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DEAD MEN'S BONES

Part VI

Dead Men's Bones is based on the scathing denunciation, directed to the Jewish religious authorities, that was issued by JESUS CHRIST.

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness" (Matthew 23:27).

There is actually an interesting corollary to the idea of an external façade of righteousness, which serves to mask an iniquitous internal reality. It also speaks of Dead Men's Bones, and it is located in a critical prophecy, found in the Old Testament, which anticipates the redemption of Israel. I'm referencing a famous Old Testament prophecy in the book of Ezekiel which is imaged as a large valley full of Dead Men's Bones.  

The prophet Ezekiel uttered numerous prophetic themes, with many observations concerning the wretched Spiritual condition of Israel. He was particularly harsh on the subject of the many false prophets which plagued the chosen of the LORD:

"And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!" (Ezekiel 13:1-3).

After many cycles wherein the LORD would warn Israel that He would not tolerate their apostasies forever, He notes how the family of Israel continually broke the covenant He made with them, when He drew them out of Egypt to be His chosen.

"For thus saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant. Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant" (Ezekiel 16:59, 60).

This is a seemingly contradictory statement. On the one hand, Israel has clearly dealt treacherously with the LORD, and in Ezekiel He says He will "deal with thee" in like manner.

"Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 3:20).

On the other hand, through Jeremiah, the LORD says that even though Israel broke the covenant that God made with her, He will remember His promises to her "in the days of thy youth" (Ezekiel 16:60), and He will make another covenant with Israel – but this covenant will be different from the Old Covenant God made with Israel. 

"The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt" (Jeremiah 11:10; 31:31, 32).

As part of the New Covenant that God promises He will make with Israel, He declares that He will gather them from the nations wherein He scattered them, and will bring them back to their ancient homeland. However, when He gathers them from their dispersion, the house of Israel will still consist of Dead Men's Bones.  

"I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries…[but] I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land….[then] the hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit in the midst of the valley which was full of bones" (Ezekiel 36:19, 24; 37:1).

The predictions concerning a New Covenant in Ezekiel and Jeremiah, which were issued in the days of the Babylonian captivity, speak of the house of Judah as well as the Northern kingdom of Israel, which was also dispersed among the nations. This indicates the prophecy of a New Covenant between God and "the whole house of Israel" (with the "whole house" a figure of speech which would include Judah) was issued at a time when both the Northern Kingdom of Israel, as well as the Southern kingdom of Judah had both been conquered. Jeremiah specifically mentions Judah, which was dispersed among the Gentile nations after the Northern tribes of Israel were devastated by the Assyrians.

History records how it was the Persian Union (the kingdom which followed the Babylonian Empire), that looked on the Jewish captives favorably, and issued an edict allowing them to return to Jerusalem.

"Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of the priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee" (Ezra 7:12, 13).

Since the Persian power ruled the known world, this was a fulfillment of God's prophecy through Ezekiel, wherein the LORD said He would gather Israel "out of all countries" where He had caused them to be deported. Further, since the prophet tells us Israel was to be re-gathered into an allegorical "valley" (as opposed to a metaphoric mountaintop) as a large cluster of Dead Men's Bones, the imagery speaks of progressive stages in the LORD's dealings with Israel, as part of His promise to initiate a New Covenant with the people that dealt "treacherously" with Him as they broke His covenant.   

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 31:31, 32).

As Israel derived her very life and existence from the LORD, when the nation refused to continue in the role of mediator to the Gentiles (exporting the life of God to "they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death" - Isaiah 9:2), the light and life of God was removed from them. To illustrate this, we see that when Ezekiel was lifted up in the Spirit of the LORD (and shown the apostasy of the people and the temple in Jerusalem), the Spirit of God, which had enlivened the nation of Israel, departed from the temple.

"And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city" (Ezekiel 11:23).  

Few realize that after the Spirit of the LORD departs from the temple in the Babylonian era, there is not a single verse where the glory of God is seen in the temple after that time. Further, the presence of God moved to the Mount of Olives "on the east side of the city" – and this is indeed the mountain widely associated with the life and times of JESUS CHRIST throughout the Gospels. From the time the glory of God was removed during the Babylonian captivity, and on through the Persian, Grecian, and Roman eras, the nation of Israel never recovered her independence, nor do we see any Spiritual resurgence inspired by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  

This action, wherein God removes His divine presence from the evil which had encroached upon the temple in Jerusalem, also testifies of the unscriptural notion the LORD would ever administer a so called "divine council," in which devils participate (see Part IV of the present work for details on the faulty idea of a "divine council"). It is the very nature of the Holy God revealed in the Scriptures that He continues apart from all iniquity.

