Valley of Dry Bones

THE GOSPEL MESSENGER -- December 1888

At the request of Elder James Wagner, of Texas, we offer a few general remarks upon some things which we understand to be represented by the "Valley of dry bones," as found in the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, from the 1st to 14th verses inclusive. And that the readers may have the text before them, in connection with what is here written, we quote a portion of it as follows:

"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley, which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about; and behold there were very many in the open valley, and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy unto these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live; and I will lay sinews upon you and will bring up flesh upon you and cover you with skin, and put breath in you and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold, a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone."

This vision of the valley of dry bones has frequently been applied, both in preaching and writing, to represent the unconverted sinner while dead in trespasses and in sins; and the prophesying of the prophet upon these dry bones is said to represent the preaching of the gospel to the unconverted and dead sinner, who is alienated from the life of God through the blindness of his heart, and this preaching to him, it is said, becomes the means by which God gives him life from the dead.

Now, as we have neither time nor inclination to argue this question, it may suffice to say at present, that neither this narrative of the valley of dry bones, nor any other text, will justify such an application of the subject as we have stated above. "The preaching of the gospel is to them that perish foolishness." To them it is the "savor of death unto death," but to the church and people of God who are born of God, it is the "savor of life unto life," as Ezekiel's prophesy was unto the "whole house of Israel" as represented by the dry bones of the valley. The Lord saith unto the prophet, "These bones are the whole house of Israel." And not only this, but. he also saith that. they are "my people;" therefore, or for that reason, "prophesy unto them." "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel."

The whole connection of the valley of dry bones for several chapters going before, shows that God's chosen Israel had greatly departed from the commands and ordinances of the Lord in worship. The kings, the priests, the prophets, and shepherds had led them astray, or left them to be "swallowed up" by heathen customs of worship, and the worship of God in letter and form, as well as in the spirit and power of it, was as effectually hid from view as though they had been in their graves. "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves; should not the shepherds feed the flocks?" or churches? "I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more."

But before proceeding further upon this subject, it will be to our instruction and profit to consider how

wisely the Lord always deals with his prophets and ministers of the word, in order to prepare them for the work he designs them to do in his name. He always adapts his dealings with them to the work which they are called to fulfill. With regard to the valley of dry bones, they are said to be not only dry, but very dry. And though dry and very dry, they are designed of God to represent "The whole house of Israel," who, in their low and degenerate state of worship, were as helpless, and had no more power to revive themselves, or bring themselves back to their former state of peace, joy and prosperity in the land of Israel, than a valley full of dry bones had to clothe themselves with sinews, flesh and skin, and stand up an exceeding great army of living men and women before the Lord. No; Israel was helpless, and nothing but the Almighty and life-giving power of God could again revive them, or bring them back to the simplicity and purity of the worship of God from which they had departed. But there is nothing too hard for the Lord which he has promised or proposed to do. And as he designed to send his prophet to this rebellious, hard-hearted and helpless people, that prophet must have an experience which would adapt him to the work, and enable him to go forth in the Lord's name, speaking with faith and confidence that the word of the Lord should not return unto him void, but that it should accomplish what, the Lord would have it do, and prosper in the very things to which God should send it, even though it should seem as impossible to human reason as it would be for dry bones to rise up into an army of living men. But before the prophet could understand all this, and go forth with confidence, he must first know his own weakness, and be made to feel that he was as passive and helpless in the hands of God as a dry lump of clay would be in the hands of the potter. "Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another to dishonor?"--Rom, ix. And not only must the prophet of God, and all other ministers of the word, know and feel their own insufficiency and weakness, but they must also have an experience of the sovereign power of God to sustain and help them in every time of need. They must be brought into the same low and dependant state of feelings as the people are to whom the Lord sends them, and they must also be lifted up and carried by the same spirit and power that brought the valley of dry bones to life.

Now let us notice a little of the dealings of the Lord with his prophets in this particular. Ezekiel says, "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of dry bones." Was not the prophet entirely passive in all this? He was "carried out," not in the spirit of the flesh, or of the world, but in the "Spirit of the Lord." His bounds were set, and his "field of labor" marked out by the wisdom of God; so he was both carried and set down where the Lord designed to use him. Carried out in the spirit of the Lord. It is very likely, if not absolutely certain, that so far as the sight or knowledge of men was concerned, Ezekiel's body and person as a man, did not go at all from the particular place or locality where he was staying. He was carried away in the spirit of the Lord to see the Lord's Israel in their very dry, helpless state. But in the flesh, as a man, he was not carried. He remained where he was, though at times, he was in bitterness of spirit, and felt all the opposition in his nature against the work of the Lord that any gospel minister now feels when the hand of God's power is upon him, taking him up above all worldly things and interests, and carrying him in the spirit of the Lord, and setting him down in the low valley of humiliation, among the Lord's humble poor. In the spirit of the Lord all God's ministers are taken to the "House of Israel." They become concerned, not so much about "saving souls" from an eternal hell, as they do for the purity of the church of God in doctrine and in order. They are weighted with the work the Lord has assigned them, but are in bitterness of spirit, because they feel so unfit for it. They fear they are mistaken, and are like those that dream, thinking, at times, that it is only imagination, and were it not that the hand of God's power is upon them, they would dismiss it all from their minds and trouble no more about such things.

