Ezekiel 37:15-28 adds one new emphasis to what Ezekiel has been saying: unity. The restoration from exile would not restore two kingdoms but one (like in the days of King David), with one God. These verses point us to the work of Jesus Christ who is Lord and King over one people (not just over the Jewish people of the southern and northern kingdoms, but even over the Gentiles) because of His greater exile on the cross and His greater restoration from exile in the resurrection. And Jesus has poured out the Spirit on His people so that we can be with the one God as one nation. This nation knows no national boundaries, but consists of Christians throughout the world whose citizenship is in heaven. Unity is impossible with those who do not have the Spirit, those who have not experienced an initial sanctification by the Spirit, those who are not united to Christ. But salvation is the restoration of communion with God through union with Christ by the Spirit in our hearts.

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Labels: church, exile, ezekiel, king, spirit, union with Christ, unity

Ezekiel 37:1-14, the famous passage about the dry bones, describes Israel as a deserted desert full of bones that are weak and dry. This is a picture of the cross without the resurrection. But with the resurrection picture of return from exile we can begin to see the hope that we have in Christ. Thus we remember that hope, see that we need to live with that hope as people who are alive, and promote that message of hope. Here we look at pessimism and optimism in light of the death and resurrection of Christ and His giving of the Spirit and see that pessimistic thought and attitudes are inconsistent with our identity as Christians. And here the text should encourage empathy for the unbeliever without hope and encourage evangelism as the answer to their exile from God.

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Labels: death, evangelism, exile, ezekiel, optimism, pessimism, resurrection, spirit

Ezekiel 37:1-14, the famous passage about the dry bones, describes Israel as a deserted desert full of bones that are weak and dry. This is a picture of the cross without the resurrection. But with the resurrection picture of return from exile we can begin to see the hope that we have in Christ. Thus we remember that hope, see that we need to live with that hope as people who are alive, and promote that message of hope. Here we look at pessimism and optimism in light of the death and resurrection of Christ and His giving of the Spirit and see that pessimistic thought and attitudes are inconsistent with our identity as Christians. And here the text should encourage empathy for the unbeliever without hope and encourage evangelism as the answer to their exile from God.

Click here or the title to listen.

Labels: death, evangelism, exile, ezekiel, optimism, pessimism, resurrection, spirit