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Dry Bones Live, Journey #1 |
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Posted By: dryboneslive
Introduction:
Greetings and welcome to the first part of the Dry Bones Live Journey.
Before I get started I thought I would point you to my brief questions and answers page that will detail a little bit about this journey, my background and other details that do not necessarily belong inside of a blog. I will keep it updated as people ask me questions and/or I feel like sharing more.
Journey Overview:
- About Ezekiel
- Word Explanations
- Visions Guideline
- About the Valley
- Personal Application
About Ezekiel:
The book of Ezekiel records part of the life of the priest-prophet, Ezekiel, who lived in Babylon during the Jewish exile. Ezekiel's message was almost always delivered to his fellow Jewish captives and to the Jews still present in the then Palestine region. His messages often detailed good news - and often hard times to come - the Israeli exiles that after being chastened by God would be restored, and God's kingdom would rise forth from God's power revealed. Much of Ezekiel's visions and prophetic acts were fulfilled in 537 B.C. and many say that the complete fulfillment of his prophecies is yet to take place - and will result in a future kingdom that will last forever. A general theme of Ezekiel is that God's people will never again be cast out, if they would but follow Him.
Ezekiel which means "God Strengths" lived from 593 B.C. to 573 B.C. and is identified as "Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi". The Buzi was a family name which may have been handed down from Buz, son of Nahor, Abraham's older brother "Genesis. 22:21". Jeremiah 25:23 refers to the land of Buz which is located in Northern Hejaz, for whatever that is worth knowing.
We know that Ezekiel was happily married until the death of his wife in 587 B.C. "Ezekiel 24:18" and he was most likely a member of the Zadokite priesthood "which I plan to detail in a future Dry Bones Live Journey" and achieved full hegemony during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. The Zadokite priesthood is claimed to have its origin in either "a" Aaron at the time of the exodus, or "b" based on Jewish mythology, Solomon. I have not found creditable support for which of these is correct but welcome feedback from anybody who can provide definitive proof.
Interestingly, the Zadokite's rejected temple sacrifice, and offered instead baptism in water as the way to ritual purity and closeness to God. For them, the divine could be experienced first-hand, without temple ritual or priestly intermediaries. This might be something I compare to John The Baptist and what he believed in a future Dry Bones Live Journey - but no promises on this one. The Zadokites are referenced in the Dead Sea Scrolls and some theorizes that Third Isaiah "if you do not know what this is, study the history of the Book of Isaiah to find out" was written by a Levitical priests who return to the Zadokite priesthood after the exiles again assumed power.
Ezekiel often applies to himself the title "Son of Man" throughout the Book of Ezekiel "occurs over 90-times" and is the title by which Christ Jesus was to refer to Himself. This is where many people find the proof to call Ezekiel an 'Old Testament Example of Christ', which I tend to think is an acceptable practice, but I can find much more to use as proof then just this title being used by Christ, to proof such a statement.
Ezekiel uses the reference "Spirit of God" and "Spirit of the Lord" throughout this book, making three distinct references: 11:5, 37:1, and 36:26 - and through this we can conclude that Ezekiel clearly anticipated a New Covenant "new birth" experience, which would be fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, by the Spirit, as recorded within Acts 2:1-4, some 500 years after Ezekiel departed the earth.
In Ezekiel 37:11-14 the doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body is implied, and is further supported by 1 Samuel 2:6, Job 19:25-27, Psalm 16:10-11, and Daniel 12:1-13. This issue, and whether I agree with it or not, is something I will try to write about in a Dry Bones Live Journey, but again, no promise on this one. It seems to be a bit off-target of what I feel this purpose of this Journey is all about. Spiritually I believe that we can find "Restoration in Christ", if we have found ourselves - such as I have and the cause of this Journey - to have lost our First Love in the chaos of selfish life. Over the last many years I have seen many more pastors destroy their families because of their churches, then I have seen pastors destroy their churches because of their families. Often what happens to pastors is they lose their faith and zeal in their First Love, and then with it they destroy their family, and eventually their ministry. Thankfully I have never destroyed my family because of my ministry, but I have come close in years past.
Contextually, Ezekiel Chapter 37 is designed to be a message of hope to a despondent people whose holy dwelling place was ravaged and who's people where exiled, and who had lost nearly all their faith in their Creator.
