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Ezekiel 37 (ESV)
1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 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.”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, 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, 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.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
REFLECTION:
The vision of the resurrection of the dry bones is really shocking. This vision echoes the promise in Chapter 36: a new life and the reconstruction of a nation, including both physical and spiritual aspects. Dry bones is a picture of the dispersal and death of the Israelites in captivity, and it also represents their spiritual death. The exiles coming from scattered areas of Israel will be released from the “tombs” in the exile. One day they will be reunited in their homeland, and the leader is the Messiah. When Ezekiel preached to these people, he felt that he was speaking to the dead because they hardly responded to his message. However, these skeletons all over the valley have undergone a magical change! Just as God bestows life on these dry bones, God also bestows life on those who have died spiritually. Today, our spiritual life may also look like a pile of dry bones to us, sleeping in a deep sleep with no signs of recovery. But just as God promised, He will definitely revive His church, regardless of the church’s current spiritual life. In fact, God’s work has never stopped. He is just calling His people back to Him and giving them new life as He did in the past. Therefore, we should not be discouraged. Instead, we should continue to pray for the renewal and revival of the church, and ask the work of the Holy Spirit, so that more brothers and sisters in the church will be filled with the Holy Spirit and to be a good witness for the Lord through their mature and abundant lives.
PRAYER:
Pray for the spiritual revival of yourself and of the church. Pray for the Holy Spirit to enlighten you and make you more thirsty for God’s word every day; for the Holy Spirit to guide you in all daily matters, so that you can see the hidden motives in your heart when you make any decision, and be more willing to live according to the Lord’s will.
HYMN:
Revive Us Again – youtu.be/YlMIsbrnmjA
