Title: Dry Bones and the Spirit of Yahweh
dry bones and the Spirit of Yahweh
Ezekiel's Vision and Israel
Ezekiel is known as a priest who lived during the fall and exile of southern Judea. The book of Ezekiel he wrote shows the most unique literary form throughout the Old and New Testaments. These texts, in the form of so-called apocalyptic literature, describe the reality of the time through extreme symbols, so it feels like appreciating a work of surrealist art. Reading the book of Ezekiel is a bit of a daunting task in that we have to penetrate into the substance it is trying to point to rather than stay on the surface of the symbol.
Ezekiel begins this story by saying that the energy of Yahweh drew him into the middle of the field. Ezekiel was able to walk around the field as if caught in the hands of an angel and levitated. Dry bones were scattered on the floor of the fields. A field where beautiful flowers, forests, cute deer, and other animals and plants were supposed to represent the abundance of life had turned into a valley of death. Yahweh asks Ezekiel: “You man, do you think these bones will come to life?” Ezekiel's answer is: “Lord Yahweh, you know.” After that, the conversation between Yahweh and Ezekiel continues. Yahweh commands Ezekiel to speak His word to the dry bones. “Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD. To the bones the Lord Yahweh says: I will breathe into you and you will live. I will attach tendons to you, put flesh on you, put skin on you, and breathe life into you, and then you will know that I am Yahweh” (4-6).
It is said that when Ezekiel delivered Yahweh's command as it was, the bones moved and made a sound of sticking together. Tendons were attached, flesh was attached, and skins were covered. Now these bones were fully human-shaped, but not yet breathing. Here, Yahweh God gives Ezekiel a second step command. “Thus says the Lord Yahweh. Blow in from the four directions, and bring these dead to life.” (verse 9) As Ezekiel obeyed the command of Yahweh God, when he spoke to Sum, breath blew, and these corpses-like things became living things that could move on their own.
The above seems like magical magic. It is said that there is a sound of the bones scattered here and there after the death of a person coming together, and the tendons and flesh attach to each other to form a human shape, and finally, the breath of life enters them and becomes a real person. As I said earlier, this is not an actual event, but an apocalyptic imagination. The original message this story is trying to convey is different. Verses 11-14 of today's text explain it.
Ezekiel gets an explanation from Yahweh about this symbol of dry bones. Dry bones are the Israelites. They have now lost their country and have been taken into captivity in Babylon. The fate of those who remain in their homeland is no different from dry bones. Their lives were no different than those already buried in a tomb. Yahweh God showed Ezekiel this vision with the promise of pulling them out of the tombs and sending them back to their homeland. Verse 14, the conclusion of the story, confirms this fact. “I will breathe my energy into you and bring you to life, and I will make you go back to your homeland to live. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, must do exactly what I once declared. Yahweh speaks.”
Yahweh's energy
If the book of Ezekiel is a document that only refers to the political liberation of the nation of Israel, it does not mean much to us today. However, although it contains the historical situation of the nation of Israel, it is the word of God that has a universal meaning in that it explains the reign of Yahweh God and his saving actions more fundamentally. As we read the Old Testament, we should always be able to discern the difference sharply. The politics, culture, and art of the people of Israel are not very important to us, but God's saving action through them is decisively important. Today we can read in Ezekiel's visionary story that the energy of Yahweh is the source of life. If Yahweh breathes His energy into the Israelites who have fallen into the same condition as dry bones, they can escape from the tomb of Babylon and return to their homeland, Palestine. It means that the Spirit of Yahweh is the source of life.
To explain this fact more realistically, Ezekiel previously talked about the vision of straight bones, which is related to the creation story of Genesis 2. After God made man out of clay, it is said, “He breathed into his nostrils, and he became a man and breathed” (2:7). In today's text, it is said that the corpse, which had a human form but could not yet breathe, was brought to life by the breath from all directions. Both the breath of Genesis and the secret of Ezekiel are translations of ‘ruah’ in Hebrew. The central message of the Old Testament is that the ruah, the Spirit of Yahweh, is the source that makes all life possible and reviving.
