The English language isn’t what it used to be. When we describe ourselves, we tend to exaggerate. We aren’t literally “starving”, just hungry and ready for a meal. Nor are we really “had it”, just tired and a bit low on energy.
But for Todd Russell and Brant Webb, trapped a mile below in
the
The Lord’s people were in disarray. The northern kingdom (
But now
disaster had stuck. In 597BC
Both prophets quote the same proverb, “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Jer. 31.29; Ezek. 18.2). It’s not our fault – we have inherited this mess from an earlier generation!
But the time goes on and on. Depression and hopelessness set
in. The temple hasn’t protected them and the great deliverance – the expected
rescue from their plight – just hasn’t happened. Now they are saying, “Our bones are dried up and our hope
is gone; we are cut off” (Ezek. 37.11). As they are taken into exile in
Ezekiel has a vision. He is taken by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley full of dry bones, very dry bones – they have been there a long time (vv. 1-2).
The Lord asks, “Son of man, can these bones live?” There’s
an obvious answer to that, isn’t there? No! No way! But Ezekiel is cautious in
his answer. The Lord is asking the question. It is foolish to limit what the
Lord himself might choose to do. “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know” (v. 3).
Only the
Lord can answer the question. Only the Lord can bring the dead to life. And the
Lord will do it – by his word spoken through the prophet!
“Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 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’” (vv. 4-6).
The first prophetic word is addressed to the dry bones. The prophet watches in amazement as bones come together, tendons and flesh appear on them and they are covered with skin. Now they are dead bodies – “there was no breath in them” (vv.7-8).
“Prophesy
to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This
is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and
breathe into these slain, that they may live’” (v. 9).
The second prophetic word is addressed to the “breath” – or “wind” as the Good News Bible puts it. The Hebrew word ruach has a rich range of meaning. It may be “wind” or “breath” or “spirit”. There can be a play on words that is lost in an English translation.
In the creation, we read that “the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Gen. 2.7). Now the “breath” enters these corpses and they stand up on their feet – “a vast army” (v. 10).
The prophecy is about “the whole house of
The
disciples of Jesus had been discouraged, depressed. Their Lord and Master had
been crucified, dead and buried. Of course, they still had his teaching, but
even that was beyond them – unlivable without Jesus. And they were supposed to
be doing something – “catching men and women”. Some vital keys were missing.
But then
they saw him. Jesus was truly alive from the dead. That put a different meaning
on his death. His prayer in Gethsemane for the Father’s will to be done wasn’t
resignation to a human fate, but commitment to a redemptive work that would see
him vilified, abused and done to death. It was done “by” sinners – that was
clear enough. Yet in the loving purpose of God, it was accepted “for” sinners –
for the forgiveness of sins and the restoration of sinners.
That was
the key in their understanding. Now there was a message about “repentance and
forgiveness of sins” to be got out to all peoples – “but stay in the city until
you have been clothed with power from on high” (Lk. 24.45-49). Yes, they now
had flesh, tendons and skin. But they lacked the vital Spirit of God that would
empower them to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1.8).
On the day
of Pentecost, they were “filled with the Holy Spirit” and began to speak “the
wonders of God” in the native tongues of those who were gathered in
Today’s church is in crisis. We need a revival! By that I
don’t mean that we need some remembered enthusiasm from the past. And it’s not
a matter of “pepping up” our singing or preaching. Something is seriously
missing, rather like God’s people in Ezekiel’s time – “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we
are cut off”.
We have a crisis of faith. For more than a
hundred years now the church’s confidence in the Scriptures has been battered
and eroded from within by false and negative criticism. There are those who
have set aside key Christian doctrines such as the virgin birth and
resurrection of Christ, and his atonement for human sin on the cross. In fact, “sin”
and “hell” aren’t “politically correct” terms any more. There is an air of uncertainty
about the uniqueness of Jesus as the only one through whom salvation is
possible.
Weakened by
this attack from within, we have been more vulnerable to the jibes from
without. The media are no longer broadly supportive. The da Vinci Code plants the idea that maybe
the New Testament as we have it – and the Christian Church – has been
suppressing the truth about Jesus all along. The book has absolutely no
credible basis in fact, but it projects an element of uncertainty for those
already weakened in their understanding of the Scriptures.
Along with
the crisis of faith and, in part, flowing from it, we have a crisis of action. Instead of being a
body so strong and vigorous in mission that “even the gates of Hades will not
overcome it” (Mt. 16.18), we have tended to become a group who remember the
name of Jesus and value his teachings and try to do our bit for justice for
those who have been marginalised in society. But to call people to repent of their
sins and to offer them forgiveness of sins… Isn’t that presumptuous? or worse, judgmental? Aren’t people entitled to adopt their
own belief-system, to choose their own lifestyle, to do their own thing? What right have we or anyone else to even suggest that other
lifestyles than our own might be wrong?
Statistically,
the percentage of the Australian population which claims to be Christian has
been declining. Church attendances have been down. Yet this is still a great
many people – many more than the hundred-and-twenty who met constantly for
prayer in the upper room in
Can these
bones live? Don’t put limits on what the Lord can do, on what the Lord intends
to do. But be open to him with an urgency of prayer such as the
hundred-and-twenty had in that upper room. Come back to him with faith renewed
– trusting in him, trusting his word, seeking to be available for his work.
“When the
day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound
like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house
where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that
separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the
Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit
enabled them… Those who accepted [Peter’s] message were baptized, and about
three thousand were added to their number that day” (Acts 2.1-4,41).
Here we are, Lord! Do it again!
© Peter J. Blackburn,
Except where otherwise noted, Scripture
quotations are from the New International Version, © International Bible
Society, 1984.
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