Tag: valley of dry bones

New Heart – New Life

Ezekiel 36-39

Devotion by Rebecca Dauksas (South Carolina)

Ezekiel brings a message of future redemption for Israel. How does their redemption happen? By truly connecting with the LORD. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.” (36:26-28) What a beautiful picture of living in a loving relationship with God!

In our passage the LORD is providing everything that is needed to be with Him. Just as we look to our Heavenly Father every day for all that we need to truly be His obedient children. We need the heart that the LORD creates for us and we need the power of His Spirit to transform us. Our circumstances can often weigh us down, so we also need the encouragement that the LORD provides through His message. The people of Israel needed that encouragement from the LORD. They were discouraged – they were disconnected from the LORD and spiritually dry. But God promises restoration and life.

In chapter 37, the valley of dry bones illustrates that God will bring individual and national resurrection. His promise gives hope. The Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord. (37:12b-14) God shows compassion on His nation and He will never forget His people. In the same way, He will never forget His children. When He is “proved holy through them in the sight of many nations,” may we also praise our Holy God.

Reflection Questions

  1. In what ways did Ezekiel’s audience have a heart of stone? In what ways do you? What would be different with a heart of flesh given by the LORD?
  2. What else does God say He will do for His people in today’s reading?
  3. When have you felt like you were spiritually dry – in a valley of dry bones? When have you felt spiritually alive? What life has God given you now? What life will God give in the future?
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I Will Put My Spirit Within You and You Will Come to Life

Ezekiel 37

Sunday, October 30, 2022

This time of year can be a little dark-physically and spiritually.  Days are getting shorter and common themes of shock, terror and death seem to ride in the wake of Halloween. But several years ago, our church decided we could push back and do something positive for our community. So we host a Fall Festival with all kinds of activities for families. This event is a source of excitement for children and a bright spot for a lot of our church family.

The message of Ezekiel 37 is a huge encouragement in the middle of a very dark time for God’s people. They felt depleted and described their situation as “Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.” 

But God is a giver of life! He tells them that He will open their graves and cause them to come up out of those graves. God says that they are His people and He will bring them to the land of Israel.God will put His Spirit within them and they will come to life.

This vision of the Valley of Dry Bones is God’s message of bringing life and hope. God gives us the ability to live in newness of life now, but we also have the promise of the coming resurrection. How exciting to know that there is a resurrection of the righteous someday. We will all have one shepherd and will walk in God’s ordinances and keep and observe His statutes (v. 24). We are so blessed to have the opportunity to have a loving relationship with God in Christ right now and we can also experience the ultimate joy of having God’s dwelling place with us on earth someday. So even when your circumstances may seem dark remember that God abides with His obedient children and lets us know that we are His by the Spirit (1 John 3:24). 

-Rebecca Dauksas

Reflection Questions

  1. What does it mean to you to have life because you have God’s Spirit? Do you have God’s Spirit?
  2. Where do you find encouragement in the middle of a dark season? How can you share that encouragement with others?
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Come Alive

Ezekiel 37-38

As a child of God, it is your duty to understand how to bring praise and worship to the LORD as a sacrifice to him. Worshipping our God should not only give you joy but also bring joy to our incredible God and to our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

The past two years have been a whirlwind for all of us. I don’t have to write it to remind you of the turmoil that our world has been in. In this historic time, its natural for us to become down–depressed even. It’s easy to think that hope is lost. 

This week, I encourage you to remember that we have a never failing — never ending — hope. In this series, I remind you of who you are– who God has made you to be — a worshipper for him. Our King has never lost a battle. He never will. I remind you that this world is going to fail you–it’s not the Kingdom of God. But, I urge you to remember that his kingdom is coming. Let’s worship while we wait for our coming King.

We call out to Dry Bones – Come Alive…

Each day, I am going to relate this devotion to a song in worship that connects to the scriptures we are focusing on. Today our song is, “Come Alive” by Lauren Daigle. I hope this song fills your heart as much as it does mine. 

“Come Alive”  is taken from Ezekiel 37.

3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”  Ezekiel 37:3-6

God always has a way of showing up doesn’t he? Our God is never late. And he proves that over and over again. In Ezekiel 37, we see a picture of hopelessness. I envision these bones to be turning to dust. If I saw this, I would be drawn toward the idea of death—nothingness—pure loss. But, somehow Ezekiel sees these bones as an opportunity for God. 

Ezekiel calls upon the LORD to make something out of what seems like nothing. The prophet believed so deeply in the giver of life that he had the courage to ask God to renew life in these bones! 

