The prophet Ezekiel prophesied at one of the lowest periods in Judah’s history. He was one of the thousands of people taken to Babylon when the Babylonians devastated Judah for the second time. Ezekiel was a young man of about 25 years old training to become a priest at the time of the Babylonian captivity and exile. He was carried off to Babylon among the thousands of Judeans who were taken into exile, where he spent the rest of his life. Ezekiel is known for his apocalyptic visions and his dramatic demonstration of these visions. Some scholars believe that Ezekiel may have mirrored his prophecy after the great prophet Jeremiah who prophesied some 40 years before him.
Can you imagine the picture of a vast field of human bones completely dried out? Maybe we would have to transport ourselves to the fields of Europe in World Wars One and Two to see such a sight. In Ezekiel chapter 37 the prophet had a vision of a field or valley of dried bones. At first sight there seemed no possibility that these dry bones could ever be resuscitated. As the vision continues, the Lord asks the prophet, “Can these bones live?” The prophet responds with apparent skepticism when he says, “You alone know Lord”. Then the Lord tells him to prophesy to the bones that they will live again. It is not difficult to notice that the condition of the dry bones is synonymous with the Judean exiles’ clear hopelessness in Babylon. As far as God’s people were concerned, their situation was utterly hopeless. God had apparently forgotten them and there seemed to be no hope of returning to their homeland. It is into this context of hopelessness and complete despair that Ezekiel is given a vision of hope for his people.
1. With God even what seems hopelessly dead can be resurrected.
The vision of the prophet Ezekiel relates one small expression that could easily be overlooked in reading the text, yet it is a crucial observation by the prophet which in itself makes a particularly important point. The prophet notes in verse 2 that the bones were “very dry”. The observation leads to the conclusion that these boons had no possibility of a resurrection. There was not even a bit of moisture in them. Yet the Lord asks the prophet, “Can these bones live?” The prophet is rightly noncommittal or sceptical about whether these bones can be brought back to life. In this question and the later revival of these lifeless dried out bones, the prophet is made to see firsthand the power of God’s Spirit at work. It is God’s way of giving the prophet a message of hope for his people. They needed to be reminded that nothing is beyond resuscitation or resurrection once God wills it to be so. It is a message for all of us today. Everywhere in this world there is a common reality of absolute despair. Many people are living but are still dried out bones. There are conflicts everywhere and there is an increase in hatred and division and selfishness all over the world. Our economic situation is no longer assured, and natural disasters are increasing in number year by year. There is growing political and social turmoil everywhere. Worst of all, people are becoming far less godly than in years past. Today, things are not much different from when Ezekiel lived. The people of Judah were carried away into exile because they had become idolatrous, wayward and disobedient to God. Allowing their country to be ravaged and a great number of them taken into exile was God’s response to a people who had become no better than dry bones. Do you feel the weight of despair in our times? Do you feel overwhelmed by the pressures in your life? Do you sense that God is being sidelined more than ever before? In this moment, we must hear God’s call to return to Him. In doing so, we can see what seems dead around us return to life in God.
2. God calls us as people of faith into a partnership of resuscitation and healing.
I am hoping that by now you would have seen an important dynamic at work in this text. Even though it is God at work in bringing these bones together, Ezekiel is not just a bystander. He is called into action by God to take part in the resuscitation, or better yet, resurrection that must take place. God instructs him to prophesy to the winds. God does not need Ezekiel in any of this activity. He could well have remained a bystander watching in amazement as God works powerfully before his very eyes. But Ezekiel is called into action because his own faith must be borne out in his experience and participation in this incredible event. He must be God’s messenger to a hopeless and desolate people, and he must have proof that God is able. You may recall how sceptical Ezekiel was when God asked him if the bones could live. The point here, friends, is that despite our weakness, despite our doubts, and despite our fears, God wants us who are called Christians to be participants in the business of resurrecting and restoring people’s lives. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, his next instruction to the people around was, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” (See St. John 11:44 NIV) The people around had to do something in Lazarus’s resurrection. God does not want us to remain as mere bystanders in His life-giving and life-restoring effort. God is calling on us as the church and as individual Christians to commit ourselves or recommit ourselves to the business of giving life and health spiritually, and yes even physically, to all the people and places in this world where God leads us to partner with Him.
