Dry Bones

The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, but it wasn't until 73 AD that the last of Israel was truly conquered. The fortress of Masada held out against the Romans until finally the last zealots, numbering about 1000, killed themselves so that the Romans could never have the victory of actually defeating them or sending survivors into slavery.

When Masada was excavated in the 1950s, they found a scripture buried in the ruins, Ezekiel 37: 1-14. This is where God shows Ezekiel a valley full of dry bones and ask "Son of man, can these bones live?"  God then tells Ezekiel to prophesy over the dry bones to put on flesh and skin and to live.  And the dry bones did and they stood up like a vast army.  God then says that He will bring the Jews up from the grave, they will will live again in their own land and God will put His spirit into them.

On May 14th 1948,  for the first time since the fall of Masada, Jews lived under the banner of their own nation.  God brought them out of the grave of history back to life just as Ezekiel pronounced He would.  Today Israel lives by the grace of God.  They have their own land back, they speak the same language as they did 2000 years ago. They have the shekel as their currency again. No people have ever come back from destruction like this before and become a nation again.  God brought them back from being dry bones to being a living nation of people that someday Jesus Christ will return and rule.

Photo Credit: Masada, Israel by Miguelsihman