Written for the Warren Sentinel's Weekly Pulpit.
Reverend Christof A. Weber
Rockland Community Church
March 29, 2012
We are nearing the end of our journey
through the Old Testament portion of The Story
at Rockland Community Church. This past week we went through Chapter
17, which covers the fall of the Kingdom of Judah. It was a
particularly dark chapter in Israel's history. Judah was brutally
conquered and taken into exile by the Babylonians. However, in the
midst of what seemed a hopeless time, prophesies of hope and of a
much brighter future were given by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
These promises were
fulfilled, in part, with the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls and the
restoration of the Temple some seventy years later. These promises
also may point to a fulfillment which is yet to come. Most
importantly, I believe, these promises pointed to the salvation that
Jesus would bring.
God had made
promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and King David that at this
juncture in Israel's history might have seemed unlikely to ever be
fulfilled. How could the Kingdom of Judah fall, the Temple be all
but destroyed, the people of God be exiled to Babylon, and these
promises still be kept? For many at that time, it probably seemed
like all hope was lost.
Although the Elijah
had a number of prophetic visions that dealt with the judgment that
would befall Judah and the surrounding nations, he was also given a
prophetic vision of a more hopeful future in which Judah, Jerusalem,
and the Temple would be restored. You see, despite the
unfaithfulness of God's people, God is always faithful.
One such vision
involved an entire valley filled with dry dusty bones. According to
the book of Ezekiel, the prophet was asked, “Can these bones live?”
Ezekiel responded, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” And
Ezekiel was then instructed to prophesy to the dry bones and to say
to them, “Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the
Sovereign LORD says, ' I will make breath enter you, and you will
come to life.'” As a preacher, I can't imagine preaching to a room
full of dry bones, let alone to an entire valley full of them. But
that is exactly what Ezekiel did and those bones were brought back to
life. Talk about setting a high standard for preachers!
What is
particularly interesting to me about the first fourteen verses of
chapter 37 of Ezekiel is that the Hebrew word “ruach” is
used ten times. In English, this word is translated as spirit,
breath, breathe, and wind (and the list goes on). It is also
interesting to me that in Hebrew the ineffable name of God is written
as “YHWH.” It is said that when these letters are
pronounced without the vowels that are typically associated with
them, the resulting sound is that of breath or wind.
“So what?,” you
may be asking. Maybe you have experienced or are experiencing a
period in your life where you feel all dried up and without hope. If
so, I believe that this story offers every reason to be hopeful. If
a valley of dried up bones can restored to new life through the
Breath of God, so can you!
There may not be a
prophet quite like Ezekiel to speak into your life, but God's Word
surely can. I encourage you to turn to God's Word. Don't just read
it for information, read it for transformation by first praying that
the Breath (Spirit) of God will use it to breathe new life into you.
And I urge you, if you aren't already doing so, to attend one of the
many wonderful churches in our area. Who knows, maybe the words of
their preacher will also be used by God to breathe new life into you!