As a modern-day believer, I become convicted when I open my Bible and get a taste of the spiritual confidence that the men and women of the scriptures had. They didn’t just see and hear— they ran forward in action! 

After Ezekiel makes this act of faith, we see that these bones weren’t nothing! They belonged to the people of Israel. Before Ezekiel’s eyes, stood the men and women who sacrificed it all in order to achieve freedom. And, they did. 

Okay, I get where your head is likely going… “Les, what dry bones do I have that need to come alive?” 

For us, these scriptures are less about physical resurrection and more about being wholly rejuvenated in Spirit. How many people–this may include yourself–are giving the bare minimum for God? How many of you feel how hard it is to get up on Sunday morning? How many of you are simply…tired? 

This feeling is what leads us to having spiritually dry bones. 

We have to ask God to make us alive again in him. And we must pray for our spiritual brothers and sisters that they do the same.

“We call out to dry bones, come alive, come alive.” 

My prayer for you this Sunday is that you become spiritually alive – totally revived. I pray for your churches this morning, and for your pastors. Let us ask God to fill us with the breath of life–in order to be renewed, and to be strong once again.

-Leslie Jones

Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Ezekiel 37-38 and Psalm 123-125

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Dem Bones…Can They Live?

Ezekiel 35-37


It would probably be blasphemous to suggest God asks silly questions, so I won’t. But I would imply that the creator of the universe makes inquiries which His creatures wouldn’t. I don’t think most of us, upon seeing a valley full of human bones, dried out by years of the sun beating down on them, would think to ask: Can these bones live? No, I think the first question would be: “What on earth happened here?” Followed by: “What’s the quickest way out of this place?” But that is not what happens in chapter 37 of Ezekiel. No, Ezekiel doesn’t get to ask a question, instead, one is posed to him by God, “Can these bones live?” And he responds with either the biggest cop-out of an answer there is or the wisest: “Only God knows.” I would lean towards wisest. God’s not trying to learn something from Ezekiel; He is trying to reveal something to the prophet so Ezekiel can relay it to the people of Israel, which is why he doesn’t try to guess at an answer. Ezekiel doesn’t care to have his opinions heard by God; he wants to know what God has to say. We would do well to learn this trait from the prophet–you could say it would be quite profitable (sorry!).

While Ezekiel doesn’t provide a yes or no answer to the question, God does: yes, these bones will live again. These bones, representing the house of Israel, who have been cut off from their land, and whose hope is gone, will live again. God’s people who, time after time, have rebelled against Yahweh and received mercy only to rebel further, will once again experience the grace of God and return to the Promised Land. This vision, like all those received by the prophets, is first for the Jews. It concerns God’s People and it is for God’s People, but there is much for us, as Christians, to learn from the words of the prophets today.

A few things we should recognize from this particular revelation and meditate on are (1) God’s relentless love for His people, despite their blunders, foolishness, and obstinate ways (to put it mildly). (2) That God can (and does) redeem those who have been abused, discarded, and forgotten. (3) We can (and should) have hope and trust in Yahweh, despite any and every problematic, perilous, or pernicious situation we may be in. The God we serve does not cower at death, does not withhold second chances, and does not fail to love the unlovable. Neither should we. 

– Joel Fletcher

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – ht

tps://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+35-37&version=NIV

Tomorrow we will read Ezekiel 38-39 as we continue on our

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From Dry Bones to Streets of Gold

Ezekiel 37-39

Ezekiel 37 amber 

Friday, March 31

What a powerful passage.  If you would like a visual of the valley of dry bones, I recommend checking out this minute and a half Youtube clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dafYxu8cQQ).

 

While we can pull out hundreds of things to say about this passage, I am going to stick to two simple ideas.  Ezekiel 37 acts as a double prophecy.  In other words, we can expect two different things to happen:

  1. God will restore Israel and make a nation again from the scattered people. He will bring his chosen people back to the promised land.
  2. God will establish His kingdom on Earth. We know that Jesus is coming back to Earth again to reign until God Himself reigns above all men.

 

We see in Ezra and Nehemiah that prophecy number one is fulfilled as the temple is rebuilt.  In the New Testament we also get a glimpse at prophecy number two.  When Jesus died on the cross we know that the curtain was torn and we have hope in the future Kingdom! After all, Jesus did preach most about the kingdom of God during his time on earth.

 

As my dad says, he has two major goals in life: 1. To be sure he maintains a strong relationship with God, and 2. To get as many people into the Kingdom as possible.  I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait to live forever on the streets of gold glorifying God and Jesus all day long! How are you furthering the Kingdom cause through your everyday actions?

 

Revelation 21:1-4: Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look!” God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or morning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

-Amber McClain