2023-03-26 Sin-Dried Bones

If you want to see strange images and visual ideas, go to a modern art museum. Artists have all kinds of interesting and provocative visual ways of communicating. However, as creative as people are, God is no slouch at it either.

Ezekiel is a book with a wide variety of images. Chapter 1 has a vision of four living creatures each with four wings and glowing like burning coals of fire and each with wheels within wheels at their feet covered in eyes. In chapter 15 Jerusalem is imaged as a useless vine, in chapter16 as an adulterous wife and in chapter 24 as a cooking pot.

However, one of the strangest visual images is the one just read for scripture reading. I can’t remember the first time I read the passage but I’m pretty sure it was after I had already been singing about it.

Ezekiel cried dem dry bones

Now I hear the word of the Lord

Remember that song? An African American folk song written in the early part of the 1900’s. The song is fun, other than describing the dry bones reconnecting with each other, it says almost nothing about what the passage is actually about. What is it about? Well, let’s look into it.

The Valley of Dry Bones

The Background

Before I get into interpreting the passage, it’s important to know where Ezekiel is when he receives this vision. Ezekiel was a priest who had been exiled to Babylon with the first exiles. Babylon invaded Judah three times. The first time they imposed tribute, but left everyone there, the second time, they took most of the treasure out of the temple and palace and exiled 10,000 people from Jerusalem, most of the upper class including King Jehoichin and the standing army and skilled tradespeople. That’s when Ezekiel was exiled.

Shortly after arriving in Babylon, he was called as a prophet and brings messages to the people living in exile, some of whom were thinking they wouldn’t be there long. Eleven years later the Babylonians invaded again and completely destroyed Jerusalem. Eventually Ezekiel gets word of this. (read 33:21) (blank) Now what? Is this the end of the nation of Israel? In chapter 34 The Lord assures the people that he will be the nations shepherd and then at the end of chapter 36 God assures Ezekiel that he would restore them to the land. (read 36:24-28) (blank) But this promise, which Ezekiel surely shared with his fellow exiles, must have felt like a total impossibility.

Then God spoke again. His Spirit gave Ezekiel a vision.

The Vision

(read 37:1-2) (blank) In that day and age, after a war, the bodies were often not buried. First the victorious army would take all the armour, weaponry and supplies they could, and then, if it was a settled area they were buried by the remaining residents afterwards, but if it was a desert area, the bodies were left to the wild animals and birds of the air to pick clean. If it was a desert area, very soon you would have a vast expanse of parched bones. I’ve seen bones like this in a pasture. They’re dry and completely lifeless. A valley full of bones like this would have been quite a sobering sight. Especially human bones.

(Read v3) (blank) Most of us would answer no. Not a chance. After all the visions and prophecies from God, Ezekiel has a little more faith, but not much more. He’s not ready to say yes, but he’s also not ruling it out, after all, this is God we’re talking about.

(Read vv4-8) (blank) What a sight this must have been! I find it fascinating that God involved Ezekiel. He has to prophesy for anything to happen. When he does, the bones start moving and reconnecting. First, they order themselves correctly. The rattling noise is because there’s still no flesh. Then tendons grow and connect the bones and flesh and then skin covers them. But there’s no life. It’s similar to the creation account of Adam except in that case there was simply a dirt statue of him.

(read vv9-10) (blank) Now Ezekiel isn’t told to prophesy to the bones, but to the breath! What on earth does that mean? I want to point out something important. So far, we’ve had the words Spirit in v1, breath in Vv 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10, and the word winds in v 9. All these words are translations of the same word in Hebrew, Ruah, which I mentioned two weeks ago. Spirit, breath and wind are all correct translations of the Hebrew word for wind. Ruah is physical wind, each of us breathes, and when we run out of breath, we get winded. The Spirit is the wind of God. When God speaks, his Spirit is the wind from his mouth. “God breathed into Adam and he became a living being.” Here, Ezekiel is prophesying to the wind of God, or his Spirit. Really, he’s praying to God that God would give life to these corpses on the ground, that he would raise them from the dead.

God did. Life comes from God!

So what does this all mean? (read vv11) (blank) The people of Israel are in despair. For them it feels like the end has come. When the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom and exiled its people, they never returned. The Babylonians were strong and powerful. No exiles from either empire had ever returned home. Ever. No wonder they were in despair. But God is not. He’s the God of the impossible. It was impossible for the people of Israel to leave Egypt. Until God acted. Then it was possible.

