We must remember that chapter 37 comes straight after chapter 36. (In fact this is one of the most useful tips in understanding the Bible better. If you want to know what one passage means, ask yourself what has the writer just said, or what has just happened. This will often shed light on things.) Ezekiel has spent several years prophesying doom and being shown just how low the people, particularly the leaders, of Jerusalem had sunk. Then in chapter 36 he is suddenly prophesying prosperity and fruitfulness. This naturally raises the question of how can this possibly be? God answers this question with the vision of the dry bones.
The vision is well known, and starts with God leading Ezekiel back and forth through the valley of dry bones. This is a parallel to what He has been doing with Ezekiel in the first part of his life, showing him how spiritually dead Israel was.
So Ezekiel is told to prophesy to the bones. He is to prophesy life to them. The Lord will make breath enter them (the Hebrew word for breath can also mean spirit), and He will put flesh on the bones. They will come to life and will know that the Lord is God. This is what Ezekiel has just been prophesying to the exiles.
At first the bones started to rattle, and then tendons and flesh appeared, but no breath had entered them. When God does a new thing it is often the case that at first we may just see a lot of activity, but the true life is yet to come. Note also that in the prophesy God mentions breath first, but it does not come till later. The Spirit is the most important thing, but He may not become evident until later.
Ezekiel then, in response to the Lord's command, prophesied that breath should enter them, and it did so. The bones then came to life and formed a vast army. People, in the UK at least, often get worried about numbers. We complain that churches become impersonal, or that we prefer the intimacy of small churches. However, the simple fact is that God is into big numbers. It is God's will that multitudes get saved. Now it is absolutely right that we must never treat people just as numbers, for God has a personal relationship with each one, and we are to treat each other as individuals. Also we must never presume that God works only through big churches, or that size in itself is everything. However, the church is meant to have a big impact on the world.
God then makes it clear to Ezekiel that the vision is a parable of what He will do with the nation. They have lost all hope and are in exile. But God is a God who raises the dead and does the impossible.
The vision is well known, and starts with God leading Ezekiel back and forth through the valley of dry bones. This is a parallel to what He has been doing with Ezekiel in the first part of his life, showing him how spiritually dead Israel was.
So Ezekiel is told to prophesy to the bones. He is to prophesy life to them. The Lord will make breath enter them (the Hebrew word for breath can also mean spirit), and He will put flesh on the bones. They will come to life and will know that the Lord is God. This is what Ezekiel has just been prophesying to the exiles.
At first the bones started to rattle, and then tendons and flesh appeared, but no breath had entered them. When God does a new thing it is often the case that at first we may just see a lot of activity, but the true life is yet to come. Note also that in the prophesy God mentions breath first, but it does not come till later. The Spirit is the most important thing, but He may not become evident until later.
Ezekiel then, in response to the Lord's command, prophesied that breath should enter them, and it did so. The bones then came to life and formed a vast army. People, in the UK at least, often get worried about numbers. We complain that churches become impersonal, or that we prefer the intimacy of small churches. However, the simple fact is that God is into big numbers. It is God's will that multitudes get saved. Now it is absolutely right that we must never treat people just as numbers, for God has a personal relationship with each one, and we are to treat each other as individuals. Also we must never presume that God works only through big churches, or that size in itself is everything. However, the church is meant to have a big impact on the world.
God then makes it clear to Ezekiel that the vision is a parable of what He will do with the nation. They have lost all hope and are in exile. But God is a God who raises the dead and does the impossible.
No comments:
Post a Comment