This is the well-known chapter
of Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones coming to life, the spiritual rebirth of God’s
people, restored and unified. This portion highlights that His revived people
will be ruled by a Davidic leader of the future. The repeated word forever indicates
not so much a line of the Davidic kings as in the past, but a supernatural
kingly being who will be the presence of God and a ceaseless covenant of peace.
Such a One will indeed come who will be designated as The Prince of Peace.
Study the Scripture
Read in Ezekiel 37:24-28
For more help use this Bible Study method
REFLECTION
Unshakeable
Peace – Unending Abundant Love
by Mary McGinnis
Back
in my 20’s I lived in Los Angles for one year. Home and car break ins were
commonplace in the neighborhood where I lived. One afternoon while we were
walking down the street, we heard the startling voice of a policeman yelling,
“Get down, behind that tree!!” We dash behind the nearest tree and peeked
around the side. We saw three policemen hunkered down on one knee, with
their guns drawn. A few minutes later, we saw a large, dark clothed man,
carrying a large TV, climbing out of a broken, first floor window. The
police captured the thief, and the scene was secured.
But
my heart was not secured. I felt afraid and vulnerable. This neighborhood
was not where I wanted to live. I did not feel safe.
But
that wasn’t the only reason I did not feel safe. That was also the year I
first discovered that my first husband was having an affair. Everything I
had dreamed and hoped for was all coming crashing down and broken into a
million pieces. There was no peace in my neighborhood, within my home, in
my marriage nor in my heart.
I
don’t suppose for a minute that I am the only one who has experienced
heartache, pain, disappointments, and griefs. This world we live in is not
a safe place. Our world, country, neighborhoods, homes, and our own hearts
are in upheaval. We long for a safe place, the warmth of a home with
unshakeable peace and abounding in unending love.
Where can we ever hope
to find such a place?
God,
through Ezekiel uses the language of the deepest level of love, drawing on the
most intimate, covenant relationship of marriage. God tells Ezekiel, that even
though His people had been adulterers, He would bring them back
home. He would cleanse them and forgive their sins. He
would create in them new hearts.
“I
made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God,
and you became mine.” Ezekiel 16:8b
“I
will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting
covenant.” Ezekiel 37:26
Through
the lineage of David, God entered our world, pursuing us with His intimate
love. He took on our flesh through the infant Jesus. Jesus was in the
incarnation of David’s Son, the Good Shepherd, the Prince of Peace.
“The
Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the
glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and
truth.” John 1:14
The
King of Kings draw us close to Himself. He speaks tenderly. He came
“seeking and saving the lost.” He wants nothing more than for the bride
for which He valiantly and passionately pursued to come dwell with Him. He
made peace where there was no peace. Now we can know unshakeable peace and
the joy of His unending love!!
“I
made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God,
and you became mine.” Ezekiel 16:8b
Prayer Practice: Spend time praying
for leaders – for leaders at church, in the marketplace, and in government. Pray
for leaders you appreciate, and for ones you have struggled to respect. And
remember to pray that the church would always remember the true King is Jesus.
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