March 22, 2026 – Lent – Come Out of the Grave

Come Out of the Grave

Ezekiel 37:1-14 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

What was the valley full of (verse 1)?

How did Ezekiel describe the bones (verse 2)?

What did the Lord ask Ezekiel (verse 3)?

Who was Ezekiel to prophesy to (verse 4)?

What will the Lord make the bones do (verse 5)?

When will the bones know that “I am the Lord” (verse 6)?

What happened when Ezekiel prophesied (verse 7)?

What were the bones missing (verse 8)?

Why were the four winds to “breathe into these slain” (verse 9)?

What happened when Ezekiel prophesied as the Lord commanded (verse 10)?

Who were the bones (verse 11)?

What is Ezekiel to prophesy to Israel (verse 12)?

When will the people of Israel know that the Lord is “the Lord” (verse 13)?

What will the Lord put into the people of Israel (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the life God gives?

Psalm 130 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
²     Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
    to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
⁶ I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
    for with the Lord is unfailing love
    and with him is full redemption.
⁸ He himself will redeem Israel
    from all their sins.

Where is the Psalmist crying from (verse 1)?

What does the Psalmist want the Lord’s ears to be attentive to (verse 2)?

When would no one stand (verse 3)?

Why can we serve the Lord “with reverence” (verse 4)?

Where does the Psalmist’s put his hope (verse 5)?

How does the Psalmist wait (verse 6)?

Why can Israel put their “hope in the Lord” (verse 7)?

What will the Lord redeem Israel from (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the life God gives?

In your opinion, how is the “redemption” of Psalm 130 related to the opening of the Israelite’s  graves in Ezekiel 37:1-14?

John 11:1-(32-45) – New International Version (NIV)

³² When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

³⁵ Jesus wept.

³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸ Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

⁴⁰ Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

⁴¹ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

⁴³ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

⁴⁵ Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 

What did Mary say when she saw Jesus (verse 32)?

Why was Jesus moved in spirit and troubled (verse 33)?

What did Jesus do (verse 35)?

What did the Jews say (verse 36)?

What did other Jews say (verse 37)?

How was the tomb described (verse 38)?

Why was Martha afraid to have the stone moved (verse 39)?

What had Jesus said (verse 40)?

Who did Jesus thank for hearing Him (verse 41)?

Who did Jesus want to believe (verse 42)?

What did Jesus call “in a loud voice” (verse 43)?

How did the “dead man” come out (verse 44)?

Who believed (verse 45)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the life God gives?

In your opinion, how is Jesus calling Lazarus to “come out” in John 11:1-(32-45) different from the vision of dry bones coming to  life in Ezekiel 37:1-14?

In your opinion, how does the redemption promised in Psalm 130 align with Jesus’s power to raise from the dead in John 11:1-(32-45)?

Romans 8:6-11 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Which mind “is death” (verse 6)?

What is the “mind governed by the Spirit” (verse 6)?

What cannot “submit to God’s law” (verse 7)?

Who cannot “please God” (verse 8)?

Where are those in whom “the Spirit of God lives” (verse 9)?

What does the Spirit give to those who Christ is in “even though” their body is subject to death (verse 10)?

What will the “Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead” do to the mortal bodies of those He lives in (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the life God gives?

In your opinion, how does the prophecy of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14 provide a visual expression of the transformation from spiritually dead to spiritually alive described in Romans 8:6-11?

In your opinion, how does the Lord’s forgiveness in Psalm 130 play a part in the righteousness described in Romans 8:6-11?

In your opinion, how does Jesus weeping in John 11:1-(32-45) lay the foundation for the spiritual life promised in Romans 8:6-11?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezekiel, Psalms, John, and Romans reveal to us about contrast between the dry bones of the flesh and the life of the Spirit?

In your opinion, where do we see the glory of God today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)