Stranger Stories - Week 5
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
We are continuing our Stranger Stories series this week
We’ve looked at Gideon, Joshua, and Elijah
Today we are looking at something that I find extremely important
Story of Dry Bones
Story of Dry Bones
Valley of Bones
Valley of Bones
1 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.
Ezekiel is a prophet, someone who is close to God and seeking God
God brought him to this valley filled with bones
He points out how the bones are dry
How the bones have been there for an extremely long time
Notice that the bones haven’t been buried, they haven’t been cared for, they aren’t being taken care of
They are left, broken
The bones fill the valley
The Lord’s Question
The Lord’s Question
3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”
The Lord then asks Ezekiel the question, can these bones live?
Can bones of humans, that are dry, that have been left alone, that are no longer human but just the remnants remain
The natural answer for us as humans are no
Skeletons cannot live
Skeletons cannot get to God
Skeletons are just that, skeletons - bones
Yet Ezekiel answered the Lord and said, you know
Ezekiel in his answer showed that the Lord could do it
The Lord could bring in life, if the Lord choose to bring in life
But on our own, humans cannot make bones become real
The Lord’s promise
The Lord’s promise
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.”
From Ezekiel’s answer the Lord is going to show exactly what He can do
He tells the bones, which is kinda ironic because they are bones, that He is going to bring them back to life
The Lord said that he was going to put skin on the bones, tendons on the bones, bring breath back into these bones
That the Lord is going to make these bones come to life
All so that the Lord can be glorified
All so that they may know who the Lord is
That everyone will know that He is the Lord
Ezekiel’s obedience
Ezekiel’s obedience
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.
Ezekiel did what God commanded him to do
He prophesied to these bones about the Lord
That the Lord would rebuild them
That the Lord would take care of them
That the Lord would cover them with skin, and tendons, and organs, and life
As Ezekiel was doing that, the bones came together
The bones got tendons
The bones got skin
The bones then needed life and the Lord told Ezekiel to breath life into them
Ezekiel declared that the bones created an exceedingly great army
There was an entire army created from the bones
The bones made an army
What this means
What this means
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.”
The Lord then tells Ezekiel what this means
What the valley of dry bones means
He tells him that they represent the nation of Israel - how they are in exile and far from God
How Israel being far from God is just like the valley of dry bones
They are not connected to the Lord
That the graves they are in are the literal lands