Through the Bible – Day 333

₁Some time later, I felt the LORD's power take control of me, and his Spirit carried me to a valley full of bones. ₂The LORD showed me all around, and everywhere I looked I saw bones that were dried out. ₃He said, “Ezekiel, son of man, can these bones come back to life?”

I replied, “LORD God, only you can answer that.”

₄He then told me to say:

₇I did what the LORD said, but before I finished speaking, I heard a rattling noise. The bones were coming together! ₈I saw muscles and skin cover the bones, but they had no life in them.

₉The LORD said:

₁₀As soon as I said this, the wind blew among the bodies, and they came back to life! They all stood up, and there were enough to make a large army.

₁₁The LORD said:

₁₅The LORD said:

₁₆Ezekiel, son of man, get a stick and write on it, “The kingdom of Judah”. Then get another stick and write on it, “The kingdom of Israel”. ₁₇Hold these two sticks end to end, so they look like one stick. ₁₈And when your people ask you what this means, ₁₉tell them that I, the LORD, will join together the stick of Israel and the stick of Judah. I will hold them in my hand, and they will become one.

₂₀Hold these two sticks where they can be seen by everyone ₂₁and then say:

₁The LORD said:

₂Ezekiel, son of man, condemn Gog, that wicked ruler of the kingdoms of Meshech and Tubal in the land of Magog. Tell him:

₁₇The LORD said to Gog:

Long ago, I made my prophets warn the people of Israel that some day I would send an enemy to attack them. You, Gog, are that enemy, and that day is coming. ₁₈When you invade Israel, I will become furious, ₁₉and in my anger I will send a terrible earthquake to shake Israel. ₂₀Every living thing on earth will tremble in fear of me—every fish and bird, every wild animal and reptile, and every human. Mountains will crumble, cliffs will fall, and cities will collapse. ₂₁I, the LORD, will make the mountains of Israel turn against you. Your troops will be so terrified that they will attack each other. ₂₂I will strike you with diseases and punish you with death. You and your army will be pounded with rainstorms, hailstones, and burning sulphur. ₂₃I will do these things to show the world that I, the LORD, am holy.

₁Ezekiel, son of man, condemn Gog and tell him:

You are the ruler of Meshech and Tubal, but I, the LORD, am your enemy! ₂I will turn you around and drag you from the north until you reach the mountains of Israel. ₃I will knock the bow out of your left hand and the arrows out of your right hand, ₄and you and your army will die on those mountains. Then birds and wild animals will eat the flesh ₅of your dead bodies left lying in open fields. I, the LORD, have spoken.

₆I will set fire to the land of Magog and to those nations along the coast that think they are so secure, and they will know that I am the LORD.

₇My people Israel will know me, and they will no longer disgrace my holy name. Everyone on earth will know that I am the holy LORD God of Israel. ₈The day is coming when these things will happen, just as I have promised.

₉When that day comes, the people in the towns of Israel will collect the weapons of their dead enemies. They will use these shields, bows and arrows, spears, and clubs as firewood, and there will be enough to last for seven years. ₁₀They will burn these weapons instead of gathering sticks or chopping down trees. That's how the Israelites will take revenge on those who robbed and abused them. I, the LORD, have spoken.

₁₁After Gog has been destroyed, I will bury him and his army in Israel, in Travellers' Valley, east of the Dead Sea. That graveyard will be so large that it will block the way of anyone who tries to walk through the valley, which will then be known as “The Valley of Gog's Army”. ₁₂The Israelites will spend seven months burying dead bodies and cleaning up their land. ₁₃Everyone will help with the burial, and they will be honoured for this on the day the brightness of my glory is seen. ₁₄After those seven months, the people will appoint a group of men to look for any dead bodies left unburied. This must be done for seven months to make sure that the land is no longer unclean. ₁₅Whenever they find a human bone, they will set up a marker next to it. Then the gravediggers will bury it in “The Valley of Gog's Army” ₁₆near the town of “Gog's Army”. After that, the land will be pure again.

₁₇Ezekiel, son of man, I am going to hold a feast on Israel's mountains and offer sacrifices there. So invite all the birds and wild animals to come from every direction and eat the meat of sacrifices and drink the blood. The birds and animals ₁₈will feast on the bodies of warriors and foreign rulers that I will sacrifice like sheep, goats, and bulls. ₁₉I want the birds and animals to eat until they are full and drink until they are drunk. ₂₀They will come to my table and stuff themselves with the flesh of horses and warriors of every kind. I, the LORD God, have spoken.

₂₁When I punish the nations of the earth, they will see the brightness of my glory. ₂₂The people of Israel will know from then on that I am the LORD their God. ₂₃Foreign nations will realize that the Israelites were forced to leave their own land because they sinned against me. I turned my back on my people and let enemies attack and kill them. ₂₄Their lives were wicked and corrupt, and they deserved to be punished.

₂₅Now I will show mercy to the people of Israel and bring them back from the nations where they are living. They are Jacob's descendants, so I will bless them and show that I am holy. ₂₆They will live safely in their own land, but will be ashamed when they remember their evil ways and how they disgraced me. ₂₇Foreign nations will watch as I take the Israelites from enemy lands and bring them back home, and those nations will see that I am holy.

₂₈My people will realize that I, the LORD their God, sent them away as prisoners and now will bring them back to their own land. ₂₉Never again will I turn my back on the people of Israel, and my Spirit will live in them. I, the LORD, have spoken.

₁My dear friends, this is the second letter I have written to encourage you to do some honest thinking. I don't want you to forget ₂what God's prophets said would happen. You must never forget what the holy prophets taught in the past. And you must remember what the apostles told you our Lord and Saviour has commanded us to do.

₃But first you must realize that in the last days some people won't think about anything except their own selfish desires. They will make fun of you ₄and say, “Didn't your Lord promise to come back? Yet the first leaders have already died, and the world hasn't changed a bit.”

₅They will say this because they want to forget that long ago the heavens and the earth were made at God's command. The earth came out of water and was made from water. ₆Later it was destroyed by the waters of a mighty flood. ₇But God has commanded the present heavens and earth to remain until the day of judgment. Then they will be set on fire, and ungodly people will be destroyed.

₈Dear friends, don't forget that for the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years is the same as one day. ₉The Lord isn't slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.

₁₀The day of the Lord's return will surprise us like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a loud noise, and the heat will melt the whole universe. Then the earth and everything on it will be seen for what they are.

₁₁Everything will be destroyed. So you should serve and honour God by the way you live. ₁₂You should look forward to the day when God judges everyone, and you should try to make it come soon. On that day the heavens will be destroyed by fire, and everything else will melt in the heat. ₁₃But God has promised us a new heaven and a new earth, where justice will rule. We are really looking forward to that!

₁₄My friends, while you are waiting, you should make certain that the Lord finds you pure, spotless, and living at peace. ₁₅Don't forget that the Lord is patient because he wants people to be saved. This is also what our dear friend Paul said when he wrote to you with the wisdom that God had given him. ₁₆Paul talks about these same things in all his letters, but part of what he says is hard to understand. Some ignorant and unsteady people even destroy themselves by twisting what he said. They do the same thing with other Scriptures too.

₁₇My dear friends, you have been warned beforehand! So don't let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance. ₁₈Let the wonderful kindness and the understanding that come from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ help you to keep on growing. Praise Jesus now and for ever! Amen.