Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 37-38.

I have always loved Ezekiel’s vison of the valley of dry bones.  It has such an important lesson for us.  It goes into great detail describing how God was able to turn a pile of bones that had no flesh of any kind left on them into a vast army.  The people who those bones had originally belonged to were long dead, but God was able to bring them back to life.  We read that and think that it teaches the lesson that no matter how moribund a group, an organization, may seem, God’s Spirit can bring it back to life.  And it does indeed teach that lesson, but I never noticed that there is another, related, lesson right at the beginning of that story.  The story starts with God asking Ezekiel if the bones could live and Ezekiel responds by saying, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”  Ezekiel did not look at those bones and say, “They can never live again.”  Nor did he say, “By the power of God, these bones will live again.”  No, he said, “Lord, you alone know if these bones can live again.”  So, while we are correct to interpret this vision as telling us that nothing and no one is so dead that cannot bring them back to life, we also need to remember that only God knows if the dry bones will live again.

Today’s passage ends with Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning Gog invading Israel.  He writes that God will muster a great army by allying with many nations to attack Israel when Israel was a land which had recovered from war and was at peace.  Many people read this prophecy and attempt to figure out what current countries represent those mentioned here.  Then, once they have figured out what countries will be part of the alliance with Gog, they try to determine when this prophecy will be fulfilled.  For all intents and purposes this prophecy says that all the nations will gather to make war.  What we often miss is God’s reason for allowing this to happen.  God allows this great war to happen so that He would have the opportunity show His great might and power.  When this battle comes to its conclusion, those who took part will know that our God is Lord over all.  Time and again, God gave Ezekiel a prophecy concerning the fall of different nations, and at, or near, the end of those prophecies, God tells Ezekiel, “Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 37-38.

When I read Ezekiel’s prophecy about the valley of the dry bones, I am inspired in two ways.  First, it reminds me that I serve and put my faith in a God who raised Lazarus from the dead, and is able to do exactly what this passage describes.  Second, and perhaps more importantly, it tells me that any congregation, or other organization, which seeks to do God’s will continues to serve His purposes long after it seems its future is hopeless to human eyes.  If you are part of an aging congregation which is shrinking, seek to serve the Lord and to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit.  Even if everyone in the congregation is over seventy and the numbers have dwindled down to a few dozen (or less), if the Holy Spirit chooses to breathe new life into it, it will catch fire and grow.  That does not mean that we should not close the doors on congregations, or other organizations, which have outlived their mission.  It does mean that if you feel God calling you to serve in a congregation, or other organization, which seems to be dying, do as the Spirit leads.  You will not be wasting your time.  Of course, if you are in such an organization, surrender fully to the Holy Spirit and accept the breathe of life which He breathes into you.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 37-38.

My lovely wife married me 22 years ago on the 23rd of this month.  So I am going to wish her Happy Anniversary every day from now until then.

Happy Anniversary, Darling!

I really like the prophecy of the valley of dry bones.  It reminds me of the congregations I have known over the years which seemed like they were as good as dead.  The membership had shrunk, and for the most part gotten old.  No one really thought they would ever grow again, and those still attending were doing so because finding a new congregation was too much work.  Usually, the larger Church body they were part of was just waiting for enough members to die off that they could close it.  This prophecy reminds us that thinking that way is a mistake.  Certainly, most of those congregations eventually ran their course, or will run their course, and closed, but if God wishes He will breathe new life into them and revive them.  If you are part of such a congregation, or, if you even just know of one, pray that God will do just that.  That He will breathe His Spirit into those who still attend that congregation and light them on fire for Him.  Pray that God will breath new life into those dull, moribund congregations so that they will be light in the darkness.  However, let us not forget what comes before God breathing new life into them.  First, He pulls the bones together, then attaches tendons and muscles to those bones, finally, He covers this new flesh with skin to protect it from the elements.  Only then does God breathe life into what was dead, dry bones.  The same is true of individual people as well.  God may breathe His Spirit into someone who has become tired and “dried up”, so that His energy and light flows through them once more.  Let us pray that God pours His Spirit out onto the Church in this country, and throughout the world, so that it becomes the army He intends it to be to transform society around us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

In the year 2000, on the 23rd day of this month, my wife married me.  So here we are on day 6 of the 20 days that I am going to wish her Happy Anniversary for 20 years of marriage.  Happy Anniversary Darling!

