“Again, He (the Lord God) said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!'” Ezekiel 37:4
The ways of God with men are such that in all of His dealings He reveals that He is God and man is sinful man. When He reveals Himself as the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, He does so in order for all of creation to know that the “glory,” every manifestation and revelation of His dealings with men, is His and His alone. Men might think that because they are the beneficiaries of God’s gracious dealings with them, that in some respect, or to some degree, they can claim the “glory” of God as in some way coming from themselves. This is not the truth. To believe it would be calling God a liar. Only God can and must receive the worship in praise and adoration for the revelation of His glory. One Christian writer put it like this: “Every virtue I possess, and every victory won, and every thought of holiness, is Thine and Thine alone.” Why is this matter so very important? It is because of what an elderly man, and servant of the Lord, O. Hallesby, once said: “God uses very few men today; they are too big.” In other words, they claim in some measure, whether great or small in their eyes, that God’s glory is their own. To do this is idolatry, for worship, in this case, shifts from its object of God to man, and that is a lie of Satan, certainly one which God will not bless.
In the book of Ezekiel, we discover a clear understanding of just how God works with and through men to accomplish His work and purposes, for HIS glory. The Lord takes His prophet Ezekiel to a valley, where he is made to see that it is filled with not only bones, but with bones that are very dry, lifeless, dead. Now, God will deal with Ezekiel concerning these bones to illustrate what the spiritual reality is with regard to Israel as a nation, but also, with regard to what He desires to do. He goes a step further to reveal to Ezekiel His ways that He will employ to realize His work.
The first thing God does after revealing to Ezekiel the spiritual condition of Israel from heaven’s standpoint, being dead and lifeless, is to ask Ezekiel: “Son of man, can these bones live again?” There is no pride or arrogance in Ezekiel’s response, only a resolve to look heavenward for God’s answer and God’s intervention. Ezekiel responds to God by saying: “O Lord God, You know.” (37:3)
The second thing God does is to reveal His way in dealing with the humanly impossible situation. God then tells Ezekiel to prophesy, or speak, on the behalf of God, to dead bones. Ezekiel is called upon to address directly the bones with the exact message given to him by God. “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” God has just revealed His way of dealing with that which is impossible to men. As at the creation of the world, He speaks in His power and authority, in His way with His message. As in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ so many years later, there is the power and authority of heaven, of God Himself, which gives life to the dead.
So, God’s command is first for the bones to hear. Then He promises that sinews, flesh, and skin will be put upon them, and finally that breath will be put in them, and “you shall live.” (37:5-6) The attitude of Israel at that time was this: “Our bones are dry; our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off.” (37:11) It is in this impossible situation that God speaks through His prophet His message, in order to bring about by His power and authority, the miracle of life and restoration. Then the people will KNOW that He is the Lord God who has spoken and performed it alone.
Dear Father, Thine be the glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.