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.’
In chapter 36 of Ezekiel, the Lord made a beautiful promise to His chosen people, Israel. Despite being divided as a nation, driven from their land, deprived of their king, and dispossessed of their Temple, God pledged to restore His people to their land and to unite their divided kingdom. He promised to bring them back to their homeland with enormous blessings and to re-establish a redeemed people, under the sovereign rule of His servant, David. Ezekiel was not addressing individual Israelites. His prophetic word was to the nation as a whole. He was calling Israel to be a holy nation, separate from the world, and set apart to God. He was calling the entire nation to holiness and challenging them to fulfil the collective role to which they had been called. So broken was the nation and so sterile and lifeless were God’s people, that His promise of restoration appeared to be impossible. But nothing is too hard for God and throughout His Word, we see Him taking impossible situations, working a mighty work, and turning them into incredible blessings. In this passage, God’s promise of national restoration and a return to the land is immediately followed with his vision of a valley of dry bones. Ezekiel sees large numbers of human bones strewn over the surface of the ground. He is commanded to prophesy to these dry bones; twice. Firstly, they are to listen and respond to the Word of the Lord in the physical realm. Secondly, they are to respond in the spiritual sphere. The scattered bones are to be joined together as a physical nation first and live in the material world, after which they are to hear and respond spiritually when the Spirit of God breathes new life into the nation. Ezekiel is left in no doubt as to whom the bones represent. God told him, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.” The dead dry bones symbolized all of Israel (the northern kingdom of Israel AND the southern kingdom of Judah). But then comes Israel’s response to God’s call: “Behold, our bones are dried up,” they mourn, “Our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.” The response to Ezekiel’s prophecy is a sad and anguished statement from the whole house of Israel, which describes the desperate state, both physically and spiritually, in which Israel found herself then and which continues today. She was cut off from God and without hope in the world. Today, national Israel may be in the land, but they can be likened to a valley of dead, dry, dusty, dispersed bones. There may have a semblance of being God’s people, but they are dead in their sin and utterly hopeless. They may know about the God of Israel. They may be able to quote from the Torah. They may celebrate their feast days and practice keeping the Law, but they do not know the Person and Work of their Messiah and King Who alone can breathe new life into their stony, cold, dead hearts. Israel may have been physically ‘reborn’ in 1948 when the modern state of Israel came into being, but they will remain spiritually dead; dead in trespasses and sins, until that day when the entire nation repents of their sin and calls out for their Messiah to save them. Then, and only then, will they be made alive. They will be born again. On that day the whole house of Israel will be spiritually enlivened and made a new creation in Christ, for His greater praise and eternal glory.
Spiritual Steve 