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A Word
to the Dry Bones
A Prophecy to The
Salvation Army in the West
by Andrew Bale
Ezekiel
36 & 37 - A word to the dry bones:
The following came to me during prayer a few months ago and
has been simmering away until tonight when I made the decision
to commit it to paper and publish it on the internet.
The Salvation Army in the western territories has through its
conduct and actions soiled its own commission, the commission
I gave it when I raised it up to save the world. This turning
away from my mission has angered me and caused me to scatter
their evangelical efforts and withhold revival. (36:17-18)
Once, the lost and marginalised were yours by right and
winning converts was like shooting fish in a barrel. In spite
of persecution, hardship and great personal cost my Army went
out to those furthest from the reach of my kingdom. The lost
have scorned my name and belittled me because of your double
standards, compromise and hypocrisy.
So for the sake of my name – not yours – I am going to restore
you. Once again the name Salvation Army and holiness will be
synonymous. I will do this for my sake, for the sake of my
holy name which you have belittled. Once again those on the
very edge of society, the unloved and friendless will know
that I am God – I will prove myself through you (even though
you are not worthy of your calling). I have chosen you and
once again your name will be associated with mine. (36:22-23)
I am going to set you apart once more, I will make you stand
out from the crowd and lead you back to your original mission.
I will baptise you with fire, I will thoroughly wash you until
every stain is gone. I will destroy your idols. The things you
believe make you respectable and worthy I will smash. I will
restore your passion for the lost; I will give you a new
heart. I will take away your cold unbelieving heart and give
you a heart that desires to obey me. You will go back to your
original calling, once more street evangelism, slum and gutter
brigades, pub raids and prayer mats will be used to attack the
kingdom of my enemies and you will win souls like the
Christian Mission. You will be filled with pioneer enthusiasm
for militant evangelism. You will be my soldiers and I will be
your general. (36:24-29)
It is time to reap, open the doors of your citadels and come
rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. No longer will you be
despised and rejected, no longer will you be dismissed as an
historic curio, you will win the lost and everyday I will add
more to your ranks. You will go out into the streets and
revival will rain down upon you, you will splash in puddles of
revival like children playing in the rain. Yet the more I
bless you the more you will repent. The more I use you the
more ashamed you will become. If withholding my blessing
forced you to your knees in repentance then my new Pentecost
will provide the light required to see your sin in all its
grotesque glory. You will be victorious but this new humility
will allow all praise to pass to me. (36:30-32)
Once again your Corps will be so numerous you will run out of
names for them! You will simply add numbers to the end of a
city name as you did when you began. The urban areas will be
your field and the wasteland and backstreet will be your
vineyard. These dark corners will become like a new
Eden. My kingdom will come to the
cities, and the addicted and oppressed that I set free through
you, will do my will! I have spoken and I will do it! Wash the
streets, remove the burnt out vehicle, and prepare the way of
the Lord. (36:33-36)
I will listen to the prayers of Salvationists once more; I
will unblock my ears and focus my attention on them. I will
swell their ranks and they will know that I am God. (36:37-38)
Salvation Army can you live, can I trust you once more with
such a calling as this? You are so dry, look, walk up and down
the aisles of your halls, and mingle midst your musicians and
soldiers, look how dry you are – can you live again? Preach,
prophesy, command yourselves in my name to stand up and fight
again. I will make breath enter you, and you will come to
life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon
you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you
will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
(37:1-6)
Then when you are ready I will send that other Pentecost of
which you are always singing – I will breathe on you and you
will feel my life in your bodies and you will stand once more
– a vast Army! (37:7-10)
NO more pessimism, no more hopelessness, no more negative
reflections, there is work to be done, there are battles to be
fought, there is injustice to rectify, there are souls to be
won. I will open up the graves of long dead pioneers and new
Railtons, Tuckers, Cadmans, Evas and Kates will take up their
crosses. Preach and prophesy and say to your soldiers: 'This
is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my Salvation Army I am
going to restore you and then you, my people, will know that I
am the LORD. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live,
and I will take you back to the place where we first met and
then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have
done it, declares the LORD.(37:1-14)
God redeem, bless, set apart and use the Army!
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