When the life which exists in the Holy Spirit decisively moved away from Israel, it is as if the physical nation was transformed into a flesh and blood people, without the presence of the Spirit of the LORD. Although the Jews continued to observe the rituals and religious norms of their existence, the inner reality of the nation could best be characterized as comprised of Dead Men's Bones. 

Through His prophets, God repeatedly pronounced what had happened to the people who were called by His name. It is late in his writings the prophet Ezekiel documents the LORD's perspective of Israel's desperate condition, as God imaged the nation as a large valley filled with Dead Men's Bones.  

"[And when] the spirit of the Lord.…set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of [Dead Men's] bones, [He] caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry" (Ezekiel 37:1,2 ).

It doesn't take a prophet to see the picture of a large cluster of bones which are "very dry," is an indicator the bones represent people who have been Spiritually dead for a long time.   

"Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon 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" (Ezekiel 37:4, 5).

Ezekiel is told by the LORD to prophesy that these bones will come together, and then sinews and flesh will come upon them – but there will still be no breath in them.

"There was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them" (Ezekiel 37:7, 8).

The LORD then tells Ezekiel that before He breathes life into these Dead Men's Bones, they will have abandoned hope, and acknowledged the desolation which has overtaken them.

"Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off…." (Ezekiel 37:11).

The next passage is astonishing, for God then pronounces that He will breathe life into the assembled Dead Men's Bones, and He will open their graves and place His spirit within them.

"Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves….And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live" (Ezekiel 37:12, 14).

Although most Christians are still being taught the Jewish family is still "chosen," even though they broke the covenant under which they were chosen, the New Covenant involves the promise of God to put His Spirit within the "dry bones" assembled in the "valley" Ezekiel was shown. This allocation of the Spirit of the LORD is part of the New Covenant God makes with Israel, which is characterized as the arrival of the kingdom of God in the Gospels.

"Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the [Good News] of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14, 15).

When the leaders of the nation refused to embrace JESUS as the prophesied Messiah who mediates the New Covenant between God and man, Christ pronounced those who reject Him are as Dead Men's Bones who choose to remain in graves that cannot be seen.

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them" (Luke 11:44).

In this regard, it's instructive to remember Ezekiel's prophecy said that when God puts His Spirit within the Dead Men's Bones, He would cause His people to come up out of their graves. He also said this would occur when His people know that He is the one who opens their graves:

"Behold, O my people, I will open your graves…And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live" (Ezekiel 37:12-14).

Obviously, the "scribes, and Pharisees [and the] hypocrites" did not know that Jesus is the LORD who desired to resurrect them through His blood sacrifice, followed by the pouring out of the Spirit of God, which the Father promised He would place within His people. Remember, those who remained in the grave are the "hypocrites" who dealt "treacherously" with God, and they are the flesh and blood people (still in the Dead Men's Bones state of existence), who God referred to through Ezekiel.

"For thus saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant (Ezekiel 16:59, 60).

Thus, God will judge the flesh and blood people who remain in the grave because they refuse the life found in the Spirit – even as He blesses the people who respond favorably to His Life. Regarding that phase of the promise, where Ezekiel says God will bring His people up out of the grave and revive them through His Spirit, it was only the born again portion of physical Israel who obeyed Christ's instructions to wait for the rest of the promise from the Father. After His resurrection (but just before He ascended to heaven), Jesus said the following.

"And being assembled together with them, [He] commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father…And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind…And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost…and they were all amazed" (Acts 1:4; 2:2, 7, 12).

With this exceedingly Good News, those who know that JESUS CHRIST is indeed the LORD, and receive the eternal life He offers in the Spirit, have already begun the glorious eternity we will experience with Him. At the same time, those who refuse His life, even though they are physically alive and outwardly present themselves as decent, caring, and even righteous people, they are already as Dead Men's Bones, who are "as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them."

-- James Lloyd