September 7, 2021 -- Ezekiel 37:1-14 -- Dry Bones LIVE
/The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LOrD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O LORD God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus says the LORD God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the LORD God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the LORD God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”
Ezekiel 37:1-14 English Standard Version
Where in your life do you feel as if every sign of life has been squeezed out of you? Where do you feel like, dead, sun-bleached, dry bones?
Is there a habitual sin that is knocking the daylight out of you—again. Again. A.G.A.I.N.?
Do you feel like God has left the room, the building, the city, the municipality, the province, the country?
Have you cried out in the darkness until you were hoarse and all that happened was blacker night, inky darkness settled around you, darkness that could be felt?
Elijah is commanded to speak to dry, dead, bones. He is the foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. In Christ, every single sin, brokenness, anguish that separated us from God and in fact, all the wickedness we ourselves have committed thereby earning for us the just-deserved wrath of God—all of these have been defeated at the cross and buried at the tomb of Jesus. Jesus rose in triumph and He is the first-fruits of the grave—He is the sign of the great orchard of people, the fruit of His victory which signals the harvest of God. We shall rise again, because of Jesus Christ. Sins are thrown down. Hope is restored. Not because of anything I have done. Hope is restored and it is all Jesus. He prophesied and our dead, dry, bones, came rattling together! He has put us together. He holds us together. He is our life.
Today's prayer is from Psalm 80. This prayer is for us. As the people who believe in Jesus, we are grafted into Him, True Israel. We take on the names of His people. Joseph who seemed to be forgotten by God. Ephraim and Manasseh--powerful tribes and mighty in battle and Benjamin--smallest of the tribes. All of them, as all of us, are completely indebted to the LORD God, without Whom, all of us together would just be a valley full of dry bones.
Listen, Shepherd, Israel’s Shepherd—
get all your Joseph sheep together.
Throw beams of light
from your dazzling throne
So Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh
can see where they’re going.
Get out of bed—you’ve slept long enough!
Come on the run before it’s too late.
3 God, come back!
Smile your blessing smile:
That will be our salvation.
4-6 God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
how long will you smolder like a sleeping volcano
while your people call for fire and brimstone?
You put us on a diet of tears,
bucket after bucket of salty tears to drink.
You make us look ridiculous to our friends;
our enemies poke fun day after day.
7 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come back!
Smile your blessing smile:
That will be our salvation.
Psalm 80:1-7 The Message
https://youtu.be/wQIaEairJ-Q
