HOMILETICS. Vera. 1-14.-The valley of dry bones. I. A VISION OF REBTOBATION, Undoubtedly, the restoration of Israel is the immediate thought in the mind of Ezekiel. He sees bis people stricken to death. 'l'be nation is virtually dead. The exiled citizens ot Jerusalem have lost all spirit and energy. But with the restoration will come a restored energy to the people. The nation also will once more rise up as from the dead. These resurrections of communities have been seen more than once in history; e.g. when papal Rome rose on the ashes of imperial Rome, when Germany was reunited under the Emperor William, when France astonished the world by her renewed strength and prosperity after the terrible invasion of 1870. But while this material form of national resurrection is not infrequent, a moral resurrection is more rare. Byron was enthusiastic for the liberation of Greece, and our age has witnessed the establishment of a free Greek kingdom at Athens. But it remains to be seen whether the genius of ancient Greece will ever return to its old seat. .Athens may be rebuilt, and yet .Athene (the goddess of intellect) may still slumber in the grave. A true national restoration is only possible as a work of God. Degenerate nations need more than liberation. from external tyranny-they need national regeneration. II. A VISION OF REDEMPTION. The people could not be truly restored unless they were reformed and renewed in heart and character. Hence the strange and striking form in which the promise of restoration is given. It appears as a resurrection. What happened to ancient Israel happens to all the people of God. They are restored to true life and prosperity by means of a spiritual resurrection. Souls are dead in sin. The world is like a valley of dry bones-ugly in its wickedness, helpless in its con- fusion, utterly unable to save itself. But Christ has come to give new life to the souls of men. His resurrection is a type of the soul's resurrection. St. Paul assumes that Christians are "risen with Christ" (Col. iii. 1). 'l'he gospel is thue supremely a message of life. It comes to us in our most degraded, desolate, despairing condition. It brings life and incorruptibility to light. Ill A VISION OF THE RESURRECTION, A fair reading of this passage will not permit us to take it as a promise of an individual resurrection after natural death. It is a pa.ra.ble of the restoration of Israel. The notion the.t the very bones of the dead a.re to be pieced together and clothed with :flesh, that the scattered dust of corpses is to be gathered from the four quarters of the earth, that the very same animal organism that once lived and died nnd decayed or was devoured by worms shall be built up a.gain, is a coarse, degradiog idea.. It gives no suggestion of a future exalted, spiritual Iife. It is beset with monstrous difficulties when we look at it in the light of the facts of nature. If this old conception of the resurrection be set forth as the only Christian idea, men will not accept it, and the glorious hope of e.ny resurrection or future life at all will be eodnngeretl. But this idea is quite contrary to the profounn teaching of St. Pnul, who says expressly, "Thou sowest not that body that shall be," and "Flesh 11nd blood shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven" (1 Cor. xv. 60). The Bible teaches the resurrection of the dead, but not the resurrection of flesh. The old, coarse, i~i;iossible n_oti?n has no support in the passage before us. We have here a symbolical v1s1on, and 1t 1s no more to be taken literally than the illustration of the two sticks th!lt follows (ve:. 16). Still, as a figure and an image it is strikingly suggestive of tho future resurrect10n. He ~ho restores nat!ons and souls by quickening grace will also awaken them that sleep m Jesus, and raise them up, a glorious army redeemed from death.
Vers. 4, 9.-Prophesying to the dry bones and to the wind. I. PROPHESYING TO THE DRY BONES. Ezekiel beholds the dismal sight of a valley of dry bones. It is a scene of silent desolation. No picture of death could be more complete. The human remains are not even covered with flesh. He sees bones, not corpses. The bones are dry-the vultures have picked them clean, and they have been left to bleach in the sun. They are not even lying in their nature.I order as ranks of complete skeletons. They are scattered about. The unclean scavengers that have been at work among them have ruthlessly torn them joint from joint, and mixed them up in apparently 270 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [oa. xx.x.vn. 1-28.