Day 231: The Valley of Dry Bones
Jeremiah 8:1-22 After concluding the condemnatory prophecy against Judah, a new prophecy began that cites further reasons for Judah’s punishment. The presence of the Law and the Temple, which both signified divine predilection, would be of no avail without a change of heart and fidelity to God’s will. The consciences of the people had become so calloused that they had lost the capacity to perceive the sinfulness of their ways.
Ezekiel 37:1-4 The exiles struggled to maintain hope of returning to Judah, while those in Judah lived in intolerable circumstances that tested their resolve. The divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel represented a chasm that seemed a long way from healing. Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones revealed God’s power to turn Israel’s defeat and destruction into an occasion of renewal and restoration. Moreover, the bones coming to life and being covered with flesh could also point to new life in Christ and the resurrection on the last day. (CCC 715)
Ch 37:10 The scene here is reminiscent of the creation narratives in Genesis in which God gives life to Adam by breathing into his nostrils (cf. Gn 2:7). The Hebrew word for “breath,” ruah, also means “spirit.” The first two chapters of Genesis describe the Word (cf. Gn 1:2) and the Spirit as the divine creative power behind creation. (CCC 703)
Ch 37:12 I will open your graves: Understandably the Church Fathers saw this passage as a prophecy of the resurrection of the dead. At the Final Judgment, the souls and bodies of everyone who ever existed will be reunited-in glory for the righteous, and in disgrace for the damned. (CCC 366)
Ch 37:15-28 The sticks represent the eventual reunification of Israel and Judah. God will bring this about as a permanent union that is integral to his plan of salvation.
Ch 37:26-28 Covenant of peace: These final verses of the oracle comprise a messianic prophecy of the new and everlasting covenant and the coming of Christ, who will be known as the “prince of peace.” (CCC 672)
Ch 38:1-23 Chapters 38-39 involve a mythical battle between Israel and Gog, which symbolizes all the forces that battle against Israel. The passage is eschatological in that it refers to a future triumph of God over evil, and for that reason it provides an image of the Second Coming of Christ. The Book of Revelation describes Gog and Magog as “nations which are at the four corners of the earth” who will wage war on the “beloved city,” the New Jerusalem, but in the end will be vanquished by fire from Heaven and cast into Hell (cf. Rev 20:7-10)
(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)
So Day 231 is the opposite of 123….not really
The Valley of Dry Bones
Gog, ever heard of him? Well you will today (So mysterious! 😉)
BONES is the word today
We started out with bones Jeremiah Ch 8 when it talks about the BONES OF THE PRIESTS
THE BONES OF THE PROPHETS
THE BONES OF THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM
THE BONES OF THE PRINCES AND KINGS OF JUDAH
All their bones are going to be brought out
There is something SO REMARKABLE about all this
What is Jeremiah talking about?
Obviously, he is staring down the barrel and he knows what’s coming because the Word of the Lord keeps speaking to him
REMEMBER…
The massive destruction of Jerusalem HAS NOT YET HAPPENED
Jeremiah is calling the people to BRACE FOR IMPACT
Now when we hear Ezekiel, IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED and we will get to that
GOSH! THIS IS SO INCREDIBLE!
What is going to happen?
Jeremiah 8:1-2, “At that time, says the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs; and they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served.”
They have sought and worshiped
All these false gods that the People of Judah, they have gone after foreign gods of foreign people in foreign lands
So what is God saying?
He is saying, “Ok, you are going to be brought to foreign lands. You love the gods of these foreign peoples. Ok you’re going to be brought to them. You’re going to be uprooted from this place. You’re going to be taken away from the land I have given to you. You want those things? Ok you can have them. I’ll take you to those places. You’ll belong to those people as SLAVES. You’ll belong to those false gods as SLAVES.”
THAT IS WHAT OUR IDOLS DO!!
OUR IDOLS ENSLAVE US!!
We recognize that, gosh, the Lord God, when we belong to him, we don’t belong to him as SLAVES
Scripture says again and again that Jesus makes it possible that we belong to the Lord as SONS AND DAUGHTERS
BUT…
The false gods in our lives, WE HAVE TO SERVE THEM
WE BELONG TO THEM
WE ARE THE SLAVES OF THOSE THINGS WE GIVE OUR HEART TO
EXCEPT GOD
Because God brings us into this RELATIONSHIP where he RAISES US UP
As opposed to these false gods who DRAG US DOWN
Jeremiah 8:5, “Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, they refuse to return.”
Jeremiah 8:7, “Even the stork in the heavens knows her times; and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming; but my people know not the ordinance of the Lord.”
If you’ve ever been to Israel, you know that it’s an incredible migratory epicenter (Is that the right word? For this example, sure 😉)
You can see so many different species of bird….but NOT PENGUINS (Unless you see them in a zoo? 🤔)
So many species of birds that pass through that land and Jeremiah is pointing out that these birds know when to migrate so how can the people not know that this is the time to migrate?
Jeremiah 8:8, “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.”
REMEMBER…
Jeremiah will talk about FALSE PROPHETS
Jeremiah 8:11, “They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.” (Jeremiah has said this before, do you remember when? 🤔)
God is saying, “I’m going to have to let them fall because they continue to be of two minds and they continue to not repent.”
PERPETUAL BACKSLIDING
IT’S SO AWFUL AND DEVASTATING
THAT CAN BE US!!
