Graves Will Open

Ezekiel 37:1-28

Today we come to one of the best-known passages in Ezekiel, chapter 37 and the valley of dry bones. You may be familiar with the old spiritual that describes “dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones” and how they connected to each other in response to the word of the Lord. Carl was wondering if there might be some visual representation of what this would look like. This is best that I could find on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exZ4exN3pK4
 
It’s a wonderful story of hope and redemption, building on what we heard last time from chapter 36. I would like to return briefly to a few verses that Brian read for us there, which relate to our passage today.
 
“Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.
“‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. – Ezekiel 36:22-27
 
This is a message of grace, isn’t it? We tend to think that there must be something attractive about us for God to love. He did create us; we are his children. But we don’t deserve his love. This passage makes it clear that God saves us for the sake of his own glory, for the sake of his holy name. The nations will know that I am the Lord, it says here. He wants to be known among the nations – that was his reason for choosing the Jews as his people and for rescuing them from exile. He is promising to bring them back to their own land. This theme is repeated in today’s passage too. The Lord is a missional God. His desire is to save people.

“I am proved holy through you before their eyes.” Does your life show that the Lord is a holy God? We receive that divine holiness when he cleanses us from all our impurities and from all our idols. Idols aren’t just something God wants us to turn away from. He needs to cleanse us from our idols, anything that distracts us from our focus on him. He needs to give us a new heart to love him best and a new spirit to follow his will for us. We don’t deserve any of this, and we are powerless to move toward it on our own. It is all of his grace and by the power of his Spirit. This is the core of the gospel, right here in the Old Testament. God wants to save us, and we are helpless to save ourselves.
 
So let’s dig into chapter 37. Ezekiel is having another vision.
 
The hand of the Lord was on 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, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” – Ezekiel 37:1-3
 
The valley is full of bones, and the bones are very dry. These people have been dead for a long, long time. They are history. Their lives are a distant memory. The fact that their bones have lain unburied implies that they are under some kind of curse or that they were victims of a large-scale catastrophe. So when the Lord asks if these bones can live, the rational, logical answer is absolutely not. It was over, a long time ago. The situation is hopeless, nothing can be revived or reborn. Is there someone or something that you are praying for that seems beyond hope? It seems like nothing will ever change, and we may be tempted to give up.
 
The Lord asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel may have been thinking, no way, but he says, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” This is a statement of faith and submission. God is indeed sovereign. We can’t know or understand everything that he will do. So we come to him by faith – faith in him, not in what we think he will do. Some people think that they have to generate within themselves a certain amount of faith to get what they want from God. But our faith needs to be in who he is, in his goodness and love and holiness and justice and grace. When I was in California recently I heard a really good sermon on faith. The pastor made two statements: First, God is not limited by our lack of faith. Jesus said that faith like a tiny mustard seed would be enough to cast a mountain into the sea. Secondly, God is not coerced by the strength of our faith. There is no use trying to twist God’s arm. He is the Sovereign Lord. We are not fatalistic, but we acknowledge that his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts than our thoughts.
 
So when Ezekiel says, “You alone know,” he is acknowledging that God is the one in control of the situation, able to do a miracle, but perhaps not intending to. Does God want the bones to live?
 
 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, breath, from the four winds 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. – Ezekiel 37:4-10
 
Ezekiel was obedient despite any doubts he might have. And as a result, he witnessed a resurrection. The creator God who breathed life into the first man and woman has the power to reconnect even dry bones and bring them back to life. In Genesis 1 God spoke things into existence. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Here his word, spoken through Ezekiel, is able to recreate living people from a pile of dry bones. Jesus is called the Word (with a capital W) in John 1, where it says that all things were made through him. In him was life – life with a capital L. Jesus confirmed this to Martha in John 11: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Let’s read that part of the story of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, who Jesus went to see after he died.
 
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” – John 11:21-22
 
This is the same kind of statement of faith and submission that Ezekiel made, not presuming an outcome but acknowledging the nature of Jesus and his relationship with the Father.
 
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” – John 11:23-26
 
Jesus holds the power of life and death. He offers life to everyone who believes in him: real life now and life with him for eternity. But jumping down to verse 40, Martha is still not sure. She wants to stop him from rolling the stone away from the tomb, after Lazarus has been dead four days. She is being very practical and logical: there will be a bad smell.
 
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” – John 11:40
 
I have probably said this before, but we need faith to see the glory of God. Not just faith to receive something from him, but faith to see his glory. The glory of God is all around us. God is doing some amazing things. But we need the eyes of faith to recognize where he is at work. We need to believe, to be able to see his glory. When the Father spoke audibly to Jesus in John 12, the very next chapter, people with faith heard him say that he would glorify his name. Those who did not believe said that it had thundered. They proposed a rational explanation of the sound they heard. They did not recognize that it was God speaking. They missed out on God’s glory.
 
“Whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” That’s what Jesus told Martha. He is the resurrection and the life, the one able to revive dry bones in hopeless situations. Ezekiel watched as the breath of the Spirit entered the slain (breath and spirit actually being the same word in Hebrew), and they stood up on their feet – a vast army, ready to follow the Lord’s command. Returning to Ezekiel 37,
 
Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people 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: 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.’” – Ezekiel 37:11-14
 
The exiles with Ezekiel had given up hope. Returning to their land seemed as impossible as rising from the dead. Jerusalem had been devastated; their armies had been destroyed; the remnant of the people were living in captivity in Babylon. It was over for them. But the Lord wants to revive their hope. He is promising a return to their land and a restoration of his relationship with them. Then they would know that he is the Lord. They did not have to deserve it. This would be a gift of his grace, which needed to be received by faith. I am reminded of this passage in Romans 4 about God’s promise of offspring to Abraham, also an extremely unlikely prospect:
 
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. – Romans 4:16-24
 
God through his word calls into being things that are not. This is the essence of his creative power. Abraham and Sarah were as good as dead, it says, but they believed God and hoped in his promise to them. They saw the glory of God and glorified him, just as Martha and Mary did. Because of their faith they were declared righteous – not because of anything they did or didn’t do. This same promise is for anyone who believes, including us today. Ezekiel could have reminded his fellow exiles of the faith of Abraham, hoping against hope, putting his faith in the God who gives life to the dead.
 
The valley of dry bones was a place where Ezekiel saw a gracious God do a tremendous miracle, as sign for the people of Israel not to lose hope. But we are not quite done with chapter 37. God has something more to say about the way that he will restore his people. He will restore them in unity.
 
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. – Ezekiel 37:15-17
 
The Israelites had been divided when the northern kingdom, here identified with Joseph and Ephraim had split off from the southern kingdom of Judah hundreds of years earlier. There was enmity between them, and they had been carried off into captivity at different times and to different places. The northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered by Assyria, and the southern kingdom by Babylon, about 130 years later. Bringing them back together would be another miracle of God.
 
“When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’  say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. – Ezekiel 37:18-23
 
Ezekiel binding these two sticks together would represent how God would reunify his people. The two kingdoms would become one in his hand, purified and unified. We can think of God holding this single stick in his hand like a scepter, securely with him but also ready as an instrument to declare his sovereignty among the nations. The reality is that God never saw his people as divided. The political affiliation of those who were loyal to him did not matter. That is why we by faith have been able to be grafted into the root of Jesse as God’s people too, as Paul talks about in Romans. Jesus as the Good Shepherd will gather God’s people from all the nations. He talks about this in John 10, the chapter right before the raising of Lazarus: “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” Jesus, this Good Shepherd, would be the king on David’s eternal throne as the kingdom is restored. This is actually the next part of Ezekiel’s prophecy, as we wrap up chapter 37.
 
“‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’” – Ezekiel 37:24-28
 
You will notice how many times the word “forever” appears in this passage. The only way this can be fulfilled is through Jesus, as he conquered death and was raised to eternal life. His everlasting kingdom is not of this world, and the holiness of his people will not be perfected before he reigns over them in a new heaven and a new earth. God dwelling with his people in this way is reiterated in Revelation 21, in John’s prophecy about the new Jerusalem:
 
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. – Revelation 21:22-27
 
This is the ultimate image of redemption and fellowship. Ezekiel says that God’s sanctuary will be among his people forever. John points out that God and the Lamb will be that sanctuary. Ezekiel says that the nations will recognize God making Israel holy. John says that the nations will bring their glory into the holy city, the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. Whatever is glorious now among the nations will be redeemed and brought into the new Jerusalem.
 
I love the insights that CS Lewis gives in The Last Battle about what heaven will be like, the reality of which this earth is just a reflection.
 
It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then he cried:
“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!”
 
Ezekiel had a glimpse of heaven. We have glimpses of heaven in our daily lives as we see the glory of God. But we have the wonderful assurance that the reality of living in God’s sanctuary forever, in the light of his presence, will be so much better than anything that we can imagine now.

So what difference should the valley of dry bones make in our lives today? First, it should give us hope. It is easy to become discouraged when we are faced with something that seems impossible to change. There is nothing more lifeless and hopeless than a heap of dry bones. What dry bones do you have in your life right now? God is asking us, “Can these dry bones live?” We need to hang on in faith that his power will make the difference. I believe – help my unbelief. This should be our prayer.
 
Secondly, we need to acknowledge the Lord before others and live in the expectation of his glory. Hosea 6:3 exhorts us: let us press on to acknowledge the Lord. We need to speak of what God is doing, giving him the credit for every blessing and trusting him in every challenge. Living this way will allow us to see his glory and point that out to other people to encourage them. As he told Ezekiel, “Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.”