Saturday, March 22—Day 18

Ezekiel & Christ: New Life
“Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 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 has perished. We are completely cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 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 that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’”
Ezekiel 37: 9 -14

Ezekiel’s Vision
How do we understand Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones? On the one hand, the text is clear: the vision pertains to the restoration of the God’s reign in his earthly kingdom; on the other it pictures the physical resurrection of our own bodies. As we contemplate the miracle of the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, let us ponder the meaning of our bodily resurrection and the physical resurrection of the Jewish people in these latter days.

Job famously declared his faith that, even though he slay him, in his flesh, he would see the Lord, face to face. This declaration of faith in the promise of physical resurrection is a leitmotif of scripture.

When I was living in Jerusalem, on Good Friday, 1986, I heard the most amazing sermon I’ve ever heard. Evangelist Lance Lambert preached the sermon on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, in an olive grove on the grounds of the beautiful Russian Orthodox Church. He led us to Jesus’ side as we imagined what he experienced at the moment he sweated blood in agony as he kneeled in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.  

All alone, Jesus anticipated his death and descent into Hades. There he realized the weight of what would happen to him when he went down into Sheol. There, in Hades, he would experience all of the suffering of every single human being — not just Christians — who’d ever lived or who would ever live. And whatever anyone had suffered, he would feel their pain in his own body: the hurt feelings of a small child, the fear of an abandoned woman, the betrayal of a friend, the ravages of war and disease, the hatred and violence of the human heart. He knew that he would encounter his great adversary, who held the power of death over him and all mankind. And still, he was willing to take that cup and drink.

During what our sources describe as the “harrowing of Hell,” Jesus reached out to rescue those who had believed in God and were faithful to his covenant.  On the third day, he led Adam and Eve and all of those Old Testament saints out of Sheol. Matthew 27:51-3, reports, “And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” This was the sign of Jonah that Jesus had given to the Pharisees and Sadducees who’d interrogated him at Banias, where the gods of the underworld were worshipped (Matt. 16:4).

Although Jesus was not the first to be resurrected from the dead, he was the first to receive his glorious, eternal body, and the first to ascend into heaven to the right hand of God, where he reigns today, in the company of that great cloud of witnesses that we believe we will soon join.

But Ezekiel’s vision is not solely about the resurrection of the body. It is about the resurrection of the house of David, the restoration of Israel in the millennial kingdom. Of course, many theologians today do not believe this, because Israel today is not the Israel that will one day receive Yeshua, Jesus, as King. Even today, some theologians say that God’s promises to Israel were fulfilled in Christ, or even that they have been transferred to the Church, the New Israel. Yet this is not so (Isa. 11:11-13, Jer. 3:18).

Ezekiel’s vision is symbolic. He is shown a vast valley over which are scattered thousands upon thousands of dry bones. The Lord asks the prophet, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel humbly, perhaps a bit dubiously, but with faint hope, answers, “Yahweh, you know.” And in his vision, Ezekiel sees God himself tell the bones: “Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and will bring flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you will live, and you will know that I am Yahweh.” And then, “there was a noise, and an earthquake, and then the bones began to come together. And then the Lord commanded the Holy Spirit: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” And the Prophet did as he was commanded, and these revitalized bodies arose as a mighty host before the Lord.

Next, the text gives us the key explaining the meaning of Ezekiel’s vision: “these bones are the whole house of Israel.” God is speaking to the descendants of Judah and Ephraim, that is the descendants of the exiled northern and southern Israelite kingdoms, who believe that God has forsaken them — “our hope is lost, we are clean cut off.” Ezekiel’s vision shows the gradual process of the regathering of the Jewish people from their global exile. In this vision, God commands the prophet to take two sticks: on the first he is to write the name “Joseph, signifying the apostate northern kingdom, and on the other “Ephraim,” signifying all the House of Israel. Then he is to tie them together into a bundle, signifying the regathering and reunification of the nation. And, indeed, we are seeing these prophecies slowly, gradually, come to life.

Most Jews no longer believe in the physical resurrection of the body. Many, influenced by Jewish mysticism, believe in reincarnation. However, Jewish burial practices reflect their ancient faith: stones are placed over the eyes of the dead, so that when they stand before the Lord they won’t be frightened by his awesome majesty; over the mouth so that they won’t speak out in his presence; and the feet are left bare so that they may stand before him. 

Our generation has witnessed the consequences of the physical return of the Jewish people to their homeland — but we await their spiritual resurrection. God has enabled the Jewish people to experience the return of their physical strength so that they can protect and govern themselves, but the result has been endless war. And so today, more and more Israelis are accepting the true identity of “that man” whom their leaders rejected two thousand years ago. They are also learning the limits of reason, of human strength, of political power. The conflict between the physical descendants of Abraham in the Middle East is ultimately a spiritual one. The majority of the sons of Ishmael and Isaac contend with one another without acknowledging their true King. By revealing his identity to us in Christ, our risen savior, we are witnessing the amazing fact that the church in Israel and the Muslim world is stirring back to life. Israel’s physical restoration is rightly seen as a symbol of hope that God will restore all creation, just as he has promised. 

At Pentecost, Peter called upon the nation of Israel to repent and turn again to God, that is, Jesus Christ, in order that “there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; that he may send them their Messiah, whom the heavens have received until the time of the restoration of all things, whereof God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets that have been from of old” (Acts 3:19-21). And God answered their prayers, and the church was born.

The resurrection of the crucified messiah king, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the essential principle underlying all prophecies concerning Israel. Through his atoning sacrifice and resurrection, Jesus conquered death and defeated the enemies of God. The foundation of our salvation is the resurrection of Jesus. Israel, too, will be raised to glory, not by the wisdom of men, but by the power of God. A future Israel requires a resurrected messiah.  For each of us to be saved from death and judgment, we need the atonement and life-giving spirit made possible by our resurrected Savior, who reigns over history as our supreme King. He is risen!

Prayer
Oh God of our Fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, thank you for sending us our kinsmen-redeemer to conquer death and bring us to everlasting life in your mercy and love through your son, Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ, Our Savior, Redeemer, and King!

Judith Mendelsohn Rood, Professor of History