As part of the vision that Ezekiel has of the revivifying of the “dry bones” the Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. This is a development in the faith of Israel. The tradition was that after death the “soul” entered into a shadowy existence in Sheol. The experience of exile, and the later experience of persecution at the time of the Greek occupation, helped the People of God to develop a fuller understanding of life after death. This led directly to Jesus’ teaching about the “resurrection of the body” that Christians celebrate in our creeds. Faith develops as we apply God’s love to a new situation.
