I Hear a Rattling
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1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. 4 Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev. 5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.
I hear a noise. It’s the sound of pieces that were scattered coming together again. I hear a rattling. It’s the sound of connection, of unification, of wholeness. I hear a noise. I hear a rattling. A surprising sound because there has been only quiet rest for these separate parts. Parts that have lain in a desert of dust and death. I hear a noise, I hear a rattling, the sound of fellowship, of reuniting, of life. I hear a noise, it is the sound of the glory of God. I hear a rattling. It is the knowledge that God’s people understand God has spoken and he has done it.
This is a paraphrase of Ezekiel as he stood in the middle of a valley and was shown a great many bones on the floor of the valley
Ezek prophesied to Israel before during and after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. I haven’t had any really terrible life experiences yet, so I can’t imagine what it would be like to be taken as a slave—me and my family, or have some people I know killed and then going to live in a foreign land. Especially if I believed strongly that God is our king and that he is the protector of my nation and that nation is blessed by God, and is an instrument of God on the earth, put there as a light to the nations.
And not to say Ezek was prophesying about our situation with COVID, but we can draw a parallel. We have been enslaved to an extent to a disease, scattered and isolated. Cut off. Strangers in a strange land. And what has God been doing? Where has our protector been?
Ezek 37:1-12
Just a bunch of dry bones. Jews , like some other traditions, often used boxes to bury their dead. Not like a coffin, but just the bones piled together dry in a box after all the other material has dried up and wasted away. The box is a final resting place for the deceased. They are often used in areas where there isn’t a lot of space to bury people.
The oldest existing public Jewish cemetery with ground graves is almost certainly the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The mountain has been used as a cemetery since about 2400 BCE, initially by the Jebusites and later by Jews, Christians and then Muslims. It is considered by many Jews to be the most important Jewish cemetery in the world because of a belief that when the Messiah arrives from the Judean wilderness, he will come down from the Mount of Olives and enter Jerusalem through the adjacent Golden Gate in the wall of the Old City.
Usually the person would be laid to rest and a period of time would pass where the skin and everything else would rot away, and the bones would be placed in a box.
The bones represent isolation. Being cut off, lonely, separated.
The bones represent uselessness. Good for nothing but for flesh to rot away and to be stored in a box.
The bones represent loss of hope. There’s not a sliver or a chance or a long shot.
The bones represent death— not recent death, but long ago death. As if someone could be “more dead” than the normal dead. The bones Ezek saw were “very dry.” Dead a long, long time.
And an important question is asked? “Can these bones live”?
Lifeless, dry, scattered. How can there be life? Impossible. But Ezek. said “hear the word of the Lord.”
Then the bones came together again. Sinews, and tendons formed and connections were made.
But there was still no life. How can a dead skeleton live? Impossible.
But Exek. said, Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live
What is impossible for us is made possible. How? By hearing the Word of the Lord.
Lazarus, though he was dead, heard the Word of the Lord, “Lazarus come out.”
Jairus’ daughter only 12 years old, dead, heard the Word of the Lord, “little girl I say to you get up!”
The word of God is powerful.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
And in Ezek there is a phase II of giving life. The spirit of the Lord is breathed into the skeletons and they are alive.
Gen 2:7
7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Hearing the Word of the Lord, receiving and following his Spirit:
Brings unity when there was separation
Brings hope when there was not a sliver
Brings life where there was death
Hearing the Word of the Lord, and receiving and following his Spirit can also bring new life and vitality to this Body of Christ. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily see in this Ezek passage an archetype for the NT Church. But I do see an illustration of the awesome power of God. When we look around and don’t see much, God can bring life and bounty and fruit. We look around and feel old and tired, God can make Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young, wild ox.
Our job is to hear the voice of the Lord and live by the spirit.
Our scripture reading said after our captivity and bondage, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with songs of joy.
4 Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev.
Negev--desert that gets 8 inches of rain each year. July - October 0 inches of rain each month on average. Sounds like we would be comfortable there. About the same.
I believe God is calling us now in this moment to hear his voice again and to again receive his spirit. Again? Well yes you don’t just hear God’s voice once and go on your way. You read, pray, remember and you hear his voice anew. We were born of the spirit and now we live by the spirit.
SM, do you believe these bones can live? Can God really raise up this church to continue to be a blessing to the community of Sierra Madre and all around? To be involved in the lives of the broken to bring God’s healing and blessing? To do good deeds, to speak words of grace and wisdom? To show people the light of Christ?
COVID hit a pause button for us, and there have been some positive outcomes during Zoom church. But it’s hard to see the love and feel the family through a computer and it’s time to get back to being the church the hands and feet of Christ to serve, love and nurture those around us.
Will you be like one who dreams? Can you dream that where there is only dryness, death and dust, there can be a stream? Can our imaginations be sparked where we might commit ourselves to hearing God’s voice and living in his spirit so that we can witness once again the miracles of God making dry bones dance?