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Welcome to the Bible Study section of God's Message on the Web. I will be presenting a Bible Study lesson
each week. These lessons are from my personal notes or used by permission from licensing agreements to
redeliver orally and not for profit and I encourage you to look up the Bible passages. Make sure that you
read everything and make your own opinion about the Bible Study lesson that is being presented to you.
Please keep it in the context of The Holy Bible. The only way to understand what God's Message is saying
is for you to know the Bible. Open your mind to God's Message. Back to Bible Study Home
each week. These lessons are from my personal notes or used by permission from licensing agreements to
redeliver orally and not for profit and I encourage you to look up the Bible passages. Make sure that you
read everything and make your own opinion about the Bible Study lesson that is being presented to you.
Please keep it in the context of The Holy Bible. The only way to understand what God's Message is saying
is for you to know the Bible. Open your mind to God's Message. Back to Bible Study Home
Download this Bible Study "God can't do that, Can He " in MP3 or PodCast format
GodCantDoThatCanHe.mp3 from God's Message on the Web
This is a Lesson that is written around some of the challenges that face us as a Country, as Christians, and
as a group that assembles together to worship the one true living God. This was written specifically to a
church that has had some troubles. If you attend Church on a regular basis maybe you have seen situations
like this in the past. If you do not attend Church regularly I encourage you to do so. The most important
guest of all is waiting for you there. Jesus promised us that “For where two or three are gathered together in
My name, I am there in the midst of them.” What a great reason to find a Christian Church that is true to
the Bible and its teachings.
If you have been in a Church when many bad things happen that is Satan taking care of business as usual.
When he is unable to attack us personally he will go after a congregation of Christians. If he can infiltrate a
weak link he can cause a lot of trouble.
I want to begin this morning by challenging you to use your imagination. Imagine the physical and emotional
impact of these circumstances. Suppose that a coalition of Middle East nations successfully developed
several nuclear bombs. Suppose by covert action they successfully planted those devises in Washington,
DC; in New York City; in Norfolk, VA; at Norad in Colorado; at AWAC in Oklahoma City, and in San
Diego, CA. Suppose each of those devises exploded simultaneously. The result: our Federal government was
crippled; our business world was crippled; and the command for our armed forces was crippled.
Suppose that within a week America surrendered to that coalition of Middle East nations. Suppose the
militant Muslim religion immediately became the official religion of this nation, and that Christianity
immediately became illegal.
Suppose our captors implemented the policy of displacing devout Christians. Suppose that every member
of this congregation was relocated in a northern city to provide labor to a Muslim community. How would
that impact you emotionally? physically? spiritually?
You say, "Something like that could never happen in this nation." That is what Israel said. That is what
Jerusalem said. But it happened. The nation fell. The city fell. Later, the city was destroyed, the temple was
destroyed, and the vast majority of the citizens of the nation were placed in exile.
In Babylon a stunned, disillusioned, dazed nation of captives asked, "How did this happen? How could it
happen? We believed in the living God. We had the temple. We had the scriptures. How could a nation who
does not even know the living God do this to us?"
Completely disillusioned, most Jews said, "There is nothing God can do to help us now. We will never
recover. If God couldn't help us when Jerusalem fell and the temple was destroyed, he can't help us now!"
From their human perspective, it was an impossible situation.
The prophet Ezekiel was among those who were forced into exile. He received his call to be a prophet in
Babylon. In stark, graphic terms, he told them exactly how it happened and exactly why it happened.
I. In Ezekiel 37:1-14 the Lord's hand was on Ezekiel and the Lord's spirit took him to a valley that was
filled with dry, human bones.
A. He was placed in the middle of an old battle field--for centuries it was common for two armies to
fight a war by confronting each other in a valley.
1. One army would camp in the hills on one side, and the other would camp in the hills on the other side.
2. They would meet in the valley and fight until one army won.
B. Ezekiel was standing in the middle of an old battle field where there had been so many thousand
casualties that the slain soldiers could not be buried.
