An exceedingly great army
Scripture References: Ezekiel 37:3, 7-10, 23-28 Ephesians 2:4-6, Colossians 2:13, Genesis 1:2, 2:7, Revelation 21:1-4.
Introduction:
3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” -Ezekiel 37:3 ESV
This exchange between God and His prophet Ezekiel comes in the midst of a dismal scene which may be familiar to many of us. Ezekiel is brought out in the Spirit of the Lord to a valley…which is littered with dry bones. Then comes the question posed by God to Ezekiel in our verse above. For as many times as I’ve read this passage…this time around I had to stop and marvel at Ezekiel’s response.
“Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” I don’t think Ezekiel could have given a more adequate response to this question. For all he had seen God do up to this point…all the prophetic words and images he was given…all the sign-acts that God had commanded him to perform throughout his lifetime have perhaps been anything but predictable. Ezekiel has learned by now that he does not know the answers to such questions in and of himself. He has no understanding apart from God.
“O Lord God…you know”. What other response can there be?
Let’s continue looking at Ezekiel’s response, and why the following scene is so impactful for what we will be celebrating this week…baptism!
Devotional:
Continuing with Ezekiel’s response stated in our introduction, The Faithlife Study Bible adds great commentary that I want to highlight:
“Yahweh is not asking Ezekiel for his opinion on whether people can be brought back to life. The prophet would have been familiar with that possibility based on past experiences of the prophets Elijah (1 Kgs 17:17-24) and Elisha (2 Kgs 4:32-37), and perhaps Isa 53:10-11. Ezekiel’s response indicates his understanding that the possibility depended entirely on Yahweh’s actions.”1
This is foundational for us to understand. The resurrection accounts from the prophets Elijah and Elisha were not of the prophet’s own doing. It was the Spirit of God working through them. The Spirit…God himself makes this possible. This also, of course is not a result of the dead themselves having anything to do with somehow raising themselves. Paul understood this when he says things like:
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus -Ephesians 2:4-6 ESV
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses -Colossians 2:13 ESV
These are just a couple examples of several discussions Paul has on this topic. The idea is that we were dead…as dead as the dry bones strewn across the valley in Ezekiel 37. Can these bones live? God alone knows…and this is how he has decided to act. God commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones…
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling,[c] and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. -Ezekiel 37:7-10 ESV
These bones begin to take shape. They come together and on them are placed sinews, skin and flesh…but no life. Notice that the breath of life only comes to these lifeless bodies because of the words: ‘Thus says the Lord God’. All life is simply spoken into existence by the God who created the universe. In fact, this passage does just that…it takes us back to creation itself.
We may have done a word study on this in a past devotional, but its worth revisiting. The Hebrew noun Ruah (commonly translated as Spirit, breath or wind) makes multiple appearances in this passage. We also see the related verb Napah (commonly translated as to breathe, to blow, to cause to breathe out) show up.
Let’s look at this sequence from Ezekiel 37:8b-9 as an example: “…But there was no breath (ruah) in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath (ruah); prophesy, son of man (Adam), and say to the breath (ruah), Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds (ruah), O breath (ruah), and breathe (napah) on these slain, that they may live.”
Why is this repetition of the noun ‘ruah’, culminating in the verb ‘napah’ so interesting and how does it take us back to creation?
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit (ruah) of God was hovering over the face of the waters. -Gen 1:2
The ruah (Spirit, breath, wind) of God is hovering over the face of the waters in the beginning…and life springs forth by God simply speaking it into existence. Then he creates man…
Then the Lord God formed the man (hebrew: Adam) of dust from the ground and breathed (napah) into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man (Adam) became a living creature. -Gen 2:7
God, by his Spirit breathed the breath of life into creation itself in the beginning. He creates man (Adam) out of the dust of the ground and breathes into him the breath of life. In Ezekiel, God takes the dry bones of the dead and slain, brings them together and gives them flesh. He then breathes the breath of life into them. You may have also noticed how God repeatedly addresses Ezekiel as ‘Son of Man’…which in Hebrew is literally ‘Son of Adam’. In fact, God addresses Ezekiel as ‘Son of Adam’ throughout the entire book. It’s no surprise that we see ‘New creation’ themes elsewhere in Ezekiel. In the preceding chapter for example, we are shown a restored Eden (Ezekiel 36:35). This is just one of many New Creation themes in the book. I encourage you to study Ezekiel and find other places where these themes appear. It’s a fascinating study!
I love how our passage in Ezekiel 37 wraps up…”So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.” (Ez 37:10). An exceedingly great army! Paul speaks of Jesus’ resurrection as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep in death (1 Cor 15:20). Since Christ has now been resurrected, we now share in that resurrection. The result is the church…an exceedingly great army which is ever expanding! That’s what we are celebrating with baptism this week. New life! Resurrection from death to life through the work of Jesus and the fulfillment of the great commission…to go out to the whole world and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It seems fitting that we will sing these words as we worship this Sunday:
And the morning that You rose
– King of Kings –
All of Heaven held its breath
‘Til that stone was moved for good
For the Lamb had conquered death
And the dead rose from their tombs
And the angels stood in awe
For the souls of all who’d come
To the Father are restored
And the church of Christ was born
Then the Spirit lit the flame
Now this gospel truth of old
Shall not kneel, shall not faint
By His blood and in His name
In His freedom I am free
For the love of Jesus Christ
Who has resurrected me
How do these resurrected ‘dry bones’ from Ezekiel…this exceedingly great army specifically point to the work of Christ and the church today? If it’s not clear enough, Ezekiel 37 helps us out as we read on. In the context of Ezekiel, he is seeing the result of Israel’s broken covenant with God and the covenant curses that resulted from their rebellion. Curses which were warned long ago (see Deut 28). Despite this judgement, God is showing Ezekiel the hope of a New Covenant and a New King who will be given dominion over Israel…
23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings[f] in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 24 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land[g] and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” -Ezekiel 37:23-28 ESV
Takeaway
This is what we are seeing in action when we sing lyrics like those from ‘King of Kings’. This is what we are seeing in action when we baptize…
- We see death as a result of our sin and rebellion.
- We see new life breathed into us by the Lord Almighty…creator of Heaven and Earth.
- We see cleansing and restoration into a new covenant by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
- We see that this new covenant is an everlasting covenant under the prophesied King. The ’Son of David’ – Jesus Christ.
- We see the exceedingly great army of the church of Christ multiply and fill the earth!
- We see the Spirit of God dwelling with his people once again.
- We see the hope we look forward to when all of creation is fully restored…
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.[c] 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” -Revelation 21:1-4 ESV
“Praise the Father, praise the Son
Praise the Spirit, three in one
God of glory, Majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings”
Amen.
Sean Wagner
- 37:3 these bones live – Barry, John D., Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R. Grigoni, and David Bomar. 2012, 2016. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. ↩︎