Ezekiel 37:1-39:29
Ezekiel 32:1-16
Ezekiel was given two powerful visuals of acts God would perform for
His people; then, he received a prophecy of the end times. First, let’s
consider the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones (37:1-14). Ezekiel was “carried away by the
Spirit” to a valley filled with skeletons; the Lord told him to speak to the
bones. As he spoke, “the bones came together and attached themselves. Then
muscles and flesh formed over the bones; finally skin formed to cover the
bodies.”
Because of their judgment and exile, the people of Israel were saying,
“We have become old, dry bones; all hope is gone.” But the Lord wanted them to
know that He would resurrect their nation and bring them home again. “I will
open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you
back to the land of Israel.”
The second visual Ezekiel was given was with sticks (37:15-28). God told him to
choose two sticks and to write on them the names of Israel and Judah. “Now hold
them together in your hand as one stick,” said the Lord. “I will gather the
people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own
land... I will unify them into one nation, and one king will rule them all...
My servant David will be their prince forever, and I will make with them an everlasting
covenant.”
Of course, the return of the tribes will occur shortly after this
prophecy was given; even their unification would take place soon. But the reference
to David ruling over the people again is not a literal return of David himself,
but a foreshadowing of one of his descendants, the Messiah, unifying the people
in the last days. Jesus is the one who will rule David’s people and forge an
everlasting covenant with them; and that covenant will be one of peace. God’s
people will no longer know internal conflict or foreign war.
The final message today, related to Israel, was concerning the end
times (38:1-39:29). God told Ezekiel
about another time when a huge military force would invade the land of His people.
“A vast and awesome horde will roll down on them like a storm and cover the
land like a cloud... This will happen in the distant future... But, I will
knock their weapons from their hands and they will die on the mountains...
Thus, I will make My name known among My people. I will not let them be
desecrated anymore; and the nations too will know that I am the Lord.” No doubt,
God is referring to the last days, when the Anti-Christ amasses an impressive
force against Israel, only to be defeated by the Lord.
Daily Reflection
Of the three prophecies today, two of them have already been
fulfilled. Obviously, the end times have not occurred yet. However, with the
fulfillment of the first events, what does that cause you to think about the
third one?
Prophecy is another way that the Lord has proven His
divinity. While
we may grow weary of reading prophecies, as they are a little strange to us,
our faith and confidence in God should be strengthened by the fact that so many
things that He has predicted have already come true. Indeed, all of time is stretched
out before Him; He sees the beginning and the end, the past and the future.
We can also see that, while things seem to hap- pen haphazardly, God has
a plan.
All things play out as He intends. Therefore, we do need not to fear. Though
the times may be full of turmoil and uncertainty, our God is in control. His
plans prevail despite our enemy’s schemes!
BiAY.org | Day 243 — 122 Days to Go
No comments:
Post a Comment