September 26, 2010
"God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day."– Psalm 46:5
PART 1
Identify the Current Issue
Hope is the key to living. If we didn’t believe that something good was still yet to happen, what would be the point of breathing? You may be familiar with Jesse Jackson’s phrase, “Keep hope alive!” I think the truth is that hope keeps us alive. Dante understood that. Inscribed above the gates of hell in his famous book was “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.”
[Q] What do you think of when you hear the word hope? What kinds of things do you hope for?
[Q] Why is hope comforting?
[Q] Does hope point toward the past, present or future?
Today we are going to look at the source and content of our hope.
PART 2
Discover the Eternal Principles
Read Ezekiel 37:1-10
Ezekiel 37 Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones
1The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry.
3He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know." 4Again 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 that you may come to life. 6'I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'"
7So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.
9Then 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 come to life."'" 10So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
This is an interesting passage for many reasons. Like much of the Bible, it helps if we read it slowly and get a good handle on what is happening, how the narrative is unfolding, who does what, who doesn't do what, etc. The scene is set by God summoning Ezekiel to view a valley full of dry bones. He gives Ezekiel a moment to walk around among the bones and examine them. We learn that there were very many and that they were very dry. The significance of the last part is that the death hadn't happened recently. These were very dead bones - bones with no hope whatsoever of having life again.
As with many passages in the Bible, this one can be read on many levels. If the valley of dry bones is symbolizing an area of death in our lives (of a relationship, a dream, a job, etc.) we can be comforted to know that the bones God is going to work on are the deadest of the dead. Nothing in our lives, no bones were are dealing with, could be any deader.
God, being the worker of miracles that He is, could obviously have brought the bones back to life with no involvement, or even witnessing, of Ezekiel. But Ezekiel is prominent in this passage, so we need to look at what we can learn from how God uses Ezekiel.
God begins by asking Ezekiel a question, "Can these bones live?" The first thing we learn about Ezekiel, we learn from his answer, "O Lord God, you know." What we learn is that he believed God was able to do whatever God wanted and that he was humble enough not to answer the question because it's answer was not determined by him.
Teaching point one: The first step to restoration is hearing the word of God.
God's next action is to tell Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones. Notice here that God is choosing to use Ezekiel as His instrument to resurrect these bones and the task He gave him was to speak the Word of the Lord over them. It is so important to recognize that the resurrection power was, and is, found in the Word of the Lord. That Word can be the literal words found in the Bible or the Word made flesh, Jesus. Our power to participate in God's healing, life-giving work rests solely in our willingness to speak the word/Word that He has entrusted with us.
Teaching point two: Restoration is a process completely by the Holy Spirit.
As Ezekiel speaks the word of God (which is prophesying) over the bones, they rattle, fasten together bone to its bone, then sinews were added to them, then flesh grew and finally skin covered them. The point here is that the bones didn't go from very dry to completely breathing, flesh covered bodies in an instant. God used a process. He used one that made sense in the scientific, biological understanding of this world. The point is that God's restoration is a process. Not all, actually few, miracles happen instantaneously. God takes care of first things first and leads us through a cumulative process of restoration.
It is also important to notice the very next phrase: "but there was no breath in them." Many times we, the world, even God can piece us back together into a passably healed person a first glance. However, without the breath of God, the Holy Spirit, the restored bones in Ezekiel had no life. They needed the breath of God. We too can stop just short of the final life-giving force of the Holy Spirit. Our new life is accomplished only by the power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, not the outward appearance of restoration.
Teaching point three: We are not only made alive again, but into a strong army.
The final verse of this passage is very revealing. The bones were not only made alive again, but into a great army. We can infer from their very dry and scattered state in the valley that whoever these people had been, they weren't a truly great army. God restores them to something more than they had been. God not only restores us; He makes us a new creation. That is a great hope! When we surrender to God's transformative power in our lives, we are destined to be something far better than the best version of what we are when we were running our lives.
PART 3
Apply Your Findings
Break up into small groups for discussion.
[Q] Has there ever been a time when hearing words from the Bible or encountering the person of Jesus (maybe in the actions of another person) brought you back to life in some way? Have you ever been the person who was able to give these words to someone in need of hope?
[Q] What are some particular Bible verses that you might share with someone who needs hope?
[Q] If you had a friend who was really struggling, how might the passage about God's process of putting the bodies back together be comforting?
[Q] Why do you think God restored the bones into a great army rather than whoever they were? Do you think He might have had a purpose for them? How can this relate to your own life?
[Q] Do you have a testimony of God bringing dry bones back to life? Pray about how to share it so that God will be able to use it to encourage others when the time is right.
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