The Promise of New life' (Ezekiel 37:1-28)

The Promise of New life' (Ezekiel 37:1-28)

Ezekiel 37 might at first appear to teach that all people will be resurrected from the dead, living again in new bodies after their present bodies die. However, Ezekiel's description here is not the universal resurrection of all flesh. He is not dealing with the general question, "can human bones return to life?" Ezekiel and his audience were already familiar, from he mira­cles of Elijah and Elisha, with the possibility of dead people being raised to life (1 Kgs 17:17- 24; 2 Kgs 4:31-37; 13:20-21). Instead, Ezekiel is addressing the particular question, "Can these bones live?"-that is, could a denuded, dismembered, and desiccated Judah be restored?

At that time, the Babylonians had devastated Judea in 586 BC, the Temple had been destroyed, and most of the people had been exiled to Babylon. The people still in Judah were a mere remnant, only the poorest of the poor (see 2 Kgs 25:8-12). Many concluded that there was no future for God's people. They said, "We have become old, dry bones-all hope is gone. Our nation is finished" (Ezekiel 37:11). The question was not whether God could raise them to new life, but whether he would perform such a miracle for the dry bones that represented Israel.

The prophet answered this question with a resounding Yes! God would return his people to life through an outpouring of his Spirit in response to the prophet's word. Their death because of their sins was real, but God would not leave them in the grave (cp. Ps 16:10). Rather, he promised that in the future he would give his people life by his Spirit and would transform them into a new creation, a new Spirit-filled Israel. This new people of God would be raised to their feet as a mighty army that would serve the Lord.

God is capable of raising to life those who are physically dead, and he can restore to life a destroyed community. Similarly, he chooses to give the miracle of new birth to undeserv­ing sinners (see John 3:5-7; Eph.2:1-7). He makes those whom the world would write off as, irredeemably acceptable to himself in Christ (1 Cor 6:9-11), and he equips them for fruitful work in his service (Eph 4:12-13; 6:11-18).

Prayer Points

›We are thanking God for our lives and the hope we can find in Him

› we are thanking God for  times like this

› we are praying for forgiveness as we renew our mind

› we are praying that God will restore us again

› we are praying for God to release us from the hands of the enemy

› we are praying that God should work a miracle for us in this time that the whole world will know it is His doing

› We are praying that the Lord should pour his spirit on us and transform us into new creations, restoring every dead thing in our body and in our spirit

› We are praying to God to accept us as the poorest of people to equip us to fruitful works in all areas of our endeavours.

  

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