The prophets of God were in his hand as clay in the hands of the potter. He could mould them for his purpose as seemed him good, and they had no power to resist. David saith, "I am as a man that hath no strength"--"like the slain that lie in the grave"--"I am shut up, and I cannot come forth." Ps. lxxxviii. The prophet Daniel, also, when under the sovereign hand of God, was left alone and saw visions of God's power and wisdom to such an extent that there remained no strength in him, and all his comeliness which he may have thought he had before the Lord's hand of power was upon him, was "turned into corruption, and he retained no strength."--Dan, x. 8. The prophet Ezekiel, also, had an experience which left such a lasting impression upon his memory that, like many Christians of the present time, he could tell the very month, day of the month, and the year when such a display of God's love and power was first made known to him. "The heavens were opened," says the prophet, "and I saw visions of God, in the fifth day of the month." "The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel," "and the hand of the Lord was there upon him."--Ezek, i. 3. "So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me."--Ezek, iii. 14. The hand of the Lord is strong and irresistible. It was upon his prophet and took him and carried him out in the spirit of the Lord, and set him down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused him to "pass by them round about." The prophet thus had an experience of the sovereign and omnipotent power of God in his own case. This experience greatly prepared him to speak even to dry bones in the name of the Lord, with confidence that God was able to make them live. He could not forget the day, the month or the year when the hand of God was first upon him, and when the heavens were opened to him, and he saw visions of God. He was taken in the spirit of the Lord, and not in the spirit of a man, or the spirit of the flesh, or of the world, and set down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. And as he had now seen such a display of the irresistible power of God, he began to feel somewhat as good old Job did when the Lord spoke to him out of the whirlwind, and Job says: "I know thou canst do anything, and that no thought can be withholded from thee."--Job xlii. 2. Hence, when the Lord says, "Son of man, eau these bones live?" Ezekiel was prepared by what he had experienced for himself, to refer it all to the wisdom and knowledge of God. Thus he answers: "O, Lord God, thou knowest." When the church and people of God and their worship is swallowed up with the customs and institutions of the world, none but God can know whether it or any of its members will ever again live a life of faith, hope, joy and peace or not. If Christians live after the flesh they shall die as to their spiritual joys and comforts; for to be carnally minded is death.

But the prophet was commanded to prophesy even unto these dry bones, and say, "O, ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." God can make even dry bones --or that which is here represented by them--hear tile word of the Lord. It is all his work, from first to last, to put the breath of his spirit in his people and cause the south wind of his grace and love to come and blow upon his garden, that the spices of love, joy and peace may flow out again among his people and to one another as in days past.

This, Brother Wagner, is our hope for the church of God at this sad and declining time. We see in many parts of the United States, that the church, like the house of Israel, has been scattered by the wrangling and factious spirit of the shepherds, who seem more intent to feed their own vanity than to feed the flock. But God is able to bring them right again. But "woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks." or churches. O, what a terrible state of things there is among the churches when the under shepherds "kill them that are fed, but feed not the flock!"--Ezek, xxxiv. 2. When they do not strengthen the diseased ones, nor heal the sick by administering any healing gospel medicines, or do not bind up the broken ones, nor bring again that which has been driven away, "but have ruled them with force and with cruelty."--Ezek, xxxiv. 4.

Now this was the state of things in Israel just before, and at the time, the prophet had the vision of the dry bones. The flock of God was "scattered on all the face of the earth, and none did search and seek after them" to bring them back to the fold. What a dreadful state of things! And yet, dreadful as it is, much, if not all, the sin of it lies at the door of the shepherds. "O, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord," "I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them?----Ezek, xxxiv. 10. These are fearful warnings against the unfaithful or idle shepherds who leave the flock of their charge, or who take the oversight simply for filthy lucre's sake. But let the faithful shepherds be not discouraged. Let them go as did the prophet, iii the spirit of the Lord into the low valley, and speak all that the Lord, in his word commands them, and they will soon see signs of life--a shaking among the dry bones and a coming together of the scattered flock. Let vain theories alone, and preach Christ.--M.