Thursday 23 January 2014

Background

The first half of Ezekiel 37 - the vision of the dry bones -inspired the well-known spiritual 'Dem bones'; it would be interesting to knowwhether the symbolic action with the two sticks in the second halfhas also inspired a song! The vision pictured the restoration of apeople without hope; the symbolic action is about the reunion oftwo kingdoms.

The kingdom that had been one under Kings Saul, David, andSolomon was divided into two following the death of Solomon in 924BC (see 1 Kings 12). The northern kingdom was destroyedin 722 BC. In 597 BC the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem in thesouthern kingdom and Ezekiel was deported to Babylon; Jerusalem wasdestroyed a decade later.

The symbolic action, joining the two sticks to make them one(presumably end to end), was thought to help bring about the actualevent. Those who witness the action ask for an explanation and theprophet announces what God is about to do. The two kingdoms are tobe reunited, have one king, and never again be divided (verse 22);they shall never again defile themselves with their idols and theirdetestable things, or with any of their transgressions (verse 23a);God will save them from all their apostasies in which they havefallen and will cleanse them (verse 23b).

In 2009, today's passage (with the addition of verse 24a) wasincluded in a service for all ages during the Week of Prayer forChristian Unity. That year the resources drew on the experience ofthe churches in Korea where there was also (and still is) a contextof division between North and South. Last autumn, the 10th Assembly of theWorld Council of Churches met in Busan in South Korea andthe political division of the Korean peninsula was a prominentfeature.

To Ponder

• What actions might be symbolic of what you believe God is doingor is about to do? Would they prompt people you know to ask for anexplanation? How would you offer such an explanation?

• What would you say to someone who said it is inappropriate toapply this part of Ezekiel's prophecy to the disunity of theChurch?

• Thinking of other parts of the world where nations have beendivided, in which ones might Christians be inspired by this storyof Ezekiel? Are there others in which they might ignore, challenge,or even reject this story? How would you discern the will of God inthese different situations?