Hope and life 소망과 생명

Ezekiel 37:1-14


 dThe hand of the Lord was upon me, and ehe brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley;1 it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, f“Son of man, gcan these bones live?” And hI answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, i“Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, jO dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause kbreath2 to enter you, and you shall live. 6 lAnd I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and lcover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, mand you shall know that I am the Lord.”

7 So I prophesied nas I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, oa rattling,3 and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But pthere was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, i“Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, fson of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from qthe four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied nas he commanded me, and rthe breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11 Then he said to me, f“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and sour hope is lost; twe are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore iprophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, uI will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And vI will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And wyou shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And xI will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; yI have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.” 

Thinking and understanding

God illustrated the restoration of Israel through a vision of dry bones that came to life. As Ezekiel prophesied to the dry bones and breath, the dry bones came to life and formed a large army(vv.1-10). Just as when he created Adam, God will re-create the Israeilites, who are like dry bones, through the two-step process of shaping them then filling them with his breath. He will surely rescue the Israelites from the valley of death and guide them to the mountains of Israel(vv.11-14).

이스라엘의 회복을 마른 뼈가 살아나는 환상을 보여주십니다. 에스겔이 죽음의 골짜기에 가득한 마른 뼈들과 생기를 향해 하나님의 말씀을 대언하자 마른 뼈들이 살아나고 큰 군대를 이룹니다(1-10). 마치 아담을 창조하실 때처럼, 빚고 생기를 채우는 두 단계를 통해 마른 뼈와 같은 이스라엘을 살려내실 것입니다. 반드시 죽음의 골짜기에서 이스라엘을 건져내서, 이스라엘의 산으로 인도하실 것입니다(11-14).


Who is God?

vv.1-10 God is the source of hope and life. God transformed a hopeless pile of dry bones into an army brimming with life. Do we believe that no matter how hopeless and difficult our situations may be, if God is with us and breathes life into us, we will be able to stand and be strong again?

하나님은 생명과 희망의 근원입니다. 하나님은 아무런 희망도 없는 마른 뼈들을 활기 넘치는 군대로 바꾸셨습니다. 아무리 어렵고 절망스러운 상황이라 할지라도 하나님이 함께 하시고, 생기를 불어넣어 주시면 힘있는 모습으로 다시 일어날 수 있다는 사실을 믿습니까?



What lesson is God teaching us?

v.11 We must set our eyes on God and not our situations. God showed Ezekiel the tragic reality of the Israelites' spiritual state. What is the reality of our own and our communities' spiritual state? We must not just look at the problems before our eyes but look to Almighty God, who can solve all our problems.

상황이 아닌 하나님을 바라보아야합니다. 하나님이 에스겔을 통해 보여주신 것은 이스라엘의 비참한 영적 현실이었습니다. 오늘 나와 우리 공동체가 처한 영적 현실은 어떻습니까? 눈에 보이는 문제만 보지 말고, 그 모든 문제를 해결하실 수 있는 능력의 하나님을 바라보십시요.