what once was dead

 

About four years ago, we bought two small sapling apple trees and planted them.  They grew leaves and looked good all that year. The next year, they began to put on leaves and started off looking good, but then a late frost hit, and all the leaves withered and died. That year, those tiny trees stood bare. We figured they were dead but left them in the ground. Then the next spring we went out to dig them up so we could replace them, and when I got down to dig them up, I realized there were buds on the branches. Those two trees were not dead after all, and both came back that year and grew. This spring they grew again. And got much taller this year. One of them isn’t doing as well. But God showed me something. Sometimes we write things off as dead when there is actually life. And not only life, but eventually, fruit will come forth.

Let’s take a look at Sarah. Abraham was given a promise in Genesis 17. Verse 15-19

¹⁵ And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

¹⁶ And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

¹⁸ And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

¹⁹ And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

 

We see God change her name Sarai -my princess to Sarah -mother of nations. She was barren. Abraham laughed at the idea of her bearing a child. How could it happen? He knew her womb was not only barren, but she was past the age of bearing a child. Her womb was considered dead. She was beyond the physical ability to bear a child. But God had a miracle ready.

In Genesis 18 we see the visit of the two angels who reminded Abraha of the promise.

Genesis 18:11-14

¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

¹² Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

¹³ And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

¹⁴ Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

 

Sarah heard this for herself, from the tent and laughed as well. How would this even be possible? The angels quickly pointed out that nothing is too hard for the Lord. The promise was real to her at last. Did hope spring up in her heart at that moment? Did faith arise and grow? There are other examples of barren women given a child when it looked impossible.  Rachel, Hannah, the widow who helped Elijah, and Elizabeth.  Each of these women should not have been able to have a child. In each of these we see they bore a child. And there was a restoration of life and bringing forth fruit. In most of these cases, that womb that was dead, brought forth life and that life bore fruit beyond expectation.

Sarah was truly blessed. She is the only women in the Bible whose age was mentioned and she was listed as a hero of faith. She became an example of what God can do with impossible situations.

Genesis 23:1

And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.

Hebrews 11:11-12

¹¹ Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

¹² Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

 

Sarah bore Isaac because she chose to believe in the Word of the Lord. I think in that moment, God had strengthened her, and a spark of hope became real faith. She knew Abraham had been told she would have a child, but when the angels spoke it and reminded her that nothing was impossible for God, Hope became faith. Not only did she bear Isaac, but she also became the mother of nations. Her child became the many nations.

Hebrews 11:1-3

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

² For by it the elders obtained a good report.

³ Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

 

Faith in God for what seems impossible. That is what is needed. We all have situations or things that seem dead. It may be someone who has lost their way, a job or financial situation. It may be spiritual. It may even be a church. But what may appear dead and impossible to me and you, God says will be alive and bear fruit.  God has a promise for what many would see as dead.

In Ezekiel chapter 37 God lead Ezekiel into a valley of dry bones and told him to speak and prophesy over these bones. What happened?  Life came back into these dry bones. God used Ezekiel to speak life into the dry bones and declare prophesy over the people of Israel. Read those last verses again.

 

Ezekiel 37:11-14

¹¹ 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 for our parts.

¹² Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

¹³ And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

¹⁴ And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

 

God told Ezekiel to speak his word over the things that appear dead. We too need to speak the Word over what may appear dead. Call forth the life and spirit to revive in those lost souls and situations that only God can solve. I know a great example of a family member that most had written off. He was addicted to drugs for years and headed to an early grave. He literally died on an emergency room table in one of his worst moments. But God answered his parents’ prayers and called him forth. He was set free by the blood of Jesus, life restored and he became a worker for the kingdom. What was dead came to life and bore fruit in the Kingdom of God.

Proverbs 18:21

²¹ Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

What we speak matters. When we speak the word of the Lord, it matters. God has a plan for all things. We can read many instances of God’s word being spoken and things change. When the disciples stood and spoke the word of the Lord, lives were changed, people were delivered and healed. Souls were saved. And yes, the enemy was angered. But God says power of death and life is in our tongue.

Isaiah spoke about speaking a word in season. We have the ability to speak Word to those in need and in the right season.

Isaiah 50:4

The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

He has given us a tongue to use to speak encouragement and life into the weary soul. We need to know His word and be ready to speak into the brokenhearted, the lost and the hurt. We need to be ready in season with the Word of the Lord.

Peter and John had been questioned and threatened after healing the man at the gate of the temple. The high priests and threatened them not to speak of Jesus and let them go. They went back to the people and told them what had happened. This is their response.

Acts 4:24-29

²⁴ And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

²⁵ Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

²⁶ The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

²⁷ For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

²⁸ For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

²⁹ And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

 

The people prayed over Peter and John to be given boldness to speak the word of God in the face of every threat and attack. They went forth and reached souls for the kingdom of God. They boldly proclaimed Jesus into the dead lives around them. Those souls came to life and bore fruit. May we understand that we can speak life into situations. When we pray and speak the word of God into and over the situations, God will bring forth life and bring forth fruit. What once was dead, will be made alive and fruitful.

Psalm 119:172

My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.

When we pray over what seems dead, let us speak life. Let us have hope that grows into faith. And see what God will do. I pray that my tongue will speak His word boldly into the situations that most would proclaim as dead. I pray to honor the commandments of God because they are righteousness. What may appear dead will come to life and bring forth good fruit. Speak life.