Dei Break
Ezekiel 37:1 - 39:29
God's people were beaten down. Their sin and resulting punishment had left them hopeless. They were dry, dead bones. Only God could raise them up, and He would do so gladly. Ezekiel's vision reminds us that without our Lord we too would be dead, even if we were still standing, working, playing, going about our day's business. It is only the life that God brings to us in Christ that makes us alive and eternally His. Jesus once said that He was, and is, the way, the truth, and the life. No one can approach the Father except through Him. Jesus also said that the life that He brought was not only eternal but "abundant". Truly, when God brings life to our dead bones, it is not to raise us to an existence, but to a life filled with wonder and mission.
God then directs Ezekiel to the future of the nation. The nation would reunite and be again ruled by a king from David's family. The next King of David's line was Christ. During Jesus' ministry His people rejected His rule, so we are left to consider if Ezekiel's prophecy is spiritual, referring to those who came to believe in Jesus as the Christ, or if it is further in the future, referring to a national restoration of His people. Many believe that it is a combination of the two.
Chapters 38 and 39 picture the united Israel living at peace. Like other visions of Israel's future, there are many interpretations of exactly what God was saying through His prophet in these chapters. God does and will intervene in the actions of men. When He decides that the last days of this world are near, He will act, but not with armies of men, but with natural disasters that will make it clear that He is acting. Is Ezekiel's vision spiritual? Is it physical and historical? Whatever the future brings, there is one clear truth in Ezekiel's vision—God has a plan and nothing will thwart it.
Next time: Ezekiel's Temple Vision
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