August 2, 2025 - Ezekiel 37-39

Chapter 37 is the “dry bones chapter.”  The statement “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) is almost ubiquitous in Ezekiel’s prophecies.   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!  The Lord will judge Gog.  The result?  “So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations.  Then they will know that I am the Lord” (38:23; also, 39:6,7,23,28).  It might seem, at times, that the Lord is losing the battle and that the whole world will ultimately reject him.  Not so!  In his time, the nations will know that he is Lord indeed!

Revive Thy work, O Lord,

and give refreshing show’rs;

the glory shall be all Thine own,

the blessing, Lord, be ours.

Revive Thy work, O Lord,

while here to Thee we bow;

descend, O gracious Lord, descend!

O come and bless us now.   -- Albert Midlane (1858)