Ezekiel 37:1-14 The hand of the LORD was on me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD… I. A STRIKING DESCRIPTION OF THE RELIGIOUS STATE OF THE HEATHEN WORLD. 1. The persons made the subject of this prophetic vision are represented as dead. To be dead is to be in a state which excites reset and sympathy. To lose the image of God is to die; because as death destroys the human form, sin destroys truth, holiness, and love, in which the image of God in man consists. This is the unhappy case of the heathen. The heathen world is judicially dead, under the wrath and curse of Almighty God. To counteract generous feelings, and to stop the stream of pity in its very fountain, we are aware that the doctrine of the safety of the heathen has been confidently affirmed. The true question is among such persons often mistaken. It is not, whether it is possible for heathens to be saved, — that we grant: but that circumstance proves the actual state of the heathen world to be more dangerous than if no such possibility could be proved; for the possibility of their salvation indisputably shows them to be the subjects of moral government, and therefore liable to an aggravated punishment in case of disobedience. The true question is, Are the heathens, immoral and idolatrous as they are, actually safe? 2. The number of the dead forms another part of the picture, — "the valley was full of bones." The slain of sin are innumerable. The valley as we trace it seems to sweep to an unlimited extent, and yet everywhere it is full! The whole earth is that valley. Where is the country where transgression stalks not with daring and destructive activity? where it has not covered and polluted the soil with its victims? If we turn to the east, there the peopled valleys of Asia stretch before us; but peopled with whom? With the dead! That quarter of the earth alone presents five hundred millions of souls, with but few exceptions, without a God, save gods that sanction vice; without a sacrifice, save sacrifices of folly and blood. 3. To the number of the dead the prophet adds another circumstance, — "they were unburied": the destructive effects of sin, the sad ravages of death, lay exposed and open to the sun. So open and exposed have been the unbelief and blasphemies of the Jews, and the idolatry and vices of the Gentiles. 4. The prophet closes his description by adding, that "the bones were very dry." Under this strong figure the hopelessness of their condition is represented. Thus the Jews, introduced in verse II, are made to say, "Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost"; and the state of the heathen must, at least, be equally hopeless. As far as mere human means and human probabilities go, "there is no hope." From themselves it is certain there is none. II. THE MEANS BY WHICH ITS MYSTICAL RESURRECTION IS TO BE EFFECTED: "Prophesy upon these bones," etc. 1. This direction intimates that the ministry of the Word is the grand means appointed by God for the salvation of the world. Others have looked for the amelioration of the human race from the progress of science. Another class of speculatists would wait until wars and revolutions have broken up old systems of despotism, and introduced political liberty, before any means are taken to spread the Gospel. Here is another attempt to build the pyramid upon its point. In vain do men expect liberty without virtue. 2. The words may be considered as an injunction on the ministers of the Gospel. But to whom is the message directed? To missionaries only? Nay; but to all who are called "to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." 3. The injunction, "Prophesy," respects not only ministers, but you also who have a private station in the Church. In the society of Christians the particular work of every member is his own salvation; but he owes a duty to the whole body, which is to promote, by all the means in his power, the common end of the association. That common object is to bring "the wickedness of the wicked to an end, and to establish the just." III. The prophecy EXPRESSES THE CERTAIN SUCCESS WHICH SHOULD FOLLOW THE APPLICATION OF THE APPOINTED MEANS. We are engaged in no doubtful cause: the kingdom of Christ must prevail; and the Word which has given Him the heathen for His inheritance is "forever settled in heaven." Our confidence rests — 1. On the power of the Gospel. We are not to consider the Gospel as a mere system of doctrines, and duties, and hopes, offered coldly to the reason of mankind. It is this system, but it is more; it is the source of a Divine influence which exerts itself upon the faculties of those who hear it. The Word is never sent without its Author. "Go, and preach My Gospel, and lo, I am with you." The same union subsists between the Spirit and the Word. 2. Our confidence in the certain success of the Gospel rests also upon experience. Christianity is not a novelty; and its efficacy is not now to be put, for the first time, to the test of experiment. It is that powerful and Divine instrument which has for ages been wielded with glorious success in the cause of God and truth. 3. Prophecy confirms the certainty of success. (R. Watson.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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, |
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