Word Explanations:
There are many words within Ezekiel Chapter 37 that have both actual and symbolic meaning and application. As you may discover through the months ahead as I partake of this Journey I am taking, I am (and always have been) a Biblical Literalist. By this I mean: "What the Holy Text says is what the Holy Text Means." If the Holy Text says the world was created in 6 days, well by-gosh, it must have been! If the Holy Text says Christ refused to take vinegar while on the cross, this does not mean anything more then He was trying to keep His vow as a Nazarite priest, which forbids one to have vinegar. Such things are no great mystery. For many years I wondered why Christ did not take the vinegar when it was offered to him, and I suspect most pastors out there do not have the slightest clue why. But careful and literal observation of the Holy Text clearly tells us why Christ refused it. As He said to His disciples when asking about why He spoke in parables, some things can only been seen by those who open their eyes. One of my personal goals in this Journey will be to help me open my own eyes to parts of the Holy Text I have never seen before. There is a wealth of knowledge within the pages of the Holy Text, simply waiting there for it to be revealed to those with eyes to see. I, for one, like to see what the Holy Text says, in its more pure and literal context - and while I do not have a problem using stories or symbolism, I will also go back to the literal text of what the Holy Text says when push comes to shove... when rubber meets the road... and when what I believe and what the Holy Text says is different, I'm always the wrong one.
All that said, here are a few words that I feel are going to have both literal and symbolic relevance to this Journey. Some of these terms I am going to spend an entire future Journey Entry on, just explaining what I feel they might mean. Others I may not address any time other then here.
Bones: Bones are the most obvious of the symbolic figure within Ezekiel 37.
They could represent the Jewish exiles, who according to verse 11, have given up all hope of Israel because they have been in captivity in Babylon 10+ years.
Bones can also represent the ministry we are in. When our ministry is alive and moving forward we could say that our bones are full of life, while as when our ministry is no longer fruitful we can easily see how it is a ministry of dry bones.
Bones can also represent Israel, or our own country. The land we live within. When properly maintained bones last for the life of our existence "and beyond". Likewise, when the land we live within keeps it's focus on the Creator it will be a land protected by it's people "the flesh" and strong.
Proverbs 17:22 states "NKJV", "A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones." From this we can gather that dry bones are the opposite of having a good and healthy heart. This one speaks true to me. When I first came to the realization that my faith was not as good as it should be, that I truly had lost sight of my First Love, it was because I realized my spirit had become dry. I no longer found joy in what others were finding joy in. I no longer found myself bowing my knees in prayer and petition. As Proverbs says, my spirit had become like dry bones.
Very Many: This could represent the total number of exiles, virtually all that was left of the Israel nation after years of being exiled. This can also represent the vast numbers of ministers who have lost their faith and zeal in their walk with the Lord. As is all too evident there are vast numbers of God's Children who have lost their faithful zeal in their Creator. It is my hope that along the Journey this that we will discover many of the facts of what leads ministers into a state of loosing their fire, passion, zeal, and calling from the Lord.
Very Dry: This could represent the condition of Israel's lost hope and the miracle required to bring the people back to life. Like the Atacama Desert (the driest place on the planet) the dryness easily kills all living creatures - yet the same dryness helps preserve and mummify those who have died at such incredible levels that even mummies thousands of years old are in perfect condition. Amazingly, in the heart of this desert is the village of San Pedro. At an altitude of 7,000 feet and surrounded by a green oasis, years ago it was considered the center of a Paleolithic civilization that built impressive rock fortresses on steep mountains encircling the valley. It is said that Chiu Chiu has a village known for boasting of one of the oldest (if not the first) church built by the Spanish Conquistadores! There in the midst of the driest place on earth is a vibrant and historical evidence of the fact that no matter how dry a place is, life still abounds!
Breath: The Hebrew ruah can be translated as "breath," "wind," or "spirit". I will address this term in much greater detail in a future Dry Bones Live Journey. This word is key in so many aspects that it just has to be looked at in depth! The very breath that breathed life into the universe and beyond, into the very essence of adam and all mankind since, is the same breath the brought forth life into the valley of dry bones, into the life of Jesus' close friend, Lazarus, and perhaps was the same breath that brought back life into Christ Himself three days aft His life was taken - and the same breath that can bring forth new life into the dryness of ministers who have lost their way while walking through a valley of death.
About The Valley:
I have spent a great deal of time in research with open maps, a great deal of exo-biblical text, and as many translations of Holy Text as I own in an attempt to locate the possible physical location that Ezekiel's vision may have taken place. While I realize it was simply a "vision", from my own personal experience with visions I have found that God often uses real places to reveal to us the truths He desires us to gather from the experiences of the vision itself. One could research nearly all of the visions accounted in the Holy Text and - with a large amount of research - eventually find real and physical places for most of the locations experienced within those visions.