1. When the battle ended, the valley was full of dead bodies.
2. Then came the vultures and scavengers.
3. Then time passed.
4. It became a valley filled with dry, bleached bones instead of a valley of decaying bodies.
C. In that valley God had a conversation with Ezekiel.
1. He asked, "Ezekiel, can these bones come back to life?"
2. Ezekiel gave a noncommittal answer: "Lord, you know."
3. God told him, "Prophesy to these bones. Say to these bones, 'Hear the word of the Lord.' When you
do that, I will turn these bones back into bodies, and I will put life back in those bodies."
D. Ezekiel told the bones to hear the word of the Lord, and suddenly there was a loud rattling noise as
all the bones began fitting back into skeletons again.
1. And as Ezekiel watched, those skeletons became fleshly bodies, but it was a valley full of bodies that
had no life.
2. And God told Ezekiel to prophesy again and tell the breath, "Thus says the Lord God, come from the
fours winds and make these bodies alive again."
3. And a great army came to life and stood up.
E. God then said to Ezekiel, "These bones are the whole nation of Israel."
1. "Everyone is saying, 'Our bones are dried up, our hope has been destroyed, and we are completely
cut off.'"
2. "So you go to Israel and prophesy, 'Thus says the Lord God, I will open your graves and bring you
out of them, and I will return you to the land of Israel.'"
3. "Then you will know that I am the Lord. Then you will understand that you are my people."
4. "And I will put my spirit in you, and you will come to life, and I will place you in your land."
5. "Then you will know that I, the Lord, said that I would do it, and did it."
II. The hardest, most demanding challenge to a living faith is turning loose of the past.
A. Unfortunately, the present is commonly captive to the past.
1. Responsibly dealing with the consequences of our past is distinctly different to being a captive to our
past.
a. Our past always produces consequences because we all make mistakes, and we must learn to
responsibly deal with consequences of those mistakes.
b. But a captive to the past has been enslaved to the past; a captive to the past does not live in the
present because the past controls his mind, his heart, and his understanding.
2. Individuals can be captives to the past.
a. "I had a child when I was 16 and unmarried."
b. "I stole a car when I was 18."
c. "I experimented with drugs extensively when I was in college."
d. "I was divorced when I was 30."
e. "I lost a business and everything I owned when I was 35."
f. "I had a car wreck that killed my family when I was 40."
g. Do such events result in consequences? Absolutely!
h. Will the person be a captive who is held hostage by that past? That is a matter of decision, of choice.
3. Congregations can be captives to the past.
a. "We had some terrible, unkind disagreements in the past, and many people were devastated."
b. "We had a lot of hard feelings in the past, and some cruel things were done."
c. "We had alienated groups in the congregation in the past."
d. "We had power hungry men and women who wanted to control things in the past."
e. Do such occurrences produce consequences? Absolutely!
f. Will the congregation be a captive that is held hostage to that past? That is a matter of decision, a
matter of choice.
4. Of this there can be no doubt: when a congregation becomes captive to its past and is held hostage by
that past, it will become a valley of dry bones.
B. What was God really saying to Ezekiel in that valley of dry, sun bleached bones?
1. God is in control--even of dry bones.
2. Life comes from God, not from the past, not from favorable circumstances.
3. God has the power to make those dry, scattered bones skeletons; and those skeletons bodies; and
those bodies alive.
4. God could deliver Israel from the grave of their captivity and put them back in their homeland again,
and God would do it.
5. And when God did it, they would know that He was the Lord God, the God who spoke, the God
who made it happen.
C. Is there a point for us? Yes! When a congregation is becoming a valley of dry bones, the Lord God
who raised Jesus from the dead can resurrect that congregation to life.
1. God is still in control.
2. God still has the power to make alive.
3. God can deliver us from being a hostage to our past.
4. God will do it, and when he does it, we will know that He is the Lord God.
III. I have a serious question to ask you, personally, and I ask it in all earnestness. I am not asking the
person next to you; I am not asking everyone else assembled this morning but you; I am asking you.
A. "What is the question? " Are you, personally, willing to put the future of this congregation in God's
hands?
