Read Ezekiel 11:14-25; 12:1-16; 36:22-28; 37:1-14
When God speaks to you and basically tells you to “pack up your bags and get moving”, one would expect that He is taking you to a destination that is far better than the one you’re leaving, such as when He told Abraham to go to Canaan. That wasn’t the case for Ezekiel who along with the other thousands of Hebrews was taken captive and sent to Babylon to serve Nebuchadnezzar. In fact, God instructs Ezekiel to act out the process of their captivity by digging a hole through a wall of a house and carrying his baggage with him. The message God gives to his young prophet comes to fruition and he is among those who is spared the slaughter that comes upon those who remain in Jerusalem years later.
Ezekiel follows message about the Hebrews and their fate echoes that of his older contemporary, Jeremiah. He doesn’t hesitate to deliver the message from God that a rebellious people are meeting their just fate in suffering death and destruction because of their blatant sins against God, but he also adds the fact that God is the one who will bring about a change of heart in his people and restore them. In a graphic vision, God presents Ezekiel with a vision of a valley of dry bones. God asks him if the bones can live, and not surprisingly, Ezekiel tells God He knows. God instructs Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones and the bones began to come together to followed by flesh and skin joining together with the bones to form many bodies. The bodies has no breath so God tells Ezekiel to prophesy for breath to enter the bodies. As Ezekiel keeps prophesying, the bodies become alive and turn into a great army.
Ezekiel further explains from God that the vision is depicting the state of fallen Israel. They are spiritual dead and when you see the condition of the bones it is apparent that they have been spiritually dead for a long time. In addition, the state of Israel shows they feel hopeless. Is that how you are feeling now? Do you see yourself as being in the same situation as ancient Israel? Do you feel that because of your past sins and the fact you’ve been away from God for so long that there is no hope for you to live again spiritually and find yourself back within the family of God? Well, God showed Israel that he could resurrect the people of God and restore them back into a proper covenant relationship with Him and returned to their home. God reveals that He has a vested interest in restoring His wayward people into a proper relationship with Him because they carry his name. That is why God keeps coming back to you! As a child of God, even one who has gone astray, you carry His name with you and He is doing everything in His power to see to it that you are restored back to where he wants you to be in all facets of your life! So keep praying and keep studying His word because even when you’ve wandered away from God for so long, prayer and Bible study are key means to for God to reach you and restore you like only He can!
Up next: God is still in control
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