Daily Dose of the Word of God - Ezekiel 37: 11-14

Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor

Transcript

Gregg DeMey  0:06  

Good morning and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's Daily Dose of the Word of God. It's Thursday, a snowy December 4, and this is Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor at the church. We are walking through the Bible, reading today from Ezekiel 37 verses 11 through 14.

Gregg DeMey   0:23  

Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

Gregg DeMey   1:10  

This might seem like a strange passage to be reading and engaging with during Advent. Aren't we supposed to be reading about wise men and camels and angels and shepherds? It's surprising how little ink the Holy Spirit used in the scriptures to describe Jesus' birth. But the Holy Spirit is lavish with the amount of ink dedicated to the words of prophecy that came into being through Ezekiel - chapter 37 is one of the best bits. This vision of the valley of the Dry Bones is a harrowing one. A whole crowd of people are assembled, but dead and lifeless (only bones). God's promise here is that he will breathe new life into them - open up their graves and animate them with his spirit. The stark truth is that all of us - apart from Jesus Christ - are dead in our sins. We may look lively, but we are all dead men walking without the spiritual CPR that only the Holy Spirit can administer. There's a popular Christmas song that refers to Jesus as breath of heaven - love that. It's as if the whole of humanity is a valley of dry bones while we await the life-giving presence of God's energizing breath in the incarnation of his only begotten Son. Maybe Ezekiel really is about Christmas after all.

Gregg DeMey   2:48

  
Let's pray. Breathe on us, Breath of God and fill us with life anew that we might love the way you love and do what thou do. For Jesus sake, amen.