Ezekiel 37 (Click here to read the passage)
Ok, so after 36 difficult chapters, we finally get to something encouraging that fills us with hope! The first section of the chapter is one that could be familiar to people who have read the Bible, and you may have heard a sermon on this passage at some point.
So what do these dry bones brought back to life represent? This is actually a re-creation of the Creation account from Genesis. What is going on here is that God is doing an awesome work of re-creation of Israel through the power of the Spirit. The people of God have been justly judged, and their sins have been dealt with by the Lord.
However, this prophecy is concerning the Lord’s work of re-creating His people. This is not beyond His power (why would it be, since He created people at the very beginning?). The temptation is to take this prophecy beyond its scope and think that God is going to re-create a political state of Israel again. That has been the presumption of the people who continued post-exile all the way to the first coming of Jesus. They expected and wanted a renewal of the national dominance of Israel, as during the time of David and Solomon. We know that’s not what God is talking about in this prophetic moment because we have the privilege of knowing the New Testament, and we know that what is coming is a new people that are the people of God through faith in Christ.
The second part of the chapter is another one of those living parables. Here God is healing the people from their split at the end of Solomon's rule. Remember that the unified kingdom of Israel was split after Solomon’s rule into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. This living parable indicates that there will no longer be two nations but one. The key thing, again, is that this is all at the Lord's initiative. God is doing this, and God will be with His people—but not in the sense of the Lord taking up residence in the physical temple. Literally, the prophecy points to the time when the Lord will be with His people and among them forever in a unique way.
God with us—we see that fulfilled in the person of Jesus, and the promise that He gives us in Matthew 28.20 is that He is with us always—and then there is the Spirit that is living in us, always with us (1 Corinthians 6.19-20).
As we talk about the presence of the Lord with us, we're not talking about a physical, political state of existence but a relationship that goes beyond national aspirations—a personal relationship with God the Father through Jesus the Son. This was promised in the Old Testament. In Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31.31-34) God talked about this "new covenant" that would be written on the hearts of people—God with us.
So we know from all this that God will raise up these people; God can do it even from very dry bones, and we know that He will be with the people.
What is so amazing about this passage is the hope that this prophecy points to, both for the people who were carried off into exile and for us. Hope despite our lostness, hope in the middle of all of our struggles, hope in the midst of our depression and despair; hope for a future in, though, and with Jesus. Nothing is beyond God's power to forgive and restore, so do not hesitate to seek Him.
Are there any “dry bones” rattling around in your life? Any unresolved issues or concerns that are weighing you down? The Lord can breathe new life into you even in the middle of these very weighing and trying concerns.
I just want to encourage you to speak to the Lord if for any reason you’re feeling “dry” in your relationship with Him. He is waiting to hear from you, so I encourage you to take the time each morning to center your life on Christ and ask that the Spirit would breathe new life into every corner of your soul.
God bless you, and know that you are prayed for this morning.
Scott