Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Life beyond death
He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know. (3)
This passage has captured the imagination of readers of the Hebrew bible for centuries. The Ezekiel's vision reminds every generation that God not only gives life but restores life, that death will not have the last word, even when all signs of life have been taken away. Our God is the creator God of life, and at the same time He renews the life, its origin and goal. As we read these verses, it is virtually impossible not to envision a desert scene with bones and skulls lying in disarray as far as the eye can see. Ezekiel stands in the midst of the dry bones listening to the word of the Lord.
God the giver of life
The question of God, mortal, can this bones live?, and the answer of the prophet was O Lord God you know that whether these bones would live or not, because you are the creator and the giver of life. The dry bones represent the dusty sense of hopelessness even though the prophet earnestly affirm that the God of Israel who created the world and breathed the life to every creature. This breath moves through the world, raising in to the new life when all the odds are against it. We are the dry bones today and in the valley of death we need to hear the promise of the living God. He is the only source of life and the dry bones of this world will be received life only through the breath of God
God the hope of life
These verses are about arousing the despairing refugee to hope for a return. It is also worth appreciating the way in which Ezekiel based this political hope upon a more fundamental hope for the resurrection of the dead that is the source of all hope, "the chief model of all the deliverances that believers experience in this world". More than anything else human being can hope for the resurrection of the dead is so utterly dependent upon God that there can be no doubt that it lies out of our powers. The life of Christ did not end in the death but it continued through resurrection. The resurrection of Christ ensures us the strength to hope that those who live in Christ will be risen when the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Let me close with a wonderful confession St. Augustine, The restless heart that will find rest only when it returns to God. It is certainly the unanswered longing that is expressed in Ezekiel's vision of the valley of the bones.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for your power over the death so that we are sure about our life that transcends the death in this world. Amen
Rev. Jose C. Joseph Mathew, MTC Farmers Branch, Dallas