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. Ezekiel 37:3 ( New Living Translation)
It would have been logical for Ezekiel to try to wrap his head around the possibility or impossibility of the dry bones living again; to postulate a theory or two; pick up a few bones, do a laboratory analysis and provide a credible answer to Yahweh’s questioning of his conscience…
It would have been justifiable to laugh, to kid, to chuckle at the mere thought of those dry bones scattered all over the valley becoming living beings once again.
Ezekiel would have suited the part of a church smarty pants: busy… deep in thought… pacing the valley… appearing important… brainstorming a solution that could bring the bones back to life… and… “Ahah!” … a series of quick motions to connect a few bones whose sockets seem to match; a flurry of activities to reconstruct a model of one out of the thousands of human skeletons that littered the valley; a great deal of show-off to have a team of medical experts with tanks of Oxygen attempt a resurrection… and then a return to the Lord with an I-told-you-so look saying ‘Lord, I do not think it is possible for these bones to ever live again!’…
An activity of conscience in answer to a question of conscience…
But Elohim is no joker…
Son of man, Can these bones live? Do you believe I can do in you and in others what you cannot? Do you agree my power is neither limited nor frightened by predicaments? Do I amaze you still, or have you seen all I can do yet?
Every day priests and prophets are led to this same valley of very many and very dry bones. Every day the Spirit asks this same question of conscience and every day sons of men get stuck here, trying to figure out the best possible answers. They panic – alarmed at the stretch of helplessness in the horizon before them; running around in circles, evaluating statistics, digging up clues but never moving on…
…Because they would rather work than trust. They would rather consult physics, biology, chemistry, geometry, philosophy, psychology, geography, literature, history – their history… than go back to the giver of the gift of science, the writer of the equation, the author of the question…
Thus they remain in the valley… working… and blaming God for being a hard taskmaster. Not seeing the hand of God in their lives because they focus amiss… majoring on the distractions rather than seeking the hand that led them there in the first place… facing the bones rather than the source of life which the question was intended to lead them to… thinking more about the dryness and the multitude of the bones rather than the possibilities that the presence of God in the valley presents…
Can I walk on water in the face of the storm? Can I travel on dry ground in the middle of the sea with Pharaoh’s army on my trail? Can my 2 fish and 5 loaves feed the hungry multitude waiting on me? Can my Lazarus be brought back to life after four days post mortem? Can these bones live again?…
‘Thou knowest!’ is a tribute to the sovereignty of God. It is a salute to the excellent judgment of Yahweh – He mustknow what best to do and how best to do it. Even though the Sabeans have plundered the oxen and asses; and fire from heaven has burned off all the sheep; and the Chaldeans have raided the camels; and a great wind from the wilderness has killed off every son and daughter; and the only servants alive are those who survived to tell the tale… Thou Knowest… therefore still I worship. (Job 1:13-22).
Where are you looking at??? That is where your heart is – and that is where the depth of your answer dwells. For your mouth will speak as fed by your heart. (Matthew 6:21, Luke 6:45)
Ezekiel passed his test, not because he was trying to sound spiritual, but because he had a history with God, a history he esteemed. He had a God-story. He shared a relationship with God that had proved to him over and over again that God could always do the unfathomable. He had walked with God in the drudgery of daily routine and had trusted him in the magnificence of pain and pleasure. He had seen too many sides of God not to know that God kept secrets… secrets he shared only with His friends… (Psalm 25:14). The depth of Ezekiel’s answer that day in the valley stemmed from his intimacy with God; his experience with the God of the mountains and the valleys… and experience takes time – something the 21st century believer does not have….
Through all ages, there have always been more people working for God than with Him. Because working with Him demands trust, and trust is hard when the only guaranty you have is surreal – caught only in the spirit – completely ridiculous to the logical mind…
… At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship… In all this Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:20,22)
So, what is your God-story?
- Sista Mercie
Note: This article is a sequel to A Cause for Alarm
＃Ezekiel37 ＃Medispirations
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