From Death to Life: A SOAP Journal based on Ezekiel 36-37

S = Ezekiel 36: 26-28 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Ezekiel 37:1-6, 11-14 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon 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.”
… Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

O = Israel’s issue, as recorded in the Old Testament, was a stiff neck and a heart of stone. It repeatedly required God to bring covenant discipline upon them…ultimately it led to their exile from the land. They were taken as captives to Babylon and scattered among the nations as well. After their hope of being God’s people had died in idolatry and dried in the blazing heat of their captivity, God sent this message of new, prophetic, Spirit-filled life. But could they believe it? The imagery of this valley of dried bones is a picture of the hopelessness of man’s efforts and the power of the life-giving Holy Spirit of God. Once God has changed our heart, we too can become people who prophetically speak God’s life to others.

A = So many promises seem to go unfulfilled in the world today. We have pushed God away in our pride and our passion for lesser goods made gods. Separation from our Creator has left many like branches pruned from the vine, drying in the sun, and awaiting the fire (John 15:6). Is it hopeless for us? Did we believe something better for our marriages, our children, our friends, our career, our lives? Do our dreams of living and serving the Lord together seem like so many dried and scattered bones where even our memories are now dishonored? Just as God prophetically began to resurrect the nations of Israel and Judah in the years of the exile and then suddenly restored them to life and land, we can trust him to restore our hope, to give us a new heart, to bring life out of death. It is not what we deserve…it is simply what he does. He is a loving, miracle-working, Redeemer! So to whom will the Lord have us speak “Life” this week?

P = O Lord, you know the personal and collective dreams and hopes that have died in our lives. Yet, just as you remained faithful to your people in the past, I ask that you would show yourself powerful to save and restore your people today. May your Spirit breathe life into the dry bones of our efforts, and muscle and connecting sinews to relationships long severed by our individualism, and cover us in your garments of righteousness and bring glory to your name in our lives and in the world today. As you rose from the grave to give us eternal life, give us eyes of faith to see you at work today! You are the Lord who has spoken and will do it. Lord, Increase our faith! Amen.