Being Joined together in the Way of Life through Grafting for the Building of God

The revelation in Ezekiel 37 shows that the unique way to have the Body, the church, and the House of God in the genuine oneness is the way of life, just as the bones came together and were enlivened to become an army, and the two pieces of wood were joined to be one in God’s hand.

The first part of this chapter is the more “interesting” and popular part, for it speaks of a valley filled with dead and dry bones, and how they became a great army for God.

God told Ezekiel what to prophesy over the bones, and he did what God told him; Ezekiel prophesied over the bones twice, and they became a great army for God.

When Ezekiel prophesied the first time, there was a noise and a rattling, and all the bones came together; this is similar to our situation when we come together in the meetings and make a joyful noise to the Lord by calling on His name and praising Him.

When we do this, when we get together with the saints in the meetings, we make a joyful noise to the Lord, and the Lord breathes on us, brings life into us, enlivens us, resurrects us, and fulfills His purpose in us.

When Ezekiel prophesied the second time, the breath came into the very dry and dead bones, and they lived; they stood up on their feet, and became an exceedingly great army to fight the battle for God.

What started as dead and very dry bones, under the Lord’s speaking through a prophet who spoke what God spoke, became a great army. This is amazing.

This is what God wants to gain today: He desires to gain those who cooperate with Him to prophesy, that is, to speak for God and speak God forth, speaking the word of God to His people and to men so that God may fulfill His purpose.

We need to be those who are in God’s word, receiving His fresh vision and actual speaking, and then speak what the Lord is speaking, so that He would have a way to come in as the wind, the breath, and the Spirit, to enliven man, resuscitate man, and bring life into man, to gain an army for His purpose.

Being Joined together in Life through Grafting for the Building of the House of God

The second part of Ezekiel 37 is not as well-known as the first; in it we see that God told Ezekiel to take two pieces of wood, one representing the northern part of Israel and the other the southern part of Judah, and join them together, then God will make them one.

The two lifeless pieces of wood symbolize the two parts of the divided nation of Israel – the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel (Ezek. 37:16).

Humanly speaking, these kingdom could not be one, and in God’s eyes, they were thoroughly dead and dried up (like the two pieces of dead wood). When we are dead, we are divided, just as the dead body disintegrates; when we are dead, we are disconnected, scattered, and disjointed.

God’s people today is scattered, disjointed, and disconnected, even though there seems to be so much activities in the different denominations and Christian groups.

But after we are enlivened and by the growth in life, we can be joined together and become one, just as the two lifeless pieces of wood were joined together in God’s hand to be one (Ezek. 37:17).

God told Ezekiel to take two pieces of wood in his hand and join them together, and these will be one in God’s hand; when the Lord puts us together, we are united, joined, and we become one – we even grow together.

This is similar to what the New Testament calls “grafting”, in which two branches are joined and eventually grows together (see Rom. 6:5; 11:17, 24). Growing together denotes an organic union in which growth takes place, so that one partakes of the life and characteristics of the other.

When we believed into the Lord and were baptized, we were cut from our old source, the old man, and we were joined to the Lord to be organically united with Him; now in this organic union with Christ, whatever He passed through has become our history and is our experience today.

How amazing it is that the Lord has grafted us into Him – we were branches in the wild olive tree, not being partakers of the promise, but through faith in Jesus Christ and baptism into Him we now are grafted into Him and we participate in all that He is and has accomplished.

His death and resurrection are now ours simply because we are in Him and we are organically joined to Him. Through being grafted into Christ all our negative elements are being slowly discharged, and His life resurrects our God-created faculties, uplifts our faculties, enriches them, and saturates our entire being to transform us.

Hallelujah, we have been grafted into Christ, and at the same time we have been grafted together with the brothers and the sisters. When we were grafted into Christ, spontaneously we were grafted with the members of the Body!

On the cross Christ created the one new man in Himself, and now we are members one of another, growing together as a building in the Lord in spirit, in the way of life. Hallelujah!

We are grafted to the Lord and to one another in the Lord; together we become one plant, that is, one Body in Christ!

We are joined together in life through grafting for the building of the house of God, His dwelling place. The result of being grafted is that we grow together with all the saints into a dwelling place for God.

