Ezekiel 36:11 “Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
Trial. Tragedy. Triumph. God reveals himself through it all…if we’re looking. When we are thrown to our knees by sudden job insecurity or a relationship gone sour. When a loved one dies. When prayers become miracles. No matter what circumstance in life we face, God uses both the depths and heights to help us know him.
Perhaps no other book in the Bible describes this as clearly as Ezekiel. The dire consequences of Israel’s idolatry and rebellion against God resulted in the unthinkable. As a nation, they were exiled to Babylon, stripped of both their homeland and their identity. Yet, Ezekiel declares, God’s judgment is not without purpose. The refrain of then they will know that I am the Lord runs throughout the book of Ezekiel. Again and again the prophet proclaims their punishment has happened to lead them to repentance and acknowledgement of the one true God. The road to truth is sometimes a rough one….
Maybe you know that. Maybe you, like me, have to be reminded from time to time of some idols creeping into our hearts, idols that block us from the unpleasantness of realizing outside of him, we remain powerless and poor.
Yet God reveals himself no less through victories.
In Ezekiel 37 the prophet received the vision of dry bones. The “bones” of Israel lay scattered, devoid of all hope. God instructed Ezekiel to breathe life into them as a sign Israel would indeed return to their homeland. The restoration would be so powerful that not only Israel, but “all the nations” would know the Lord is God (verses 14; 28).
When God hears our prayers and breathes life into the dry bones of our faith, we know he is the Lord. When he restores our hope and causes us to look beyond the confines of our pain, we know he is the Lord. When he enables us to love others, not only we, but the world knows he is the Lord (John 13:35).
God has always intended to reveal himself through his people. We possess the incredible amazing task of helping the world see who he is and what he’s like. As we look for him in our trials, tragedies and triumphs we find him. And when we find him we can’t help but…
Let the world know he is the Lord.