True Revival

Series on Ezekiel

II. The Foreign Nations

G. Flesh for Dry Bones, Text: 37:1-27

Title: True Revival

Introduction

The present section of Ezekiel in which the focus of judgment is switched from Israel to the foreign nations is also a portal to the blessings which God has in store for his people. These blessings are seen as a rebuke to the nations that attempted to destroy Israel. in chapter 36 we saw the restoration and the spiritual renewal of Israel. This restoration involves not only Israel but also all the nations and peoples of the earth as Peter says on the day of Pentecost, The promise is to you and your children and to as many as are afar off. In our present chapter, 37, we see pictured the revival of Israel in a different way. First we have the resurrection of the dead nation and then following that we have the rule of David the king over this resurrected nation.

I The Resurrection of the Dead v.1-14

The stages of burial in Israel were first to inter the body in a tomb, usually cut out of rock, and then sometime later when the natural process of decay had reduced it to a skeleton, the dry bones would be taken and placed in an ossuary which might contain the bones of dozens of people. Here in verses 1-3 Ezekiel encounters a giant ossuary but it is a whole valley and the bones represent the entire nation, The hand of the LORD was upon 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. 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. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” Like an army destroyed in battle the bones demonstrate the complete devastation and defeat of Israel by its enemies. Ezekiel inspects them as one would inspect a skeleton to see if it’s ready for the ossuary and finds that they are dry and brittle. Now just as burial began with a fleshed out body and ended in a skeleton so here the resurrection starts with the skeleton and ends up with fleshed out bodies. The message was clear that hope was not gone. God was going to do a wonderful thing. This physical resurrection obviously symbolizes the spiritual life which God will send to them but should not be separated from their belief in the resurrection of the body which is part of that salvation. The procedure occurs in three stages. proclamation, prayer, and performance.

A Proclamation

In verses 4-8 Ezekiel is to preach to the dry bones, Then he said to me, “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.’” 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. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. The parallel here to the New Testament is that we are dead in trespasses and sins. The wonder is that anyone hears and obeys the gospel. It is only the life giving power of the Lord which enables us to hear. We are born again or regenerated or resurrected and then we respond to the gospel. If this does not happen we are preaching to dead men. But the preaching is necessary because, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. In the new covenant the resurrection of Israel will be accompanied by the preaching of the gospel.

B Prayer

Ezekiel is also told to prophesy to the winds which are after all in God’s control in verses 9 and 10, 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 from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet-a vast army. This is equivalent to praying for the Holy Spirit who must breathe into the bones before they can become alive and fleshed out. The word for wind and spirit in Hebrew is “ruach.” One word with two closely related meanings. Our whole ministry depends on the blessing of the Spirit of God. The Word without the Spirit falls on deaf ears or dead bones.

C Performance

The third and last stage is God bringing Israel out of its graves in verses 11-14, Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O 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. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 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.’” The metaphor has changed a little but the meaning is the same. It is important to see that salvation in the New Testament is pictured as resurrection from the dead, as for example in Ephesians 2:1 and 4-6, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins… But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions… And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. We find this also in Colossians 3: 1-4, Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

II The Rule of David the King

The theme of the second part of the chapter deals with the future of the nation after it has been resurrected. It will become one nation under one king. The nation is pictured as being unified by two sticks becoming one in verses 16 and 17, Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, “Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.” Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, “Ephraim’s stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.” Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. Many prophecies of Scripture had a physical fulfillment in the Old Testament as well as a spiritual fulfillment in the New, but the reunion pictured here never occurred in the Old Testament. Indeed it could not occur because the northern kingdom no longer existed. Here called Joseph or Ephraim because Ezekiel generally used the term Israel for the southern kingdom and he could do that precisely because the northern kingdom had been carried off by the Assyrians and so dissipated by the importation of non-Jews that it just wasn’t there anymore. By the way, parenthetically, it is that disappearance which has given rise to the odd cultic fascination with the lost ten tribes and the theory of British Israelism which was promulgated by Herbert Armstrong and others. In any case this reunion is something future and whatever else happens it is certainly fulfilled in the Church and the present people of God in which people of all kingdoms, Jew and Gentile alike are made one in Christ. Of course the one king who will rule over this united kingdom is David. This second part of the chapter can also be seen in three stages: the prince, the purification and the presence.

A The Prince

We read in verses 22-24, I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. This is none other than David’s greater son Jesus Christ the son of Abraham, the son of David as in Acts 13:34-38, the fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words: “I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.” So it is stated elsewhere: “You will not let your Holy One see decay.” For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. When we look at these promises we may sometimes question the reliability of applying these to the Church. Surely Christ is the prince, but the fullness of his kingship and the unity of His kingdom is not yet fully established. It is true you do not yet see the end result of Christ’s princely rule in a perfect kingdom, but the key is really provided by seeing this; that when the prophets look forward to the new age they see everything all at once. They see the beginning at Pentecost and they see the spiritual blessings and they see the consummation or perfection which will, naturally flow out of the inauguration of this new age and they don’t make any time distinctions whatsoever. Prophets like Ezekiel saw the perfection along with the beginning in one unitary vision.

B The Purification

And so we read in verses 24 and 25, They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. Again the end is seen together with the beginning. We look at the church and we do not see the fullness of righteousness and since it is lacking the church is riddled with disobedience and dissension and often must be disciplined. But a time is coming when according to Revelation 21: 4-8, He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death,” and in Revelation 22:3-5, No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. In other words, the work of Christ guarantees that there will be righteousness and unity without the curse of sin and death, and without disobedience or the need of discipline. True purification will be here.

C The Presence

The ultimate aim of salvation, namely God dwelling with his people is described by Ezekiel in verses 26-28, I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever. This promise is partially fulfilled now in the Church which is God’s dwelling on earth, but not fully fulfilled until the consummation. The prophet’s vision includes both. Revelation 21:1-3 echoes Ezekiel’s very words, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” The very heart and soul of God’s covenant of grace announced long ago in Leviticus 26:11 and 12 is that he would dwell in the midst of His people, I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.