E
The Vision Of The Valley Of Dry Bones
(Ezekiel 37:1-14)
Introduction
·
This is the first
prophecy for Passion Week, read in the Sixth Hour of Palm Sunday, which is the
General Funeral Service
·
The Holy Spirit chose
this beautiful prophecy to be the first one, to give us hope in the
resurrection which ended and overcame death. The Holy Spirit wished to reveal
to us right at the beginning of Passion Week that the crucified Christ grants
the life of resurrection to overcome all sin and stumbling blocks, even if they
become very dry bones
·
Ezekiel 37 is a key
chapter in Ezekiel, as it is central to the hope of the restoration of
Israel. The passage portrays the Vision of the valley of dry bones. It
describes a valley that is full of dry bones, scattered as though they had been
in a battle, and nothing is left but bones.
It is a desperate, hopeless and miserable state. Then God asks Ezekiel to prophecy to these
bones, and through the Spirit of God, these bones join together, are covered
with skin and sinews, and receive the breath of life. The desolate valley of
dry bones became a valley filled with an army of soldiers ready for war.
God asked: "Son of
man, can these bones live?" (Ezek 37:3)
·
Ezekiel’s response: "O Lord GOD, You know."
o Ezekiel didn’t think with his mind and say “no,
how can these lifeless and dry bones come to life?”
o He had faith in God’s ability and power to do the
impossible.
o He realised these bones cant live unless God
enables them to live.
o By God asking this question, it makes us think
about the magnitude of this miracle. How can dry, lifeless and hopeless bones
live?
Why did God ask
Ezekiel to prophecy?
"Prophesy to these bones, and
say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!’” (Ezek 37:4)
·
Why did God ask
Ezekiel to prophecy? Why didn't God just speak to them directly?
·
God wants to use
us to accomplish His work: “we are God's fellow workers” (1 Cor
3:9). We are vessels and
instruments which God uses, if only we leave ourselves in His hands.
·
God can work without
us, but we cant work without God.
·
Obedience:
It seems unusual and
somewhat hopeless to speak to dry
bones, as God commanded Ezekiel. But at God’s command, and with His grace,
life was fuelled into the lifeless bones in a miraculous and marvellous way: "So I prophesied as He commanded me,
and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon
their feet, an exceedingly great army" (Ezek 37:10). It reminds us
of the story of St John the Short who was
commanded by his spiritual father to water a dry and lifeless stick every day
in the desert. How could a stick become
alive? Yet because of St John’s
obedience to his spiritual father, the stick became a blossoming tree, which
still exists today. So both examples
highlight the fruits of obeying God who is the fountain of life and who raises
the dead, even in circumstances that seem hopeless and helpless to our limited
minds.
·
What was the source
of life for these bones? That they
"hear the Word of the Lord" (Ezek 37:4). So it shows us the power of God's word in giving life. As St Peter proclaimed: "to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life"
(John 6:68). And also in several psalms, David declares that the source of
life is God's word, for example: "Your
word has given me life" (Ps
119:50).
What does the
Resurrection of these bones symbolise?
There
are 3 meanings we can take from the Resurrection of the bones in Ezekiel's
vision:
1.
The hope of the
restoration of Israel
2.
Our daily
resurrection and revival
3.
The Resurrection in
the Last Day (ie Second Coming)
1. The hope of the
restoration of Israel
·
After being in
captivity in Babylon for 70 years, Israel was in great despair: “Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we
ourselves are cut off!” (Ezek 37:11). But through Ezekiel's vision, God
promised Israel that He would redeem and save them, and give them a new hope,
new inheritance and a new spirit. He
would also revive their faith in Him: “Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have
spoken it and performed it” (Ezek 37:14).
2. Our daily
resurrection and revival
·
What does the vision
mean for us? How can we
learn from it?
·
The dry bones could
be our souls, that are in need of revival. The vision could be our
resurrection from being spiritually dead because of our sins, to a life of
righteousness - a holy, spiritual, divine life by the power of divine grace.
But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. (Rom 6: 22)
·
We can ask
ourselves, 'am I in need of revival'?
Consider David the Prophet in Psalm 119, which we read in the first
service of Midnight Prayer. How many times does he pray using the words
"Revive me"?
o "Revive
me according to your word" (Ps
119:25)
o "Revive
me in Your way" (Ps 119:37)
o "Revive
me in your righteousness" (Ps
119:40)
o "Revive
me according to Your
lovingkindness" (Ps 119:88 and 119:159)
o "Revive
me, O LORD" (Ps 119:107)
o "Revive
me according to Your justice"
(Ps 119:149)
o "Revive
me according to Your word" (Ps
119:154)
o "Revive
me according to Your judgments"
(Ps 119:156)
·
It seems that David
knew and felt he was spiritually weak (or spiritually "dead", to some
extent) and he continually implored that the Lord would revive him. How about us?
·
Read the Article on
Page 4: "When You see me, a Withering Member…" The withering member
in this article is similar to the dry bones in Ezekiel's vision, which are in
need of revival.
3. The Resurrection in
the Last Day
·
Additionally the vision
can symbolise the resurrection in the Second Coming: "For the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Cor
15:52).
The Characteristics
of God in this Prophecy
·
The Creator: We see God as the Creator, He who created man in the beginning (Gen
2:7, 21-22), created sinews and skin for these dry bones, and turned these dry
bones into whole bodies.
·
The Redeemer: God promised Israel that He would redeem, give them a new hope, new
inheritance, a new spirit, and revive their faith in Him.
·
The Life-Giver: He breathed the breath of life in these bodies to make them alive.
He is the source of life. He breathes
life into our souls now, and He will breath life into all bodies on the Last
Day too.
·
The Almighty: nothing is impossible for God. He who can create children to
Abraham from stones (Matt 3:9) created a human army ready for service, from a
valley of dry bones.
Practical
Implications
· Don’t despair – there is always hope! Even if one appears to be “dry as a bone”, there is always hope that they will one day “hear the word of the Lord” and be revived.
· Obedience to God’s call – whatever it is in our life, if we obey even in the face of the greatest discouragement or hopelessness, God’s Spirit will bring forth success, fruit and life.
Questions for
contemplation/discussion
· Who am I in this passage? Am I Ezekiel? Or am I one of the dry bones?
· How can the act of Ezekiel (in prophesying to these bones) be applied in our service, in a practical, realistic way?
References
·
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible
·
NKJV Open Bible Study notes