1. Are you, personally, willing to say in all honesty, "I don't care what is necessary, and I surrender all
my personal preferences to You, God: I want your will to be done in this congregation just like heaven does
your will."
2. "I want us, as a congregation, to have the same sensitivity to your desires and your purposes as
heaven has to your desires and your purposes."
B. "How do I do that?" You pray. "What do I pray?"
1. I ask everyone of us to place the future of this congregation in God's hands by regularly, frequently
praying for three things.
2. Request number one: "God, do whatever is necessary to help me, personally, become more like Jesus
Christ."
3. Request number two: "God, help this congregation grow in all the ways you want it to grow."
a. Help this congregation look like people who belong to Jesus Christ. Amen?
b. Help this congregation sound like people who belong to Jesus Christ. Amen?
c. Help this congregation act like people who belong to Jesus Christ. Amen?
d. Help this congregation truly belong to Jesus Christ. Amen?
4. Request number three: "God, use me in any way that You want to help this congregation be and do
what you want it to be and do."
C. Then, as you continue to pray, care; love; get involved.
Religiously, spiritually, are you committed to a cause, or do you love God? Brothers and sisters, we simply
must learn to stop playing God. When Christians attempt to play God, as individuals and as a congregation,
they become a valley of dry bones.
So many times throughout my life I unknowingly tried to play God. I never realized it. I wasn't consciously
trying to play God. God has informed me in powerful ways, "David Chadwell, I never asked you to play
God. I never asked you to do what only I can do. David Chadwell, stop trying to play God; just love me,
and love people."
If the core of our spirituality is commitment to a cause, it is much too easy to try to play God. When we
attempt to play God, we become a valley of dry bones.
The less we pray, the more likely we are to try to play God. The more we pray, the more humble we
become before God.
Will you leave here this morning committed to placing the future of this congregation in God's hands? Will
you leave here this morning committed to praying for this to happen? Will you leave here this morning
committed to becoming more like Jesus Christ?
Have the battles of your past turned your life into a valley of dry bones? Here is the good news: God
through Jesus Christ can bring you back to life. Will you let Him?
Download this Bible Study "God can't do that, Can He " in MP3 or PodCast format
GodCantDoThatCanHe.mp3 from God's Message on the Web
Used with permission from David Chadwell, West-Ark Church of Christ
Visit God's Message Blog to comment on this Bible Study Lesson
http://godsmessageontheweb.blogspot.com/2007/11/god-cant-do-that-can-he.html
Last updated on November 3rd 2007 God's Message on the Web
GodCantDoThatCanHe.mp3 from God's Message on the Web
This is a Lesson that is written around some of the challenges that face us as a Country, as Christians, and
as a group that assembles together to worship the one true living God. This was written specifically to a
church that has had some troubles. If you attend Church on a regular basis maybe you have seen situations
like this in the past. If you do not attend Church regularly I encourage you to do so. The most important
guest of all is waiting for you there. Jesus promised us that “For where two or three are gathered together in
My name, I am there in the midst of them.” What a great reason to find a Christian Church that is true to
the Bible and its teachings.
If you have been in a Church when many bad things happen that is Satan taking care of business as usual.
When he is unable to attack us personally he will go after a congregation of Christians. If he can infiltrate a
weak link he can cause a lot of trouble.
I want to begin this morning by challenging you to use your imagination. Imagine the physical and emotional
impact of these circumstances. Suppose that a coalition of Middle East nations successfully developed
several nuclear bombs. Suppose by covert action they successfully planted those devises in Washington,
DC; in New York City; in Norfolk, VA; at Norad in Colorado; at AWAC in Oklahoma City, and in San
Diego, CA. Suppose each of those devises exploded simultaneously. The result: our Federal government was
crippled; our business world was crippled; and the command for our armed forces was crippled.
Suppose that within a week America surrendered to that coalition of Middle East nations. Suppose the
militant Muslim religion immediately became the official religion of this nation, and that Christianity
immediately became illegal.
