Dry Bones

To this point in our journey we have have seen that God created a Kingdom, and he is the King. He made mankind to represent him in his kingdom but Adam and Eve rejected this call, which led to sin and death entering into the world. But God being a God of grace and mercy did not leave them without hope. He promised a redeemer, the seed of the woman, the promise of Abraham. A king would be raised up from the royal line of Judah, from the City of David, the covenant blessings would come to the world because all mankind was guilty and deserving death. The sacrifices of the Mosaic Law revealed more clearly their need for a substitute – the suffering servant…

So through the Suffering Servant we see that our sins have been atoned for - that still leaves the other side of the curse. Death. How does God intend to deal with that? We begin to see the answer to that question in Ezekiel 37. 

 The hand of the Lord was on me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry. 3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I replied, “Lord God, only You know.”

4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. 6 I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”

7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath,[a]prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that may live!” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me; the breath[b] entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.

11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, My people, and lead you into the land of Israel. 13 You will know that I am Yahweh, My people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 

Look at what God tells our prophet in vs 12 -  "I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them..." 

God demonstrates in this passage his power over death and the grave. This is pretty important part of the story considering the way the story plays out in the New Testament. 

See ya Sunday!