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1 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord God, you know." 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord." 7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 11 Then he said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord." (Ezekiel 37:1-14 NRSV)
A Wonderful Wednesday be yours, dear Friend! May this midweek day be full of blessings and wonderful surprises for you and those who matter to you. May we continue to pray for one another, especially those in need of various things. Some need healing; some need food and shelter; all need to know the love of God is available to them.
If God takes you by the hand, He's going to show you some incredible things. Some may scare the bejeebers out of you, but you'll be safe. Such was the life of a prophet. Prophets, being the mouthpieces of God, sure heard some unbelievable, and sometimes unwanted things; but to serve God was their duty and pleasure. This story could have taken place in a cemetery, where we are taken to a place where there is no life, and where the giving of life seems impossible, yet we await what God may do. This week's lessons have all been more or less the same way. Monday, Jesus was at a real cemetery where He wept for a close friend. Yesterday, Paul spoke of death and life; and how God does lift us out of death's certain path and leads us to the way of life.
Today's lesson begins with a valley full of dry bones. Dry bones symbolize that what was once alive is now very dead. And God asks the prophet, "Mortal, can these bones live?" The prophet gives a good answer, "O Lord God, you know." He was correct; only God can answer that question, and it was an honest response. So God said to the prophet, "Preach the message of life to these bones; share with them the message of God. Use these words, 'I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and cause flesh to come upon you, and cover your skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord." Bam. Some Sundays I felt just like that prophet. I'm not naming names, but some Sundays you find dry bones staring back at you as you try to preach a word of life. Yet, like the story, I preached; and I wish I could tell you every Sunday that I felt like that, renewal and revival came. I believe at the very least, a seed was planted.
The prophet preached as instructed. And as he preached, he heard a noise, a rattling of them bones as they came together, bone to bone. Don't you love that old spiritual that speaks of "Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones, Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones, Now shake dem skeleton bones! The toe bone's connected to the foot bone, The foot bone's connected to the ankle bone, The ankle bone's connected to the leg bone, Now shake dem skeleton bones! The leg bone's connected to the knee bone, The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone, The thigh bone's connected to the hip bone, Now shake dem skeleton bones!...(And I bet this song helps medical students...)
Once the bones were back together, the Lord ordered the prophet to preach to the wind, and the wind from the four corners of the world came to that place of death and brought new life to the valley. It was then that God told Ezekiel, these bones are my children, the people of Israel, who have been claiming to be dead already, and living without hope; here's the sermon you need to take to them: "I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open the graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord."
This powerful story set the stage for God to once again act on His people's behalf. This was enough for us to see our God is a God of life and hope. The bones were bones of people who had been killed and were resurrected from the lowest point of life, an almost point of no return and the message was made clear to the prophet who had the arduous task of taking it to the people of God who mostly lived as hopeless people because of their own choices.
Friend, Lent is more powerful this year than any other year, as we have seen some people who have given up on many things without having chosen to; our prayers should be that we would pray for this Easter be truly a resurrection event for the whole world, that it can live without this virus and the shortages of essentials that have turned good people into evil hoarders; we pray for their liberation from greed to good. May comfort come to those who have been affected by these times, and may true hope be shared from all pulpits and people.
PRAYER: Loving God, be the God of love that we need, so that we can share love like never before. Our prayers are for an Easter of unexpected new life and resurrected hope. We pray that we may walk with You as we await the celebration of Jesus' resurrection from the grave. This we pray in hope and in Christ Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Pray like never before for this coming Easter!
Receive my blessings of love and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
The latest chapter of Romans is available on my podcast, PimplesAndWrinkles.org under the Media Section.
