Weekly Devotional 6-11-12 To God be the Glory
1The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.” 4Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’” 7So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. 9Also He said to me, “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.”’” 10So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’”( Ezekiel 37:1-14)
This was God’s message to Israel through His prophet Ezekiel. Israel had been conquered and taken captive into Assyria and Babylon. The ten tribes of the northern kingdom were being scattered among the nations under Assyrian control and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (the southern kingdom) were in part losing their identity to the Babylonians. God assured Ezekiel, and through him the nation, that He had not forgotten them and that He would grant them new life as a people. He would gather them from the nations they had been dispersed and unite them together as one people. His promise of new life however went beyond the temporal to that which was spiritual. He said “I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, (verse 14), they, as a nation would be spiritually alive.
In the age of which we live, the church age, God is doing a similar thing; He is calling men out of world to Himself and birthing in them spiritual life, uniting them into one body, the church. The dry bones of the above passage left to themselves would remain as they were, dead. They had no power in themselves, as Israel had no power in its self. So it is with man today. All men are born dead toward God, having no power or desire to move toward Him. It is God who calls and regenerates men to spiritual life. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesian church was led to write that they, as well as his people, the Jews “were dead in trespasses and sins”, until God made each of them alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:1-5). Paul went on in the letter to explain why God made them alive. He wrote “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Earlier in the testimony of God to Ezekiel we learn that God’s purpose has not changed, He gathers the bones of Israel together, birthing in them new life for His own glory, we read, “16Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘17Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. 18Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. 19So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. 20When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, These are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of His land. 21But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. 22“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. 23And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. 24For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:16-27).
To God be the Glory, Amen.
Steve