Suppose our captors implemented the policy of displacing devout Christians. Suppose that every member
of this congregation was relocated in a northern city to provide labor to a Muslim community. How would
that impact you emotionally? physically? spiritually?
You say, "Something like that could never happen in this nation." That is what Israel said. That is what
Jerusalem said. But it happened. The nation fell. The city fell. Later, the city was destroyed, the temple was
destroyed, and the vast majority of the citizens of the nation were placed in exile.
In Babylon a stunned, disillusioned, dazed nation of captives asked, "How did this happen? How could it
happen? We believed in the living God. We had the temple. We had the scriptures. How could a nation who
does not even know the living God do this to us?"
Completely disillusioned, most Jews said, "There is nothing God can do to help us now. We will never
recover. If God couldn't help us when Jerusalem fell and the temple was destroyed, he can't help us now!"
From their human perspective, it was an impossible situation.
The prophet Ezekiel was among those who were forced into exile. He received his call to be a prophet in
Babylon. In stark, graphic terms, he told them exactly how it happened and exactly why it happened.
I. In Ezekiel 37:1-14 the Lord's hand was on Ezekiel and the Lord's spirit took him to a valley that was
filled with dry, human bones.
A. He was placed in the middle of an old battle field--for centuries it was common for two armies to
fight a war by confronting each other in a valley.
1. One army would camp in the hills on one side, and the other would camp in the hills on the other side.
2. They would meet in the valley and fight until one army won.
B. Ezekiel was standing in the middle of an old battle field where there had been so many thousand
casualties that the slain soldiers could not be buried.
1. When the battle ended, the valley was full of dead bodies.
2. Then came the vultures and scavengers.
3. Then time passed.
4. It became a valley filled with dry, bleached bones instead of a valley of decaying bodies.
C. In that valley God had a conversation with Ezekiel.
1. He asked, "Ezekiel, can these bones come back to life?"
2. Ezekiel gave a noncommittal answer: "Lord, you know."
3. God told him, "Prophesy to these bones. Say to these bones, 'Hear the word of the Lord.' When you
do that, I will turn these bones back into bodies, and I will put life back in those bodies."
D. Ezekiel told the bones to hear the word of the Lord, and suddenly there was a loud rattling noise as
all the bones began fitting back into skeletons again.
1. And as Ezekiel watched, those skeletons became fleshly bodies, but it was a valley full of bodies that
had no life.
2. And God told Ezekiel to prophesy again and tell the breath, "Thus says the Lord God, come from the
fours winds and make these bodies alive again."
3. And a great army came to life and stood up.
E. God then said to Ezekiel, "These bones are the whole nation of Israel."
1. "Everyone is saying, 'Our bones are dried up, our hope has been destroyed, and we are completely
cut off.'"
2. "So you go to Israel and prophesy, 'Thus says the Lord God, I will open your graves and bring you
out of them, and I will return you to the land of Israel.'"
3. "Then you will know that I am the Lord. Then you will understand that you are my people."
4. "And I will put my spirit in you, and you will come to life, and I will place you in your land."
5. "Then you will know that I, the Lord, said that I would do it, and did it."
II. The hardest, most demanding challenge to a living faith is turning loose of the past.
A. Unfortunately, the present is commonly captive to the past.
1. Responsibly dealing with the consequences of our past is distinctly different to being a captive to our
past.
a. Our past always produces consequences because we all make mistakes, and we must learn to
responsibly deal with consequences of those mistakes.
b. But a captive to the past has been enslaved to the past; a captive to the past does not live in the
present because the past controls his mind, his heart, and his understanding.
2. Individuals can be captives to the past.
a. "I had a child when I was 16 and unmarried."
b. "I stole a car when I was 18."
c. "I experimented with drugs extensively when I was in college."
d. "I was divorced when I was 30."
e. "I lost a business and everything I owned when I was 35."
f. "I had a car wreck that killed my family when I was 40."
g. Do such events result in consequences? Absolutely!
h. Will the person be a captive who is held hostage by that past? That is a matter of decision, of choice.
