EZEKIEL 37, 1-14
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, 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 you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’ ”
Imagine walking through a valley filled with dried up old bones. Probably the scene of a battle where countless soldiers died for a cause no one remembers. The weather has destroyed the clothing they wore. You can’t tell what color uniform they wore, which side they were on. You can’t tell which one was the commander and which his subordinate. All those things were so important then! Death has made them all equals.
Then God asks, “CAN THEE BONES LIVE?” You can’t even tell whether this foot bone belongs to this man over here, or the one over there. There are no lips where you can try to resuscitate the body. But then there are no lungs, no heart, no liver which are so important for life. Logic and reason answer that question, “No way! It’s impossible for them to live.”
And yet, Ezekiel answers, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Ezekiel knew that God can do anything! Even give life to some dried-up old bones lying in a valley somewhere.
But God’s question wasn’t about some dried-up old bones. God’s question is about the people of Israel living in Babylon. They felt like these dried up old bones. Their hope was gone. Their life was over. In the previous chapter God promised that they would see their homeland again. But they were so depressed that they didn’t believe it. Leaving Babylon. It will never happen. Even God can’t get us out of Babylon!
And that is why God asks, “CAN THESE BONES LIVE?”
I
The Children of Israel were in Babylon, as prisoners of war. And they were there because God had abandoned them to their enemies. And for good reason. They had abandoned God. So, He abandoned them. Jerusalem lay in ruins, destroyed by the Babylonian army! Even Solomon’s Temple, the symbol of God’s presence with Israel was destroyed. The heathen soldiers desecrated God’s temple, stole anything of value, and burned everything else. And along with the destruction of God’s temple, came the stark realization that God had abandoned them, rejected them, and wanted nothing more to do with them. They were on their own now! No! They have been rejected by God, so they are in Babylon for good, and will never see their homeland again. And any pie-in-the -sky words from some prophet isn’t going to change that. They are stuck in Babylon, and even if God wanted to get them out, even God couldn’t change their situation. Israel felt like those dried up old bones. They had no life. They had no hope. “CAN THESE BONES LIVE?” The answer Israel would give is “No! Absolutely not! We are beyond hope. No one can help us now!”
I think most of us can understand where these Israelites are coming from. Maybe we’ve been there too. Or maybe we’ve had someone close to us, feel the same way. Bad stuff happens! We are in a mess and there’s no way out! The doctors have told us, “There’s nothing more we can do.” The lawyer we needed to contact tells us there’s nothing we can do! This person is going to win, and we’re going to lose everything we have!
Oh, someone will tell us, “Don’t worry! God can work miracles! God can do anything! God will deliver you.” But sometimes, that offers no comfort. Perhaps we’ve been away from church for a while, and we figure God is now getting back at us for not taking our faith more seriously. Maybe we’re just angry at God for the moment because He’s allowed these things to happen to us. And we understand God’s justice, and His willingness to give us what we deserve, and teach us a lesson. And sometimes, we can hear ourselves saying, “Even God can’t get me out of this mess now!” “CAN THESE BONES LIVE?” And the only answer we have is “NO WAY! IT’S IMPOSSIBLE! EVEN GOD CAN’T GIVE LIFE TO THESE BONES!”
II
So, God gives Ezekiel this vision. A valley filled with dried up old bones from people who had been killed a long time ago. Dried up old bones that no one could make alive. And yet God makes them alive. And how did God do that? “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the world of the Lord.’” Preach, Ezekiel! Proclaim the word of the Lord. Tell the world, “Thus says the Lord.” And as Ezekiel was prophesying, “there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them.” But there was still no life in them. So, God tells Ezekiel once more time, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man.” Preach to the wind! “Thus says the Lord.” And as Ezekiel was prophesying, “breath entered them, they came to life and stood up on their feet, a vast army.” The impossible happened. These dried up old bones lived. And for one reason only. Because the Lord spoke. God said, and it happened! God’s power, God’s might did the impossible. “CAN THESE BONES LIVE?” Yes. Because God spoke.
And then God explains the meaning of this vision. “These bones are the house of Israel.” And then God says later, “I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.” Israel thought they were dried up old bones. They had lost their chance to be God’s people. God had rejected them. Now they are doomed and no one can help them. But God says, I will give life to your dried-up old bones. I will bring you up from your graves. And I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
God’s power brought Israel out of Egypt! God’s power conquered Israel’s enemies as they took possession of the promised land. God’s power defeated every enemy Israel faced! Not by armies! Not by might! Not by superior weapons was Israel ever saved. But simply by the power of God. And God will do the same with Babylon. Babylon, like every powerful nation will not remain in power forever. A new nation will take over. And God even mentions one of the kings of this new nation, Cyrus. And Cyrus will allow God’s people to go back to their land, something that has never happened in the history of the world. “CAN THESE BONES LIVE?” Yes, because God wants it! “Can Israel go back to their homeland?” Yes, because God wants it done. So, it will be done.
God is going to do that not because He doesn’t care whether or not His people obey His laws, and worship Him! God is not going to bring His people back because they promised to behave! God is bringing His people back to their land to demonstrate that His kingdom is all about grace. It’s all about making a promise and keeping it. God will not give them what they earned or deserved. God will give them grace. They deserved to stay in Babylon and just disappear from the pages of history like many other nations. But God says No. God promised that a Savior would come from Abraham, born from the tribe of Judah, the family of David, in the city of Bethlehem. And to accomplish that, God’s people need to go back to their land. It was not just God’s power that will bring life to the dried-up old bones of Israel. It was God’s grace. God made a promise! And God will keep that promise.
Like Israel we often face obstacles that seem insurmountable. There’s no way we can survive! There’s no escape for us. And like Israel we feel like dried up old bones, and we feel that our hope is gone! We feel that even God can’t deliver us from our problems. And so, when God asks us “CAN THESE BONES LIVE?” Human logic says, “No way! There’s nothing that can be done for us!” Faith says, “Yes, most assuredly! Our God has power to do anything, and I mean anything! But our God has the love for us, that He will do only want is right, and what is good and what is best for His kingdom, even if we don’t agree!
We don’t have the promise that life will always be good, and that God will get us out of all our jams. We don’t have the promise that God will rescue us from every danger. But, like Israel, we have the promise that God deals with us, not out of justice, but out of mercy. We have God’s promise that He will never give us what we deserve, but will always give us grace. We have God’s promise that because we believe in Jesus, not only do we have eternal life waiting for us when we die! We also have a God who watches out for us, no matter what path He decides to take us down.
Before we came to faith, we were literally those dried up old bones. But through the preaching of God’s Word, we were made alive. We are a walking miracle of God. Wretched sinner made right with God!
Quite often people are impressed with the day of Pentecost, because they see the power and the glory of God the Holy Spirit in action. And sad to say that is what they keep looking for in the world.
But the real work of the Holy Spirit is bringing life to our dried-up old bones. He brought us to faith through His Word and Sacraments and through that Word and Sacraments, He keeps us in our faith. And He won’t let go. The most impressive thing the Holy Spirit did on Pentecost? Not speaking in tongues! Rather He brought 3,000 people who were unbelievers, to believe in Jesus, and have eternal life.
When we think about that valley filled with those dried up old bones, we see ourselves. Sometimes, what we feel like when we need to face the obstacles of our lives. But more importantly, what we were before the Holy Spirit breathed life into our hearts. And when God asks you, “CAN THESE BONES LIVE?” Our answer is always the same. Through the grace of Jesus, and the work of the Holy Spirit, not only can these bones live, but we are living proof that these dried up old bones do live! And will continue to live forever!
