June 14, 2021 – Ezekiel 37-39

The Valley of Dry Bones vision is, perhaps, one of the most well-known of all the OT prophetic passages. The Lord asked Ezekiel, "Son of man, can these bones live?” And Ezekiel answered, “O Lord God, you know” (37:3). Oh, God knew, alright! Jeremiah testified, “Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17). After the camel and needle story, when asked, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus answered, “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:26,27).

Surely, the prophet was convinced that the bones could not again live. Yet, when the Lord commanded “Prophesy over these bones” (37:4), Ezekiel prophesied over those bones. Here is simple obedience with the result: “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” (37:13,14). Don’t you just sort of get chill bumps when you read this?

Charles Spurgeon was right to point out that this prophecy has to do, specifically and historically with Israel. Though cast into exile, the nation destroyed, God would restore. But we might also ask the following questions, which Spurgeon posed: “Can that dull minister wake up to living power? Can these cold deacons glow with holy heat? Can those unspiritual members rise to something like holy, earnest self-sacrifice? Is it possible that the drowsy formal Church could start up to real earnestness?” And the answer is, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”