You won't be able to get hold of the word Yahweh's energy or Yahweh's Spirit. How can we believe what we can't see or hear? If we believe that only things that can be confirmed with our senses are real and true, then we cannot believe in God. Think of it this way. Ruach, which is translated as spirit, is also funnyly translated as wind. The ancient Israelites saw wind as a source of life. A warm wind makes plants sprout and flowers bloom, and a cold wind makes them wither. When a person dies, they stop breathing, and when they are alive, they breathe. Seeing this, the wind and the spirit are similar. The Bible writers thought that the source that made human life and the life of plants possible was the invisible ruah, that is, the Spirit of Yahweh. The spirit of Yahweh in today's Word is also this spirit. The Israelites who were taken captive by this spirit were able to start a new life.
personal spirit
After hearing the explanation above, you might be thinking that the Spirit is the principle of life. The principle of evolution, or the principle of genes, or qi. Verse 9 of today's text makes me think about that. “Son of man, speak my words to the breath. says the Lord Yahweh. Hide and blow from the four directions, and pass these dead to life.” It may seem like a scene where the fighters gather their qi before they put their skills to work.
The Spirit of Yahweh, as the Bible testifies, is not simply a natural principle of life or an oriental flag, but a person. See verse 14b. “Then you will know that I, Yahweh, must do exactly what I have declared.” It is said that Yahweh God is not a principle that works automatically if certain atmospheres and conditions are met, but a person who guides the world and history according to his own judgment.
In a situation that was almost like being in a tomb, Ezekiel put his hope in Yahweh God, who works as a personal spirit. Because Yahweh God is the One who goes beyond our expectations and fulfills his declarations and promises. Think about it. Who could have predicted that the cross of Jesus was the way to salvation for mankind? The one who was crucified was not the Messiah, but a cursed man. But God, who fulfilled what he declared, raised Jesus from the cross. Yahweh God, who overturns our general expectations and leads the history of life by his own will, is our true hope in this respect.
How do you view modern life today? We do not know if dry bones are wallowing in the fields like in the days of Ezekiel 2,500 years ago. The war in Iraq is still going on, and the Palestinian conflict also has few days to breathe. The way out of poverty for poor countries and poor people seems very far away. Our system of division into North and South Korea is still in turmoil. We saw clearly in this local election how serious the constituency structure was. I destroyed the Saemangeum tidal flat with the intention of living a little better, and tightened the breath of many mountains and fields, including Mt. Cheonseong, to catch a faster train. Ezekiel's vision of dry bones is our reality.
But under no circumstances do we despair. Even if the ozone layer is completely destroyed, the Earth's desertification is rapidly progressing, and humanity is wiped out, we cannot lose hope. Because the Yahweh God we believe in is the One who “has to do as he has declared”. God is the Spirit of life. He is the Spirit who creates, sustains, and completes life. He is the power to allow dry bones to breathe beyond human expectations. He is the Spirit of life who leads the people of Israel, us from captivity to a life of freedom. Together with Ezekiel, we are people who put all our hopes in God.
Mission to spread the word of life
If we believe and hope that Yahweh God gives life to dry bones, can we just wait for that to happen? Ultimately, only the Spirit of Life makes life possible, but we who know that fact have a part to play. That is the mission that Yahweh God gave Ezekiel in today's text. Yahweh God specifically commanded Ezekiel to preach His word twice. One is “Speak my words to these bones” in verse 3b, and the other is “Speak my words to the breath” in verse 9a. Bones are matter, hidden spirits. Life is the mysterious combination of these matter and spirit. What does it mean to convey the word of Yahweh to the bones so that the bones take shape, and tell the breath to enter into the form and make them come to life? We don't even have the mystical powers to speak to bones and breath, so how do we convey Yahweh's commands to them?
Delivering Yahweh's commands here basically means making known God, the source of life. When students run errands from a teacher, the fact is similar to the fact that the teacher's will is important. We should always think of this as the best mission we have been given. We already believe that the resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate life. Then, it is only natural that we have been given a mission to tell the world about it.
But we need to think about this a little more aggressively. It is also necessary to shake up the world so that the realities of life can be awakened, not just preaching God, the Lord of life, and the resurrected Jesus. Talking to the bones makes them aware that they have been given the spirit of life. To do this, we must make known to the world the more fundamental and deeper world of life that the Bible speaks of, and act as necessary.
But the most important thing is to look back on whether we are not conscious of it even though we are dry bones. No one else can judge that. Only you can know it. Whether we are actually securing the reality of abundant life in our inner world or we are dead like the dry bones of Ezekiel's Valley can be determined most accurately by ourselves. However, it is not without some criteria. When the Spirit of Yahweh comes upon us, our lives are filled with mystical joy and peace. We gain the courage to exist in the true sense, and the spirituality to share true koinonia with others is secured.
Today is Pentecost. It is a day to commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit with us after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Yahweh and at the same time the Spirit of Jesus. Let's ask ourselves a question. Are our souls filled with the Spirit? If not, we must now listen to the word of Yahweh through Ezekiel again. “Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD. To the bones the Lord Yahweh says: I will breathe into you and you will live. Then I will know that I am Yahweh” (4-6).