Tuesday 5 February 2013

A surplus of provision

I've been reading various parts of the Bible over the last few months but haven't really concentrated on one particular book.
Before this, I had been focusing on the book of Joshua, which is a fantastic book, and the more I read it, the more of the new covenant I saw through it.
But that's for another post....

During the recent time of prayer and fasting, I was drawn to the book of Ezekiel and that familiar passage in chapter 37:


The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”
Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LordThus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’”
So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.
Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

The reason I want to share about this passage is because 2 other people shared it with me in various circumstances over the past few weeks and I believe it's a word for now.

So, what was going on in this passage?

Ezekiel had a name that God called him by all the time, in fact 93 times, God used a name for him that Jesus referred to Himself by: "Son of man".
Ezekiel obviously had a very special place in God's heart if Jesus was going to be known by the same name. I believe Jesus was demonstrating that He was also a prophet, just like Ezekiel was, while Ezekiel was speaking the voice of God, just as Jesus did.
We have the gift of being able to see the same life bringing power in Ezekiel, that Jesus brought with Him when He came into the earth as a baby.

So, to the passage. God brought Ezekiel to a place of dry bones. The bones were bleached, dry, old, useless and any life that had been in them had been picked away by creatures, birds and time.
They were dry.

As Ezekiel surveyed what was in front of and around him, God asked him "Can they live?" Ezekiel responded and then God spoke again:

"Prophesy....."

God didn't say yes or no, He told Ezekiel to act, to speak, to do. So Ezekiel did just that, he prophesied to the bones and said:

“Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”

Isn't it interesting that the first thing God told Ezekiel to do was to speak the outcome into the situation?
Before he spoke into the situation itself, God told him to speak breath into it. You can't make dry bones breathe, but you can bring life into them by declaring that God will make them breathe!

This is speaking to me at the moment. I have been given promises in my life that God has spoken over me, and when things look bleak or even dead, I start speaking these promises into my situation and life enters it, God comes in and suddenly, I have a new perspective on it. 

God told Ezekiel to prophesy into the situation, so he said that the dry bones would breathe and become an army, then he prophesied the practicalities into it. 
The army was raised up because Ezekiel saw who God was and spoke the 'Who' before he spoke the 'how'.

Next thing, the bones moved, sinews and flesh appeared on them and they became bodies but they weren't alive, so what did God say?

"Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

As I read this, I could sense an excitement in God's voice as the bones became people, as they came to life. God was getting excited at seeing life created again, at seeing death defeated and at seeing Ezekiel speak the words of truth that released an army. 

God kept telling Ezekiel to prophesy. And as Ezekiel prophesied, what happened? The 4 winds came and breathed into the army. 

God has the capacity, the ability and the resources to draw from every direction to fulfill His purpose.

God was excited as He spoke with Ezekiel. It was like He said "Look what's available to you! I can raise up an army in a valley of death!"

David wrote in Psalm 23v4

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

David had a revelation of who and what God was, and he knew that no matter how bad the situation was, God was there with him.
Ezekiel had a further revelation. God showed him that while he was in the valley of death, that God wasn't just with him, but that He was able to raise an army too. 
You see, God has resources available to us in our darkest and toughest times, we just have to ask! 
He has a surplus of provision there for us. 

So, when you next find yourself in a situation that is bleak, even hopeless, ask God to remind you of the promises He's spoken over you. Ask Him to show you the outcome, so that you can speak it into your situation, then watch as He brings you into a place of life. 

Watch as your soul awakes and as your God opens your eyes to the surplus of provision that He has for you!

Roger C.