A Breath of Hope: The Story of Ezekiel

[Note: You can also watch this lesson in video form here.]

Our Alleluia class lesson for today is called “Breath of Hope.”

This is our opening prayer:

O God, when things go wrong and situations seem hopeless, 

help us to trust in your promise to be with us always. 

Be with us now as we learn more about you. Amen.

Today’s theme is Hope. 

Have you ever felt hopeless? Everyone feels hopeless sometimes. Maybe you were learning something new in school and you thought you’d never understand. Maybe there were changes happening in your family that you couldn’t control. Maybe you made a mistake and you didn’t think it could ever be fixed.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about different people in the Bible. 

Many of them felt hopeless sometimes, too. Do you recognize the people above from our stories? There's Adam and Eve, Moses, and Abraham and Sarah.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and he sent them away from their home in Eden. They had to work hard for food, and protect themselves from dangerous animals, and build themselves a home, things they never had to do before. Adam and Eve must have felt pretty hopeless.

Abraham and Sarah wanted children, but they weren’t able to have any. God promised them they would be the parents of a great nation, but they grew old, and still had no children. Abraham and Sarah must have felt pretty hopeless.

Moses asked Pharaoh to free the Israelites, over and over, but Pharaoh said no, over and over. When the Israelites were finally freed, they wandered in the desert, trying to find food and water, and complaining to Moses, over and over. Moses – and all of the Israelites - must have felt pretty hopeless.

But in all these stories, God cared for his people. He made animal skin clothes for Adam and Eve. Abraham and Sarah had a baby boy, Isaac. And Moses led the Israelites to the Promised Land.

Time went by, and the Israelites settled into their new land. Their second king, David, was anointed by God’s prophet, Samuel, when he was only a young shepherd boy. King David, and his son, King Solomon, were both good and wise kings. They listened to God and his prophets, and they worshipped God and thanked him for his blessings on them and their people.

But over time, the kings of Israel stopped listening to the prophets. They – and the people of Israel – stopping worshipping God. Soon wars broke out and the kingdom began to fall apart. The prophets warned the kings that disaster would come unless they turned back to God.

But still they didn’t listen. And disaster came. The city of Jerusalem was captured by enemies and many people were taken away as prisoners. 

One of those prisoners, taken to the city of Babylon, was a young man named Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a priest, and later, a prophet. His story is in the Old Testament, in a book named after him: The Book of Ezekiel! Let’s read the story of how he became a prophet (from Ezekiel chapters 1 and 2).

In the fifth year since King Jehoiachin had been taken into exile, I, Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, was living with the Jewish exiles by the Chebar River in Babylonia. The sky opened, and I saw a vision of God. There I heard the Lord speak to me, and I felt his power. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord. When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice saying, “Mortal man, stand up. I want to talk to you.” While the voice was speaking, God's spirit entered me and raised me to my feet, and I heard the voice continue, “Mortal man, I am sending you to the people of Israel. They have rebelled and turned against me and are still rebels, just as their ancestors were. They are stubborn and do not respect me, so I am sending you to tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. Whether those rebels listen to you or not, they will know that a prophet has been among them. 

Let’s think about what the story tells us about Ezekiel. He had been a priest in Israel, and was now a captive in Babylonia with other Jewish exiles – other people who, like him, had been taken away from their homeland and were now slaves. Then, God sent him a vision, and told him to speak to the people of Israel and tell them that they are stubborn and rebellious, and have turned against God. Ezekiel was to tell the people to turn back and be obedient to God once again.

Do you think the Israelite captives in Babylon felt hopeless?

Did they miss their homeland?

Did they wonder why God had abandoned them?

Were they ready to listen to God’s prophet now?

Was it too late for them to receive God’s forgiveness?

God sent Ezekiel another vision, showing what God could do, even though the people of Israel’s faith was dead. Let’s read Ezekiel’s description of what God showed him, from Ezekiel chapter 37, verses 1 through 14.

I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and his spirit took me and set me down in a valley where the ground was covered with bones. He led me all around the valley, and I could see that there were very many bones and that they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?”

I replied, “Sovereign Lord, only you can answer that!”

He said, “Prophesy to the bones. Tell these dry bones to listen to the word of the Lord. Tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them: I am going to put breath into you and bring you back to life. I will give you sinews and muscles, and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and bring you back to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

So I prophesied as I had been told. While I was speaking, I heard a rattling noise, and the bones began to join together. While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin. But there was no breath in the bodies.

God said to me, “Mortal man, prophesy to the wind. Tell the wind that the Sovereign Lord commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life.”

So I prophesied as I had been told. Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up. There were enough of them to form an army.

God said to me, “Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones. They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future. So prophesy to my people Israel and tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to open their graves. I am going to take them out and bring them back to the land of Israel. When I open the graves where my people are buried and bring them out, they will know that I am the Lord. I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land. Then they will know that I am the Lord. I have promised that I would do this—and I will. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

What do you think the Israelites thought when Ezekiel told them about his vision?

Do you think it gave them HOPE that God still loved them and wanted to take care of them?  Do you think it gave them HOPE that God had the power to bring them out of slavery again? Do you think it gave them HOPE that God would forgive them for not worshipping him?

Right now, a lot of people are feeling hopeless about what’s happening with the corona virus. But God can still give us HOPE today! The Bible gives us HOPE that God loves us and wants to take care of our needs! The Bible gives us HOPE that God has the power to heal people who are sick! The Bible gives us HOPE that God forgives us for being afraid and struggling to trust him! The Bible gives us HOPE that God loves us, no matter what.

Let’s close with the Lord’s Prayer, then as a benediction (which means, simply, a blessing), the same Bible passage we heard at the end of the children’s sermon last week, about hope and trust.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.

And, from Psalm 91, comes this benediction and this promise: 

Whoever goes to the Lord for safety can say to Him: “You are my defender and protector, in you I trust.“ He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers and from all deadly diseases. He will cover you with His wings, and you will be safe in His care; His faithfulness will protect and defend you. God will put his angels in charge of you, to protect you wherever you go.