With a careful re-reading of the text one quickly notices familiar themes of redemption, renewal, and the ultimate promise to bring the Jewish people back to our Promised Land. These themes are echoed in numerous passages from the Torah in relation to the Exodus from Egypt.

Therefore, say to the people of Israel: “I am HaShem. I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians, rescue you from their oppression, and redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as my people, and I will be your G-d. Then you will know that I am HaShem, who freed you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

(Exodus 6:6-8a)

Like the Exodus from Egypt, the Dry Bones will experience an Exodus from despair and the valley of death, which is Galut – Exile. We are still in Exile. We are still often enslaved to a different sort of pharaoh. It is not difficult to look at the state of many of our Jewish people today and see dry bones, like Ezekiel’s vision, dried up, without hope, and completely cut off. Many of us have opted for other spiritual avenues or no spiritual connection at all. But G-d promises this will not always be the case.

Let this year be the beginning of our own personal redemptions. Every year we are supposed to celebrate Passover as though we ourselves are personally being delivered from slavery. And although we may not be literally slaves, we are all physically or spiritually bound and enslaved to something. So let us take “our staff in hand” as the Torah tells us, eat the Passover meal, and experience a new hope of redemption. A redemption that has been brought about through the atoning work of the ultimate Passover sacrifice – Yeshua the Messiah.