Brought Together to Dwell with God

shalom “peace” = thriving, flourishing, wellbeing

Today we get another glimpse from the Old Testament prophets of what God’s salvation shalom looks like. I have been reminding us every week that shalom is that Hebrew word in the Bible which often gets translated into English as “peace.” But the Hebrew idea of shalom is more than simply the absence of violence or conflict. Shalom is also the active advancement of thriving, flourishing, and wellbeing in the creation. The prophets foretell of God’s coming Messiah as someone who will restore this state of shalom in the world. As we move forward through the season of lent, we consider from the prophets all the ways in which Jesus brings a restoration of shalom into the world.

valley of dry bones | story of resurrection

In Ezekiel 37 we find a story that many people have heard. It is the chapter in Ezekiel in which God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to a valley full of dry bones. And as Ezekiel prophesies to the bones, they all come together and form bodies with flesh, as Ezekiel continues to prophesy the bodies begin to breathe and come back to life. It is a vivid prophetic story of resurrection coming from Ezekiel’s vision.

two sticks coming together as one branch | story of restoration

Today we are looking further into chapter 37 to see what happens after that scene of dry bones coming back to life. In verses 15-20 God tells Ezekiel to take two sticks and carve names on them. On one stick he etches the name Judah, signifying the southern kingdom where Jerusalem is located. On the other stick Ezekiel etches the name Joseph. This is a reference to Joseph’s son Ephraim. The tribe of Ephraim was considered to be the most dominant tribe in the northern kingdom. It was from Ephraim that the kings of the northern kingdom ruled, and it was in Ephraim that the northern kingdom constructed a second temple. These two sticks which Ezekiel is holding, then, represent the two sides of the divided nation of Israel. The nation had been divided ever since the end of Solomon’s reign as king. The northern kingdom of Israel was invaded by the Assyrian empire in 722BC. The southern kingdom of Israel held together until Babylon invaded in 586BC. Ezekiel is prophesying of a time when God will bring his people back to being his holy nation again. God tells Ezekiel to hold these two sticks together, and as he does the two sticks become one branch. It is a story of God’s salvation reuniting his divided people back together again.

Let’s pick up the story right from there. Beginning in verse 21 God explains the meaning of what this valley of dry bones means and what these two sticks united into one branch means.

Ezekiel 37:21–28 (NIV)

Ezekiel 37:21–28 NIV

21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 24 “ ‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’ ”

all the action is coming from God

There are a couple things going on in this passage that are worth highlighting. The action of God is noteworthy. Just look at how many things in this passage God says that he himself will do with and for his people. There is no mistaking that the vision Ezekiel sees is entirely brought about by God’s action. It is not up to the people to find a way to resurrect themselves. It is not up to the people to spiritually cleanse themselves and make themselves holy and purified. It is not up to the people to find their way to God in order to be near to him. When it comes to the action taking place, the people don’t do any of it; God does all of it.

God unites his presence back to his people God unites his people back to each other

‘one nation,’ ‘one king,’ ‘one shepherd’

‘sanctuary,’ ‘dwelling place,’ ‘holy’

The other noteworthy feature in this passage is the bringing together what was previously broken. And here we see two side-by-side themes. There is the bringing together of God’s divided people—seen in language like ‘one nation,’ ‘one king,’ and ‘one shepherd.’ When God brings his people out of exile, he will do away with the divisions that had previously separated them. And there is the bringing together of God and his people—we see reference to that in words like ‘sanctuary’ and ‘dwelling place.’ When God brings his people out of exile, he will bring them into his very presence.

All of this is combined in Ezekiel’s vision culminating in what the LORD calls in verse 26 the covenant of shalom.

Ezekiel 37:26 (NIV)

Ezekiel 37:26 NIV

26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever.

It is the mashing together of three Old Testament covenants alluded to in verse 25.

Ezekiel 37:25 (NIV)

Ezekiel 37:25 NIV

25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.

vs 25 — covenants of Abraham & David culminate in covenant of shalom

There is the covenant with Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation forever. There is the covenant with Abraham that his descendants would have the promised land forever. And there is the covenant with David that his descendants would sit on the throne forever. Israel’s understanding of these covenants in the Old Testament boil down to a great community of people, a great place of dwelling, and a great ruler. These three things taken together form what the LORD calls a covenant of shalom. These things will form the context for what thriving and flourishing and wellbeing look like.

Israel was looking for literal fulfilment just for them | are we any different?

Of course, Israel was looking for these things to be fulfilled literally. The Israelites wanted God to make them—and only them—a great nation of people. The Israelites wanted God to make Canaan—and only Canaan—a blessed and prosperous land. The Israelites wanted God to make their leader a king for them—and only them.The people in Ezekiel’s time did not really see the bigger picture of what God’s salvation shalom might actually look like. They did not imagine God’s salvation shalom coming through someone like Jesus.

