On March 9, 2008 the 3 assigned readings are Ezekiel 37:1-14; Romans 8:1-11 and the entire 11th chapter of the Gospel of John about the resurrection of Lazarus. Chosen to elaborate on is Ezekiel 37:11, “The He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, “Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off.”‘”
Is it not strange that very dry and dead bones are able to speak? Obviously this cannot take place in the temporal realm but is possible only in the spiritual realm. This text can be applied on three different levels: The first is the historic circumstance; the second is the parallel to our salvation and the third is helpful for evangelism outreach.
On the historic level, the dry bones refer to the house of Israel (verse 11) who are alive in the flesh in the Babylonian captivity but are dead in their attitudes and circumstances because of such bondage. What God is revealing through Ezekiel is that the people in bondage will be freed from their graves of oppression and taken back to their land where they will even rebuild the temple. Thus, the words of the bones refer to their attitude of being dead spiritually.
The second level is in regard to our salvation. How were we freed from the bondage of our slavery to the Law, to Satan and our flesh? Jesus took upon Himself the curse of the Law enduring being forsaken by His beloved Father for our sakes. Ezekiel makes clear that there is no altar call of dead bones or dead people coming forward to invite the Christ into our hearts. Instead, there is the sorrowful realization of how truly dead and hopeless we are, left to our own devices of salvation. This attitude is the work of the Law which results in our agreeing with, “Nothing in my hands I bring.”
The third level is how Ezekiel 37 helps us to witness to others. The Law needs to be proclaimed which is more than being explained. The Law needs to be executed as God did with the people of Israel by taking them into exile. So also, preaching of the Law is to be done in such a way that the hearer comes to the conclusion that there is no hope for salvation through anything he does, thinks or says. He truly is in bondage.
Then, the ground is prepared for the hearing of the Gospel which updated from Ezekiel 37:12 can be paraphrased as “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your death, and bring you into the kingdom of God here on earth.” This can be understood with Romans 6 and baptism as a death resulting in a resurrection to life while here on earth.
Of course, the fullness of that promise will not take place until the Day of Judgment but even here on earth we dwell in a new kingdom (the holy Christian Church) through which we receive new life and salvation with the forgiveness of sins and the robe of righteousness. Ezekiel 37 speaks not only to Israel of old but also to you the new Israel as well as those who will become members of that family through a proper use of the means of grace (Word and Sacrament).
Name:Tom Baker
Your last sentence is not quite accurate. It refers to the holy Christian Church on earth as the “new” Israel. Scripturally speaking, Christ referred to Himself as the TRUE Israel, contrasting Himself with the “false” Israel, the ethnic nation which paradoxically calls itself “Israel”. In John chapter 15 Jesus makes the comparison of His church with the vine and branches, where He says “I am the true vine”. Since the vine has always been a symbolof the God’s Israel(e.g. Psalm 80:8), Jesus claims that He is what God had always intended for His Israel: the perfect obedient Servant. Hence, those united with Christ actually comprise the TRUE ISRAEL of God, not merely a “new” Israel. This is the radical message of truth constantly proclaimed throughout the New Testament(e.g. Phil 3:3; Gal 6:16; Romans 9:6ff).God’s TRUE Israel has always consisted of those with faith in God’s promises, particularly of Messiah. God’s Israel consists of those who have undergone open heart surgery by God and received new hearts.This is exactly how God defines Israel: those pure in heart(Ps 73:1). As in this story from Ezekiel, the Church consists of recreated dead people, with faith in the Son Of God, neither male nor female but entirely New Creations(Gal 3:27ff; 2Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15). In fact, the Christian in Scripture is often referred to as that person who has undergone the “first resurrection”(e.g. Rev 20:5). The Christian also awaits the second, and bodily, resurrection on the Last Day as described by Paul in 1Cor chapter 15.
If I understand your concern, I refer to the Christian Church as the “new” Israel rather than the “true” Israel. Your point is well taken that the Church is not a “new” Israel but rather a continuation of the Israel as found in the Old Testament books. The reason I used the term “new” is because the Church is a result of the “new” covenant, Jesus inaugurates a “new” testament of His body and blood and then you have passages such as Revelation 21:2 which refers to the “new” Jerusalem.
However, your point that the Church is a continuation of the believers in the Old Testament is important and I will keep that in mind in referencing the Christian Church.