Today’s Scripture Reading; Ezekiel 37:1 through Ezekiel 39:29; Ezekiel 32:1-16
God asked Ezekiel:
Son of Man, can these bones becoming living people again? –Ezekiel 37:3
Ezekiel had three possible answers:
- Yes
- No
- Maybe
Ezekiel said “no” to all three and answered with a statement of faith:
O Sovereign Lord, you alone know the answer to that.
If that was a faith checkup, Ezekiel passed.
The Lord told Ezekiel that the dry bones represented the people of Israel who had lost all hope of going back to their homeland. The Lord said He was going to open the graves of exile and cause them to rise again and bring them back to the land of Israel. The Lord was going to put His Spirit in the Israelites so they would live again and return to their own land. (Ezekiel 37:11-14, my paraphrase)
It’s easy for us to zoom past this and not grasp the life of hopelessness the Israelites were living through. They needed a miracle and had lost all hope of getting one.
What are you facing today that looks hopeless from a natural standpoint?
- Physical challenges and illness
- Relationship worries
- Financial Distress
- Job loss
- Overwhelming grief
- Spiritual Dryness
- Emotional weariness
Does it look as hopeless as the possibility of old, dry bones coming together and growing muscle and flesh and then living again ? (Ezekiel 37:4-9)
When you’re facing a seemingly hopeless situation do you ever struggle with knowing what to believe, how to feel, and what to speak?
Ezekiel’s answer to God’s question (Ezekiel 37:3), gives us some guidance for getting through “seemingly” hopeless times.
1. It’s okay to not have an answer
2. It’s okay to voice the impossibility of the situation to your God
3. It’s okay to release the responsibility of the outcome to the Lord
4. Reliance on God’s sovereignty gives peace in the worst of situations
5. God knows the answer to every situation
Why would God tell Ezekiel all of this? What was the purpose of the bone prophesy?
When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken! –Ezekiel 37:13-14 (emphasis mine)
Why do we need to read the complicated book of Ezekiel?
Why do we need to make every effort to understand prophesy?
So that when God’s Word comes to pass…
we will know that the Lord is God!
Friends I’m very grateful to Ezekiel for keeping it real. There are things we know and there are many things we don’t know. All we really need to know is that our God is the Sovereign Lord of our lives The more we know Him, the less we are bothered by the big questions in life.
It’s okay to say “I don’t know, but He knows.”
Heavenly Father, help us to grow each day in the knowledge that you are the Sovereign Lord of our lives and you can be trusted! Longing to know You more.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen and Amen!
© 2012 Dianne Guthmuller
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 32:17 through Ezekiel 33:20; Jeremiah 52:28-30, Psalm 137; 1 Chronicles 4:24 through 1 Chronicles 5:17
