One-Year Bible Reading Plan  : Seekers & New Believers |  December 25 | Ezekiel Chapter 37: The Valley of Dry Bones, Two Sticks Joined into One, and The Covenant of Peace 

🦌 Opening Today’s Reading 

Dear brothers, sisters, and friends, peace be with you in the Lord!

Welcome to Day 99 of our Old Testament journey! On this glorious Christmas Day, December 25, we step into one of the most famous, powerful, and triumphant chapters in all of Holy Scripture—Ezekiel Chapter 37.

If yesterday's Christmas Eve reading in Ezekiel 36 promised divine heart surgery ("a new heart and a new spirit"), Chapter 37 displays resurrection power: God breathing eternal life into dry bones, uniting divided nations, and establishing an everlasting covenant of peace in Jesus Christ!

Serving as an immortal sign of hope for God's people throughout history, this chapter opens in a valley of dry bones, offering the glorious divine promise: "Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel."

Throughout this awe-inspiring passage, Ezekiel witnesses two divine signs: prophesying to dry bones until the Holy Breath (Ruach) enters them, raising them as an exceeding great army; and joining two sticks (Judah and Joseph) into one in his hand, foretelling that the true King David (Jesus Christ) shall be their one Shepherd forever.

Let us enter Ezekiel Chapter 37 with joyful, awe-filled, and worshipful hearts this Christmas Day!

📖 Context Snapshot : The Wind in the Valley, Graves Opened, and The One Shepherd 

1. What Happened Before: Spiritual Regeneration to Resurrection Power

Do you remember our reading of Ezekiel Chapter 36, where God promised to sprinkle clean water and replace the stony heart with a heart of flesh? Today, Chapter 37 moves from personal regeneration to national and cosmic resurrection. To exiles who assumed their hope was lost, God reveals His power over death itself.

2. Today's Thread: The Breath Entering Dry Bones and The Unification of Divided Sticks

In Babylonian exile, despair weighed heavily upon the covenant people. Dispossessed and captive, they lamented: "Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are clean cut off." Humanly speaking, Israel resembled dead, dry bones scattered in a grave, incapable of restoration.

Amidst this dead end, the hand of the Lord carried Ezekiel to a broad valley filled with dry bones. God asked: "Son of man, can these bones live?" Ezekiel answered reverently: "O Lord God, thou knowest." God commanded him to prophesy over the bones, declaring that divine Breath (Ruach) would enter them, covering them with sinews, flesh, and skin.

As Ezekiel prophesied, a sudden rattling sound echoed across the valley as bone joined to bone. Muscle and skin appeared, yet no breath was in them. Then God commanded him to prophesy to the Wind, calling the breath from the four winds to breathe upon these slain. When the Breath entered them, they lived and stood upon their feet—an exceeding great army! God proclaimed that He would open their graves, raise them up, and put His Spirit within them.

Furthermore, God commanded Ezekiel to take two wooden sticks—representing Judah and Israel—and join them into one stick in his hand. God declared that He would heal ancient divisions, gathering His people under one King, the true David (Jesus Christ). He promised to cleanse them, dwell among them, and establish an everlasting covenant of peace.

Let us open Holy Scripture to read Ezekiel Chapter 37!

💡 Questions to keep in mind while reading today:

• On "Son of Man, Can These Bones Live?": When facing situations that appear dead or hopeless, how does this question remind you to look to God's resurrection power?

• On the Divine Breath (Ruach): The Hebrew word Ruach means Wind, Spirit, and Breath. How does this vision connect with the Christmas truth of the Holy Spirit bringing incarnation and eternal life?

• On "Two Sticks Joined into One": How does Jesus fulfill this vision in John 10:16 ("one fold, and one shepherd") by uniting jew and Gentile into one body?

💡 Today’s Scripture Verse - Ezekiel 37 

37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.

4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

5 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

13 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

15 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions:

17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?

19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.

21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.

23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.

26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

28 And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

🌟Daily Heart-Check:  Trusting Resurrection Power, Filled with the Holy Breath, and Living in His Peace 

Synchronized with the core questions from our reading guide:

• No Situation Is Beyond God's Resurrection Power:
  When finances, health, relationships, or spiritual passion seem utterly dry ("our hope is lost"), human reason despairs. Yet Ezekiel 37 proclaims: God opens graves and brings dead things to life! Place your hopeless situations into the hands of the living God.

• Pray for the Holy Breath (Ruach) to Revive Your Soul:
  External form without divine breath remains lifeless ("flesh came up, but there was no breath in them"). Only the indwelling Holy Spirit imparts true spiritual vitality. Ask the Holy Spirit to breathe freshness into your soul this Christmas Day.

• Rest in the Unity and Peace of Christ, Our One Shepherd:
  Humanity suffers from division and strife, but Christ comes to join broken pieces into one. Jesus came at Christmas to tear down walls of hostility and shepherd us in His everlasting covenant of peace. Walk in reconciliation and peace today.

🎵 Response Song :  

🙏 Closing Prayer

O Sovereign, Thrice-Holy, Almighty Heavenly Father, Who Opens Graves and Breathes Life into Dry Bones,

As we read Ezekiel Chapter 37 today on this glorious Christmas Day, standing in the valley of dry bones, we hear Your divine decree: "Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves!" We praise You for sending the Holy Breath of Your Spirit, uniting broken pieces into one body, and establishing Your eternal covenant of peace through the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our souls bow in deep gratitude, reverence, praise, and adoration!

We exalt You, Lord! You are the God of resurrection who turns dry bones into a mighty army. On this blessed Christmas Day, thank You for sending Your Son to bring eternal life, hope, and light into our mortal darkness.

Lord Jesus, Born King and Risen Savior, we bow before You! Merry Christmas, our One Good Shepherd! Forgive us for giving in to despair when circumstances look dry or dead. Breathe Your Holy Spirit anew into every quiet corner of our lives, raising us up to serve You with joy.

May Your Holy Spirit fill our hearts today! Heal our divisions, unite our families in Your love, and set Your sanctuary among us forever. Lead us daily in Your everlasting covenant of peace, glorifying Your holy name forever!

In the exalted name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen!