Today's Scripture
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Today’s reading Ezekiel 27-29
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on 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.”
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
11 Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”
RJ's Devotion
What does the passage say?
V. 1-2 God takes Ezekiel to the valley of dry bones.
V. 3-8 Ezekiel prophesies, as commanded, and witnesses how the bone form into flesh.
V. 9-10 However, until Ezekiel prophesized the spirit to fill the bodies up, they were not completely restored.
V. 11-14 It is God who will restore the nation, even though it requires to open up the graves.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
We are reading through the Book of Ezekiel, according to the One Year Bible reading challenge.
In this vision of restoration, there are two noticeable points.
The parallel between the story of creation and the restoration of the bones, and God’s willingness to restore God’s people.
After God molded Adam, God has to breathe the spirit into the nostrils of Adam. Meaning that we are mere flesh without the spirit. We are all spiritual beings, and when we minimized the meaning of being a spiritual being or stop nourishing our spirituality, through the connection with our creator, we will soon witness how our life can be dry.
I want to focus more on God’s conversation with Ezekiel.
God asks Ezekiel, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’
Ezekiel answers by saying, ‘Sovereign Lord, you alone know.’
And after that conversation, we see the initiative of God to restore the dry bones.
God stretches out for the impossible, in our eyes, and makes it possible.
Not only did God reverse the law of physics, God also prophesies how God will continue to be with God’s people, even though it is to open up the graves.
The vision of restoration is what God is initiating with God’s people. Not that we asked for, but fully under God’s sovereign plan.
And that is what we need to hold on to, ‘God’s sovereign plan’ in our life.
Prayer
Lord, we hold on to your sovereign plan. May we witness the vision of dry bones coming back to life, for your kingdom. In Christ Name, AMEN.
Click to subscribe to our Daily Devotion.
You will receive a devotion in your inbox every morning.