Zealous for His Holy Name (Ez 37-40)

"Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name."

Ever caught yourself feeling a different kind of jealousy, but it wasn't for yourself? We normally get jealous over the others when we compared ourselves with others. We became disappointed. But when we feel the jealousy for His holy name, we became disappointed for their backsliding or ignorance. Either ways, we couldn't do much, except being jealous for either our names or for His holy name.

BUT in other translation, jealous is just like being zealous. When you are feeling jealous, you can become zealous! God is showing us how to pour out our disappointment into a zealous for His holy name. God, Himself, restored Jacob and gave mercy over the whole house of Israel in order to get their eyes back to Him. And God, Himself, may anoint us and send us out.

Isaiah 61:1, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound..."

But what may we bring when we have nothing to offer? It is easy for us to bring our own judgments when we knew that we had nothing to offer! So what did God told Ezekiel to do?

"Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath'... So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, exceedingly great army." First, God was upon Ezekiel and brought him out in the Spirit. Then God told him to deliver this message to these dry bones and then He lay sinews, flesh, skin, and breath to come upon dry bones. God wants us to carry out His message of restoration to the poor, brokenhearted, captives, and prisoners. When you are feeling jealous for His holy name, be zealous to deliver His message of restoration not your judgmental messages. Ask them if you could pray for them, hug them, or encourage them through those encouraging Scriptures of restoration for "With God everything is possible".

God repeated this several times in the Bible, "they shall be my people, and I will be their God." Let us be His people by showing our zealous for His holy name as well by restoring these dry bones.