BIG IDEA: Restoration
Bible Story: Ezekiel 37 - Valley of Dry Bones
Bible Verse:
Ezekiel 37:4- Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord!
Ezekiel 36:26- And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
Who was Ezekiel?
A priest in Jerusalem
One of the captives in Babylon
Prophet in Babylon
What was Ezekiel’s message?
Before being exiled to Babylon, Ezekiel’s message was one of judgment and destruction to the nation of Judah. A message that was fulfilled quickly.
After the exile, Ezekiel’s message changed. He wanted to help the people learn from their failures. His message shifted to God’s judgment for the surrounded nations that oppressed Judah and a reestablished hope for the nation of Israel.
Ezekiel wrote one of the longest books in the Bible. In it, we see the people of Israel get exiled and adapt to a new way of living in Babylon. Ezekiel was one of the leading spiritual voices of the time. God showed him many visions and entrusted him with sharing the message that he would download to him. Ezekiel’s message of judgment and evidential restoration showed the people a path to repentance and hope. A message that still holds tremendous value today.
God loves his people, and he wants his people to love him back. But at this point in history, God’s people had forgotten the things he had done for them, and they started to ignore God. Because they ignored him, they continued to fall into sin. God sent them into exile so he could get their attention again and hopefully urge them to return to him.
That’s what Ezekiel’s message is all about. The people had become too confident in themselves. They forgot that they needed God. God sent messenger after messenger to try and gain their attention, but they would not listen. Finally, judgment fell on Israel like all the prophets said.
Once God finally got their attention, he used Ezekiel to share with them a new hope of restoring Israel. This was a much-welcomed message for the people living in a foreign land. To share this message, God gave Ezekiel a vision that he shares with us in Ezekiel 37.
The account is known as the valley of dry bones. God shows Ezekiel a valley of dried up bones, and he tells him to prophesy to them and tell them to hear the word of the Lord. All of a sudden, the bones begin to shake, and tendons, flesh, and skin appeared on them. Ezekiel prophesied further, and the breath of God entered their bodies, and they became alive.
God then explains that this vision was a picture of Israel. They had dried up because they had forgotten God. But once they heard his word and accepted his breath of life again, they would live and be restored to Israel.
The resurrection of these bodies points us to the resurrection of Jesus and eventually the resurrection of all Christians when God creates the new heaven and the new earth. Here God’s Spirit will abide in all people just as it did with Christ.
Key Takeaways:
Dry Bones
Restoration
Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about the life of Ezekial this Sunday, both in-person and online.
Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.
To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.