August 1, 2024 - Ezekiel 37

Chapter 37 is the “dry bones chapter.”  There is a statement here that I have seen in many other places in the book of Ezekiel:  “And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land.  Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord” (37:14).  Whether announcing God’s displeasure with and discipline against Israel, or announcing his judgment against pagan nations, or announcing that God will graciously forgive and give life, over and over again, the prophet notes that the ultimate outcome will be that people will know that the God of Israel is the Lord.

The Lord will make Israel and Judah to be one again (the two sticks of ch. 37).  He will save his people from their backsliding, and they will be his people and he will be their God (ch. 37).  “Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore” (37:28).  There it is again!

To the One who breathes life into us, we plead:

O Breath of life, come sweeping through us,

revive your church with life and pow’r;

O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us,

and fit your church to meet this hour.

O Wind of God, come bend us, break us,

till humbly we confess our need;

then in your tenderness remake us,

revive, restore, for this we plead.   -- Bessie Porter Head (1920)