By Mike Chaffin
He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” Ezekiel 37:3
Sometimes we don’t have all the answers. We must admit to ourselves we aren’t know-it-alls. Ezekiel answered the question properly. He didn’t know, but knew God did.
To get the full context of the question you should read Ezekiel 37 entirely. Here is an expanded look at God’s question,
The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. 2 He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. 3 Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?” “O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.” 4 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! Ezekiel 37:1-4 NLT
Ezekiel, during a prophetic vision, has the integrity to admit he doesn’t know the answer to God’s question. When we ask God for wisdom He doesn’t withhold it. God gives us the explanation. These dry bones represent the nation of Israel. During Ezekiel’s days the nation was no more. The Babylonians had conquered it. However, God tells Ezekiel to prophecy that the nation will be resurrected. God will breathe life into them and restore Israel to their promised land. This prophecy was fulfilled on May 14, 1948.
Jesus, in His admonishment of the Pharisees alluded to this prophecy when He said,
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Matthew 23:27
I wonder if they caught the connection. God told Ezekiel to prophecy to the dry bones. He told them to listen to the Word of the Lord. In a way, Jesus is telling these men they are dead and need to listen to the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God. The scribes and Pharisees lived a legalistic life, one not filled with the Worship of admiration of God, but one in which laws ruled that they had created which God had not ordained. They were spiritually dead.
The prophecy was given between 593 and 571 BC. God fulfilled the prophecy 2,530 years later for the nation of Israel. There are still more prophecies to be fulfilled. Jesus fulfilled hundreds and yet there are still more to come at a day that God only knows.
What we learn from this question is without the God breathed Word we are lost. Jesus came to give us life. The Holy Spirit fills us with new life so even though our bodies age, our spirit is renewed every day.
Contemplation: Do I have emptiness inside me? Am I in a dry season where I can’t hear God’s Word?
