Can These Bones Live?

 Ezekiel 37:1-14

  – Although the primary application of this passage is related to the restoration of national Israel, Ezekiel’s vision of resurrection points forward in God’s plan toward Jesus Christ, and sheds light on the resurrection in three significant ways:

I. The Need for Resurrection (vv. 1-3)

1)    Israel’s need as a fallen Nation

a.      Israel had broken God’s Covenant

b.      The nation had been taken into Assyrian and Babylonian exile as an act of divine discipline

c.      The dry bones symbolize the spiritual state of the nation – dead and hopeless (v. 11)

2)    Our need as fallen Humanity

a.   Just as Israel had broken God’s Covenant, so too has the entire human race

• ‘In Adam’s fall, we sinned all’
• The wages of sin is death – Romans 6:23
• Sin has terrible consequences in our lives and in the world we live in

b.   We human beings all stand in desperate need of a heart transplant (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

• We cannot do anything to save ourselves
• We stand before God guilty and deserving of eternal punishment – If God does not intervene there is no hope

II. The Power for Resurrection (vv. 4-10)

1)    The life-giving Word of God

a.      God created the universe by speaking

b.      God raised the dry bones through Ezekiel’s obedient preaching (vv. 4-6)

c.      Jesus raised Lazarus to life by calling him to come out of the tomb (cf. John 11)

d.      God still raises the dead to life as His Word (the Bible) is read and proclaimed

2)    The life-giving Spirit of God

a.      The Spirit of God enables us to believe and trust the Word of God

b.      The Spirit of God gives us spiritual life by uniting us with Jesus Christ

III. The Hope of Resurrection (vv. 11-14)

1)    Partial Fulfillment:  Israel’s restoration to the land in 538 BC under King Cyrus of Persia

2)    Greater Fulfillment:  The resurrection of Israel’s Messiah – Jesus Christ – in 33 AD

a.      Jesus raised the dead to life physically

b.      Jesus claimed to have power to raise the dead to life spiritually (John 4:24-25)

c.      Through His own Resurrection Jesus proved that He is the Son of God, and has power over death, and sin and hell

3)    Greatest Fulfillment:  The future resurrection of all of God’s chosen People – the Church

a.      Jesus’ resurrection is a small foretaste of what is yet to come for believers

b.      All have been spiritually raised to life ‘by grace through faith’ will one day be physically raised to live forever in the Kingdom of God with our living King

Application Questions: 

1)    Do you recognize your need for God’s sovereign touch on your life, or are you still trying to earn your salvation through religion and/or good works?

2)    Do you believe that Jesus Christ has the power and authority to give you new life?

3)    Will you repent of your sin and turn to Him today?