestine. It's only referred to as the land of Israel. Then he says, Then you will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people, and I will put my spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Whose land is it? Israel's land. Nobody else's land.

It's Israel's land. Someone needs to take this to the next UN meeting and read it out loud. For somehow they have missed what the scripture says.

Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken and done it declares the Lord. Listen. Israel has had, listen, a national restoration. They have had that. When they became a state in 1948, and they're celebrating 70 years this year, them coming back into the land and celebrating their statehood, they have had a national restoration. But Ezekiel 37 is speaking about a spiritual resurrection. These dry bones will be enfleshed, and they will rise up, and I will give them life, and I will put my spirit within them.

That is evidence of Zechariah 12 verse number 10 and Ezekiel chapter 36, the new covenant of God given to the land of Israel, where Israel one day, that nation will be restored. They will have experienced a spiritual resurrection because the spirit of God will be in them. And everything that took place in that grave with Elisha was a prophecy concerning the resurrection of the land of Israel. That although those people had not turned to God, one day there would be a spiritual resurrection of a nation that so desperately needs to be in the presence of Almighty God.

And that's a lesson that's learned here in Ezekiel chapter, I'm sorry, Isaiah 2 Kings 13. I knew I'd get that sooner or later. And lesson number three is this, and that is simply the redemption of sinners.

There is a lesson about the redemption of sinners in a story of a man who was dead and needed life. Because every one of us who was born sinners are born dead in our trespasses and sins. And the Bible says in Ephesians 2, 1, you have been made alive who were dead in their trespasses and sins.

This man who was dead, thrown into the grave, was dead. He could not do anything on his own. He could not raise himself from the dead. He could not experience life. Nothing would happen to him unless God did it. And God decided to use the bones of a dead man, Elisha, to raise a man who was dead to life. So the lessons about the redemption of sinners, there's a need of redemption in everyone who was dead, and the means of redemption only comes through a dead man. The Bible says in Romans chapter 5, verse number 10, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son.

The means of redemption is through death, through the death of Christ. And Elisha, the representative of God, being dead, would be used by God to bring a dead man to life. On top of that, he had the opposition of redemption. For as soon as he was raised from the dead, he had to run for his life because of the Moabites. And then you have the evidence of redemption. For once the man was made of life, he stood upright. And the greatest evidence of a man's redemption is that now he lives an upright life.

Oh, the life of Elisha is extremely instructional. You just can't miss the instruction that God wants you to have through this man's life. So I told you that Elisha's life, influential. Number two, instructional.

Number three, inspirational. Inspirational. I'm not sure anybody can read about the life of Elisha and not be revived, not be inspired, not be moved to action. Think about it. This man's life was an absolute phenomenon. Very few preachers preach on the life of Elisha. Those who do preach about Elisha and the Shunammite woman or Elisha's call. Very few ever preach on the miracles of Elisha and go through his life. Because in their minds, it's not nearly as important as the life of Moses or the life of David or the life of Elisha or the life of Solomon or the life of Joseph or Jacob or Abraham.

Oh, but it's in Scripture. His life was a phenomenon. No record of any sin in his life. No record of any compromise in his life. No record of any infidelity in his life. Just a man used by God for the glory of God. So it becomes very inspirational. And we realize that God uses his word to revive us. Remember that bookmark we gave out to you a long time ago about the reasons to read God's revelation? Anybody got that? Raise your hand if you got it someplace. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

They scramble, they're looking for it. It's someplace in their notes. It's someplace in their Bible. They got it from someplace. Somebody took a picture of it, put it on their iPod or iPad or iPhone. It's there someplace, you know. The reasons we read the revelation of God? Because it revives our soul, doesn't it? Psalm 119, verse 25, My soul cleaves to the dust. Revive me according to your word. Well, if you read the word of Elisha, how God has recorded it, when your soul cleaves to the dust, it revives you.

It says in Psalm 119, verse number 40, Behold, I long for your precepts. Revive me through your righteousness. God's righteousness is a way of speaking of God's word. Verse 37, Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity and revive me in your ways. Over in Psalm 119, verse number 50, This is my comfort and my affliction, that your word has revived me. Verse number 88, Revive me according to your lovingkindness, so that I may keep the testimony of your mouth. Verse number 93, I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have revived me.

Verse number 116, Revive me according to your word, that I may live. Verse number 149, Hear my voice according to your lovingkindness. Revive me, O Lord, according to your ordinances. Plead my cause, verse 154, and redeem me. Revive me according to your word. Verse 156, Great are your mercies, O Lord. Revive me according to your ordinances. Verse 159, Consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, O Lord, according to your lovingkindness. The psalmist knew that there was something about the word of God that would revive his poor, wretched soul.

And the life of Elisha is all about how God revives the soul. His whole life is extremely inspirational. I have probably been more inspired through the study of Elisha's life than at any of the Old Testament characters I've studied with you up to this point. Simply because of the character and nature of what the Bible calls over and over and over again, unlike any other person in the scriptures, the man of God. If that doesn't inspire you, you're in a whole heap of trouble. Let me pray with you.

Father, thank you. Thank you for the word of God. We have had a marvelous time. And maybe it's just me who's had a marvelous time. I would hope everybody else has too. But Lord, it's been a wonderful study. I want to say a miraculous study because of the many miracles that were performed by this man through the power of God. It has been a life-changing study for me personally. And I would pray that it has been for everybody in this room. I know that some can't come and others will buy CDs, others will download it and listen to it.

One day it will be on the radio so others can hear it too. But Lord, it has been an incredible study. And my prayer tonight, this is my prayer, that none of us, none of us, would be in any way, shape, or form the way we were 22 weeks ago. That some way, somehow, through our time, studying your word, the life of Elisha, you would have pricked our conscience, convicted us of our sin, moved us on to maturity so that we would never be the same again. Please, Lord, use your spirit to move us so we, like Elisha, will be known as men and women of God.

In Jesus' name, amen.