3. Congregations can be captives to the past.
a. "We had some terrible, unkind disagreements in the past, and many people were devastated."
b. "We had a lot of hard feelings in the past, and some cruel things were done."
c. "We had alienated groups in the congregation in the past."
d. "We had power hungry men and women who wanted to control things in the past."
e. Do such occurrences produce consequences? Absolutely!
f. Will the congregation be a captive that is held hostage to that past? That is a matter of decision, a
matter of choice.
4. Of this there can be no doubt: when a congregation becomes captive to its past and is held hostage by
that past, it will become a valley of dry bones.
B. What was God really saying to Ezekiel in that valley of dry, sun bleached bones?
1. God is in control--even of dry bones.
2. Life comes from God, not from the past, not from favorable circumstances.
3. God has the power to make those dry, scattered bones skeletons; and those skeletons bodies; and
those bodies alive.
4. God could deliver Israel from the grave of their captivity and put them back in their homeland again,
and God would do it.
5. And when God did it, they would know that He was the Lord God, the God who spoke, the God
who made it happen.
C. Is there a point for us? Yes! When a congregation is becoming a valley of dry bones, the Lord God
who raised Jesus from the dead can resurrect that congregation to life.
1. God is still in control.
2. God still has the power to make alive.
3. God can deliver us from being a hostage to our past.
4. God will do it, and when he does it, we will know that He is the Lord God.
III. I have a serious question to ask you, personally, and I ask it in all earnestness. I am not asking the
person next to you; I am not asking everyone else assembled this morning but you; I am asking you.
A. "What is the question? " Are you, personally, willing to put the future of this congregation in God's
hands?
1. Are you, personally, willing to say in all honesty, "I don't care what is necessary, and I surrender all
my personal preferences to You, God: I want your will to be done in this congregation just like heaven does
your will."
2. "I want us, as a congregation, to have the same sensitivity to your desires and your purposes as
heaven has to your desires and your purposes."
B. "How do I do that?" You pray. "What do I pray?"
1. I ask everyone of us to place the future of this congregation in God's hands by regularly, frequently
praying for three things.
2. Request number one: "God, do whatever is necessary to help me, personally, become more like Jesus
Christ."
3. Request number two: "God, help this congregation grow in all the ways you want it to grow."
a. Help this congregation look like people who belong to Jesus Christ. Amen?
b. Help this congregation sound like people who belong to Jesus Christ. Amen?
c. Help this congregation act like people who belong to Jesus Christ. Amen?
d. Help this congregation truly belong to Jesus Christ. Amen?
4. Request number three: "God, use me in any way that You want to help this congregation be and do
what you want it to be and do."
C. Then, as you continue to pray, care; love; get involved.
Religiously, spiritually, are you committed to a cause, or do you love God? Brothers and sisters, we simply
must learn to stop playing God. When Christians attempt to play God, as individuals and as a congregation,
they become a valley of dry bones.
So many times throughout my life I unknowingly tried to play God. I never realized it. I wasn't consciously
trying to play God. God has informed me in powerful ways, "David Chadwell, I never asked you to play
God. I never asked you to do what only I can do. David Chadwell, stop trying to play God; just love me,
and love people."
If the core of our spirituality is commitment to a cause, it is much too easy to try to play God. When we
attempt to play God, we become a valley of dry bones.
The less we pray, the more likely we are to try to play God. The more we pray, the more humble we
become before God.
Will you leave here this morning committed to placing the future of this congregation in God's hands? Will
you leave here this morning committed to praying for this to happen? Will you leave here this morning
committed to becoming more like Jesus Christ?
Have the battles of your past turned your life into a valley of dry bones? Here is the good news: God
through Jesus Christ can bring you back to life. Will you let Him?
Download this Bible Study "God can't do that, Can He " in MP3 or PodCast format
GodCantDoThatCanHe.mp3 from God's Message on the Web
Used with permission from David Chadwell, West-Ark Church of Christ
Visit God's Message Blog to comment on this Bible Study Lesson
http://godsmessageontheweb.blogspot.com/2007/11/god-cant-do-that-can-he.html
Last updated on November 3rd 2007 God's Message on the Web