Ezekiel 37 – 42

Verse 37:1 starts the famous “dry bones living again” story:

The Eternal had a hold on me, and I couldn’t escape it. The divine wind of the Eternal One picked me up and set me down in the middle of the valley, but this time it was full of bones.

I often am reminded of great worship songs when doing my reading and will play them in the background. Today is New Life Worship’s “Great I Am” where one verse talks about “dry bones living again”. This is another story that you have to believe in faith, also as you read it’s not clear if this was something that really happened or a vision. I tend to believe a vision even though all things are possible with God; it was more imagery to show Israel being reborn from their exile.

Verse 37:19 shows them God’s ultimate will:

tell them I say, “Watch as I take Joseph’s stick (the one held by Ephraim) and the ten Israelite tribes of the North, your compatriots, and put it end to end with Judah’s stick. The two sticks will become one in My hand.”

God never intended on Israel to be split into two separate nations, the power of man did that. God is showing them that He will reunite them as one nation not split as He originally intended. As reading these two prophecies I wonder if the Babushka principle is in effect where we are seeing this prophecy happening on a larger scale today.

Verse 38:2 continues with a fulfilled prophecy and one that may happen again:

 Son of man, turn your face toward Gog in the land of Magog, the highest ruler of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him,

Often these are interpreted to be Russia or Turkey and when you see what is happening with Israel one has to wonder if these prophecies were not just for that period. These two nations are referenced in Revelations but without geographical reference, which means it could be anywhere. We cannot say for sure if John was using an illustration to describe nations “like” Gog and Magog or if they were the actually nations locations since they did not exist in John’s time. Either way, it’s spooky to think about this really happening again.

Verse 40:5 starts the description of God’s temple to be rebuilt:

 I saw a wall surrounding the temple. The measuring reed in the man’s hand was about 10½ feet long. He measured the wall and found it to be about 10½ feet thick and 10½ feet high.

The temple must have been a fantastic structure and the detail was amazing. I often wonder if this is what God wanted or if it was a way to remind man about how amazing God is. I know today the modern church often has awesome buildings with unique architecture, but is the building what God wants or as illustrated by Jesus our bodies are His temple since He lives in us. Either way it would have been cool to actually seen this structure standing, you should Google a model and notice how small the Dome of the Rock (which stands in the middle of the old temple grounds) is in comparison.