Lenten Devotion: From Dry Bones to Living Hope
From Dry Bones to Living Hope
Fifth Sunday of Lent: Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 6:15-23; John 11: 1-44
Psalm 130 is one of the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134)
Psalm 120: God's presence during distress
Psalm 121: Joyful praise to the Lord
Psalm 122: Prayer for Jerusalem
Psalm 123: Patience for God's mercy
Psalm 124: Help comes from the Lord
Psalm 125: Prayer for God's blessing upon His people
Psalm 126: The Lord has done great things
Psalm 127: God's blessing on man's efforts
Psalm 128: Joy for those who follow God's ways
Psalm 129: A cry for help to the Lord
Psalm 130: A prayer of repentance Psalm
131: Surrender as a child to the Lord
Psalm 132: God's sovereign plan for His people
Psalm 133: Praise of brotherly fellowship and unity
Psalm 134: Praise to God in His temple
The Psalms of Ascent are sometimes called Pilgrim Songs. These Psalms were sung by Hebrew pilgrims as they traveled to Jerusalem for the Feasts. They express the themes of joy, worship, and the presence of God.
Psalm 130 (NASB) is a prayer of repentance. A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I have cried to You, LORD. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the sound of my pleadings. 3 If You, LORD, were to keep account of guilty deeds, Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, so that You may be revered. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and I wait for His word. 6 My soul waits in hope for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; yes, more than the watchmen for the morning. 7 Israel, wait for the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. 8 And He will redeem Israel from all his guilty deeds.
In verse 5, the word for "wait" in Hebrew is qavah. The root meaning of this is that of twisting or winding a strand of cord or rope, which creates tension. There is an eager expectancy in this waiting. Our hope is in the LORD! He hears our cries for mercy! He is to be revered (feared). He is an awesome God. Why can we hope? Because we have His precious promises given to us in His word. We know His love is loyal and steadfast. We have been redeemed. He has forgiven our iniquities. We can rejoice!
In our Ezekiel reading, the prophet was brought by the Spirit of the LORD into the midst of a valley full of bones. The LORD commanded the prophet to prophesy over the dry bones. The LORD caused breath (Ruach — wind, breath, Spirit) upon the bones and they came alive and became a great army. The word Ruach is mentioned ten times in these verses.
Ezekiel 37:9-14 (NASB) — "Then He said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, "The Lord GOD says this: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, so that they come to life."' 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then He said to me, 'Son of man, these bones are the entire house of Israel; behold, they say, "Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off." 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, "This is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am going to 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. 13 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. 14 And 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.'"
We see dry bones coming to life by the breath (Spirit) of God. Before Jesus entered into our lives, we were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were held captive by our flesh and the evil one. We were like those bones in the wilderness. But then in His infinite grace and mercy, Jesus pierced the darkness of our hearts and minds and made us see our own darkness. We walked into the light, forever changed. Not only did Jesus save us from the miry pit, but He also breathed life within us and continues to do so each and every day. We are new creatures, alive in Him to do the works He has given us to do, to love as He loved.
In the Romans passage we read that before Christ we were dead. Death reigned. We were under judgment and condemnation. We were like those dry bones we read about previously in Ezekiel. We are now joined to the living Christ. Can we please God in our own strength? No. We need the ruach — the breath of God, His Holy Spirit. What then is the Christian life? It is a life of obedience unto Christ. Do we love Him? If we loved Him, we would obey Him. We would do everything to please Him. We choose to walk in obedience to the light. We confess our sins to Almighty God, knowing we are forgiven and in right fellowship with Him. We can give thanks to God that, once being slaves of sin, we have become obedient from our hearts to become slaves of righteousness. We are being sanctified — it literally means "holy." We are in the process of becoming holy. Life is hard, and we often find ourselves in the furnace of affliction. The furnace acts as a purifier. It is for our good, although not pleasant at the time of testing. We know where we will be at the end of our days — eternity with Jesus!
In our Gospel reading we see the familiar passage of Lazarus' resurrection. Jesus received the message that Lazarus was ill, and when He heard it He stayed an additional two days where He was. When Jesus got to Bethany, Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. When they heard Jesus had come, Martha went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed behind. Their grief was magnified — they had expected Jesus to come while Lazarus was still alive, and now all hope seemed gone. In frustration, they cried out, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died" (John 11:21, 32). Have you ever said to the Lord, "Where were you when this happened?" "Are you even alive?" "Don't you care about me?" Jesus responded in verse 4: "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
Is Jesus absent in our sufferings? What are some of the lessons we can learn from suffering? Jesus wants to break the outer man — to destroy within us the works of the flesh, to crucify the flesh, and to release within our inner man righteousness, joy, and peace, which is accomplished through the Holy Spirit. The principle is laid out for us in John 12:24: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit." The Lord wants to refine us and conform us to His image. Why? So we can do the work He has called us to do — to shine our light in the darkness. The outer man (flesh) must be controlled by the inner man (the Holy Spirit within us).
Which character do you connect with in the story, and why? When you face grief, loss, or disappointment, what is your response? We are to consciously cast off every unnecessary burden or hindrance in our daily life that inhibits us from running the race of faith. We also need to consciously cast off the sin that entangles us. Sin is a distraction from setting our eyes forward and upward. Sin causes guilt and shame, but we can be rid of spiritual dryness — those dry bones — by simply crying out to the LORD, who is near and who hears. Guilt and shame are weapons of the evil one, and of our own flesh, which bog us down in a miry pit of self. Cast off guilt, cast off shame, and run the race. Look upward to your King of Kings and LORD of LORDS, who has redeemed, saved, and sanctified us. He is always present and near. Let us rejoice in God our Savior. Amen.