(read vv12-14) (blank) When God promises to do something. It will happen. He will bring new life when he says so. In this case, new life meant returning from the land of exile to the land of Judea. When you hear the phrase in v14, “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live,” you should think of God blowing the breath of life into Adam when he was created. Same idea. God’s breath on the nation of Israel brings life to the dead corpse, to the dry bones.

Interlude

Israel had been exiled from the land because of their many sins. Read through the books of prophecy in the FT. The litany of sins is severe. Basically, disobeying every one of the 10 commandments. They did not worship only God, they made cast images, they misused God’s name by putting false prophecies in his mouth, they didn’t keep the Sabbath, they murdered, they committed adultery, they stole, they lied, they coveted their neighbour’s property, gods and wives.

But God is a forgiving God. Listen as I read Psalm 130 (read) (blank) By the time of Ezekiel, after they heard of the complete destruction of Jerusalem, they began to do a lot of soul seeking and began to repent of all their sin. It was in that time period that they began the institution of synagogues. They realized that they had fallen so far from God because they did not know the word of God well enough. In the land of exile, they became the ‘people of the book’. In the land of exile surrounded by seemingly all-powerful gods and nations, they began to be far more faithful to the true God than they had ever been in Canaan. And God forgave them. Individually and corporately. In their despair he came to them with this amazing vision of dry bones coming to life. Life begun by the Spirit of God.

Where are you at? Do you feel like your bones are out of joint? Do you feel like a valley of dry bones? As if life has left you? Are you in despair? Do you think that your sins are so great that God couldn’t possibly forgive you? That he couldn’t possibly restore you?

Sin-Dried Bones

One of the passages paired up with this passage from Ezekiel for our lent series is the story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. It’s an amazing story of Jesus literally raising a man from the dead after being in the tomb four days. But I want to rather have us look at a different story. A different kind of raising from the dead. One I think is more relatable to us.

Turn with me to Luke 7:36-50. I treasure all the stories of Jesus, his actions, his teachings and his parables. This one I treasure more than most of them. (read Luke 7:36-50) (blank)

We don’t know what kind of life this woman had lived. The text only says it was a sinful one. Most people assume it was prostitution, but we don’t know. Maybe she had mistreated her children, maybe she kicked her parents out of her home, or had committed adultery many times. The point is, that everyone in the village knew what she was like. She had a ‘reputation.’ Her reputation put her at the bottom of the social scale, at least in terms of the faith community. Spiritually she was dead, like the valley of bones. In her soul she likely felt as if there was no hope to ever feel clean again.

What is also evident is that she was repentant of her sin. She was deeply remorseful and was willing to break all social rules in order to express her sorrow and remorse to Jesus. She didn’t hold anything back. Her actions told everything Jesus needed to know.

Jesus responded with gentleness, grace, love, and forgiveness. In the process he also taught those he was with what true remorse and repentance looked like and how God responds when we approach him that way. When Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven,” and “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” He breathed new life into her. Spiritually she was dead, but after Jesus’ forgiveness became alive.

Conclusion

The same opportunity is there for us.

The ancient Israelites had sinned against one another and against God in every way imaginable, even sacrificing their children to Baal and Molech. The story of the God breathing life into the valley of bones shows us that God desires to forgive and bring those things that are dead to new life. He is able and willing.

The story of the sinful woman here in Luke tells us the same thing. Jesus, who fully represented his Father in heaven, responded to heartfelt remorse and repentance with compassion, grace and forgiveness. He breathed new life into her.

God desires to do the same with you and me. The fact is, we often sin. Most of us have broken most of the 10 commandments in one way or another. We often don’t put God first. Our image of God is often inaccurate. Often, we make the things of this world into idols that we worship. We lie. We steal. We dishonour our parents. We commit adultery, both literally and in our minds. We covet the possessions of our neighbours.

We deserve exile from God’s promised land.

But God, in his infinite mercy sent his Son, Jesus, to breathe new life into us so that we can once again live, free of guilt and condemnation. All it takes is for us to humbly come to him with remorse and repent of our sin. And when we do, our hearts hear these same words of Jesus, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

We also, as ministers of Jesus Christ, can be the agents of God’s Spirit breathing new life into others. When we forgive others, extend mercy and grace to others, they get to experience Jesus.

Pray

Benediction: Hebrews 13:20-21

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