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Friday, April 28, 2017

The Valley of Dry Bones




Ezekiel 37:1-28 NIV






The Valley of Dry Bones






1The Hand of The LORD Was on me, and HE Brought me out by The SPIRIT of The LORD and Set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 


2HE Led me Back and Forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.  







3HE Asked me, 

“Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “SOVEREIGN LORD, YOU Alone Know.


4Then HE Said to me, 

“Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 

‘Dry bones, Hear The WORD of The LORD!  


5This Is What The SOVEREIGN LORD Says to these bones:


I Will Make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6I Will Attach tendons to you and Make flesh come upon you and Cover you with skin; I Will Put breath in you, and you will come to life.








 Then you will know that 

I AM The LORD.’ ”


7So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

9Then HE Said to me, 

“Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 


This Is What The SOVEREIGN LORD Says:


Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into 


these slain, that they may live.’ ” 



10So I prophesied as HE Commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—







a vast army.







11Then HE Said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 

12Therefore prophesy and say to them: 


This Is What 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.


13 Then you, MY people, will know that 

I AM The LORD, 



When I Open your graves and Bring you Up from them. 14I 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.’ ”





One Nation Under One King





15The WORD of The LORD Came To me: 


 16“Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ 







 17Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.







18“When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ 

 19say to them, 



This Is What The SOVEREIGN LORD Says



  I AM Going To Take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I Will Make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in MY Hand.’ 20Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on21and say to them, 



 This Is What The SOVEREIGN LORD Says



I Will Take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I Will Gather them from all around and Bring them Back into their own land. 22I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.



There will be ONE KING over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 



23They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I Will Save them from all their sinful backsliding,b and I Will Cleanse them. They will be MY people, and I Will Be their GOD.



24“ ‘MY Servant David Will Be KING Over 

them, and they will all have One 


SHEPHERD



They will follow MY Laws and be careful to keep MY Decrees.  






25They will live in the land I Gave to MY servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and 


 David MY Servant Will Be their 


PRINCE forever.







 26I Will Make a Covenant of Peace with them; it will be an Everlasting Covenant. I Will Establish them and Increase their numbers, and I Will Put MY Sanctuary among them forever. 

27MY Dwelling Place Will Be With them; I Will Be their GOD, and they will be MY people. 

28Then the nations will know that I The LORD Make Israel holy, When MY Sanctuary Is Among them forever.’ ”







Ezekiel 37 






37:1-14 No created power could restore human bones to life. GOD Alone Could Cause them to live. Skin and flesh covered them, and the wind was then told to blow upon these bodies; and they were restored to life. The wind was an emblem of The SPIRIT of GOD, and represented HIS Life-Giving Powers.


  
The vision was to encourage the desponding Jews; to predict both their restoration after the captivity, and also their recovery from their present and long-continued dispersion. It was also a clear intimation of the resurrection of the dead; and it represents the Power and Grace of GOD, in the conversion of the most hopeless sinners to HIMSELF.


  
Let us look to HIM WHO Will at last Open our graves, and Bring us Forth to Judgment, that HE May now Deliver us from sin, and Put HIS SPIRIT within us, and keep us by HIS Power, through faith, unto salvation.





37:15-28 This emblem was to show the people, that The LORD Would Unite Judah and Israel. CHRIST Is the True David, Israel's KING. Events yet to come will further explain this prophecy. Nothing has more hindered the success of the Gospel than divisions. Let us try to keep the unity of The SPIRIT in the bond of peace.


  

Let us seek for Divine Grace to keep us from detestable things HE Dislikes and let us pray that all nations may be obedient and happy subjects of the SON of David, so that The LORD JESUS May Be our LORD and SHEPHERD, and we may be HIS people for evermore.









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