There are two stories going on in your life – the Upper Story and the Lower Story. We all live in and see life from the perspective of the lower story. No matter how hard we try, we can only see so far down the road because humanity’s viewpoint is linear, horizontal, limited. All our decisions require some sort of faith or trust in what we cannot control around the corner. The Upper Story is how the things look from God’s perspective. His viewpoint is panoramic, vertical, unlimited. Not only does he see around the next bend in the road, he sees it all from beginning to end. The goal is to align our Lower Story to God’s Upper Story because when we do, God promises it will be a good story.

SUMMARY

Legacies are fragile things. Hezekiah had been King of Judah for nearly three decades. His reforms were sweeping, his achievements notable, his accolades many. He is listed among the few who “did what was right before the LORD His God.” After his death, his son Manasseh ascended to the throne and unraveled his father’s spiritual heritage. Manasseh’s reign marked a spiritual relapse from which the kingdom of Judah would not recover. He made a mockery of Hezekiah’s faithful reign and did more evil than any of his predecessors.

King Manasseh set up altars in the LORD’s temple where worshipping the stars accompanied worship of Jehovah. He filled Jerusalem with the blood of innocents and turned his own heart and his people’s hearts away from God. Manasseh was eventually captured by the Assyrian king and led off to Babylon in utter humiliation. At last, he turned to the LORD who had compassion on him and eventually allowed him to return to Jerusalem. God re-enters the story to give ultimate forgiveness even to the worst of kings.

But God’s people would not return to Him. They ignored the prophet’s warnings. So, God did what He said He would do—He sent foreign armies to raid Judah. Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar laid three sieges against Judah and Jerusalem. The first came against King Jehoiakim and the second against King Jehoiachin. Nearly 10,000 Judeans were captured and taken away to Babylon. The king and the prophet Ezekiel were among their prisoners.

Ezekiel’s visions are some of the most colorful in all ancient literature and foretold of Jerusalem’s certain doom. God commissioned Ezekiel to speak truth to the exiles who disregarded their guilt, even when faced with such stern judgment. He refused to give up. He called Jeremiah to alert the adulterous people that they must own up to their reckless sin. And God also sent word that the worst was yet to come.

Zedekiah was Judah’s last and most pitiful king. His government was controlled by Babylon and he and the people rejected God, broke His Law, and defiled His temple. The time for judgment had come, so God arranged the final battle: King Nebuchadnezzar vs. King Zedekiah. The outcome was certain. An 18-month blockade left Jerusalem’s inhabitants weakened by famine. Zedekiah made a last-ditch plea for help from the prophet Jeremiah, but no one much cared for Jeremiah’s response. He reported that Jerusalem would not be saved and he urged surrender as their only hope of survival. Most regarded his claims as treasonous. 

In 586 BC, the Babylonian army broke through the walls of Jerusalem. They demolished the city, looted the temple, and led the people away to Babylon. Jeremiah was among the few who were left behind. He grieved the loss of his beloved city and mourned the sin of God’s people. He knew that Judah could have been saved, but even in his sorrow, this weeping prophet stood firm on the sure promises of God. He trusted that God would have compassion on the remnant who remained in Jerusalem. 

It had been eight centuries since God delivered His people from slavery in Egypt. Now they were exiles in Babylon. Hope vanished. But God told Ezekiel that all was not lost. He reminded His people that He would one day cleanse and restore them. He assured their return to the homeland. And He promised that He would be their God.  

To illustrate His point, God showed Ezekiel a valley of dry bones and asked, “Can these bones live?” When Ezekiel spoke God’s message to the bones, they came to life and stood like a vast army. This astonishing demonstration confirmed that even exile in Babylon would not hinder God’s great Upper Story and foretold a future resurrection for the faithful. Life would return to Israel’s dried up bones. God would make them a nation again. He would bring them back to their land. Only He could.

QUESTIONS

1. Are you someone who likes a plan or do you prefer to wing it? Either way, how does that work out for you most of the time?
2. King Manasseh did many evil things that aroused the anger of the LORD (p. 231-232) and many of the kings that followed did the same. Who is most culpable for the sins of Judah—the people or their king? How can believers today avoid being led astray?  
3. God told Ezekiel, “You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious,” (p. 236). Have you ever considered that your rebellion towards God makes you His enemy? How well do you receive words of correction meant to help you change incorrect thinking or bad behaviour?
4. After the fall of Jerusalem, Jeremiah grieved for his beloved city (p. 243-245). What did Jeremiah believe about the Upper Story of God? What can you glean from seeing Jeremiah’s lament and praise all mixed together in the midst of troubling circumstances?
5. What did God promise He would do for Israel in spite of their great sin, their Babylonian exile, and their stone hearts (p. 245-246)? What does this teach you about God’s heart for His chosen nation? What does this teach you about God’s heart for you?
6. What message of hope did Ezekiel bring (Ezekiel 36:33)? What would the nations then know (Ezekiel 36:36)? Describe how God has used a loss or “exile” in your life to purify you and develop godly character so that those who know you can see God’s hand in your life.
7. God punished the Israelites to purify them, not to destroy them. Jeremiah wrote a letter to encourage the exiles, telling them they would be exiled seventy years and then would return. He gave them this assurance from God in Jeremiah 29:11. What words of hope can you take from the Israelites’ experience to remember for future times of difficulty?
8. Read Ezekiel 37:1-14. What words come to your mind to describe the power of God to bring dry bones back to life? What is God’s main purpose in raising these bones to life? How does your life declare the hope you have in God who is both merciful and just?

TAKE-AWAY

Despite God’s anger and judgment against us when we sin, there is always hope for the future because of God Himself provided an amazing plan, a way back for us through Jesus.

PRAYER

When Israel and Judah were destroyed, the people thought all was lost. But You had a plan to enter their emptiness and discipline them to bring them back to You. Enter the adversity of my life, oh Lord, that I may not be lost, but instead drawn straight into Your own heart. Your love for your children, and even me, a sinner, is simply amazing. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.