8/01/23 - Ezekiel 37: 1-14

Ezekiel 37: 1-14

Observation:

The prophet Ezekiel is in a valley filled with dry and lifeless bones. The Lord asks Ezekiel if these bones can live again, and Ezekiel responds that only the Lord would know. The Lord then instructs Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones and command them to come alive. Ezekiel does as the Lord instructed and the bones start  to come together, reconnecting into complete skeletons along with the flesh and skin covering the bones, but they are still lifeless. The Lord then commands Ezekiel to prophesy again, this time calling upon the breath to enter the bodies of the dead. Ezekiel does again as he is told and a mithy force blows into the valley and the breath of life fills the bodies. The dead come alive and an exceedingly great army stands before Ezekiel. The Lord explains to Ezekiel the meaning of the vision that the dry bones represent the people of Israel who feel hopeless, cut off from the Lord and in exile. The Lord promises to restore them, bringing them back to the land of Israel and breathing new life into their nation. The Lord will put His Spirit in them and they will return to their land knowing that He is the Lord.

Interpretation:

This short passage shows how powerful the Lord our Father is on God's ability to revive and restore even the most desolate and spiritually dead situations in a nutshell. Ezekiel is shown to have a clear vision of a valley full of bones; in other words, Ezekiel is shown a valley that is not only physically dead but also spiritually dead. God then asks Ezekiel a straightforward question "Can these bones lives?" Ezekiel responds with "I clearly don't know and only You the Lord would be able to answer that question." Here the Lord does not respond to Ezekiel's response, instead, He immediately commands Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones ordering them to listen to the Lord's commands to come to life. Yet the bodies are still lifeless so God tells Ezekiel to prophesy a second time and after Ezekiel speaks to the bodies, the breath/spirit comes and the bodies come to life and there stood an enormous, massive army or force. Lastly, the Lord explains to Ezekiel that these bones are the entire house of Israel and how their spirit and hope are metaphorically dead. Here, God is promising to open their graves twice and raise them from those same graves in both v12 and v13. And when all is said and done, God will put His own breath on the bodies and He will bring those bodies to the land of Israel and everyone "will know that He is the Lord." What hits home is at the very end of v14 "I, Yahweh, have spoken and done it." God provides us the assurance that no matter how desolate, no matter how dry, no matter how far away we feel from Him, the Lord will surely and definitely overcome that distance and through His grace and mercy, He will open up the dead graves, resurrect them and provide life/spirit. God is displaying His power and He is Lord and this act alone will prove that. He uses prophets or believers like Ezekiel to go out and show people God's power and what God can do  for them once they believe or believe, again. 

Personal Reflection:

There are many times throughout my life when I feel spritually dry or when I know that my faith is being tested to see if I would break and eventually fall out. Recently for the past 4-5 years, I would question to see if God was truly around and boldly question God on what he has in store for me, for my family and overall my future. To provide a prime example, when I moved up here in 2017, I moved in with my in-laws and immediately, I knew I needed to find a new church; eventually I started to attend my children's school's church (it's a private school and a church). While the worship was great and the sermon was also just as great, I still felt world's apart. At that point I felt dead inside, in fact, I felt really distant from everyone including my wife. I was longing for something, anything yet I felt lost. It didn't help when life's problems would be accented from every direction, for instance, my job status, finding a home for the family, my children's future, my erratic and negative relationship with both my mother and father, and the strong invasive feeling of my wife and I growing apart. With everything taking place all at the same time, I felt like I was dead and more or less a zombie. I eventually stopped going to church and inevitably failed to fix some of these issues on my own. I was sick and tired of having to constantly go to God about things when I wasn't getting any answers. Admittingly I grew more impatient and frustrated. It was when my brother-in-Christ who lives up here in the Bay Area and someone I started talking to more and more about my lifes' problems, told me to really start looking for a home church and reminded me that no matter what God will never leave me. There were a lot more to the dicussions, but he told me that the way I presented all these issues/problems made it sound like God would not be able to handle these problems. It was during this time when I realized that my faith was weak and more-or-less dead and needed some serious revitilizing. I gave my children's church another shot and the sermon was so profound that I had an emotional moment like God was giving me a well needed hug. I felt his presence and just like the prodigal son, I felt welcomed back home.

Application:

Ever since then, I never wanted to feel that spritiual emptiness. I knew from that point on that God wants me to serve and use me to help others like me to not forget about the Lord and His promises to us. I knew once I started attending Disciple Church that I must relearn about the Lord and gain the proper wisdom and knowledge in order for me to lead or serve. I am currently in my discipleship training and it has been challenging in its own right yet I feel that I am growing and maturing in my faith. In the future wherever I may be, I want to share with those especially the former-Christians or former believers who have stopped believing that I've been at the grave or the valley of the dry bones and help them restart their relationship and journey with God.