41b Ezekiel’s Vision of Dry Bones [Ezekiel 37:1–14]
The Bible passage: [Ezekiel 37:1–14]
The Story:
Another vision as told by Ezekiel the prophet:
The hand of the Lord was on me. He brought me out by His Spirit and put me in the middle of a valley full of bones.
He led me all around the valley. There were a great many bones everywhere, and they were very old and dry.
The Lord said to me, “Son of man, can these bones come back to life?”
I replied, “Lord God, only You know.”
Then He said to me, “Preach to the bones and tell them this, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord God says to you: I will put breath in you, and you will live. 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 the Lord.’”
So I spoke as I had been commanded. While I was preaching, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone touching bone.
While I was watching, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them. But there was no breath in them.
The Lord told me, “Speak to the breath; preach, son of man. Say to the breath, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these dead bodies so that they may live!’”
Again, I spoke as He commanded me; the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet. It was a vast army.
Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the nation of Israel. They say their bones are dried up; that they have no hope and are cut off from life. Therefore, preach and tell them: The Lord God says that He is going to open your graves and bring you back to life; He will lead His people into the land of Israel. You will know that I am the Lord when I do this. I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live. I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I have spoken, and I will do what I have said.”
The Lessons:
- Son of man: This title is much like saying, “human being.” God referred to the humanity of Ezekiel. The title of Son of Man was often used for Jesus. When the title is used for Jesus, it is used to stress His humanity. The Bible refers to Jesus as both Son of God and Son of Man. These two titles point to the fact that He was both fully God and fully man.
- The Old Testament books were written in Hebrew and Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek. In both Hebrew and Greek, there is a single word that can be translated as spirit, breath, or wind. In this passage, we have the word translated as all three. In this passage, breath and spirit refer to life.
- The whole story is a picture of God breathing life back into His chosen people, Israel.
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