But are we all that different I wonder?

in our small-world thinking about the ways in which we desire for shalom, the only way it works for us is for it to not work for others

Are there moments in which perhaps we desire for our nation to be great for us—and only us? Are there moments in which we desire blessing and prosperity for us—and only for us? Are there moments in which we desire to our leader—and only our leader—in positions of power? And we don’t need to think of this exclusively in a nationalistic context. This can apply to schools or teams we are a part of. It can apply to political parties or ideologies we align with. It can apply to a socioeconomic class of people we belong to. In our really small-world thinking about the ways in which we sometimes desire for shalom to come to us, the only way it works for us is for it to not work for others.

do I pursue agendas for the active advancement of thriving, flourishing, and wellbeing for me that result in other people being deprived of it?

When Israel could only understand shalom as working just for them and not for anybody else, they missed what God was really doing. I don’t think we are all that different in our world today. Often we catch ourselves pursuing agendas in which the only way we can experience the active advancement of thriving, flourishing, and wellbeing (what we call shalom) is for other people to be deprived of it. I can get up here every week and talk about God’s shalom salvation in the world, yet we tend to miss what God is doing for the very same reasons that the Old Testament Israelites missed what God was doing.

when the division between God and his people is restored, the division between God’s people will be restored as well

But through Ezekiel God says that his covenant of shalom will result in bringing together what was previously divided. When the division between God and his people is restored, there will be an expected and automatic side effect: the division between God’s people will be restored as well. In Ezekiel’s vision, the two sticks become one. There is a central phrase in today’s passage which points towards the covenant of shalom. ‘I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ You see it in verse 23 and repeated in verse 27.

central phrase — (verse 23, 27) — ‘I will be their God, and they will be my people.’

There are two characteristics of shalom that flow out from today’s passage. This is helpful because if we can identify the characteristics of shalom in Ezekiel’s description in scripture, then we can also identify the real-life glimpse of shalom that show up in our world today.

Characteristics of shalom: holiness, unity

The first characteristic of shalom we see in this passage is holiness. Our English word holy and sanctuary both come from the same Hebrew word. In Hebrew the word sanctuary literally means holy place or dwelling of holiness. It is repeated four times in verses 26-28. God is holy. Wherever God dwells becomes a place of holiness. God intentionally chooses to dwell among his people. This makes the people of God holy people. God’s covenant of shalom says it will be that way forever.

Hebrew qadash “holy” = sanctify, sanctuary, holy dwelling, tabernacle

Jesus is holy —> Jesus dwells with us —> Jesus makes us holy

Jesus came into the world so that the presence of God could dwell among his people. Jesus is holy. Jesus brings his holiness into our world. Jesus intentionally chooses to dwell among us. We dwell in the presence of holiness. Jesus makes us holy. This is what happens at the cross. You hear me say it every week. When Christ took our sins upon himself and placed his perfect righteousness upon us at the cross, we became holy people right then and there. You were holy before you were even born because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. Because you now have the righteousness of Christ, you are holy. Because you are holy, the division that separated you from God is repaired. Because of Jesus shalom has been restored.

glimpses of shalom in our world when we see evidence of unity among God’s people

The second characteristic of shalom we see in this passage is unity. We will recognize glimpses of shalom in our world when we see evidence of unity among God’s people together. It is important to remind ourselves here that all the action which takes place in this passage is done by God. It is God who unites his people together. It is no wonder that so much of the apostle Paul’s letters to the churches in the New Testament focus on unity among believers. It is no wonder that the prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17 right before he goes to Gethsemane is a prayer for unity—that his disciples would be one and that the church would be one. We see glimpses of shalom in our world when we see God’s people in unity.

where does unity among God’s people come from?

What are we to make of it, then, when we see evidence of disunity among God’s people? And let’s be honest, there are plenty of examples of disunity among people who call themselves Christians. The path to unity among believers comes back to us in a passage like this. Let me tell you what unity is not. Unity is not conformity. In other words, unity is not simply huddling together with a bunch of people who are all the same. The Bible makes clear that there is diversity in the body of Christ’s church. Here is what else unity is not. Unity is not a top-down decree. It does not come by denominational leaders, pastors, or elders handing out marching orders in efforts to get us all in the same line. Here is what else unity is not. Unity is not from the bottom up. It is not a grass-roots effort to mobilize and link arm-in-arm with one another across aisles in an attempt to build bridges between the divisions we see in our world.

Unity among God’s people is not from the top down Unity among God’s people is not from the bottom up Unity among God’s people is from the center out

Unity among God’s people is not from the top down. Unity among God’s people is not from the bottom up. Unity among God’s people is from the center out. God places the center of his salvation shalom at the cross of Jesus. It is in Jesus that the restoration of shalom begins and moves outward. It is in Jesus that the unity which goes along with shalom is centered and moves outward. Through Christ the very presence of God dwells with us. Through Christ you and I have become the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. God’s salvation shalom which is centered in Christ is given to dwell within us. The key to experiencing and engaging the salvation shalom of God is to be centered in Christ. Christian unity is not about just trying harder to all get along. Christian unity is not about circling the wagons around a checklist of cultural standards. Christian unity is about being centered in Christ; period; full stop. Today the prophet Ezekiel reminds us that God himself has done everything necessary in order for his presence to remain centered among his people.

shalom is experienced when God’s people are centered in Christ