It was Friday night when
thirty-or-so people gathered in a lecture hall to reflect on all what God did
during the 24/7 Prayer Week. On the University of British Columbia campus over
145 students met to pray over their classmates, campus, and city. Many of them
met or heard God for the first time. Others were awakened to the needs
circulating around them daily. Still, others just came to sit and rest in the
presence of God that filled this community house living room. We may never know
the impact of this week, but one thing was drawn to my attention.
During the Friday night gathering,
one person shared a verse from Ezekiel 37, but for the life of me I do not
recall the context. We finished out the night with worship and corporate
prayer. The next morning, I was listening to a podcast and there was another
reference to Ezekiel 37. Naturally my curiosity was peaked so I decided to
place a mental bookmark in Ezekiel so I could read it later. However, as I
opened my Bible to the topic passage of the podcast and I randomly landed on
Ezekiel. At this comical moment, I verbally agree that God wants me to read it now.
Ezekiel chapter 36 talks about the
Lord’s concern for His name, “Therefore to the house of Israel, Thus says the
Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act,
but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to
which you came…And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name.” God’s
preface to what He promises to His people is His purpose: for the sake of His holy name. It is not for the sake of
any leader, any organization, any campus club, but for His name alone will He
bring revival.
God proceeds to specify his promises
stating, “I will cleanse you from your idolatry…I will give you a new heart (of
flesh and not of stone) and put my spirit within you… I will be your God, and
you will dwell with me” (Ezekiel 36:25-29). I found myself asking God, “are these
promises for this campus, just like the house of Israel?” I am still searching
for the answer. The chapter ends with this phrase, “Then they will know that I
am the Lord.”
But, He doesn’t stop there! Chapter
37 describes the “Valley of dry bones.” God brings Ezekiel to this valley of
not just a pile of fresh bones, but a valley full of dry bones. The writer emphasizes the condition of the bones:
hopeless, past the point of no return, and very dry. God then asks Ezekiel,
“Son of man, can these bones live?” To which Ezekiel full of faith replies, “O
Lord, you know.” God challenges Ezekiel to prophecy over them saying, “O dry
bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord to these bones: Behold, I
will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon
you, and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin, and put
breath in you and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” As
soon as God breathed life into them, they rose up to be an “exceedingly great
army.” I sat there weeping and full of hope that God could breathe life into an
army that brought His name glory.
I began to pray that over the UBC
campus. I prayed that God would look at this valley of dry bones, students
walking around without hope or purpose in life, and breathe life into them. I
prayed that people would know that He is the Lord and that He is the only one
that can bring life. I prayed that He would remove their hearts of stone and
give them hearts of flesh. I prayed that He would pour out His spirit on them
and they would rise up to be a great army in the Kingdom of God. I prayed that
we become like Ezekiel believing that God is “more than able to do more than we
can ever imagine” according to Ephesians 3:20. We want to see your Kingdom
Here, Lord!
