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August 24 - Evening
"The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.
He asked me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?'
I said, 'Sovereign Lord, you alone know.'
Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones and say to them, "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!"... '
...So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
Then he said to me:
'Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, "Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off."...'
...and say to them,
‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone.
I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.
There will be one king over all of them and they
will never again be two nations or
be divided into two kingdoms.' "
- Ezekiel 37:1-5; 10-11; 21-22 |
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| Ezekiel's Speaks God's Word to the Valley of Dry Bones |
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One of the encouraging portions of Ezekiel’s book are his words of hope for Israel and their restoration in the distant future. This restoration seems to be speaking of something greater than the return from Babylonian exile in 539 BC. Ezekiel’s words must be read and studied carefully while comparing the text to other portions of scripture and historical events that have already transpired.
In this apocalyptic vision of the dry bones recorded in Ezekiel 37 the Lord leads Ezekiel through a valley full of dry bones while asking Ezekiel questions and commanding him to prophecy the words the Lord gives him. Each time Ezekiel speaks the words he is commanded the condition of the bones changes and the climate of the valley improves.
Ezekiel is told at different times to speak these words of prophecy:
- “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, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ” – Ezekiel 37:4-6
- “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.’ ” – Ezekiel 37:9
Ezekiel was asked by the Lord “can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:3) Ezekiel knew enough to balance his faith in God’s ability with his understanding of God’s sovereign will, so Ezekiel replied,
“O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” - Ezekiel 37:3
Which is to say,
“Yes, they can live again, but only if you cause them to live again. So, I know they can live again, but only you know if you will cause them to live again.”
(- a Wiemers’ paraphrase!)
Then, through Ezekiel’s pronouncement of the Lord’s word, these bones lived again and became a great nation. A nation born again.
It seems this vision yet awaits its ultimate fulfillment. Does it speak of Israel’s natural restoration as a nation which is followed by a national awaking to the Gospel leading to their new birth into salvation? (Zechariah 12:10-13:2; Romans 11:25-32) |
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“When I am secure in Christ, I can afford to take a risk in my life. Only the insecure cannot afford to risk failure. The secure can be honest about themselves; they can admit failure; they are able to seek help and try again.
They can change.”
– John Maxwell |
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| Christianity is not based on Jesus’ teachings but on Jesus, who he is, the person of Christ, the Son of God. Salvation is not in the teachings of Jesus but in Jesus himself. |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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