Ezekiel 37:1-14 Monday, 2 November 2020
Again, He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’ Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.’ ” – Ezekiel 37:4-5
Our reading speaks of God’s vision of His people—God’s longing for them; how He envisions them to be! As He declared to Moses in Exodus 34:6 & 7, He is a compassionate and loving God; at the same time, He is righteous. The people of God sinned against Him– they deserted God who brought them out from slavery and miraculously placed them in a land flowing with milk and honey! Even in the midst of this utter desolation of the land and the people, God declares His plan of restoration! In Ez.36:9-11, God says “For, behold I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown.”
God unfolds His plan of restoration through a vision to Ezekiel. The “dry bones” is a picture of the current status of His people. Not only do the bones speak of death, indeed of many deaths, but for bones to be left in the open was an indignity and indecency according to Jewish custom. To leave bodies unburied until the bones were exposed was unthinkable. [NKJV Study Bible] Those bones symbolize the whole house of Israel. The “dryness” of the bones speaks of spiritual death. They are spiritually dead with no apparent hope of being “resurrected” as the people of the living God. Yet God said He was going to do the miraculous!
God told Ezekiel what the Israelites said: “Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.” (V.11) But God in His sovereignty declares in V.12 “Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.” Then He says He will put His Spirit within them that they may live!! Hallelujah!!
This is hope! There is no God like our God who loves His creation so much that He does not want them to perish. Even though the whole world has turned their face against God, still He loved the world so dearly that He willingly did the most painful act of sacrificing His own Son as a ransom for the sins of all people! (Ref: John 3:16) However John 3:17 says “For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
You may see your life as something desolate! You may be living in utter hopelessness. God has a plan for you! He needs your life! Do not think it is a waste; don’t think God has abandoned you! In Ez.37:11-14 God declares that He would open the graves and CAUSE them to come up out of those graves!! Grave is a symbol of utter impossibility. The grave tells that the body inside can never be normal again! It says life cannot come to that body!
There are people who lost their faith in God because whatever they do, does not prosper! Everything in their life meets a block! Some people are on the verge of ending their lives, experiencing failure after failure! Some others find themselves entangled in the cunning ways of sin, finding it difficult to free themselves.
The message to you is: God is interested in you – He wants to open your grave and CAUSE you to walk!! Will you put your trust in Jesus?
There are others who once were very strong in their faith, yet are very dry in spirit now – will you put your trust in Jesus and believe that HE will pour out His Spirit into you and revive you? He is the God all creation. Is there anything too hard for Him?
PRAYER: LORD God Almighty, cause your life to come into every dry area of my life that Your Spirit might revive me and that I will live for You! Amen.
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