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Dry Bones and Unity to God's People - Part One:
The valley of bones, Ezekiel’s remarkable prophetic experienced is not specifically called a vision, but that seems to be the sense of the phrase, brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD. We regard what follows as something Ezekiel saw as a vision, not with his physical sense of sight. The mention of the hand of the Lord indicates prophetic ecstasy and inspiration. Ezekiel was brought out in the Spirit of the Lord, that is, in vision, and set down in the valley. “The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel 37:2-3 (NKJV).
The lives represented by these bones were not only dead; they were also disgraced. In the thinking of ancient Israel (and the ancient near east), an unburied corpse with exposed remains was a shocking disgrace to the dead. These bones were obviously denied proper burial. The bones lay on the surface of the valley, like the remains of corpses denied a proper burial and left for scavenging buzzards. As an Israelite and especially as a priest, Ezekiel knew how important was the proper treatment of human corpses. The vision may have been prompted by the actual memory of seeing the Israelite dead strewn outside Jerusalem or scattered along the desert road that led Ezekiel and his companions into exile. Apart from their presence in a living body, bones are dead. Dry bones are not only dead; they have been long dead. Bones are what remain when life has passed. If something never had life, it will not leave bones. Yet when something has been dead so long, we normally give up hope it will ever live again. “Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord” Ezekiel 37:4-6 (NKJV).
Dry Bones and Unity to God's People - Part Two:
Ezekiel deliberately left the matter with God’s power and wisdom. In turn, God gave the prophet something to do. God commanded him to speak, to prophesy to the dry, dead bones. By all outward observation this was a vain and foolish act. Ezekiel could only preach this message full of faith in God. Yet if he was confident that he spoke the word of the LORD, he knew God’s word had supernatural power. The life would be marked by breath living once again in these bones, the ancient Hebrew words for breath and spirit are the same. As Ezekiel prophesied, there was first a noise among the bones, a rattling. As he continued, the bones began to assemble themselves into skeletons.
Apart from the Spirit, we are powerless, we must value greatly every movement of his power. Notice, in this account of the vision in the valley, how the prophet draws attention to the fact of the shaking and the noises, and the coming of the sinews and the flesh, even before there was any sign of life. If we want the Spirit of God to bless us, we must be on the watch to notice everything he does. After the bones were assembled, muscles and tissue came upon the bones. The bones were full of activity, yet still did not yet have the breath of life in them. The reviving of the dry bones clearly happened in stages.
“Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord” Ezekiel 37:11-14 (NKJV).
Ezekiel was told to call upon the breath (spirit, wind), praying the breath/spirit would come on these slain, that they may live. After Ezekiel’s faithful proclamation of God’s message, the work of reviving the dry bones was completed. The breath of God came into the reanimated bodies, and they stood upon their feet. The bones were not revived to become a group of spectators or to live for their own comfort. They became an army, and an exceedingly great one. They lived to act under the orders of the one who gave them life.
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