Alive By The Spirit
Therefore, prophesy and say to them that this is what the Lord God says. My people, I am going to open your graves and raise you up from your graves and bring you back to the soil of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live. I will settle you on your own land, and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:12–14)
God called Ezekiel to be his prophet to the people who had been taken into exile in Babylon. Ezekiel was often told by God to act out his message, rather than just tell the people what the Lord had said. One day, God took Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones. God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones, and as he did so, the bones were wrapped in tendons and skin, but they had no breath of life. Then God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the breath, and the breath entered the bones and they lived. God explained to Ezekiel that this is how it will be with his people, Israel. The Spirit will enter them and they will live.
But the Israelites that Ezekiel prophecied to now lay in graves somewhere in the Middle East. They all died at some point, and even Ezekiel did not live forever. And yet, there is a day coming when they will come out of their graves, and those who believed in him will have eternal life.
God may have had Ezekiel prophecy this to the people of Israel, and yet he records it for us as well. Because of the effects that sin has on this world, one day you and I will most likely die. We will be put in a grave, where we will await the resurrection of the dead. And when that day comes, we, who had faith through the Holy Spirit, will be raised to eternal life. We will live with God in eternity. And even now, we live through faith. We are not dead in sin like those without faith. We have true life through faith in Christ. Amen.
The song for today is “Come Alive (Dry Bones)” by Lauren Daigle