But God...

Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14

The question the Lord put to Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” is meant to be seen in light of the central promise of the New Covenant as given in chapter 36:25-27. There, God makes the following promise:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

When God asked Ezekiel this question, the easy and logical answer would have been to say, “No, these bones can’t live.” Take note, though, of the “I will’s” of chapter 36.

·       I will sprinkle

·       I will cleanse

·       I will give

·       I will put within

·       I will remove

·       I will put

Nowhere in this promise are we expected or asked to do anything. It is monergistic. We don’t create our own new life. God does it. It is for that reason; Ezekeil hedged his bets. While the prophet couldn’t breathe life into death, God could. Therefore, Ezekiel cedes to God’s wisdom and will. “O Lord God, you know.”

The new birth is a miracle akin to raising a corpse, not just any corpse, but one so dead the flesh has long been destroyed and all that is left are the bones. Even then, it isn’t just bones. It is bones that are sun-bleached, disconnected, lying scattered about in a valley of similar condition. The scene is hopeless as far as man is concerned.

Ezekiel must have paused and thought, “But God…”

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