3. God alone can give true life.
It is especially important to note in this vision, the fact that the bones did come together to form whole bodies, but they stayed lifeless. This was the case because they had not yet received the life-giving breath of God. Let us pause to think for a moment about what this really means. We cannot help but look back at the account of the creation of human beings in Genesis chapter 2. In that creation story an important statement was made which could be easily overlooked. This happens to be the most important statement in that account. It says that God breathed into the human the breath of life. We are seeing here in Ezekiel a repeat of that principle which is the fact that humans only became living after the breath of God entered their bodies. This is why we see that although the bones had come together, and flesh had come on to them and they now became recognizable human beings, they still had no life because the breath of God had not yet entered their bodies. This alone tells us the creative and resurrecting power of the ‘ruach’. This is the Hebrew word for the Spirit of God. We can see how essential it is to human existence and indeed the existence of all life. Sadly, many people are lifeless today. They are living and breathing physically but they are just dried bones. Life in its truest and purest form can only come from God. Some have even become dry bones in a valley of despair and hopelessness, and we must admit that it may not have been their fault entirely. Many people around us are victims of circumstances and the exploitation of others. Only God’s life breathing Spirit can resurrect and restore them to life and health. It is only through God that death can be resurrected or transitioned to life.
4. Your resurrection and restoration are the ultimate proof of who God is.
Let us go back to the beginning of Ezekiel chapter 37 to the scene where the bones are scattered and completely dried up in the valley. We, like the prophet, see no hope of resuscitation or resurrection in these bones. Yet, they have come together each to its own body to form a large army. This is God’s power at work. The dry bones were symbolic of the decimated state of God’s people after the rampaging armies of Babylon had ravaged Judah and carried away thousands of exiles to Babylon including the young priest in training Ezekiel. Very few of them saw any hope of returning to their homeland and indeed many did not return including Ezekiel. Back in Judah, Jerusalem was destroyed and everything was in shambles. The country itself would be completely destroyed several years later when Nebuchadnezzar’s army ravaged it a third time. It is in this state of absolute despair that Ezekiel is called by God to give a message of God’s plans for the people to eventually be returned to Judah and for the country itself to be restored and healed. In chapter 36, we see God’s plans for Judah’s restoration outlined.
The common message of Ezekiel’s vision is summed up in verse 14 of chapter 37 which says, “Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken and I have done it declares the Lord.” You may notice the backdrop to this statement is the incredible image of graves being opened and people being brought back to life. This is the ultimate message in Ezekiel’s vision for the people. They will be resurrected and restored to their former glory, and they will know that it is God alone who made it possible. What is it in your life that has been dead and buried for a long time? What part of your life is like dried out bones? Is it a relationship with a family member? Is it your connection to God? Is it your health? Is it your sense of purpose in life? Is it your marriage? Is it your finances? Like the people of Judah, we must see in God the only One who can resurrect what is considered to be hopelessly dead and dried out because it is only God, not us, who can and does give life to dead things. It is only God who can transform death to life through the power of his Spirit. In St. John Chapter 11 verse 25, we hear Jesus saying to those around him at Lazarus’ grave and by extension to us today, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Let us give to God the things and the relationships and the parts of our lives and our bodies that are completely dead or are dying that God may grant us the resurrection and restoration that is needed in us because God alone is the giver and restorer of life both physical and spiritual.
It is my hope and prayer that as we look toward Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, we will be reminded that the God who sent Jesus to die, is the same God who is able to resurrect to life, according to God’s divine plan for us all and for creation as a whole, all that may seem hopeless and dead. Let us all seek today while we still can do so, a new relationship with God who is the giver of life. Amen.