3He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” 4Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 7So 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. 8I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.”
Ezekiel knew that God could bring life into these bones, but he seemed hesitant to say, “Yes - they can live.” So, it’s interesting to see how God renewed Ezekiel’s faith in this time of doubt. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!
You’ve heard the Spiritual song of the bones that started to connect. A black preacher, Derrick Garth, put it this way. “All of a sudden Ezekiel saw foot bones that stood in the way of sinners now stood up to old ankle bones. He saw ankle bones that were not standing on the promises of God have now stood up to old leg bones. He saw leg bones that walked in the counsel of the un-godly, have now walked up to old knee bones. He saw knee bones that didn’t heed the word of God when it said “at the name of Jesus every knee must bow, and every tongue must confess.”
The knee bones bowed down to the old hip bones. He saw hip bones that sat in the seat of the scornful had now sat up to old back bone. He saw back bones that refused to carry each other's burdens in the heat of the day. Back bones now reached down and got shoulder bones. Shoulder bones that would not bear the cross had now reached down and picked up and went to old neck bones. The neck bone was stiff in sin now had grabbed old head bone
Head bone that was too head strong in sin had reached down and grabbed old arm bone. The arm bone that refused to hug their brother in love had now reached down and hugged hand bone. The hand bone that refused to shake one another hand. I heard that the bones came together all of a sudden there was hope for a hopeless situation. These bodies looked alive, but they were still dead; they had no breath in them, God told him, “Preacher you’ve done your part now here is what I want you to do. Preach to the four corners of the wind and tell them to breathe into these bodies.”
In his vision Ezekiel moved out of the way, and let the Spirit move at when God's Word is shared.
That's a good lesson for us all to learn.
Prayer: Oh dear God, renew our faith in times of doubt!
Dale
