SCRIPTURE: EZEKIEL 37
THE VALLEY AND THE DRY BONES (vs. 1 – 28)
God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones as follows:
- I will make breath enter you, and you will come to lie. (v. 5)
- I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin. (v. 6a)
- I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. (v. 6b)
- I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. (v. 12)
- You will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from them. (v. 13)
- I will put my Spirit in you and you will live and I will settle you in your own land. (v. 14)
ONE NATION UNDER ONE KING (vs. 15-28)
God told Ezekiel to take one stick of wood and write Judah, then take another stick of wood and write Ephraim. Join them together into one stick so that they become one in your hand.
MEANING OF JOINING THE STICK TOGETHER:
- God will take the Israelites out of the nations, gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. (v. 21)
- God will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel with only one king. (v. 22)
- They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offences. For God will save them from all their sinful backsliding and He will cleanse them. (v. 23)
- David will be king over them and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow God’s laws and keep His decrees. (v. 24)
- They will live in the land God gave to Jacob. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever. (v. 25)
- God will make an everlasting covenant of peace, establish them, increase their numbers and put His sanctuary among them forever. (v. 26)
- God’s dwelling place will be with them and He will be their God and they will be His people. (v. 27)
THOUGHTS:
The nation was hopeless like dry bones in a desert. But God will revive and give breathe of life through His Word and His Spirit. One day, the nation of Israel will be resurrected spiritually and they will know their God. The dry bones represented the people’s spiritually dead condition. Our church may seem like a heap of dry bones, spiritually dead with no hope of vitality. But God can restore any church if we pray for renewal. He is calling his people back so that He can bring life to dead churches.
After the death of King Solomon, the nation was divided into Northern kingdom – Israel and Southern kingdom – Judah. Both kingdoms will be united in a covenant of peace. It will become one nation with one king and one temple. Today, Jews and Gentiles will be united together into one temple, sharing the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God.