“Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, Thou knowest.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the world of the Lord.'” So I prophesied as He commanded me and the breath (spirit) came into them, and they came to life, and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Ezekiel 37: 3,4,10
Ezekiel's calling was to be God's prophet to the exiles in Babylon, during the first half of the sixth century BC. His ministry represents one of the most difficult and thankless of all God's servants. He was sent to preach to an obdurate stubborn people, who—despite God's judgment upon Judah—refused to listen or hear about the rottenness of their lives and how they had caused their own downfall.
Ezekiel's life, as so often was the case with the prophets, was to be a living picture of his message. When his beloved wife died, for example, the Lord commanded him not to grieve, nor to give any indication of mourning, so that Israel would know that the Lord was not grieving or mourning over their calamity which was richly deserved. Israel had been the beloved bride of the Lord; now, due to their repeated falsehoods, they had become odious to Him.
However, during the course of his ministry, the Lord brought Ezekiel “in the Spirit” to a valley filled with dry bones. It was a picture of people of God who had been dead for a long, long time. No flesh remained; only dessicated bones. The vision was a picture of the exiles. Long ago they had died in spirit; they were as dead as the bones before Ezekiel.
The Lord asks Ezekiel, “Is it possible that such dead bones could come to life again?” Ezekiel wisely answers that the Lord knew the answer—for whether the bones would live again or not depended not on whether it were possible, but on the will and intention of God. Despite the dessicated lifeless condition of Israel, whether it came to life again depended upon God and His intentions. So the Lord commanded Ezekiel to preach over the bones, declaring that the Lord would cause them to live again.
As Ezekiel preached, and called for the Spirit of God to fall, the bones were reknit together; they became en-fleshed. People came back to life, and stood up a great army. Then came the divine commentary: “He said to me, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold they say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.” Therefore prophesy and say to them, “Thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.'”'” (Ezekiel 37:11,12)
Some time during the seventy year exile, revival and reformation came to the exiles. We do not know when or how. But life came again to the dead bones. The Spirit of God fell upon them. They began to lament and weep—as told in Psalm 137 (“By Babel's streams we sat and wept . . .”) This was not their first or second reaction upon being exiled to live alongside the river Chebar. It was years later that they began to cry the tears of repentance.
From that time onward, the covenant community in Babylon proved a source of strength and light for Israel. It repeatedly sent to Israel leaders and teachers to stir it up to obedience and faithfulness. By the time of our Lord, it had a long tradition of faithful adherence to Scripture and it had provided some of the greatest, most faithful rabbis who came out of the Jewish schools of Babylon to teach powerfully in Israel. It was one of the greatest reformations and revivals in the history of the Church.
Can these bones live? It is a trenchant and pertinent question in our day. We live in a post-Christian world; the hearts of our fathers turned to idols and we, their descendants, have walked in their steps and the faithlessness of our forbears. Our society is now bitterly, militantly opposed to our Lord and His people.
Can these bones live? The question is not one of possibility, but one of the will and pleasure of the Lord. The extent of death, the dessicated state of the bones is not the issue. If the Spirit comes, the bones will live.
But we can say more. While we do not know the times nor seasons, we know without doubt that indeed the bones will again live. The Spirit of God will bring reformation and revival. How do we know this? Because Christ has been raised from the dead. All nations are to be discipled. All enemies are to be placed under His feet. The world is being re-made from the inside out.
We live in the valley of dry bones. But the revival and reformation amongst the exiles in Babylon is an antetype of what is to come. Our duty is to continue, without ceasing, to prophesy over the bones and call upon them to live. Our duty is to call upon the Spirit, summoning Him to fall upon the dead that are on every hand, that they might again stand up and live, a great army, such as the world has never before seen.
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