"Dry Bones Live" June 16 Readings: Ezekiel 37-42

 

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022

This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT. 

Bible Readings: Ezekiel 37-42   

Background:   

Two of the better-known passages of Ezekiel are in today's reading. In chapter 37; God makes the dead live - which only he can do. Then, in 38 and 39 we have the prophetic history of the great future battle known as Armageddon.

We are also introduced to the millennial temple.

Daily Devotional: Dry Bones Live 

It is the greatest miracle of all. The Bible records many wondrous works done by God. He parted the Red Sea and stopped the flow of the Jordan. He made the walls of Jericho come tumbling down and sent fire down on Elijah's sacrifice. Jesus walked on water, fed the crowds, made the lame walk and the blind see. But there is one miracle that is greater than all others. It was the miracle that God previewed when Elijah raised the Widow of Zarephath's son, when Jesus interrupted the funeral in the Jezreel Valley, and when he spoke to his friend Lazarus, calling him from the grave after four days. And it is the ultimate miracle of history, which God performed on Jesus early on the morning of the first day of the week, raising him from the dead.

Death from life. Something from nothing. This is not art, not renovation, it is creation.

It is that kind of miracle that Ezekiel speaks of in chapter 37 of his prophecy, the vision of the dry bones. He saw a valley of nothing but dry bones - death and decay had done their complete job. This was not a sickness, it was death. A doctor can treat sick people, but there is nothing that can be done for dry bones. But God can do the impossible - he can raise the dead.

People, think about that. We don't just serve a God who can do a few little things for you. He can take dry bones and make them live! Doesn't that problem that is bothering you seem kind of small in comparison? If God can make dry bones come to life, do you think the thing that is stressing you out is going to stress HIM out?

This prophecy is a vision of the resurrection of a nation. God has destroyed Israel because of their sin. The nation lay in ruins, the people were in exile and the future looked bleak. There was little hope in any human effort or ability for the nation in its condition. But that did not stop what God intended to do. He would sweep through the dry bones in power, they would shudder to life and form sinews and tissues. God would do what no one else could do. The prophecy came true in history and its ultimate fulfillment awaits in the future when God will restore the nation to its full glory.

It is the same thing that he did in my life. I was, according to Ephesians 2:1, dead in my sins, without any hope of fixing the problem on my own. My soul was a valley of dry bones - nothing but death - hopeless death. But God did not leave me in that condition. He worked a miracle - his greatest. As he had raised his Son from the dead, he also raised me to new life and gave me eternal hope.

I have eternal life and hope today because God works miracles, because he raises the dead because he took "dem dry bones" in my soul and knit them together in new life. I have been given life in Christ. More than that, I have been loved in Christ. Eternally and ultimately. What an amazing privilege it is to serve a God who makes dry bones live!

Thank you, Father, for the life I have because of you, and you alone. 

Consider God's Word:

Reflect on the amazing power of God.
Realize that a God who can make dead bones live can handle whatever problems are in your life.