Thank You Lord for grafting us into You so that we may enjoy and partake of all that You are, all You have accomplished, and all You have attained. Hallelujah, we are now grafted in Christ, and our negative elements are being discharged while His life resurrects, uplifts, and enriches our God-created faculties! Praise the Lord, God’s life flowing in us saturates our entire being to transform us! Thank You Lord for joining us together with You and with all the saints through grafting for the building of the house of God!

The Unique Way to have the House of God in the Genuine Oneness is the Way of Life

God’s intention from the very beginning when He created man was to have His expression through man and to have man exercise His dominion over all the earth. In Ezekiel 37 we see the fulfillment of God’s purpose in the way of life.

In Ezek. 37:1-14 we see the dry bones being enlivened by God through prophesying which brought in the wind, the breath, and the Spirit, to be formed into an army to fight the battle for God, to subdue His enemy, and bring in His kingdom.

In Ezek. 37:16-22 we see how we as those dead and lifeless are brought together in the way of life by God for the building of the house of God as His dwelling place, His corporate expression.

The revelation in Ezek. 37 shows that the unique way to have the Body, the church, and the house of God in the genuine oneness is the way of life. God’s recovery is carried out only in life and by life; God would take no other way to do His recovery work among us.

In the first part of Ezek. 37, the breath of God entered into the dead ones to become life in them, and they lived and stood up in oneness to become an exceedingly great army. In the second part of this chapter the two lifeless pieces of wood became one by God’s life, who made them one in God’s hand.

The dry bones in Ezek. 37:1-14 and the two dead branches in vv. 16-17 became one not by teachings or gifts but by life. Our need today is not more zeal, more works, or more teachings; our need is life. Life is what we need.

We need the divine life; we need life to come to us as the wind, the breath, and the Spirit. We need to be filled by the Spirit – we need to be men of the Spirit, that is, men of life.

We need to be a recovery full of breath, full of the Spirit, and full of the divine air; for this we need to call on the name of the Lord, breathe Him in, and receive more life!

Only God’s life can bring us out of the grave, cause us to be joined together, form us into an army, and build us into a dwelling place of God in spirit. We need to take the way of life.

In Ezek. 37 the dead bones and the dead branches were enlivened and became one as the issue of the dispensing of life and the growth in life; if we apply this to our Christian experience, we are enlivened, formed into an army, and built up into God’s house in the way of life, and not by teachings or any other thing.

We all need to exercise our spirit to call on the name of the Lord, pray-read His word, speak for the Lord, prophesy, pray, and touch life, enjoy life, and receive the dispensing of life, so that we may be full of life and take the way of life.

Only in this way can God gain what He’s after. God’s army is formed with dry bones which have been made alive, and God’s dwelling place is built with dry sticks which have been enlivened and joined together; we need to take the way of life, and we will be part of the fulfillment of God’s purpose.

Lord, we want to take the way of life today in the church life so that You may gain what You are after, an army to defeat Your enemy and a built-up house as Your corporate expression. Oh Lord, in ourselves we are dead bones and lifeless pieces of wood, but when Your life comes in, we are formed into an army and we’re built up as Your dwelling place. Keep us exercising our spirit, Lord, to touch Your life, enjoy Your life, receive the dispensing of Your life, and take the way of life. Amen, Lord, gain the army and the building You desire!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ezekiel, msg. 18 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Ezekiel (2), msg. 1 (week 13 in the HWMR), The Dry Bones being Enlivened to Become an Exceedingly Great Army and the Two Pieces of Wood Being Joined Together for the Building of the House of God.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # I’m a branch that’s been, Lord, grafted in. / I’m supplied in You in this life union. / Here Your riches, Lord, in this sweet life flow. / As I dwell in You, I will surely grow. (Song on dwelling in Christ)
  # He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. / Our life is a life that’s in organic union. / As a branch is in the vine, / Grafted, His life and mine intertwine. / Lord, I am joined to You! / One spirit with You; / One spirit, not two. / Lord, we are joined to You: / One spirit… with You. (Song on being joined to the Lord)
  # Breathe Thou, O Lord, on me / Till filled with Thee, I plead, / No longer I that live, but Christ / In thought, and word, and deed. / Breathe Thou on me and touch / My independency, / That in Thy Body I’ll be built / With all the saints in Thee. (Hymns #842)