By: Brian Krause and Erin M Diericx
Pastor Brian Krause says…
We have come through another week of social distancing and self-quarantine. If anything, it seems like we are even further from the end of this crisis than it did a week ago. The number of people who have tested positive for the Coronavirus and the number people who have succumb to the virus continues to rise day by day at an ever-accelerating rate. The longer this crisis goes on the clearer it becomes that this crisis will be with us for a long time to come.
This does not inspire much confidence in those who just want things to return to normal. The longer businesses are shut down and people are asked to stay home the less likely it seems that we will be able to get things up and running again. It is now clear that recovery from this crisis is going to take a lot longer than many of us would like. We are in this for the long-haul. We cannot, however, begin to recover until we deal with the deadly affects of the virus. It is only when we start to see the number of people testing positive and the number of people dying going down that we will be able to see a light at the end of this tunnel. Right now, it seems like there is no light at the end of this tunnel. Some may even be feeling like this is the end of the world.
Erin M Diericx says…
It is difficult to even see past the pandemic to know what society will be like when it is all over. It seems like this could be the end, but then I think this must been when Jews felt when Hitler ruled Germany, if not more fear and uncertainty.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
I bet the people of Judah had similar thoughts and feelings when they were in exile in Babylon. The people of God were taken from their homeland. Their capital city, Jerusalem, was destroyed. The temple, which was the sign of God’s presence, lay in ruins. Was this the end? Would God’s people ever be a nation again? They had seen their kin in the Northern kingdom carried off and scattered to the four winds by the Assyrians. Now they themselves were living in exile in Babylon. It seemed that the once mighty kingdom of David and Solomon would never exist again. Was there any hope for God’s people in exile?
God calls the prophet Ezekiel to proclaim a message of hope to God’s people, Judah. In his vision Ezekiel is taken to a valley in the wilderness. The valley is full of bones and the bones are very dry. Ezekiel is in a lifeless place and he sees a vast multitude of skeletons that are dry and lifeless. The fact that the bones are dry says that these people have been dead for a long time. It is in the midst of this lifeless valley of dry bones that God asks a crucial question, “Can these bones live?” It is a question that we human beings wouldn’t even fathom. How could there be any hope at all in the midst of the valley of dry bones? When we look at the valley, we see no hope. The bones are long dried up. There is no flesh remaining. Everything that isn’t bone had long since decayed. How could we even think of life when we look at such lifeless figures. From the text it sounds like the bones themselves are out of order no doubt disturbed by wild animals and the weather. Indeed, when we look at this image from our human perspective we see no hope of life.
Is that the way we feel today? Do you feel as if this crisis has caused too much destruction to repair? There are many people who are out of work and pinching their pennies to try and survive this time. We have set new all-time numbers for unemployment. It feels like even if we could get businesses open again nobody would have money to spend at those businesses. The longer this situation drags on the more dire the situation threatens to become for those who are already living on the edge. As each week goes by the situation seems more and more hopeless. If there was ever a time that we could identify with the dry bones, this is certainly it.
Erin M Diericx says…
Definitely! All one has to do is put on the news and see the numbers growing exponentially. Stories of individuals dying in hospitals without anyone around them, because family members cannot risk being exposed, are starting to make the news. I am sure parents are wondering how to care for their children if they catch it. What if the child catches it first? How will the parents care for them? What if the parents get sick? Who will care for the children? Uncertainty is definitely causing fear, even among the faithful.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
It is in the midst of the lifeless valley of dry bone that God asks the question that we cannot fathom. God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel is shocked. He doesn’t even know how to answer that question. His mind tells him it is impossible, but something deep inside of him wants to cling to some hope. Ezekiel’s answer to God shows that he truly is torn between the reality that his eyes see and the faith he has in the power of God. Ezekiel says, “O, Lord God, you know.” Sometimes our life is like that. We look at our situation and our intellect tells us it is hopeless, but by faith we want to cling to some hope that God can do what we cannot even think or imagine. Torn between what we know to be true, and what our faith tells us is possible, we join with Ezekiel in answering, “O, Lord God, you know.”
Erin M Diericx says…
As Christians, we are definitely torn between two realities: 1, the fear of the pandemic; the fear of dying a painful death; the hopelessness of not being able to care for our loved ones. And 2, the promise of eternal life with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; that there is something beyond this reality of the human conditional. And like Ezekiel, our hope lies in the fact that God knows. God has a plan.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
God indeed knows the future that God has in store for God’s people. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones and to call the bones to come together. Ezekiel prophesies as God commands and he sees the bones come together. Ezekiel watches as sinews cover the bones and flesh comes upon them and skin covers them. It is an exciting moment that then gives way to a moment of disappointment and a feeling of failure, for Ezekiel says, “but there was no breath in them.” What went wrong? How is it that these bones did not come to life? Perhaps Ezekiel’s logical mind was right, it is hopeless. Before the feeling of hopelessness has time to set in God speaks once more, “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.”
Erin M Diericx says…
God gives us breath. God gives us life.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
Sometimes when things are especially broken healing does not come all at once, but over time. We might see signs that things are turning around, but things will not get back to normal all at once. As we go through the long process of recovery from this pandemic it will take time for people to get new jobs, for businesses to reopen, and for life to return to a feeling of normalcy. We will have to be patient and continue to trust in God’s goodness and love.
Erin M Diericx says…
It is important to note that it took two prophesies to bring the bones to life: 1, for the bones to come together, and 2, for the breathe to go into the bones. It takes time to have the bones to come together and to be living beings.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
Ezekiel prophesies to the breath, and the breath comes into the multitude and they come to life and stand on their feet. The impossible has been accomplished through faith in God. God tells Ezekiel that the people of Judah will be brought back to their own land. They will be a nation again. The exiles who feel as if all hope is lost and like their nation is dead and gone will one day be a nation again. They will return to Judah and rebuild its walls. They will rebuild the temple and worship their once again. Although things look bleak to them in the land of Babylon God sends Ezekiel to tell them that all hope is not lost. God has a plan to bring God’s people back to their land and restore their nation.
What does God have in store for us? I do not know what the future holds, but I do know that God has a plan for God’s people. This nation might get back to normal, or perhaps it won’t, but we have an eternal kingdom waiting for us where we will never again experience economic hardships, global pandemic, and death. God has promised us a place in that kingdom by faith. Those who place their hope in an earthly kingdom will be disappointed. We know that Jesus will return one day, and the things of this world will be no more. The things of this world are temporary. The things of Heaven, however, are eternal. Those who trust in Christ place their ultimate hope in the Kingdom of God. One day we will live in that eternal kingdom, and the things that trouble us now will be no more.
Erin M Diericx says…
And so, it will be with us. God has a plan, and he directing us even now, preparing us for what lies ahead. We must keep our’ hearts and minds fixed on heavenly things, on the promise of eternal life, on something beyond this world. This is where our hope lies; in a God who can make the impossible; possible.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
May Almighty God bring us to the kingdom where we will no more fear viruses and death but know life forevermore.