Dry Bones
Scripture Reading: Psalm 137; Ezekiel 37-39; 1 John 1
“Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”
Ezekiel has always been a struggle for me to work through when I read through the Bible like we are doing this year. First of all, it is not a book where the interpretation and meaning lies on the surface of the page and stares back at you. It’s not like James whose truth jumps up and slaps you across the face. In Ezekiel the meaning has to be unearthed. And that takes time. It is worth the time, but when I am reading four chapters at 4 AM before heading off to work, it isn’t time I have.
So, when I read through Ezekiel I do feel like I am leaving a lot on the table. I’ve read it, but to what end. Now, having admitted to that, there are some passages that stand out, places where Ezekiel put it down on the lower shelf where I can easily reach it. Chapter 37 is one of those – at least to some degree.
It’s a strange picture. The Spirit brings him and sets him down in the middle of a valley that is full dead people’s skeletal remains. I like the way Ezekiel emphasizes the condition of the corpses: there were very many...they were very dry. There was a whole lot of dead people and they were very dead.
Then, God asks Ezekiel a question: Can these bones live?
The question itself gives a hint at what God is intending to do, and Ezekiel’s answer shows his humility and his faith. Ezekiel senses the intention of the Lord in the question. He didn’t say, No, it is impossible, because he was already anticipating that God asked the question because He was planning on a resurrection. He didn’t say, Yes, of course, because he knew it couldn’t happen by any natural means.
Ezekiel framed his answer wisely. O Lord God, you know. What he means is the bones can live if God wants them and makes them live. In a way, Ezekiel turned the question back on God and was asking God if he would make them live again.
In all of this we can learn something about how we can approach circumstances that require a miracle to be changed. We should approach everything with the faith that says, “Nothing is impossible for God.” A lot of very dry bones isn’t something God is stressing about. God is God and is able to (fill in the blank here).
We should not only look at our difficulties with faith, but with humility. We shouldn’t be presumptuous. We shouldn’t assume that God must do what God can do. Ezekiel’s answer was both a confession that God could and a denial that God must. He was leaving what God would do while believing in what God could do.
Faith and humility. These should both be at the center of how we think and pray when we need some dry bones to live.
Well put Steve.