Younger Group (Preschool-3rd Grade) Family Devotional Section

Read Ezekiel 37 together.

1. What did God show Ezekiel? (a valley filled with bones; Ezek. 37:1-2)
2. What did God do with the bones? (caused them to reconnect, grow flesh, and come back to life; Ezek. 37:4-10)
3. What was God’s message to His people? (God would bring them back to life and fill them with His Spirit; Ezek. 37:13-14)
4. God then showed Ezekiel 2 sticks. He told him to put the sticks together as 1 stick and hold them with his hand. What was God telling Ezekiel He was going to do? (He will gather His people again and make them 1 nation in His hand; Ezek. 37:18-23)
5. What is our ultimate hope? (allow discussions)

Older Group (4th Grade-Teen) Family Devotional Section

Read Ezekiel 37:1-14. Meditate on it, think about what we can learn and apply from the passage.  When ready, please read and discuss each of the questions below.

1. Who is Ezekiel? A prophet, the mouthpiece of God to the people of Israel & Judah.
2. How did both Kingdoms end up in captivity? They disobeyed God, turned away and worshiped idols.  After ignoring His warnings, God allowed both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel to be captured.
3. What did the Holy Spirit first show Ezekiel? God would give life to bones scattered in a valley. It represented God’s planned restoration and redemption of Ancient Israel.
4. What else did the Holy Spirit show Ezekiel? He would unite the two kingdoms of Israel, like the sticks in his hands.
5. How was God going to free his people? By providing Ancient Israel with its own land to live freely.
6. How was did this give his people hope? They could look forward to a future in which they would live in their own land again.
7. Where was the Holy Spirit be in this future nation? The Holy Spirt was to live within his people. Jeremiah speaks of this New Covenant himself. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.” Jeremiah 31:33. This new Covenant the framework for our relationship with God, in the Kingdom of God.
8. What can we learn from the passage? We are invited to take part in the Kingdom of God, to be followers of Jesus.  We should invite the Holy Spirit to live within us.  Jesus teaches us how to live full, meaningful lives devoted to him and others. This kind of life is the most beautiful and rewarding we could ever live.