Them Bones Gonna Walk
Let me be completely transparent with you. I had a whole different topic planned for today's post. I was excited about it. It was going to be so good, I could feel it. Then early last night, the Lord said, "No. Dry bones." I'll admit, I tried to argue with Him. I said, "God, most everyone already knows this story. How can I possibly write anything on it that hasn't already been written?" As you well know, arguing with the Lord is always done in vain. I submitted to his will, and at this very moment, I'm still not sure how this is going to pan out. I am placing all of my trust in Him. I've done my research, read and re-read the passage, written my notes, prayed for direction. So, here we go. Bear with me as I say, "Yes, Father. Ezekiel 37 it is."
I know this passage well. I've heard lessons on it. I have taught Bible studies on The Valley of Dry Bones. Most of us are familiar with the Lauren Daigle song, "Dry Bones." This story was one that became a very applicable study in my addiction recovery. That's all well and good, but I keep hearing the words, "make it new," as in how does this Old Testament story apply to the modern uncharted territory through which we are currently trudging? So, at the risk of burdening you with a much more lengthy post than usual, we are going to break this entire passage down, verse-by-verse.
As you know, Ezekiel was a prophet. It is note-worthy that the prophet lived during one of the crises in Israel's history. After the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple was complete, and the nation was in exile, Ezekiel began changing his previous message of judgment to a proclamation of hope. Why? Because these downtrodden people needed encouragement. They needed to know that God would provide a new heart and a new spirit, so that the people could be faithful and their nation restored.
This feels like it parallels to what is going on now in the world. This pandemic situation is a historical event for the entire world. We are, in a sense, exiled from our normal everyday lives, and we all could use some encouragement. There is HOPE!
Ezekiel 37:1-14 "The Valley of Dry Bones" (CSB)
God's Word took over Ezekiel. His Spirit literally gave the prophet a vision to share with the people of Israel of this vast valley filled with bones. It was not filled with skeletons, all organized and assembled properly. They were detached bones, scattered and piled about randomly with no rhyme or reason. There was no sensible juxtaposition existing between the femurs and tibias, craniums or scapula. Picture dumping out a 1,000 piece puzzle from its box. It's just a pile of puzzle pieces, and at first it seems impossible to ever put it all together. Some days, our lives feel much like that. Things feel random and unorganized. There does not seem to be a point in the foreseeable future in which we will be able to easily pick up the pieces and move forward with our lives.
The valley itself is a very clear metaphor for difficult times. Life is a series of hills and valleys. This was obviously a valley, because that's exactly what it says. The people with whom Ezekiel was to share this vision of hope were in a figurative valley. Their nation had been destroyed, and they were living in uncertain times. So, there are many, many bones in a valley, signifying a nation of hopeless people.
Some versions of the Bible say the bones were bleached from the sun. It is important to understand that the bones being dry indicates that death had taken place a long time ago. There was no hint of flesh left on the bones. They had been out on the floor of this valley long enough to decompose and be bleached by the sun. Restoration seemed quite impossible.
"Son of man, can these bones live?" It makes me chuckle to think of God asking a rhetorical question. He already knew the answer. He didn't need a human to tell Him. Still, He asked the question anyway. Perhaps He wanted to enforce to Ezekiel the severity of the situation? Was He testing Ezekiel? If so, then the prophet answered correctly by saying that only God knew if they could be restored to life.
The definition of prophesy is to say that a specified thing will happen in the future. God is commanding Ezekiel to speak life into them. He says hear the word of the Lord, and This is what the Lord God says to these bones. If the bones decided they didn't want to hear what God had to say, there would be no life. We need to be in his Word daily, so that we can hear what He is saying to us. Otherwise, we will just keep on being a big pile of brittle bones, withering away in that valley. God's Word allows us to speak life over ourselves and others. Too often, we take that for granted. He has given us a tangible means of survival (His Word) for times such as these. Are we listening?
Verse 6: "I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord."
God will give us everything we need. He is a God of details, and He certainly did not leave any details out here. He is our Jehovah Jireh - our Provider. He isn't just going to have these old rickety skeletons magically assemble and let them hobble around in this valley. He is going to give them tendons. Tendons are the flexible, inelastic cords of strong fibrous tissue that attach muscle to bone. Some versions of the Bible use the word sinews. If you look up the definition of this word, you will find that in addition to an almost identical definition as tendon, there is also a verb form which means strengthen with or as if with sinews. So not only is He going to put these bones back together again,
He is going to STRENGTHEN THEM!
Make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin illustrates protection. The word cover is used many times throughout the Bible in reference to being under God's protection or favor. Psalm 5:12 says, For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield. How amazing is it that in just these few words, He makes it known that He will restore, strengthen, and protect! But that is not all! He then says, I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. It is a scientific fact that there is no life without air. Even in the story of Creation, Adam did not live until God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. The last sentence in this verse is easiest for me to relate to you using my recovery experience. I was not fully convinced of the existence and power of God, until He saved me from myself. I now know that He is who He says He is. He is my Lord, and I will give Him the glory for rescuing me, for GIVING ME LIFE.
Verse 7-9: So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesizing, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, son of man. Say to it, "This is what the Lord God says: 'Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live.'"
These verses tell us that Ezekiel obeyed God's command, without question. He believed what God had said. This also tells us that God did exactly what He said He would do, and it began to happen WHILE Ezekiel was saying it. The bones began to rattle around and come together before he even finished saying what God had told him to say.
Maybe you have been praying for something specific in your life, and it doesn't seem that God hears you, or that anything is happening. We don't always see what God is doing, but He is already doing the work. Believe that He will do it, and thank Him in advance for it.
Ezekiel then is instructed to speak to the breath. I recently learned that breath, wind, and spirit are all identical words in both the Hebrew and Greek languages. How cool is that, to think that the very air we breathe, the air that gives us life and fills our lungs, and with which we speak and praise Him, is the very Spirit of God?
Verse 10-14: So I prophesied as He commanded me, the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army. Then He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished, we are cut off. Therefore, prophesy and say to them, "This is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, my people, and lead you into the land of Israel. You will know that I am the Lord, my people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I have spoken and I will do it. This is the declaration of the Lord."
When the Spirit of God is present, people are enabled to live. This is a pivotal moment for the Kingdom of God. More and more people are turning to faith in order to try to make sense of all that is happening. Lost souls are coming to Christ. Indeed, a vast army will soon come to life and stand on its feet. Keep your eyes on Him. Believe His Word. Obey Him, even when you don't want to. I didn't want to write about this passage today. It has literally taken me all day, and I have been fighting it the whole way through. But amazingly, as many times as I have read this passage in the past, today I found brand new truths within it, from being obedient and saying, "Yes, Lord." Maybe you won't get anything from this. Maybe you get something completely different than what I received. That's the beautiful thing about the living, breathing, Word of God! The more you are in it, the more He reveals to you. If nothing else, I hope this has inspired you to dust off your Bible, open it, start reading and receiving His truths.
God said, "I have spoken and I will do it." If that doesn't give us hope, I don't know what will. If you made it through to this point in my post, thanks for sticking with me on this one. I hope it has blessed you in some way. Take care and keep on loving people! Happy Saturday!
Kim Thompson
Comments
Post a Comment