GOD’S TRANSFORMING POWER
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Opening Prayer
Loving Lord, your love continually draws me to you, and your power provides everything I need. Please receive my adoration and praise.
Read EZEKIEL 37
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The Valley of Dry Bones
37 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. 2 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. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin 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 it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 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.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
One Nation Under One King
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.
18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21 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. 22 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. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,[b] and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 “‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 37:5 The Hebrew for this word can also mean wind or spirit (see verses 6-14).
- Ezekiel 37:23 Many Hebrew manuscripts (see also Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts all their dwelling places where they sinned
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Jesus said, ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’1
As the exile became a reality, God’s people felt like dried bones, dead and hopeless (v. 11). Their identity was destroyed, their confidence in God shattered. Can the living dead ever be renewed, healed, returned home? We all know those feelings of despair over seemingly impossible situations. Can we overcome our weaknesses, resist temptations, and regain our old fire for the Lord? Will those we love ever turn to the Lord? Can relationships with family members, colleagues, and friends be restored, rifts in the church healed?
Ezekiel’s vision speaks of the transforming power of God, power that achieves its purpose by two means. First, the prophet is not simply an observer but is commanded to prophecy (vv. 4, 9). As at creation, God’s word speaks a new reality into existence.2 Second, human forms become living beings by God’s breath or Spirit (ruah; verses 5 and 14 and throughout the chapter).3 Then, as now, the way to transformation is by God’s Word and his Spirit. Those who speak God’s truth into the lives of others and do so by his Spirit will see God’s power at work. Preachers and Christian leaders have a particular responsibility. Still, all believers may be instruments of God’s transformation as they listen to the Spirit’s promptings, witness to unbelievers, and, in conversation, remind fellow Christians of God’s Word.
It is uncertain how the prophecy about Israel’s reunification was or will be fulfilled, but the split of the kingdom into two (v 16; Joseph/Ephraim describes the northern kingdom, Judah the southern) reminds us of our churches that suffer from conflicts and bitter quarrels because of sin. Yet, God has the power to unite his people in true obedience under one King and centered around the worship of God in their midst (vv. 23, 24, 27).
Apply
Where do you see the application of God’s Word and work of his Spirit active in your life and ministry?
Closing prayer
Lord, help me hear what you say in your Word and seek your Spirit to transform me in the areas where I struggle. Please make me an instrument of transformation for others.
1 John 10:10. 2 e.g., Gen 1:3, 6, 7. 3 cf. Gen 2:7 (a different Hebrew word for ‘breath’, but the connection is clear).
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