Following the vision of the valley of dry bones, in which is predicted the resurrection of the exiled people in the new age, comes a more direct prediction about God’s plans for the future. God plans not only to resurrect the exiled tribe of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) but also to gather in the lost tribes of Israel (the Northern Kingdom). But the northern tribes of Israel had been absorbed into the nations for over a hundred and fifty years. The only way that God could retrieve the lost tribes was, therefore, to gather in all the nations. And this is precisely what would happen under the Messiah, the anointed Son of David. This is therefore a universal vision, a prediction of the closing of the gap between Jew and Gentile. In a sense we are all part of the ten lost tribes of Israel, that is, with regards to this promise. In a sense, every person you work with and socialise with is part of the lost tribes that God is seeking to gather in here. Jesus is gathering people in; he is raising up a mighty army from dry bones and we are his messengers. This doesn’t mean, however, that we are the ones who give life to the dry bones. God does this. But, like Ezekiel, we are called to ‘prophecy,’ that is, to bear witness to what God is doing. And we can do that because he is doing it in us. He is raising us up as well. The message is not an abstract idea but a testimony of something that we actually experience.
Ask God to lift you up to live life more fully in his purpose.
Read Ezekiel 37:15-28
