Can These Bones Live?
 One
of the great prophets in the Old Testament was Ezekiel,
and one of the great prophetic books in the Old Testament
is of the same name. As Ezekiel was growing up he lived
in the final years of Judea’s freedom and was
an eye witness of the spiritual degradation that brought
God’s judgment. A contemporary of both Jeremiah
and Daniel, scholars believe he was a young man when
he was deported to Babylon in 597 BC. Ezekiel was a
very powerful preacher whose work lasted about 22 years.
He was not a man who played games with God’s word,
but passionately declared both the blessings and the
warnings of God and often emphasized his message with
the phrase, “The hand of the Lord was strong on
me…”
There is no doubt Ezekiel was the author of the book
by his name. Both internal and external evidence is
sufficient for there to be no doubt, no matter that
some modern critics make attempts at disputing the origin
and unity of the book. Basically Ezekiel has three main
parts: the first consists of chapters 1-24 and has to
do with Judea being in rebellion against God; the second,
chapters 25-32, is mostly prophecies against Gentile
nations; and the third, chapters 33-48, declares the
future restoration of Israel. And it is chapter 37 that
I will briefly examine in this article. This chapter
has to do with Ezekiel’s famous vision of the
valley of dry bones. And, as some of you might remember,
it is from this chapter that the old spiritual, “Ezekiel
in the Valley of the Dry Bones”, came.
The hand of the Lord brought Ezekiel out by the Spirit
and placed him in a valley of dry human bones. As Ezekiel
took note of the bones he was impressed by the fact
that they were “very dry”; a term that means
they had been dead a very long time. As he was looking
at the dry bones God asked him if he thought these bones
could ever live again. Now, at this point Ezekiel had
a decision to make regarding his answer. If he were
to answer from a perspective that was based upon logic,
human understanding of death and historical precedent
he would have said “no” with certainty.
But, Ezekiel, being a prophet of God and knowing that
God can do as He pleases even if it goes against everything
that is rational, gave the only intelligent answer any
prophet could have given: “God, You know.”
Without further conversation God simply told the prophet
to prophesy over the dry bones saying, “O
dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the
Lord God to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath
to enter you that you may come to life. And I will put
sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you
with skin, and put breath in you that you may come alive;
and you will know that I am the Lord.' " (Ezekiel
37:4-6 NASBu). Immediately after the command was given
the bones came together with sinew, muscle and skin
appearing. Then they were given breath and those who
had been slain came to life again.
This prophecy is a pain in the side for those who attempt
to allegorize scripture. And the problem for them here
is that God Himself identifies the dead — “the
whole house of Israel” (vs 11). This text cannot
honestly be spiritualized, allegorized or misrepresented
in any fashion that will take away from its plain sense
meaning. Israel was in captivity, no longer a nation,
and God said they would become a nation again one day
though such a feat would be against every rule of logic.
Further, this does not have reference to their return
from Babylonian captivity. It is true they stayed in
Babylon for seventy years, as Jeremiah had predicted,
but their return in 538 BC did not fulfill this prophecy.
The “whole house of Israel” was not in
Babylon. The northern ten tribes had been taken into
Assyrian captivity in 722 BC and never did return to
Israel as a nation. In this text it is the “whole
house of Israel” that comes alive again. Some
point out that the northern ten tribes have been lost
and no one knows who they are. That is not true. Anna
the prophetess was of the tribe of Asher (Luke 2:36),
and more importantly God knows exactly what tribe every
Jew belongs to. During the tribulation period He will
call out 12,000 from each tribe as recorded in Revelation
7 — And I heard the number of those who were
sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from
every tribe of the sons of Israel (Revelation 7:4
NASBu).
This prophecy has been fulfilled up to verse 12 where
God says He will bring the scattered nation of Israel
from all over the world and place them again into their
own land. Beginning with the Zionist movement of the
late 1800s Jews from Europe began their trek back to
their ancient homeland. This homecoming continued during
the 20th century and the nation was reborn on May 14,
1948. This was a miracle that far overshadowed the return
from Babylon. Since 1948 the tiny nation of Israel has
taken in several million Jews from all over the world.
Even today they are leaving the Gentile nations that
were their homes during their dispersion that lasted
from AD 70 until 1948.
Verses 13 and 14 have not been completely fulfilled
for two reasons. First, though they are indeed going
back to their ancient homeland, the homecoming is not
complete. More Jews are returning each year and more
will continue to return. At this point, however, they
do not, as a nation, acknowledge God’s hand in
this affair. Understand that most Jews in Israel are
not religious; they are secular in their thinking including
their leadership. The last religious Prime Minister
was Menachem Begin who was in office from 1977 until
1983. Those since have been secularists and want only
to be viewed by the world as being no different from
any other nation. This attitude has been a spiritual
stumbling-block among the Jews since the days of Samuel
(1 Samuel 8:19,20).
Second, it will take the terrible events of the tribulation
period to make them realize that Yeshua, Jesus the Christ,
was and is indeed their Messiah. That is when the balance
of this prophecy will be fulfilled. For centuries the
mark of God’s hand in the nation was His bringing
them out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses. But,
as great as that event was, it cannot compare to the
miracle of the world-wide regathering that is going
on today and will continue even during the tribulation.
Remember God’s promise, "Therefore behold,
days are coming," declares the Lord, "when
it will no longer be said, 'As the Lord lives, who brought
up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' but,'
As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel
from the land of the north and from all the countries
where He had banished them.' For I will restore them
to their own land which I gave to their fathers
(Jeremiah 16:14, 15 NASBu).
Nothing like this has ever happened in the history
of humanity. The Canaanites have not been resurrected,
nor the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, etc. God made
no such promises to them because they did not play a
role in His plan to bring Messiah and the Bible into
the world. Those nations are all dead and buried in
the dust-bin of history. Not so the Jews! Added to that
is the fact that the Hebrew language, long lost to the
Jews of the world except their Talmudic scholars, was
brought back by God’s use of a man named Eliezer
Ben-Yehuda. If you have not already read his biography
I suggest you read, Tongue of the Prophets
by Robert St. John.
No doubt Ezekiel did not understand the full implications
of his prophecy, perhaps much like Daniel did not understand
the implications of the prophecies in his own book.
That, we can understand. But, what is not so easy to
understand is the attitude, often obstinate, which exists
among many 21st century Christians who say, “That
is what it says, but that is not what it means.”
It is amazing that such an attitude exists about Bible
prophecy when we have the advantage of possessing the
entire Word of God (with all its corresponding texts)
and the benefit of history which is an authenticating
witness of both the clarity of scripture and the literalness
of its fulfillment.
Yes, those bones did live again, and the completion
of all that God said about them will one day soon be
fulfilled. Zechariah also had something to say about
these matters, And I will pour out on the house
of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit
of grace and of supplication, so that they will look
on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for
Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep
bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born
(Zechariah 12:10 NASBu), and in 13:9, And I will
bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as
silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I
will say, 'They are My people,' And they will say, 'The
Lord is my God.”’ Those bones which
were dead are alive and will one day soon serve to glorify
Jesus Christ.
Every prophecy God made concerning Israel will come
true in its literal sense without exception. And this
is wonderful not only because Jesus, the prophets and
the Jewish people will be vindicated, but we Christians
can rest in the knowledge that the same God who kept
His word to the Jews will also keep the promises He
made to the church. Maranatha! DLM |
