The Valley of Dry Bones! This is a strange vision, isn’t it?
-
Eerie, macabre
-
Unsettling, so much death and disregard for the
bodies!
-
It’s even more strange because this is not just a
vision that God gave to Ezekiel. This is Israel’s vision of themselves that God
is responding to – inserting Himself into the way they see what is happening to
them.
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he
brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the
middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And
he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of
the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And
he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I
answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he
said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones,
hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the
Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to
enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay
sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with
skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I
am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I was
commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a
rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And
I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them,
and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then
he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say
to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O
breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So
I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and
they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then 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 is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy,
and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your
graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you
into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know
that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your
graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my
Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land.
Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do
it, declares the Lord.”
v. 11 – Behold, they say, “Our bones are dried up, and our
hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.”
Is there truth in Israel’s vision of themselves?
-
Dead and dried up? Yes and no.
o
Babylonian Captivity because of their sin – the
impact of their rebellion and the power of God’s judgment.
o
But they haven’t considered God’s determination
to redeem His people.
o
Even in captivity … God sends prophets – warning
and pointing to God’s promises.
-
So, they may feel dead and dried up … and in a
sense they are in their trespasses and sins! … idolatry, greed, abuse of the
poor and vulnerable, spiritual abuse.
-
but they are not without hope!
This vision matches how the world saw Israel at the time,
too.
-
Defeated, which means they believed the Lord,
the God of Israel was defeated by their gods – He was unable to save,
-
Meant that Israel, who had once been mighty, was
now impotent and serving an impotent God.
Maybe this vision reflects how we see ourselves.
-
We know our sin – today’s Psalm – If you, O
Lord, kept a record of sins, who could stand?”
-
Do we see
o
idolartries – misplaced hope?
o
Love of money – cannot serve two masters
o
Lack of concern for the poor, mistreated,
vulnerable?
-
Do we feel dried up? Like our love has grown
cold? Like our character is weak? Like our faith is not as strong as we wish it
was? (Looking back at the saints of old convicts me!)
-
Do we feel like our hope is gone?
This is the world’s vision of the church today.
-
Squabbling
-
Hypocritical
-
Regressive and harmful … (once being a Christian
was seen as beneficial – at least for morals.)
-
Impotent – meaningless, the rise of the nones.
This is not God’s vision, though!
-
The message of scripture: Story of a creation in
rebellion against our Creator, and our God who is determined to redeem us.
God’s vision is coming into focus here in Ezekiel.
-
Engages His people where we are.
-
Jesus enters our story where He finds us
hopeless, dead and dried up in trespasses and sins.
o
Christmas – born to you a savior!
o
Ministry – focused on the cross
o
Ultimately – to the cross, death, burial, and
the empty tomb
o
He takes our death upon Himself
o
Rises and gives us His resurrection and life
In Ezekiel 37, God takes Israel’s vision and remakes it. He
says, you see yourself as dead, dried up and hopeless – I am going to remake
you, give you new life, and I will give you hope!
And just like Abraham, this is something we receive by
faith. Ezekiel 37:13-14: “And you shall know that I am the Lord, when
I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my
people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and
I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am
the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
But even now we live in light of that day … we go through
life, make our decisions, follow God’s ways … because God is going to open our
graves and raise us up. He has already put His Spirit within you by His Word
and through the Sacraments.
-
He has broken into your life
o
Proclamation – prophetic word of redemption
o
Baptism – a washing of regeneration and renewal
o
Lord’s Supper – Christ’s life within us.
-
He transforms our lives.
o
“See how they love one another.” – Tertullian
o
“We love because He first loved us.”
o
“This is love: not that we loved God, but He
first loved us and gave His Son to be the ransom for our sins.”
Everything we see in God’s response to this vision is rooted
in Christ’s cross. He has redeemed dead, dried up, hopeless sinners and put his
spirit within you.
This is what God does … from Genesis to Ezekiel to
Revelation. This is what God does in the Church today.
-
Live
-
He has raised you to a new life, and He will
open your grave and give you everlasting life on the last day.
-
Now, you know by faith that He is your Lord,
Creator, Savior
-
Then you will know firsthand
-
Until that day … there is hope! God is raising
the dead to live by the power of the Spirit. Amen.
Comments