happy easter & ezekiel part 2

This will probably be just as long as my previous Ezekiel post ;) Now I heard this sermon back in February, and am just now getting to posting my favorite parts. But I think it’s really appropriate, because it has a lot to do with Easter, resurrection, new life, etc.

So basically, Israel has messed up big time with God, and He scatters them throughout the world. But, He promises that one day He will gather them again and they will have their own land. This is a new covenant that God establishes, and of this time, God says:

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
(Ezekiel 36:25-26)

Then Ezekiel has a vision, a valley of dry bones that comes to life (Ezekiel 37:1-14). Here are the highlights:

Behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones…’O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.’ … So I (Ezekiel) prophesied…there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone…the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath to them.

Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” …and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet…


How crazy would that be to see! Very dry bones, absolutely no life to them at all, and probably dead for a long time. All of a sudden, they come to life, they get muscles, flesh, skin and then they stand up as God breathes life into them!

The vision is explained in verse 11-14, and there we see God telling a dead nation (Israel) that there is still hope for them and they will rise to new life. This prophecy has been partially fulfilled in that Israel as a physical nation came alive again in 1948. But there is a day when they will come to true spiritual repentance and this prophecy will come to full fulfillment.

What does this vision mean for those of us that are not of Israel? Well first that we should be looking forward to Christ’s return, when this prophecy for Israel will be fulfilled. Second, it’s both a preview of Jesus’ resurrection and our future resurrection. God speaks & raises up these bones to life. Then years and years and years later, Christ rises from the dead. Now we can have hope that one day our bodies will too be resurrected (1 Thess 5).

Last, the valley of dry bones coming to life is a beautiful picture of moving from spiritual death to spiritual life. This is where God really got me. How very dead I was before I knew Him. I was dead, dry bones. No life at all. But then, trusting in Him, He breathed His life into me, and now I’m alive! Really alive! I think of when I didn’t know Him, and thought I was really living, and how very wrong I was! How much we are missing out on when we’re dead bones! The life, abundant life, available in Christ, how awesome, how amazing it is! Life is actually life. To live is more than just going through each day. It’s having a relationship with the God of the universe, a God who can not only raise me to spiritual life, but who will also raise this imperfect, sinful body to a new resurrected body in the future. Knowing that He cares about how many hairs are on my head, being part of His perfect plan that I can't even begin to fathom…the list goes on.

I love love love Ezekiel 36:26, I’ll reiterate it down here:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

This is what God does for us when we trust Him. He gives us a new heart, a real heart, a feeling heart, a heart that can experience His amazing, boundless, deep love. It takes my breath away just thinking about it.

At the end of the sermon, we sang a hymn – Jesus Paid It All. It brought me to tears when thinking of Ezekiel and the dry bones.

Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe

He paid it ALL. He died so my dead bones could come to life. So I could experience life as He intended it to be lived. What sacrifice, what love! How could I not respond by giving Him back all that I am and have?