Ezekiel 37:1-14
1 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord God, you know."
4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord."
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and 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, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
11 Then he said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord."
The Fifth Sunday in Lent
During this season of lengthening days, Jesus and his followers draw closer to the holy city Jerusalem, closer to his trial, sentencing, and death—closer to the day of resurrection, Easter Sunday.
Throughout scripture, we find countless hints or types of resurrection from death. Less than two weeks away from the Friday called Good, the lectionary pairs the valley of dry bones from Ezekiel with the seventh and last of Jesus' signs in John's gospel, when Jesus revives dead Lazarus [John 11:1-45]. Because his physical body would die again, scholars often refer to Lazarus' resuscitation and not his resurrection. What's your opinion? In any case, on this Sunday two weeks before Easter, Ezekiel brings words of life and hope for every aspect of our current situation. It's no surprise that this passage is one of the readings for the Easter Vigil!
Ezekiel
Like 1st Isaiah (1-39) and like Jeremiah, Ezekiel prophesied during the last days of Jerusalem before the Babylonian exile; with Jeremiah and 2nd Isaiah (40-55), Ezekiel proclaimed God's word into the exile.
Along with Jeremiah and all 66 chapters of Isaiah, Ezekiel is very much within the classical tradition of Hebrew/Israelite prophecy that brings us an inspired Word from the Lord. All three books belong to the "writing prophets" whose actual words got inscribed on scrolls. This contrasts with the former prophets whose actions we find in books like Joshua, Kings, Chronicles…
Ezekiel probably began his ministry in 592 BCE. With the first wave of exiles, Ezekiel was deported to Babylon where he preached sorrow and desperation to the Judeans (Ezekiel 1-24), and to the surrounding nations (Ezekiel 25-32). For God's people, being cut off from the Jerusalem Temple meant being as good as dead—their theology located God's presence in a special way in the Temple. Being exiled from the land felt like the negation of God's long-ago promise of turf. Yet after news of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple reached Babylon, Ezekiel began to proclaim hope, revitalization, and restoration (Ezekiel 33-48).
Today's reading comes from Ezekiel's shift from despair to hope. As we do every year, we're moving toward Jerusalem and toward Jesus' trial, conviction, crucifixion, death—and resurrection!
Where We Live
The last time this pair of death and resurrection passages from Ezekiel and John came up in the lectionary was three years ago at the start of Covid. During the intensity and uncertainty of the global pandemic, we needed to claim hope for our future. How much has changed since then?
We're still exiled from a lot of ordinary conventional living; it's "no new normal yet"; long Covid; fallout from too many deaths, bankruptcies, business failures; no resolution for the January 6 insurrections. Russia's undeclared war of aggression against Ukraine feels never-ending. Maybe particularly in the USA and UK (but other countries, too) gun-celebrating, fear-ridden xenophobic politicians appear positioned to win upcoming elections. We still need to trust the reality of new life despite the reality of death for too many of people, structures, dreams, and even minimal expectations.
We need to know death isn't the end.
Ezekiel 37/ Resurrection
Only God can resurrect and restore people, institutions, and creation to a place and a way of being where they can thrive. "Only God," yet divine initiative and human response interweave here. God leads Ezekiel to the valley, directs his attention and inspires his words. Ezekiel obeys and speaks God's word. As a result (with no help from the bones—what could the dead do?), God gathers them together and breathes life into them.
Identical to creation's beginnings, the Word of God with the Spirit of God result in new life. These verses say prophesy/nabi seven times; spirit/ruach ten times. In verses 4 and 14, dabar is God's word-action. In your studies you may have learned dabar is simultaneously both speech and action; in Hebrew, listen is both hearing and obeying.
How about us as mortal "human ones" (Jesus of Nazareth's favorite desgination for himself) obeying God's command to assist God's promise of new life out of death's dry bones?
How does the story of Ezekiel in the valley of dead bones begin preparing us for the surprise of resurrection?
Life birthed from death: Jesus had scars in his post-resurrection appearances.
Cornel West: "We are people of hope. Why do we party on Friday night? Why do we go to church on Sunday?"
This Story Continues
You know the next chapter: after the seventy-year long exile in Babylon (at the end of which Persia defeated Babylon), the Persian king gave Ezra the Scribe permission to return to Palestine to re-establish Yahweh worship there, and also to find officers to administer the land. After he arrived back in the former land of Judah and Benjamin that included the city of Jerusalem, Ezra began that process. Home from exile. Back in the land.
No comments:
Post a Comment