RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD Speaking about the inner reform through the holy Baptism, the enjoyment of the new heart and the new spirit, and being granted the Holy Spirit in them; He was committed to speak to them about the work of the Holy Spirit in them, being “resurrection from the dead.” 1- The valley of the dry bones 1-6. 2- The return of life to the dry bones 7-10. 3- Resurrection of the heart 11-14. 4- Resurrection and unity 15-28. 1- THE VALLEY OF THE DRY BONES Having been driven out of their land, because of their idolatrous abominations and their bloodshed; their cities became desolate and uninhabited. It became like a valley full of many very dry bones. It came to be like a battleground, in which all men were killed with nobody to bury them; it turned into a multitude of scattered bones, that were struck by the sun and the wind for a long time, and that made them very dry. In other words it became like an open grave that contains lifeless bones! This is not a portrait of cities; but rather of the people themselves, who were scattered with devastated souls in many locations, to turn into something like the valley of death, covered by dry bones, that need someone to raise them from the dead, and give them their life back. This vision actually presents to us the resurrection from the dead, as a divine work, continuous along the history, on several aspects; of which are the following: a- Resurrection of the old people through returning from the Babylonian captivity once more to the promised land, as one kingdom, with one new heart. b- Resurrection of the souls from the death of sin, to enter into the life of righteousness and holiness; the divine heavenly spiritual life; through the action of the incarnate Word of God, the Grantor of life. c- Resurrection of the Church of the New Testament of all nations and peoples, those who received faith, to be granted the resurrection from the dead to life, to live as a heavenly bride, through the preaching of the gospel. d- Resurrection of the bodies of saints in the great day of the Lord, when the souls that have already enjoyed the resurrection through their faith in the Lord Christ, receive the bodies that were theirs, in order that man remains body and soul in the eternal glories. The expressions in this chapter were used in the early Church, as a testimony to resurrection. For instance Tertullian believed that this prophecy refers to the resurrection of the Jewish people from the dead captivity; and at the same time, he sees in it a proclamation of the resurrection of the body, which is undeniable1. St. Ambrose says: [How great and compassionate is God’s love for us; setting the prophet to testify to the coming resurrection; for us to see through his eyes. As it is impossible for all of us to be eyewitnesses. In that One, we become as such2.] e- Some scholars believe that this chapter prophesies about the return of Israel and its acceptance of faith in the Lord Christ at the end of ages; when the Holy Spirit works in them to raise them up from the death of disbelief. 1 De Resur. Carn. 29, 33. 2 On Belief in the Resurrection 2:37. 5 As to the vision itself, it came to express in detail the work of God in raising us from the dead. He starts it by saying: “The hand of the Lord came upon me, and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around; and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry” (Ez 37:1, 2). If the hand of God - as we have already said - refers to the second Hypostasis, the incarnate Son of God, it is as though, it was impossible for the prophet Ezekiel to go down to the valley, nor to see the many scattered dry bones, nor to behold the resurrection, unless the Lord Christ holds his hand and leads him by His Spirit, to bring him down to the valley. It is the work of the Lord Christ - the Hand of God - to get us by the Spirit of the Lord out from ourselves, and bring us first to the valley, to get down there to see the death in which we are; then to lift us up to the joy of resurrection together with Him. He promised to send His Holy Spirit “to convict the world of sin” (John 16:8); that divine Spirit which will open our insight, to recognize our death; then to accept the resurrection in us. In other words, if our inner Ezekiel intends to go down by himself to the valley, he would not be able to come out of the ‘ego;’ as this is the work of God, to get him out to behold, through the eyes of the Lord, and not through the darkened human eyes. If he gets down and discovers death, he would be utterly destroyed, as he would not be able to touch and experience the resurrection, except through the Lord Christ Himself, the risen from the dead. That is why the holy Fathers discern between true repentance and human regret: the first is the fruit of the divine Spirit who fills the soul with comfort and hope in the bitter most moments of repentance, and in the midst of tears, whereas the human regret would lead to despair, like what happened to Judas when his conscience rebuked him without resorting to the Savior, and seeking the work of the Spirit of the Lord in him. 2- THE RETURN OF LIFE TO THE DRY BONES As the prophet Ezekiel prophesied according to God’s command, “There was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone” (Ez 37:7). The noise probably refers to ‘the word of God;’ namely to the divine voice who grants life and resurrection, whereas the rattling refers to the intervention of the Spirit of God. As to the bones coming together, bone-to-bone, that happened according to a thorough divine plan. This refers to gathering the Jewish people from the Diaspora, every tribe joining together. And it also proclaims to the integration of the body of Christ; namely the Church, that gathers together from every race, tongue, and nation; as though scattered dry bones, gathered together by the Holy Spirit to become the One holy body of Christ, working together. In that work, it is also a living portrait of the work of the Holy Spirit in the human soul, that became a ruin; He gathers together the bones, in an exalted way, for the energies and talents of man to work together in harmony by a divine plan. “The Lord God says: ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live” (Ez 37:9). It is God’s work, who sends His Holy Spirit on the soul, that became as though slain, and grants it life. The work of the Holy Spirit does not stop there, but will make it bear the power of action and ministry; turning it into “an exceedingly great army” (Ez 37:10). It is as though man, through death, would become a group of many and very dry bones; and in his resurrection by God, he would become an exceedingly great army. Our spiritual life does not know half solutions: either fatal death or powerful and active life. In the psalm of repentance, as the Psalmist encountered with 6 God His Savior, he did not stop at repenting and returning to life after death, but says: “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways; and sinners shall be converted to You” (Ps 51:13). He tasted life after death; so he would not stop preaching that life to every transgressor and every hypocrite, to bring everyone together with him to that new life. 3- THE RESURRECTION OF THE HEART Lest the listener may assume that what the prophet Ezekiel saw, only concerns the return of the Jewish people from captivity to the Promised Land, the Lord clearly confirms that that vision proclaims the resurrection of the soul that died through forsaking its God; and the resurrection of the heart destroyed by despair, to become a grave full of dry bones. He says: “They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off.’