The vision of the valley of dry bones that revived. 1 The hand of the LORD was 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Gon, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no 9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11 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. 12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O 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. 13 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, 14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. LECTURE 1339. The comfort of knowing that God will open our graves. How humble, and full of reverence is the answer of the prophet to the Lord, when he is asked, “Son of man, can these bones live?" "O Lord God, thou knowest." Let this be the reply of our hearts, whatever marvel is propounded to our faith, however unlikely it may seem in our judgment, however unlike to our experience; "O Lord God, thou knowest." No word is impos sible with Thee. Nothing is beyond thy power, if it be according to thy will. Let us but be assured that the thing is written in thy word, and whether it be a fact the most astonishing, or a doctrine the most mysterious, we believe it to be as Thou hast revealed. A whole valley full of bones dead and dry would be an awful spectacle of mortality. And what would be the thoughts of the beholder, on hearing the noise of their shaking, and seeing them come together bone to his bone, and the sinews and the flesh come upon them, and the skin cover them above, and the breath of life come into them? What would be the thoughts of the beholder, on seeing a sight like this, and seeing it take place exactly in conformity with the word spoken by commandment of the Lord? Such an one might reasonably reflect, This vision must be designed to prove that nothing is too hard for the Lord. It shews. that his word is with power, and that whatsoever He thinks fit to speak, He is sure to bring to pass. In the first instance it must refer, as here interpreted by God himself, to the restoration of Israel his people from the grave of their captivity in Babylon to the life of liberty in their own land. But it seems plainly to imply other kindred instances of life from the dead. What is a child of Adam unrenewed by grace, what but dust and ashes? What is a people ignorant of God and of his will, what a world of men at enmity with their Maker, what but a valley full of bones, and they "very dry?" And what may we not hope in behalf of such as these, as to the renewal of their souls by grace, when we hear the voice of God proclaiming, "Behold, O my people, I will open your graves ?" But besides the renewal of life in the soul, there seems to be here also a striking prophetic intimation of the resurrection of the body. Man's reason would be apt to say, It is impossible, if asked of the remains of all the dead in all ages of the world, "Can these bones live?" But faith teaches us to reply more wisely, more strictly according to the limits of our knowledge, "O Lord God, thou knowest." And God be praised, He has told us that these bones can live, that these bones will live. The resurrection of the body is as certain as its death. It will rise to life eternal. We die, but yet we are immortal. Our bodies are laid in the ground. But God will open our graves. And if we die at peace with God through Christ, we shall arise with bodies not vile as these, but like unto the glorious body of our Lord, meet to be admitted to the blessedness of heaven. "O Lord God, thou knowest;" Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest what will happen unto us, both body and soul, hereafter. Visit us then, we pray Thee, with thy mercy, both in our life and in our death. Be with us in the darkness and the grave. And make the dead dry bones that are buried in weakness, dishonour, and corruption, to live for ever in power, and glory, and incorruption. The stick of Joseph shall be united to that of Judah. 15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. 18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? 19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. 20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. 21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 21 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the 28 And the heathen shall know mountains of Israel; and one that I the LORD do sanctify king shall be king to them all: Israel, when my sanctuary shall and they shall be no more two be in the midst of them for nations, neither shall they be evermore. LECTURE 1340. That we are admitted to the privileges here set forth. Have the words of this prophecy ever yet been fulfilled or not? this is the difficult question, which, after full consideration of the subject, has remained still a question, in the minds of many of those who are best able to form a right judgment. To a certain degree these words appear to have been fulfilled, first in the state of the Jewish nation after their return from the captivity in Babylon, and next in the state of the Christian church, God's chosen people, since the Jews have been cast off, enjoying his everlasting covenant of peace, under the sovereignty of Christ their King. And perhaps it is to the Christian church, taken out of all the nations of the earth without distinction, that we ought to apply the former part of this prophecy as well as the latter; interpreting the union of the stick of Joseph with the stick of Judah, as designed to foreshew the incorporation of all the tribes of the earth in one body whereof Christ is the head. And certainly this view of the whole prophecy derives considerable support from St. Paul's having applied a portion of it to the believers in Christ at Corinth; whom when he would persuade to be "not unequally yoked together with unbelievers," he tells them, "ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." 2 Cor. 6. 16. To ourselves then we may apply this prophecy thus interpreted. And whatever further application it may have to the seed of Israel according to the flesh, in some future state and condition of their race, we may rejoice to think, that we are already partakers, unless it be our own fault, of the spiritual privileges here set forth. Union with each other, fellowship with all the saints of God in every age, in every clime, joint membership of one body, joint citizenship in one state, that state Christ's kingdom, that body Christ's church, that church cleansed with his blood, sanctified by his Spirit, and joined unto God through Him in an everlasting covenant of peace, these blessings now are ours, ours now, and ours for evermore. Let us then love God, and love each other, accordingly. Let us live in love, as if He were indeed our God, and we his people. Let us enjoy peace, with the Father through the Son. And let us make manifest the fruit of our reconciliation unto God, by the holiness of our lives in the sight of men. Then shall our numbers be multiplied, and the grace of God magnified, the heathen shall be more largely won from darkness unto light, and the church more abundantly edified, and God more worthily glorified by his unworthy creatures, through the worthiness of his ever blessed Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. The prophecy against Gog. 1 And the word of the LORD always waste: but it is brought came unto me, saying, forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. 2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords : 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: 6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. 7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. 9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. 10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: 11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. 13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all 8 After many days thou shalt the young lions thereof, shall be visited in the latter years say unto thee, Art thou come to thou shalt come into the land take a spoil? hast thou gathered that is brought back from the thy company to take a prey? sword, and is gathered out of to carry away silver and gold, many people, against the moun- to take away cattle and goods, tains of Israel, which have been to take a great spoil? LECTURE 1341. God's superintending providence. Magog is mentioned in the book of Genesis among the sons of Japheth; and so are also Meshech and Tubal. See Gen. 10. 2. And their descendants are supposed to have settled in the parts of Asia and Europe northward of Judea. But as to what power is meant by "Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal," this is a matter of great obscurity, and one on which there is great diversity of opinions. The most probable |