WE CAN GIVE OUR HEARTS AS WELL TO THESE FALSE GODS
THEY PROMISE EVERYTHING AND DELIVER NOTHING
THEY PROMISE EVERYTHING AND TAKE EVERYTHING
That is such a DIFFICULT word
BUT…
There is an ENCOURAGING WORD
Remember that Jeremiah is preaching AHEAD of the destruction of Jerusalem
BUT…
Ezekiel is preaching AFTER the destruction of Jerusalem
There is NO HOME ANYMORE
There is NO JUDAH ANYMORE
There is NO JERUSALEM ANYMORE
There is NO TEMPLE ANYMORE
IT IS DEAD
IT IS DONE
IT IS OVER
And that is where we have this INCREDIBLE VISION
THIS INCREDIBLE ACTION
The Valley of the Dry Bones
Ok here is this valley of dry bones
All there is is just death
If you see a bunch of bones, there is no future for the bones
There is only the past
It’s over with
And what does God say?
Ezekiel 37:4-5, “‘Prophesy to 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, and you shall live.’”
The bones all come together
The Breath of Life, the Holy Spirit comes into them
Ezekiel 37:10, “So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the spirit came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great host.”
Ezekiel 37:11, “Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.’”
Honestly, the people who are living in Babylon at this point, yeah there is NO HOME TO GO BACK TO
THERE IS NO WAY TO GO HOME
IT IS DONE
JUST LIKE A BUNCH OF BONES
And yet, here is God
Ezekiel 37:14, “And I will put my spirit within you and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it, says the Lord.”
REMEMBER…
God has used Babylon NOT TO DESTROY HIS PEOPLE
BUT TO CALL HIS PEOPLE BACK TO HIM
God has used what looks like COMPLETE DESTRUCTION to CONVERT THEIR HEARTS
SO THAT THEY CAN KNOW, AND WE CAN KNOW, THAT HE IS THE LORD GOD TRULY AND FOREVER
That’s what the image of the dry bones is
That’s what the image of The Two Sticks are
Here is not just Judah but also Israel, those two nations
Here is Ezekiel holding those two sticks in one hand, making them one stick
He says, “I will restore all of the nations and I will bring back King David.”
Remember why were people waiting for the Messiah?
They were waiting for the Messiah for many reasons and this is one of them
Ezekiel 37:24, “‘My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd.”
REMEMBER…
That when they look forward to the Messiah, the Christ (Christ means ANOINTED ONE), they are looking for this PROMISE here in Ezekiel Ch 37 (and in other places) of that FUTURE KING in the LINE OF DAVID
Who would be the ANOINTED ONE
Who would be the ONE SHEPHERD of the ONE PEOPLE
Who would be the ONE KING of the ONE KINGDOM
We are going to hit the next Messianic Checkpoint in Matthew's Gospel SO CLEARLY how Matthew COMPLETELY SEES JESUS
Matthew understands that Jesus is TRULY THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS PROMISE
JESUS IS THE MESSIAH
JESUS IS THE KING WHO HAS COME TO RESTORE THE KINGDOM
REMEMBER…
This is the PROMISE
The Northern Kingdom is GONE
It is DESTROYED
It is NEVER TO BE FOUND AGAIN
AND YET…
IT WILL BE!!
In Jesus Christ re-establishing THE KINGDOM
With HIMSELF as THE KING
As the ANOINTED ONE
As the PERPETUAL DAVID FOREVER
He is able to bring ALL PEOPLES TO HIMSELF
And restore the KINGDOM OF ISRAEL IN ITS FULFILLMENT IN CHRISTIANITY
THAT IS SUCH AN INCREDIBLE THING
We are going to hear about Gog
So who is Gog?
Um...it’s a mystery!
Not a lot of information when it comes to who Gog is
He could be Nebuchadnezzar
The Land of Magog could be Babylon
That could be the case
But in this case...it’s just a mystery!
Go do some research on your own if you like
We are kind of running out of time so if Fr. Mike doesn’t have anything wise to say about Gog and the Land of Magog, let’s call it a day
MAN (OH MAN!!)
WHAT A GIFT TO BE IN GOD’S WORD
Sometimes it’s CLEAR
Sometimes it’s NOT CLEAR
Sometimes we say later on, “Oh my gosh, I see that now!!”
Sometimes when it comes to Ezekiel Ch 38, “When it comes to Gog and Magog, I don’t know.”
Maybe YOU know
In which case, you can share your knowledge with all of us
Above all, let’s share God’s Grace with all of us
That Ezekiel spoke
He preached
He prophesied
And the Spirit of God came upon DRY BONES
We ask the Lord in the power, in the name of Jesus Christ, to send His Holy Spirit into the dry bone areas of our lives, where we think that we are done, we think that it’s over, we think that there is no hope. There is hope wherever the Lord is present. There is always always hope. The Lord is present in your life and in my life, and so there’s hope.
FR. MIKE IS PRAYING FOR YOU
PRAY FOR FR. MIKE
PRAY FOR EACH OTHER
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and glory. You are good. You are our Father. You are our Dad. We thank you so much. And God, you have made your heart known to us and you have called us back to yourself. You, who can raise the dead to life. You, who conquered death so that death does not have power to conquer us. We ask you to send that Spirit, the Spirit that came upon the dry bones as Ezekiel prophesied, the Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, the Spirit that you gave to the Apostles and you give to us, your children now. We ask for that Holy Spirit to bring us to life, especially, Lord, the broken parts of us, the dead parts of us, the parts that seem lost and without hope, the parts of us that disqualify us, or we believe that they disqualify us. Lord God, let your Holy Spirit come upon us and those parts. Bring us to life. Bring us to you. Bring us home. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”