The Valley of the Shadow of Death

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By: The Wolf that dwells with the Lamb

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

Curses Turned into Blessings

I was driving very relaxed down the Interstate just entering Knoxville, TN. I looked at the speedometer, I was going about 65 miles an hour. As I looked up, I saw that the traffic was backed up and it was not moving. I slammed the brakes as hard as I could, but it was to late. It seemed like I fell into a trance and my body turned as stiff as a board. I hardly felt the impact. I heard my sister screaming in the passenger seat, and the next thing I knew, I was sitting with the airbag in my face with dust and smoke rising from the hood. One of the first thoughts that came to my mind was, “am I alive?” I was shaken by how close the possibility of death seemed. Although this was not the first car accident I have been in, it definitely was the worst one. I have been in 3 accidents, and everytime it has been my fault. Not only has it been my fault, but it has always been someone else’s vehicle, and not my own which makes it even worse. Why did this happen again? Is not God looking after me? Have I stepped outside of his will? Am I deceived? LORD HELP ME. 

These were the thoughts that ran through my mind. I was tempted to doubt the goodness of God. It was then that I was reminded how self confident I had been. As a young man, you sometimes feel invincible. I was a very self confident driver. The LORD had to humble me again and show me that my life is in his hands, and if I do not let him take full control, death could come at any time. Since that accident, I have learned some of the most valuable lessons of faith in my whole life. 

I was on my way to Concord AR for an evangelism training when this accident happened. The events that transpired during the training and afterward have convinced me that the accident was the devil’s tool to try to get me to go back and rob me of the blessings that God had in store for me. Yet, by God’s Grace, because I persevered, and purposed not to let any negative thoughts to dominate me, the accident only has added to the blessings that were waiting. What Satan meant for evil, God turned for good. God is an expert in turning curses into blessings, but you have to give the curse to Him, and stop holding on to it.  As I look back, I give thanks to God for the accident. God restored the car that we lost, and much more. The way He did it was marvelous in our eyes. 

There were two verses that I clung to through this trial. I realized the truthfulness of them both. The first one is Romans 8:28 which says:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Now everytime a trial comes my way, I just smile and say, “LORD, I’m looking forward to what You will do.” I know I will come out the other side shining brighter than when I went in. The hotter the battle, the sweeter the victory, and because of this, no matter what happens, I will give thanks in all things, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. I will count it all joy when I fall into divers temptations, because I know that the trying of my faith works patience, and as I allow patience to have her perfect work in me, I will become perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:18/James 1:2-4)

The second verse that came to my mind, was Psalm 23:4 which says:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

 After purposing not to harbor any negative thoughts, I had a peace that I have never experienced in my life. Truly, while we go through the valley of the shadow of death the rod and the staff which points to the Word of God will comfort us.

The Solution to the Fear of Death

As I was meditating upon this verse, I realized that the greatest fear for all humanity is death. Yet, as Christians, death should be the last thing that we fear. The reason why Jesus took upon himself “flesh and blood” was so that “through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb 2:14,15)

The fear of death brings us into bondage, and it is only the true Christian who can be delivered from that fear. “Fear hath torment,” and “he that feareth is not made perfect in love.” The solution to this fear is “love” because “there is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear:” (1 John 4:18) The “perfect love” here mentioned, is nothing else but the Love of God, and the Love of God is stronger than death. 

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38,39)

Death cannot separate us from the Love of God, therefore we have no need to fear death. This love is found “in Christ Jesus.” The question is, how do we receive this love? The answer is found in Romans 5:5 which says:

“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:5)

As the Holy Spirit dwells within, he will reveal to us more and more the depth of the love of God, and as we comprehend more of that love, our love and appreciation for God will increase. “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

Another Valley of Death

However, all this being said, The Bible presents to us a valley of death that every Christian should fear. In Ezekiel 37, the prophet is carried out into the midst of a huge valley that is full of dry bones. (Ezekiel 37:1) As he beholds the bones, he notes that they are “very dry.” (Verse 2) This tells us that the bones have been their a long time. The next verse is very intriguing;

“And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.” (Ezekiel 37:3)

Humanly speaking, it looks like it is impossible for these bones to live. In verse 11, more explanation is given, God says; 

Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: (Ezekiel 37:11)

This valley of dry bones represents the professed people of God in a lifeless laodicean state. This is what we need to be afraid of. We need to be afraid of falling into a state where we think we are “rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;” and yet, we know not that we are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” (Revelation 3:17) The Bible says that those who are void of the Spirit, are “dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1) The Apostle Paul refers to people who are living in the lust of the flesh as being “dead” while they live. (See 1 Timothy 5:6) In other words, people who do not have the Spirit of God, are the “walking dead.” What do we call walking dead people in our modern world? We call them zombies. As sad as it is, most churches today are filled with zombies. Many go to church to pacify their conscience. They go because they know it is the right thing to do, but all it is, is just a mere round of ceremonies that are void of the Spirit of God. Many Christians are full of hatred, envy, malice, backbiting, and gossip. All this is evident that they do not have Eternal life abiding in them. The Apostle John says the following:

“Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15)

This is the state of many churches. The evidence is that there is no unity among the professed people of God. The prophecy in Ezekiel 37 shows that God’s church is full of dry bones. It is full of zombies (spiritually dead people). However, God does not leave us there. The prophecy goes on to say: 

“Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD …So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.” (Ezekiel 37:4,7)

To “prophesy” means “to speak by inspiration.” In other words, a message that is inspired by God comes to these dead bones. As a result of this message, the bones begin to come together and form bodies. Unity begins to take place. Notice that when this message is given, there is “a noise,” and “a shaking.” The shaking has reference to a sifting. This message causes some people to be sifted out, and only those who are serious and have a living relationship with the Living God remain, and it is these that come together in unity. This is the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy in the book of Isaiah;

“Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.” (Isaiah 52:8)

The Army of the LORD

The Prophecy does not end here. Ezekiel sees the ligaments, the flesh, and the skin come upon the bodies. (See Ezekiel 37:8) However, there is still one thing missing, the bodies have no life in them. So God instructs Ezekiel to prophesy again:

“Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” (Ezekiel 37:9,10)

The result of the last prophecy is that life enters into the dead bodies, and there is “an exceeding great army.” This is the latter rain which brings life and power to the believers. Jesus once again has a functioning body through which He will finish the work. This army is his church. It is the church militant, soon to be the church triumphant. The ultimate purpose of an army is to engage in war. But the army of God does not wrestle against flesh and blood. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to war against principalities, powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world. (2 Corinthians 10:4/Ephesians 6:12) In other words, this war is not a physical war, but a spiritual war. This army that is rising will take the banner of the Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus to all nations to prepare them for the soon appearing of the General, Jesus Christ. (Revelation 14:12) 

The Origins of the Army of Truth 

It was this prophecy that I was meditating on while at the Evangelism training. I could not stop thinking about verse 10 of Ezekiel 37. As true believers, we seem to be scattered and far from united. Yet the prophecy predicts that God will have “an exceeding great army” that will be united. As I looked at the condition of the different churches, I could not see how this would happen with so much division, strife, and debate. Then it dawned upon me. The young people of this generation are dropping out of the churches because they see the hypocrisy. They have a desire for something real. Satan is hard at work luring them into the world. Millions of young people are falling for his traps and fast heading to the pit of destruction. They have no purpose or aim in life, and an aimless life is a living death. As a result, thousands are commiting suicide and going down to Christless graves. Satan is fast gathering his army for the battle of Armageddon. He knows the power of young people. He knows that a church without young people is a dead church. While Satan is busy destroying the youth, God is actively engaged in saving them. There are many young people with a fervent desire to serve the LORD, but they need to be gathered and trained. This was the endeavor of the evangelism training to which I was going when I had the accident. The fellowship and experiences that we were having during the training were amazing. We did not want it to stop. At the end of the training, one of the leading brethren expressed his desire to start a ministry with all of us young people. There were seven of us along with two more experienced brethren. As soon as the suggestion was put forth to establish a ministry with and for young people, the prophecy of Ezekiel 37 came back to my mind again, and I knew that this “exceeding great army” was going to be composed of young people. Just as Satan will have his army of youth, God will also have his army of youth to proclaim the Truth of God’s Salvation to all nations in preparation for the soon return of Jesus Christ. 

When I was asked for suggestions as to the name of the ministry, the first thing that came to mind was “The Army of Truth.” This was based off Ezekiel 37:10 and a quotation I once read from a book called “Education.” It says the following:

“With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world! How soon might the end come—the end of suffering and sorrow and sin!” (Education 271.2)

The vision of “The Army of Truth,” is to “rightly train” or equip the young people of this generation with the message of Christ’s Righteousness. We are recruiting soldiers for the army, but before they go out to fight, they must go through evangelism training. Thus this army will grow to be a worldwide army. The Great General is none other than Jesus Christ Himself. He is the Captain of the Lord’s host. With him as the head, we may go from victory to victory. 

It was in these circumstances and with this vision that the Army of Truth was born. Our desire is to be the hands and feet of our LORD, to go wherever he leads. Will you join today? Will you give all for our LORD? Have you counted the cost? How long will you be in the valley of decision? LORD wants to use you. He loves you with an everlasting love. He is calling to you today;

Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? (Isaiah 6:8)

Will you heed the call? Will you go for him? Do not delay to answer. Join the ranks.

“The future of society will be determined by the youth of today. Satan is making earnest, persevering efforts to corrupt the mind and debase the character of every young person; and shall we who have more experience stand as mere spectators, and see him accomplish his purpose without hindrance? Let us stand at our post as minute men, to work for these youth, and through the help of God hold them back from the pit of destruction.” (Fundamentals of Christain Education 90.1)

“The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.” {Ed 57.3}