When I mentioned that I got a new Bible and I was interested in reading it again, anonymous suggested I read it like it was the first time. Anonymous went on to suggest a few passages to help crease the spine. I had actually intended to start from Genesis and got a few chapters in but I couldn’t shake the suggestion from anonymous. Part of me said, stick with your plan but the other feeling I had was curiosity. I believed in my mind that anonymous must have some sort of agenda…. hhhmmm, I wonder what that agenda was? …hhhhm.
Well I couldn’t stand wondering so I decided I would follow the outline graciously provided by anonymous. Through that journey, I would see what the agenda was. Was it favourite passages? Was it proof to a particular view ? was it a riddle of prophesy? Was it a kind person wanting me to experience the joy the same way anonymous did? Is anonymous a wierdo cult guy/gal wanting to brain wash me?….. stop it Don. It was a gift!
Anyway here is the first suggested passage. I have broken the chapter into 2 sections. Well actually, I didn’t, the ESV study bible people did. Read this if you will and give me your comments.
I read this passage a few times and I have my own comments and questions to follow. I will say that I feel like I was nothing but a bag of dry bones before God breathed his life into me.
The Valley of Dry Bones
37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon 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 was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, 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.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
I appreciate you giving into the nagging tugs at your spirit. Those are gifts from God. (Job 26 - God whispers)
ReplyDeleteHere’s my thing. I see things differently than most. I find the bible to be a “perceptual ambiguity” illustrated in the classic drawing, do you see an old woman, or a young woman?
I think the bible is like that. The way we’re made up, the influences on us and our preconceptions all translate how we understand the bible. But because I see it so differently (much to my own annoyment) I have to be more conscious of this than most. But I believe God puts puzzles into the bible to entice our search for him. How often have you found yourself driving in the car thinking about something you read in the bible that was challenging to understand and how much did you enjoy the time you spent turning it over in your mind on the drive into work?
I’m not trying to convert, subvert, or convince anyone despite how it may seem (but you’re right to always suspect). I don't even know what I'd be converting them to since I have no church affiliation. I guess I’m just looking for a “light bulb” moment when someone of a gentle spirit goes, “A-ha, I see it.”
As wonderful as study bibles are here’s my beef with them. I feel they are teaching you to switch off your contact with God (how’s that for a powerful statement?). The minute we hit something we don’t know, we automatically drop down to the study notes instead of letting the Holy Spirit work in us and listening to the whispers that will illuminate (sometimes right away, sometimes not for years) if you let them. The Holy Spirit is like a muscle, exercise it and it gets stronger in you. Ignore it and it withers and dies in you.
I’ve seen it in my bible study group. The minute, the very second, we hit something difficult to understand, the very next thing out of someone’s mouth is, “well, what do the study notes say?” Followed by a general consensus that whatever it says must be right conceding to the superior grace and understanding of the faceless PEOPLE who wrote the notes. There is no thought. No one takes it in, mulls it over, tests it against whispers of the spirit. Trust God to lead you to an answer even if it doesn’t make sense. Here’s the really sad part, I’m much more interested in what you think and what the wonderful people in my small group think than what McArthur or ESV thinks. When I get the McArthur answer from the friends I love and trust instead of the voice of God through them, I feel cheated.
I read over the first part of Ezekiel 37 trying my hardest NOT to let my past influence my reading and trying to see it fresh. I decided I would not read the study notes and just let the text speak. I found that my heart was feeling something different than the text was speaking or was it? I solicited the help of a couple of people. I read the passage to my wife and she said…”Jesus” I read to my buddy and he said “restoration” I read it to my mom and she said restoration as well. These are feelings I had when I read this. I immediately claimed this passage for my self and pondered how God did and does the same thing for me. I read the passage as if it were meant for me. I immediately draw parallels between them and me.
ReplyDeleteThe passage, is by a specific person (Ezekiel) meant for a specific group of people (Jewish Diaspora) promising restoration for Israel. It is a prophesy about the future of the Israelites. We are reading someone else’s email. This happened some 2500 years ago. Was the prophesy fulfilled in 1948 with the creation of the state if Israel? Or is this a prophesy that speaks to us again and again? Can I claim this as my own? Is the prophesy yet to be fulfilled?
I asked my wife why did she say Jesus? She said that Jesus is our breath of life and the only way in which we could ever reconciled and united with God. So when we say Israel do we mean Israel or is Israel a metaphor for heaven or oneness with God.? Is the passage to be read exactly as written with the only meaning, the meaning that was intended for the scattered nation of Israel? Can a passage have multiple meanings or does the passage relate a truth that we can claim. If it were true for the Israelites than it is true for me?
I got to thinking that the oracle describes something that we as God following people have come to learn in so many different ways. We have come to learn that God alone has the power to breathe life. God has the power of restoration. God can breathe His life into dry dead bones and make them live again. Perhaps this passage is an illustration of this truth. This illustration is played out gain and again in so many different ways.
I got to thinking that if this was merely an illustration of a truth or principle, then the Israelites were the puppets and stage performers for my own benefit. My friend Ron laughed saying that its always about me. We all laughed because when we read the passage, the first thing we all did was to lay claim to its promise.
I have to admit, that I have always simply read the Holy Bible and hope that it speak directly to my heart. I understand that it is probably a good thing to understand the passage better, so that I may not be merely deceiving myself. I have never been one for word games or turning words into math and inspected in a 15 directions. Yet is it appropriate for me to continually lay claims to things that were never intended for me….or were they?
Praise be to God for His Word and may He grant us understanding.
What do you see?
dw
You have no idea how much I enjoyed reading that. And that you went out and had an informal bible study of other God inspired people was heart warming. Thank you very much!!
ReplyDeleteI tend to read things more literally than allegorically.
I also believe that we're not reading someone else's mail, that the mail is precisely meant for us. I think of Israel in a post split sense. It is not the Jews who are the "diaspora" because they were in Jerusalem with Christ. It is the rest of Israel that are the "dispursed".
I think that you, your wife, your kids & your buddy, your neighbour, your friends have 2 links to God...Jesus & Abraham. The good book is more than just your guide, it's your family history.
Why else are you so drawn to it?
Funny you should say that. I feel a very srong afinity to Abraham. In fact I call him Father Abraham. I feel a strong link to David and I continue to call him King David. Not only that but he too was a musician. Somehow I feel the praises that he sang out as if they were my own. I respect the Jewish people as brothers, sisters and indeed a part of my family history. I am drawn to it by all these things. But to be more specific it is Jesus that has drawn me to this place. It is Jesus who has drawn me to the Father...to the book. I feel like I am here only by His invitation and I am grateful if I am to be called an Israelite.
ReplyDeletedw