At this point I have no yet been able to locate an exact position within the vision, and as such I have no name for the valley yet. I have created a separate page in which I will be documenting my notes and "if ever" I locate an exact valley of Ezekiel's vision, I will make such documentation for this. And, of course, should someone out there have thoughts or knowledge on this I invite you to leave a comment within the Dry Bones Valley Name page! I will spend time researching your comments and bring them into perspective of my own research and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to share with everyone what I feel the name of this visionary valley is!
Something I was wanting to share here-and-now, but have "just now" decided to wait to talk about is exactly how all those bones got into the valley in the first place! This is something we might actually be able to document and provide solid Biblical and exo-Biblical facts on. Due to the amount of documentation it will take to provide such evidence, I do not feel this first Journey Entry is the place to document all that. However, it is very important to understand where these dry bones came from - in a quest to discover how it is we as ministers often go from being zealous to being dry in our spirits. This is a vital, vital, part of understanding and hope we can really dig into this piece of the puzzle in a future Dry Bones Live Journey.
Personal Application:
Well, this is the section were the truth has to hit home. If all I was doing this for was academic purposes I wouldn't be doing this. In my early years of being a Christian I spent the vast majority of my time "as I suspect most of us do" learning doctrine and attending local religious debating groups, in a quest to "better understand". What I learned after realizing that most of that had little spiritual affect on me totally and radically changed my entire perspective on my Christian life and ministry. One of my first pastors always use to tell me "Don't worry about what others say until you understand what the Bible - and God - says about a topic." His wisdom and trust so speaks to me now, so years later, that I often think of him and the wisdom he taught me.
The large majority of ministers - even more so today when we have a Christian educational system that stresses more about church politics and education then they do the Bible and spiritual growth - I have encountered tend to realize that after the thrill of being a pastor is over, the rest is all about hard work. Human work and Spiritual Work - Not Doctrinal Work! While doctrine is at the root of our believes, I have found when pastors start preaching mostly doctrine it is because they have lost their passion and the connection with the Spirit that keeps them fresh and in the Word.
My father always use to say he went to the church he attended because the "preacher was real, because he emphasized the red text and the rest was just supportive text." By this my father meant that, for him, the most important part of the Bible and the Christian life was about how one puts into daily practice that which helps us define who we are in Christ.
For the last year one of the local ministers where I reside has been "trying" to engrain into his people that they are Children of God, that their identity is not found in this world - in what they do or do not do - but rather in being a Child of the Most High. I think this pastor is doing something because he himself realized that he had lost sight of who he was, and is, within the Kingdom of God. Yes, he may be a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; Yes, he may be a father and a good husband; Yes, he may even be a good citizen in his community, "yet none of that matters", he shared with me a few months ago, "if he is not first a Child of God."
What I hope to accomplish in this Journey is to find some way to find personal application of the vital and stark reality of Ezekiel chapter 37 - and get it engrained into my life! The pictures we find in this Chapter of Ezekiel are a panoramic view of the nation of Israel. Israel is unlike any other nation among that long roll call of world states, because it entered into a covenant arrangement with God Almighty, a covenant which incidentally carries the very reputation of God within it. My life, my family, my ministry, my entire existence is no different. I have entered into a covenant with God Almighty and it is 100% necessary for me to be ever present of this.
I will not sit here and tell anybody that my ministry has been perfect. It has had some awesome and amazing days, yet it has also had a few days I wish never happened. At no time during the months ahead as I take this Journey through Ezekiel 37 am I going to pretend that I've always done it right - for none of us have. Instead I plan on being totally open, and totally honest with those of you out there reading this! We cannot... let me say that again... we cannot... we cannot expect to be ministers of God if our own spirits are dry. For many years I walked the day-in-and-day-out of ministry without the spirit of life within my bones, without Him in my vision and ministry - and for many years my ministry suffered, and those under my ministry felt the affects of it.
When I left the ministry I did so because it was the right thing to do. Not because others felt I should leave, they didn't. Not because my ministry was not producing fruit, because it was. Rather I left the ministry because I knew inside I just could not continue to go on, to move forward, to go another day, without first getting right with God - without going back and finding the First Love I had, yet lost somewhere along the way of being a minister.
In Closing:
If any of this speaks truth to you, if any of this makes you feel like it makes me feel, if any of this makes you recall events in your own life, I invite you to join together with me in the months ahead. To take this journey with me through Ezekiel 37. Please, leave comments and share what is on your heart!
Thank you for reading.
DryBonesLive
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Posted: 08/28/06 6:57pm - Total Views: 1,218 - Category: Christian Life
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Nickname: dryboneslive
Gender: Male
Age: 38
Blog Entries: 3
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After nearly 12 years in Christian ministry I found myself outside the doors of the church for personal and spiritual reasons. It could be said I left the church but not the faith. If you are like me than I invite you to join me on a journey to refind...
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