In Wednesday’s class, Robert pointed us to five restorations found in the last few chapters of Ezekiel.
- Restoration of the land (Eze 36:1-15)
- Restoration of the people (Eze 37:1-14)
- Restoration of the nation of Israel (Eze 37:15-28)
- Restoration of the temple (Eze 40-48)
- Restoration of priesthood as inherited leadership (Eze 44)
I’ve continued to think throughout the week about our own restoration. And I’m continually amazed at how God does all the work, yet we
In the vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37 (one of my favorite spooky stories of the Bible), the bones were very dry, very dead. Totally helpless. Useless. Undeserving. The only way they were coming to life was if the Lord did a miracle.
We’re no different.
Just as the bones didn’t work to gain life again, neither did we. Christ did all the work. Yet we reap the rewards. A miracle indeed.
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
Just as he breathed life into the bones in that valley (Eze 37:10), he breathes his spirit into us in our valleys (Eze 37:14). It’s something we receive, not something we earn or deserve.
We’re restored back into his presence, into life, because he breathes out and lets us breathe him in.
When I’m at my sickest, I can do the least to help myself.
At my weakest, I need someone else’s strength.
If I’m dead, I can’t bring myself back to life.
But he can. He did. God as all-giver. Us as all-taker. That’s grace. Reconciliation begins with God and is accomplished by him (2 Cor 5:18).
The dry bones story of Ezekiel 37 is the gospel. God breathes life into death. It’s the good news. The greatest news! . . . know that He is the LORD (Eze 37:6).
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IN 2 WEEKS: Week 12, Ezekiel and John’s Revelation
More Ezekiel notes
Class outline
2 comments:
You know there are certain Scriptures that my mind has anchored to certain voices. Isaiah 6 belongs to John Smith. And this passage belongs to Moe. His given name was Cecil P. Young if I remember correctly, but we called him Moe. He was a prisoner in the Lawrence County Jail where my "uncle" Daulton used to take some of us teenagers to every Sunday afternoon. (There's a note on him on facebook somewhere. I'll probably copy it to my blog over the break.) I remember a recording Daulton made before he introduced us to him, and then I got to hear him read those verses out loud. The animation in his voice incredibly matched the re-animation that was happening in the Biblical scene.
BTW, Acts 2:38 belongs to Paul Gibbs. Ask him about it and see if he remembers.
Good stuff, G. There are certain scriptures I've memorized by listening to them on tape, and now when I say them in my head, it's with a delightful British accent. ;-)
I'll test Paul's memory (and my own) and ask him.
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