December 26, 2015 CAN THESE BONES LIVE ?
Ezekiel: 37:3-5,14: “And He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord God, Thou knowest.’ Again He said to me, ‘Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come together.’ And I will put my Spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, declares the Lord.”
Ezekiel 36:25-27: “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
Ezekiel 37 is an account of when God took Ezekiel to a valley of bones for the purpose of showing Ezekiel that God can bring life to what is dead. God caused life to come to the bones, and then Ezekiel saw that the dead bones had become an “exceeding great army”. In Ezekiel 36, God is pointing to a time in when He will cleanse His people and give then new hearts and new spirits. The Old Testament is about types and shadows, where God uses the natural to portray the spiritual; and it served the purpose of showing that man could not keep the laws, or the ways of God in his own strength (1 Corinthians 15:46). In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not dwell in God’s people, whereas in the New Testament, the Spirit dwells in the believer. The book of Hebrews goes in great detail pointing out the fact that the New Testament is far superior to the Old Testament and it makes it clear that we are most blessed to be under the New Covenant that was inaugurated when Jesus came and conquered sin and death. The New Testament fulfills all the requirements of the Old Testament. The good news that we can glean from the verses above is that even though we were once dead spiritually, God made us alive spiritually, and not only did He make us alive, He desires to use us in His kingdom-as a “great army.” Under the New Covenant, God has made us clean and He has given us a new heart and a new spirit and now we have the desire and the ability to follow His ways and to please Him in all that we do. The Son has made us free; God has made us new; and the Holy Spirit indwells us to empower and equip us, and to guide us into all truth. All of the promises of God are fulfilled in Jesus. We no longer have to earn His approval or His love as He has adopted us into His family and has made us His own. We now relate to God as our Father and we take our place in His family-fully forgiven and fully equipped for His purposes. Even though we live under the New Covenant that supersedes the Old Covenant where we see God working primarily through the natural, does not mean that God does not work in the natural in the New Covenant. For example, when we are in need of rain, or we need employment, or when we are sick, etc., we can and should pray that God would intervene and meet the needs we face. Under the New Covenant we do not have to live trying to gain our acceptance with God or His approval; we live and move from the position of being joined to Him, having been made new. And, because we have been joined to Him and have been given new hearts, spirits, and minds, we have a desire to please Him and honor Him in all we do. Let us realize, or be reminded, that we live in the presence of God. And yes, He can make the bones live again!
Romans 8:11: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.”
Blessings,
Buddy
Ezekiel: 37:3-5,14: “And He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord God, Thou knowest.’ Again He said to me, ‘Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come together.’ And I will put my Spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, declares the Lord.”
Ezekiel 36:25-27: “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
Ezekiel 37 is an account of when God took Ezekiel to a valley of bones for the purpose of showing Ezekiel that God can bring life to what is dead. God caused life to come to the bones, and then Ezekiel saw that the dead bones had become an “exceeding great army”. In Ezekiel 36, God is pointing to a time in when He will cleanse His people and give then new hearts and new spirits. The Old Testament is about types and shadows, where God uses the natural to portray the spiritual; and it served the purpose of showing that man could not keep the laws, or the ways of God in his own strength (1 Corinthians 15:46). In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did not dwell in God’s people, whereas in the New Testament, the Spirit dwells in the believer. The book of Hebrews goes in great detail pointing out the fact that the New Testament is far superior to the Old Testament and it makes it clear that we are most blessed to be under the New Covenant that was inaugurated when Jesus came and conquered sin and death. The New Testament fulfills all the requirements of the Old Testament. The good news that we can glean from the verses above is that even though we were once dead spiritually, God made us alive spiritually, and not only did He make us alive, He desires to use us in His kingdom-as a “great army.” Under the New Covenant, God has made us clean and He has given us a new heart and a new spirit and now we have the desire and the ability to follow His ways and to please Him in all that we do. The Son has made us free; God has made us new; and the Holy Spirit indwells us to empower and equip us, and to guide us into all truth. All of the promises of God are fulfilled in Jesus. We no longer have to earn His approval or His love as He has adopted us into His family and has made us His own. We now relate to God as our Father and we take our place in His family-fully forgiven and fully equipped for His purposes. Even though we live under the New Covenant that supersedes the Old Covenant where we see God working primarily through the natural, does not mean that God does not work in the natural in the New Covenant. For example, when we are in need of rain, or we need employment, or when we are sick, etc., we can and should pray that God would intervene and meet the needs we face. Under the New Covenant we do not have to live trying to gain our acceptance with God or His approval; we live and move from the position of being joined to Him, having been made new. And, because we have been joined to Him and have been given new hearts, spirits, and minds, we have a desire to please Him and honor Him in all we do. Let us realize, or be reminded, that we live in the presence of God. And yes, He can make the bones live again!
Romans 8:11: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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