At this point in The Story has there been a lower point in the relationship between God and the nations of Israel and Judah? It’s been 1500 years since God told Abraham that the key to a relationship between Him and mankind and for prosperity was loyalty and obedience. That was almost immediately followed by centuries of much disloyalty and disobedience with brief periods of repentance. You can almost hear the disgust in God’s voice as he spoke through his profit Jeremiah, “...the people of Israel are disgraced ... [T]hey have turned their backs to me ... yet when they are in trouble , they say, ‘Come and save us!’. Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble!” Of course the pagan gods that many were now worshiping, did not come to rescue the Israelites. The best and the brightest in the land get either taken into captivity in Babylon or flee to Egypt. Eventually Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed and Israel, for all intents and purposes, ceases as a vibrant country. It looks nothing like a land of milk and honey. Has God reneged on his promise to Abraham? Of course not. God takes his profit Ezekiel to the Valley of Dry Bones and tells him that He will restore life to the scattered, dry, lifeless bones. God was not just talking about the bones laying on the desert floor. The bones were an analogy for his scattered people - dry in spirit and with hopeless lives. Even at this lowest of points he would restore to their homes those whom he was in covenant with and take another crack at bringing them back to him. What was the lowest point in your relationship with God? If the answer is, “right now”. Isn’t it great to know that when you are ready God will be there waiting patiently for you. As an aside, when you were reading in The Story about Ezekiel in the Valley of the Bones, didn’t this pop into your head -- youtube/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9swztI5m0k0 Yours in Christ, Jeff and Suzanne Griffin
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 17:40:18 +0000
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