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 37-38.

I have always considered Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning the Valley of the Dry Bones to contain one of the most important lessons for us.  I have frequently witnessed Christians decide that a congregation has gotten too old, or too staid, or both, to ever thrive again.  While there is some truth to this, we should never believe that God’s Spirit cannot revive such a congregation.  However, the Valley of Dry Bones prophecy does not just apply to congregations, or other institutions, which we think are dead and dried up.  The prophecy also teaches us that God’s Spirit can move and bring life, even when we think something is long dead.  Let us pray that God’s Spirit will move in the world today and bring the fire of revival to it.  Let us pray that God will bring new life to the dry bones of Christianity in parts of the world where it once thrived.  But, let us do more than just pray, let us speak as the Spirit guides us to bring about that change.

I have long wondered whether the passage here about Gog and Magog attacking Israel was a figurative prophecy, or perhaps if it was a reference to the 1967 Arab-Israel War.  Now, the other day I mentioned how Meshech and Tubal were mentioned in a list of nations which Ezekiel’s original readers would have been familiar.  So, as I was reading this prophecy today, I thought about current world affairs and wondered if this prophecy might refer to something about to happen.  It is not that this is something that I know is about to happen, merely something which current world affairs, for the first time in my lifetime, make a possibility.  So, Meshech and Tubal most likely would have been nations bordering the Black Sea towards the east end.  Gomer, which is also mentioned here, would have been in an area which is now part of Turkey.  In the prophecy we have Sheba and Dedan warning this alliance against attacking Israel.  Interestingly, Sheba and Dedan were nations of the Arabian Peninsula.  With the recent normalization between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, and Saudi Arabia’s long term silent cooperation with Israel, it makes such a warning not at all improbable.  Looking at the current world situation, the alliances of nations which geographically fit those described in this prophecy are possible for the first time in my life time (during the 1967 War the nations of the Arabian Peninsula were in the alliance against Israel).

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 37-38.

Ezekiel describes his vision of the Valley of Dry Bones.  In my opinion, we should pay a lot of attention to this passage.  There are two closely related messages here.  No matter how dead and dysfunctional a group or organization may seem, if and when God chooses to bring them back to life they will become an army to serve His purposes.  Further, when God calls you to speak His word to a group or organization trust that it will be effective, even if no one seems to be paying attention.  Actually that lesson goes beyond that: when God calls you to a mission, that mission will accomplish God’s purpose, even if it seems a failure.  Do that to which God has called you, no matter how pointless it may seem. 

I go back and forth between thinking that Ezekiel’s message to God represents a specific future event (future to Ezekiel, but not necessarily to us) and that it is a figurative prophecy.  If it represents a specific event, the lands mentioned (Magog, Meschech, and Tubal) would today be parts of Turkey, Georgia (the nation, not the U.S. state), and southern Russia.  The current leader of Turkey has shown that he has the ambition to be able to do what is described here and has said things which suggest he even has the ambition to launch the invasion described.  The passage even contains a suggestion that the ruler who launches the invasion believes that he is called by God to do so.  The current ruler of Turkey would make such a claim if he launched an attack.  Such an alliance would be diplomatically opposed by Sheba, Dedan, and Tarshish.    Sheba and Dedan were located on the Arabian peninsula and the countries located there today would be among those whose aid Turkey would seek should it choose to attack Israel.  Many of those countries, especially Saudi Arabia, would currently question the wisdom of attacking Israel and oppose doing so.  In any case, such an attack will result in utter defeat for the attackers so as to bring glory to God’s name.  Their destruction will come about as the attacking allies turn on each other.