Ezek. xxxvii. 11 — 13. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel : behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, 0 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. And ye shall knoiu that I am the Lord, tvhen I have opened your graves, 0 my people, and brought you up out of your graves.
THE writings both of the Old and New Testament abound with allegories ; but the interpretation of them is generally given by the writers themselves.
Many of our Lord's discourses were of this nature : they are admirably calculated to convey instruction. We have a very remarkable allegory in this chapter. The prophet sees in a vision a valley of dry bones ; he is interrogated with respect to the possibility of their living ; he is commanded to bid them live in the name of the Lord. On issuing the proclamation he perceived a noise among the bones ; the bones shook, and came, each to its kindred bone ; the sinews, flesh, and skin, then came upon them : lastly, in answer to his prayer, life was communicated to them. This allegory is then interpreted by God himself. It describes the state of the Jews in Babylon, and their unexpected deliverance from it. But it may be properly considered as relating to the deliverance of God's people from the sorer bondage of sin.
We shall take occasion from the text to consider,
I. The state of unregenerate men —
The Jews in Babylon were as unlikely to return to a state of political existence, as dry bones are to the functions of animal life. They themselves despaired of such an event (ver. 11). Their condition fitly represents that of the unregenerate —
The unregenerate are dead, even as dry bones —
[In this light they are represented by the Apostle a. They are destitute of all inclination or ability to serve Godb: they have not a sufficiency even for the smallest goodc."]
They not unfrequently despair of ever obtaining deliverance —
[Despondency is far more common than is generally supposed. Many imagine, like Job, that they are given over by Godd: hence they express themselves like the desponding Jewse — .]
They are not, however, beyond the reach of mercy —
This will appear by considering,
II. The means by which God delivers them from it —
God can work by the meanest and most contemp- tible means —
a Eph. ii. 1. b Phil. ii. 13. c 2 Cor. hi. 5.
d Compare Lam. iii. 18. and Job xix. 10. e Jer. ii. 25.