Overview
Ezekiel: In the Spirit, the Lord took Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones. He asked Ezekiel if they could live. He told Ezekiel to prophecy to the bones and he did. The bones came together and became a great army. The people of Israel were complaining they were dry bones without hope. Ezekiel was to tell them that the Lord would open their graved make them alive and take them to their own land.
Then Ezekiel was told to take two sticks, one for Judah and the other for Joseph. He is to hold them together like one stick. The people will ask about it and Ezekiel is to explain that the Lord will bring both Judah and Israel back and they will be one kingdom. They won’t commit idolatry any more. The Lord will cleanse them and they will be his people. David will reign over them. He will be their shepherd and prince over them forever. The Lord will live with them and the nations will know that the Lord sanctifies them when his temple will be there forevermore.
The Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy against Gog in the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. He and other nations from the north and east will be summoned by the Lord at a distant future date. They will all gather together to attack the people of Israel who have been restore to their land. They will be living securely in unwalled cities. He will go against them to plunder them. Sheba, Dedan, and Tarshish will ask if that is their intention.
Gog will know that the people are secure and he and a vast army will come and cover the land. The Lord will bring them against his land in the distant future. The nations will know that he is the Lord when he will vindicate his holiness through Gog.
When Gog comes against Israel as the Lord has told by the prophets, the Lord will raise up in anger. There will be a great earthquake. The Lord will cause all of the invaders to kill each other. Gog’s army will be judged with disease and bloodshed. He will hurl torrential rain and hailstones on him along with fire and sulfur. The Lord’s greatness will be shown so that many nations will know he is the Lord.
Psalm: All nations and people are to praise the Lord because of his love and faithfulness that endures forever.
Proverbs: Wicked people are paranoid thinking someone is after them. The righteous don’t worry like that and can be bold.
James: We need to make sure that we listen to people and consider our words. We should not be hot tempered because our anger doesn’t bring about a life that honors God. Because of this, we need to get rid of wickedness and let God’s word work in us. We can’t just listen to the word and then ignore it like a person looking in a mirror and walking away. God’s law brings liberty when we look into it and do what it says, then we will be blessed.
If we don’t watch our tongues, we have a heart problem and however religious we think we are, it is useless. Doing good like taking care of orphans and widows and staying pure in this word is what true religion is like.
If you really have faith in Jesus, the Lord of glory, then don’t show partiality to people judging them by their clothes or jewelry and giving the rich better places to sit than the poor. Doing that reveals evil thoughts. God has given poor people rich faith and an inheritance in his kingdom just like everyone who loves him. Don’t dishonor the poor and remember that rich people are the ones who oppress the poor and blaspheme the name of Christ.
If you love your neighbor as yourself, then you are doing what Scripture says. If you show partiality, you are breaking the law and will be convicted. Remember that if you break one law it is just as bad as breaking all the laws because God made them all. If you commit adultery but not murder, you have transgressed the law. Therefore, behave as one who will be judged under liberty. But if you judge without mercy you will not receive mercy. Mercy overcomes judgment.
If someone says he has faith but it isn’t evident in his behavior, is he really saved? If you see someone in need but only pronounce a blessing on him without giving material help, it is useless. It is the same as faith without good deeds; it is dead.
What Stood Out
Ezekiel: “And he said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know’” (Ezek 37:3).
Psalm: “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!” (Ps 117:1).
Proverbs: “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion” (Prov 28:1).
James: “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires” (James 1:19-20).
Insight
Ezekiel: We are about to enter into some of the chapters in Ezekiel that get people all excited because of the prophecies that are even for our future. The introduction is the proverbial valley of the dry bones. It sets the tone for the rest of the prophecies. When Ezekiel is asked if the thinks the bone could live again, he basically says that only God can know that. Indeed, in the vision, the bones come to life. The Lord then tells that Israel and Judah will become a nation again in the future. Then comes the part that all the prophecy buffs love. This is where the Lord tells about the future when nations from the north and east gather to wipe out Israel, which is now a secure nation without apparent fortification. At the end of chapter 38, the Lord wipes out the invaders.
The prophecy buffs all want to identify the nations with current nations in order to show how this could all take place this year, or next, but not necessary much longer from now. This is what I read in 1976. They told how the USSR was this confederacy of nations. The details are not important anymore because a few years later the USSR didn’t exist anymore. The immediacy of their speculation died. While I do not discount the fact that this could happen in my lifetime, that is not the most important thing.
What is important is to have Ezekiel’s attitude. “O Lord God, you know.” When we exhibit faith in what God can do and knows, we already know that he is the Lord, we don’t have to see these things to love and obey our Lord Jesus. We really need to get beyond the need for sensational exhibits of God’s power to reinforce our faith. We know that the Lord is going to do this, we don’t need to speculate on the countries, the methods, or what fire and sulfur mean. When it happens, it will be at his time and the way he has described. Our part is to be faithful if we are alive when it happens. If we see it, we will recognize it and won’t be sucked into being part of the hoard that marches against Israel.
Psalm: When we stop and meditate on the Lord’s love and his faithfulness, we should always praise him. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are in our lives or the ones we love. God’s unchanging attributes are always there and that is reason to praise him.
When we see things like those portrayed in Ezekiel and he repeats over and over that the nations will know he is Lord and then the end comes, then we will see all peoples and nations praising him.
Proverbs: A wicked person will always have someone who will be out to get him. Even if he doesn’t, he will fear it. On the other hand, righteous people should be confident in their lives. Even if someone is out to get them, they know that the worst their enemies can do is kill them. They can’t destroy them in hell. This gives us great freedom to serve the Lord.
James: James is hard to digest in anything but little chunks. He covers a lot of topics in just a few verses. One very important one is making sure that our anger is under control. While many people point to Ephesians 4:26 and believe that it gives permission to become angry as long as we settle it before going to bed. That is totally not what the verse is trying to say. It is an accommodation to the fact that we still get angry and sin. It is what to do when we have sinned. James points out how and why to avoid anger in the first place. He says that being a good listener, thinking over what you are going to say, and then being slow to anger is the way to handle anger. The reason is that our anger never brings about God’s righteousness. And don’t quote Jesus getting angry as an excuse. He is God and his anger is always righteous. Our anger is never righteous because we are not perfect and we are not God.
James builds an argument that our faith should result in righteous living. He points is out when we see in Scripture how to act and ignore it, we don’t have faith. If we don’t control our tongue, we really don’t have faith. If we don’t care for widows, orphans, or people in need our religion or faith isn’t what God desires. If we treat people differently because of their apparent societal or economic position, then there is something wrong with our faith. If we don’t act in the way faith directs us, then we will be judged for it because doing the wrong thing in all theses is judgmental and lacks faith.
Tomorrow, we get to see the nail put in the coffin of faith that doesn’t produce good works.
Application
I want to make every effort to be one who has faith in God like Ezekiel. Trusting in his ability to even make dead bones alive. I want to make sure that my faith isn’t just talk but results in doing good, especially when it comes to anger. I want to listen, and do a better job at holding my tongue.
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