January 10, 2018
Ezekiel 1:2-3
On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was on him.
CONSIDER THIS
Our journey will walk us through two visions of awakening from the Old Testament. The ancient prophet, Ezekiel, will serve as our guide along this way of awakening. We will not take a traditional Bible-study approach to these texts; rather, we will try to see them from the vantage point of the New Testament. When we open our hearts and minds to the whole of Scripture, many deep and rich insights emerge.
Ezekiel was a prophet in exile. He did his work in unfavorable conditions, prophesying to broken and desperate refugees in Babylonian captivity. If you want to get a lay of the land ahead, read Ezekiel chapter 37 and 47. These are two expansive visions given to Ezekiel from the Spirit of God. We know them as “the vision of the valley of dry bones” and “the vision of the river of life.”
Awakening begins in a lifeless valley filled with dry bones. It comes to full fruition on the lush banks of a rushing river, bringing life wherever it goes. The story of awakening runs an epic course from deep sleep to an awe-inspiring movement of everlasting life. Awakening begins in the land of impossible. It winds along the way of the cross. It ends in the country of eternal possibility—nothing short of resurrection life.
PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER
Come Holy Spirit, stir in us the audacity to hope for what seems far-fetched and even impossible. Would you awaken my faith to believe in the power of hidden, small beginnings? In Jesus’ name, amen.
CONFERENCE TOGETHER
Share with your Band your intentions, hopes, and apprehensions about this study.
If you’re interested in getting this Daily Text series in book form, you can pick up Awaken: From Dry Bones to the River of Life from our store here.
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J.D. Walt, is a Bond Slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. jd.walt@seedbed.com.
3 Responses
Pushing, pushing! :0)
It is interesting that you are in a part of scripture that early on gave me this take on my response to encountering God and discovering that I should “never get too sentimental about grace” because “to long for grace is to find ourselves in the crucible of God’s creativity”. The most honest and realistic scripture that I have found that describes “us” responding to God: “The Spirit lifted me and took me away. I went bitterly and angrily. I didn’t want to go. But God had me in his grip. I arrived among the exiles who lived near the Kebar River at Tel Aviv. I came to where they were living and sat there for seven days, appalled”. Ezekial 3: 14-15 The Message
The point of God’s grace is not to be nice to us
but to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
It carries us home to God,
sometimes on a gentle stream,
sometimes on a raging torrent,
but always back to
God. M. Craig Barnes, “Sacred Thirst” aka holy discontent
“The crucible of God’s creativity”–is that from Barnes?
I’m not sure.