Them bones, them bones, them dry bones

Ezekiel 37.1-14    coutesy of www. biblegateway.com

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. ² 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. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
   I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
 ⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath^[a] enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ 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.’”
 ⁷ 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. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
 ⁹ 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.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
 ¹¹ 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.’ ¹² 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. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ 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.’”



This is an exquiste and powerful portion of scripture, a rare moment of grace and hope in the book of Ezekiel.

First a little background.    Ezekiel is a charismatic prophet - that is, a prophet who has been individually called and anointed with the spirit of God to speak on behalf of God.  He is also of the priestly class and would have been serving at the temple in Jerusalem during a decisive time just preceeding and following the destruction of Jerusalem, its temple and the exile of its people.  (The exile was over 10 years 597 BC - 587 BC). His is an extraordinary call narrative  (chapters 1&2) and he describes behaviors of his own that would lead a modern reader to wonder whether he should have gone to see a psychiatrist. 

The overall tone of his prophesy is harsh, rejecting Israel as a faithful follower of God and approving harsh punishment for the nation of Israel for its actions.  Israel has been exiled and  Ezekiel is offering the people of Israel an explanation for their exile (into foreign lands, away from the temple) and prophetic explanations are always grounded in the behavior (faithless, idolatrous) of the people.

Yet into the midst of his harsh announcements comes this exquisite description of the Valley of Dry Bones - an oracle of hope and restoration for the people of Israel.  Ezekiel describes not just miraculous changes in the landscape of the people but in the people themselves (as they are brought back to life). 

The people in exile have repeatedly expressed their lack of hope (Our bones are dried up and our hope is cut off).  There was, at that time, no general belief within Israel of a general resurrection from the dead.  However there would have been agreement that the God who forms life can give life to dry bones.  Thus we get Ezekiel's answer to the question whether the bones can live,  “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”   If anyone could bring these bones back to life, it was God and God alone.

So God agrees with Ezekiel - the nation of Israel is dead (this does not preclude people being alive, but is saying that the Israel that followed YHWH is no more).  Is it possible that this lost nation  can be brought back to life in God?  Ezekiel says,  'only you (God) know'.  And so it is .....the future belongs to God.  In that future is the power to bring life to places where only the dead were present.

You can understand why this is a favorite text, often assigned for Pentecost Sunday.  The most powerful summary of its promises to us is this  "The future belongs to God."  When all else is failing in this world; when we are stretched beyond our limits, when death is at our door, what a powerful thought to hold before us, 'the future belongs to God.'

This text is linked with the story of the raising of Lazarus, which likewise tells us much the same thing.  Yet it is this story of dry bones, strewn in an empty valley, lost, forgotten, of no importance to anyone that holds great spiritual power for me. 

The future belongs to God.  That does not eliminate bad times or unforseen consequences.  Rather, it places my trust in the future that God has in store for the world and me in it. 

What difference could it mean in your life to have the assurance that the future belongs to God?  How does that differ from your expectations surrounding resurrection and eternal life?  How might this kind of trust in God change your life today and tomorrow?