Restoration (Ezekiel 37:1-14)

God’s promises are so great that faith staggers before them. That’s how it was for God’s people in the time of Ezekiel. Jerusalem lay in ruins. Most of the people had fled or died. Those who survived were exiles in Babylon under a regime that had not intention of letting them go.

God’s people knew His promises. But the destruction of evil, the blessing of God on people from all nations, and the joys of the Davidic kingdom seemed like another world from the daily grind of God’s people, who struggled to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land.

God gave Ezekiel a vision in which he saw a valley of dry bones. It was a picture that fitted the mood of God’s people who were saying “Our bones are dried up and our hope in gone, we are cut off” (Ezekiel 37:11).

Ezekiel spoke God’s Word to the bones, and as He did, the bones came together. Then they were covered with tendons, flesh and skin. Then God breathed life into the corpses, just as He had breathed life into Adam. God was bringing new life from the grave.

Broad sweep of God’s promise.
- To create people in His image.
- To deliver His people from evil.
- To bring people from every nation into His blessing.
- To reconcile people to Himself through the sacrifice offered for our sins.
- To establish the Kingdom of His Son forever.
- To cause His people to walk in His ways, and now,
- To give new life from the grave.

Those who question the uniqueness of Jesus underestimate the promises of God. Who else could accomplish what God has promised?

God makes promises so great that only God Himself can deliver them. So God took human flesh. The Creator entered His own creation. God came and stood with us, acting for us, to fulfill His own promise. The Word who was with God, and was God, and by whom all things were made, became flesh and made His dwelling among us (John 1:2, 14).

All of God’s promises are sealed with His own ‘Yes’ in Christ Jesus, and you can add your ‘Amen’ with the full confidence that everything God has promised is yours in Him (2 Corinthians 1:20).



Colin Smith, Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church
thegospelcoalition.com