It is a sobering sight - something more suited to a horror movie than to scripture. But there it is in scripture - Ezekiel's vision of a valley filled with dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14). His vision is of a battlefield, long after the battle was done. No one had come to claim the victims or remove the corpses from the land. The bodies had been left where they fell, food for the scavenger birds and animals. The fallen corpses had been picked clean of any flesh. All that was left were bones, bleached by the baking sun.
The scene - the aftermath of war - spoke of death and destruction. It bore testimony to an undeniable, inescapable harsh reality. It reeked with hopelessness.
Ezekiel's sermon was addressed to the Hebrew people living as refugees in exile in Babylon. All that gave meaning and brought joy to their lives had been taken from them. Their nation had been destroyed by the armies of Babylon. Their beloved Davidic-based monarchy had come to an end. The Temple - the dwelling place of God on earth, the primary place of their worship - had been destroyed, torn down and burned to the ground. They had been carried away to a foreign land, leaving home and land, heritage and history behind. The covenant that had given them identity for centuries was seemingly forgotten. The steadfast love of the LORD upon which the covenant was based had seemingly finally faltered. They felt abandoned by God, forgotten. They lived in the despair of hopelessness. They lived - if it could be called living - in the shadow of death. They were defeated, both by the armies of Babylon and by their inescapable, hopeless situation.
In the midst of their hopelessness, Ezekiel spoke of hope. In the face of death, Ezekiel spoke of new life - yea, of resurrection. In the aftermath of destruction, Ezekiel spoke of renewal. To a people who felt abandoned and forgotten by God, Ezekiel spoke of what God would yet do.
Ezekiel, refusing to believe the steadfast love of God had faltered, envisioned the Spirit of God moving in the midst of their hopeless, irreversible situation. The dried bones, baked by the sun, would come together again to form skeletons; flesh would be restored to them; breath would be breathed back into them so that they came alive again. Ezekiel knew their situation was not beyond the redemptive, life-giving power of God. God was not through working. The Spirit was breathing life into their lifeless situation.
Life is full of experiences that leave us feeling overwhelmed, powerless, defeated, hopeless. In the midst of such experiences, we often feel abandoned by God, forgotten. We struggle to believe, surrendering to the despair which haunts our thoughts. Hope is beyond our grasp.
But even as we struggle, the LORD continues to be faithful. The Spirit continues to work.
God is not through working. And God - not the harshness of life, not destruction and devastation, not sin and death - will have the last word. That last word is life. That word is resurrection.
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him" (Lamentations 3:22-24).
May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).
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