In Sunday’s sermon I mentioned some ways that Revelation 7:9-17 points us to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. I even made the case that this throne room vision is a heavenly perspective on Pentecost—the Spirit is poured out, ushering in the first fruits of the Lord’s harvest (the multitude). There is one more Pentecost image that I left out, though, and I want to mention it here.
After the innumerable multitude from every tongue, tribe, and nation have entered the throne room, one of the elders comes to John with a question: “Who are these?” On the surface, it’s a bit of a silly situation—of all the people in the throne room, John is certainly the most confused. All he can do is punt the question back to the one who asked it: “sir, you know.”
If we dig deeper, it makes more sense. John’s answer (“sir, you know”) points us toward another vision with strikingly similar content. In Ezekiel 37, the Spirit brings Ezekiel into a valley filled with dry bones. Then God asks Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel, like John, doesn’t know what’s going on, so he punts the question back with almost the exact same words: “O Lord GOD, you know.” Here’s the short version of the rest of the vision—God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones. He does, but it doesn’t bring the bones life. However, when the LORD breathes his Spirit into them, they come alive! It’s a vision of a dead and wasted Israel, brought back to life by the Spirit of God. It’s the same Spirit, poured out at Pentecost, that brings the first fruits of the Lord’s harvest out of the grave and into the throne room.
Both of these visions show pictures of the Spirit bringing the dead to life, and they give us a glorious hope for the resurrection that awaits us. They also give us a remarkable hope for our present, if we can remember one simple thing. The same Spirit is in us, right now! If that’s true, then no matter how you feel on your worst days, you are not bound to sin, shame, or guilt any longer. You can’t be! The Spirit who raises from the dead has joined you to Christ and given you a share in his resurrection. He has breathed the life of Christ into your dry bones. This is why Paul can say that you are “a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).
Neither death nor sin has power over those who have received the life of Christ by the Spirit. That’s a truth we can cling to in times of trouble, darkness, and weakness. I don’t mean a “truth” like a fact, or like some mantra we repeat to ourselves. I mean it is a reality. You have the Spirit of God pointing you to Jesus Christ, the anchor of your soul. Cling to him. He will not fail you!
Justin