.. I will open your graves, and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel”(Ez 37:12). He is talking to people, who are alive according to the body, but dead according to the spirit; that is why He opens up their inner graves and resurrects their souls. Here He repeats the expression “O My people...” After calling them “the people,” they became by the power of resurrection, “the people of God,” who finds pleasure in referring them to Himself. 4- RESURRECTION AND UNITY “Again the word of God came to me, saying: ‘As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘for Judah and for the children of Israel his companions,’ then take another stick and write on it, ‘for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions. Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand” (Ez 37:15-17). In that prophetic action, there is probably a prophecy about the union of Judah with Ephraim; namely, the kingdoms of the north and the south. In this interpretation and symbol - that the Lord Himself presents in detail, it is to be noticed: a- Resurrection is not an individual work, but, even if it were a personal work tasted and enjoyed by every man, yet he receives the resurrection, by being brought into a fellowship in the one people, the one Church, the bride of the One Christ. As the apostle Paul spoke to the Ephesians about the Church, being the body of Christ that enjoys resurrection together with Him, he spoke of her, not as members isolated from one another, but as members of each others, who enjoy the possibilities of the Lord Christ in them; saying about the Church: “He might gather together in one all things in Christ” (Eph 1:10); “Which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:23); “In whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit” (Eph 2:21, 22). In Christ, I get together with my brothers by the union of the Spirit, for the body to be proclaimed whole; and in Him I grow, not individually, but as an integral part of the one holy temple; and represent a living portion in the tabernacle of the One God; namely, in His sanctuaries. My resurrection is an integral part of the resurrection of the catholic (universal) Church; and the resurrection of the whole body is the source of my resurrection in the Lord. b- The Lord chose in His parable two sticks that became one in the hand of the prophet; as though they are the two boards of the cross: the vertical and the horizontal, that came together in the hand of the Lord, to proclaim the unity through the cross. I previously dealt with the sayings of the Church Fathers concerning the work of the cross 7 and its activity, in gathering us together, in a vertical unity as well as a horizontal one1. Our first unity with God, represents that of heaven with the earth; whereas the horizontal unity is that of nations and peoples; namely, the unity of humans together through the cross; the apostle says: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ... That He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity” (Eph 2:13-16). By the cross He put to death the anmity that was between one man and another. c- All the names of the tribes of the two kingdoms of Israel were inscribed on the cross (the two boards); to give every man a place in the crucified, who is filled with love with no discrimination. d- The cause of that one nation or one people, who enjoyed the resurrection from the dead, is “One King over them all” (Ez 37:22); proclaimed as such: “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd” (Ez 37:24). The mystery of unity is for us to be all brought “in Christ Jesus,” our sole Shepherd; “accepted in the Beloved” (Eph 1:6); in whom we enjoy the new creation. He embraces us, we who were once strangers and afar, have become close to Him, to have our building consummated in Him, as a living divine sanctuary, and an eternal temple of God. e- He sets us as one Church, that enjoys the resurrected life; namely, His divine life, through His eternal covenant with us. An everlasting covenant, in which He pledges, not only our resurrection, but our permanent growth, through dwelling in our midst and over us, namely, He dwells among His people, who become, like the cherubim, a divine throne carrying Him. That is what He means by saying: “Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish them and multiply them; and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; Indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Ez 37:26, 27). He delivered that covenant into our hands, to holdfast; through it we are sanctified by His dwelling in us, and His acceptance of us as His throne. That is the source of our sanctification; as He says: “The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel” (Ez 37:28). This is the new Israel, who received God as the secret of its sanctification. 1 للمؤلف: الكنیسة بیت اللّه، فصل "الصلیب". 8 AN INSPIRATION FROM THE BOOK OF E ZEKIEL 37 THE VALLEY OF THE DRY BONES! What do you behold in me, O My Savior? I am a valley of dry bones! By Your Holy Spirit, You grant me the resurrected life! Instead of death, You grant me purity and sanctification! Amazing is Your work, O You the Risen from the dead! You raise me up, and set of me an exceedingly great army! By Your Holy Spirit, You sanctify my emotions and feelings; You sanctify my heart and mind; my thoughts, words, and works You sanctify my talents and possibilities; And You set out of all these an exceedingly great army! You raise me up, to unify with the rest of my brothers! You make us one stick; with one heart and one spirit! You are our resurrection and the source of our unity! Reign over us to make out of us one Church that enjoys the risen life!
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