Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 390
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IMMERSE
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PROPHETS
37:8-25
together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. Then as I
watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to
cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of
man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord
says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies
so they may live again.’”
So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into
their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.
Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of
Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone.
Our nation is finished.’ Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what
the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and
cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. I will
put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own
land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done
what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’”
Again a message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, take a piece
of wood and carve on it these words: ‘This represents Judah and its allied
tribes.’ Then take another piece and carve these words on it: ‘This repre
sents Ephraim and the northern tribes of Israel.’ Now hold them together
in your hand as if they were one piece of wood. When your people ask you
what your actions mean, say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord
says: I will take Ephraim and the northern tribes and join them to Judah.
I will make them one piece of wood in my hand.’
“Then hold out the pieces of wood you have inscribed, so the people
can see them. And give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: I will
gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home
to their own land from the places where they have been scattered. I will
unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule
them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two king
doms. They will never again pollute themselves with their idols and vile
images and rebellion, for I will save them from their sinful apostasy. I will
cleanse them. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.
“My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shep
herd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees.
They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their an
cestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them
