Ezekiel and pandemic lock down

This is a brief reflection for our all-age service Sunday 29 March 2020







EZEKIEL 37:1-14

Imagine a valley full of bones
Why does the writer mention they are dry? what is the importance of that?


How do our streets look at the moment?
Have you seen pictures on tv or the internet of cities with all the shops closed?
Maybe these would be images for us today of “dry bones”






We look at this passage in Lent and we look forward to celebrating the resurrection from the dead of Jesus

But for Ezekiel and his people when he was writing this it had relevance for their current state of affairs - the nation of Israel was living in exile and many of them would have felt like dry bones with no hope of life

Ezekiel’s picture of God bringing life to these dead bones was to give his people hope that this time of exile would come to an end.


We are all in lockdown now. The streets look dead. But we can live in hope this time will pass. As the people of God here in Aotearoa NZ we, like Ezekiel, can spread hope. Our hope comes not just from the government, our hope comes from the love of God and the love that we, the people of God, can spread to our communities. Let’s be like Ezekiel and spread hope and good news to those around us. 



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