Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-08-10
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
SERIOUS SUBJECTS CAREFULLY
Considered.
a Scholarly Exposition Of the Lesson
Thoughts worthy Of caln ReAec-
tion-Half an Hour's study Of the
scriptures-Time Well Spent.

The lesson for Aug. 10 Is found In
Ezekiel 81: LA. It's subject IL "Ezekiel's
Great Vision" The latter section Of
Ezekiel's prophecy Ii an ideal picture of
the future nation, when 1t shall have
been revived by the power Of Jehovah,
re-established In Its old home. and start
ed on new and more glorious career.
This lesson. the thirty-seventh chapter.
Is one of the most striking passages In
which the contrast between the old and
the new Is illustrated 6guratively. 1t
shows how discouraging was sometimes
the prospect In the exile Of accomplishing
the great purpose for which the prophets
labored. The magnitude Of that task Is
represented by the miraculous feat of
giving life to the skeletons of the dead.
Explanatory.
"rhe hand of the Lord was upon me-:
frequent expression to indicate the di-
rect power of Jehovah. Compare the
driving" Of Jesus into the wilderness to
be tempted.-"Carried me out In the
spirit Of the Lord: spirit is not here per-
sonified. 1t indicates a prophetic vision.
or course Ezekiel did not at this time ac-
tually see such a valley with his eyes.
1t was inner perception. But he had
probably seen such things In his lifetime,
which covered many years Of warfare.
1t was a common custom to throw the
bodies Of men slain in battle into great
pits, not always covered. Those who
have read descriptions Of the Roman
Catholic cemetery in Havana will have
an idea Of Ezekie's vision. The church
requires rental for the use of lots In the
cemetery and when the rental Is overdue
and in any case after the lapse Of few
years, bodies are exhumed and thrown on
the bone pile, which Is of large size.
"Son of Man.: title which Ezekiel
constantly uses of himself. 1t expresses
his humility and his Identification with
the nation Of which he was the prophet.
The dry bones, as indicated in verse
IL, are the people of Israel; scattered,
dismembered, lifeless. powerless, useless.
At this time the descendants of the peo-
pie Of the northern kingdom were scat
tered, some of them in Assyria, some still
In Palestine, intermarried with heather
and largely lost to Hebrew influence. The
people Of judah were divided between
Babylonia, Palestine and Egypt; their
identity as q nation was almost lost. For
the larger part, respect for the ancient
institutions and traditions had become
unintelligent superstition. There was lit
tie regard for the national literature,
slight reverence for the prophets, and
small hope for reformation. Surely dry
bones were fitting symbol Of their con-
dition.
II will cause breath to enter into you:
notice the peculiar order in which the re-
vival Is predicted-the breath first. This
Is quite in accord with Hebrew ideas, in
which the breath was equivalent to the
life, the life-principle, or at least the
most obvious sign Of life. The New Tes-
lament doctrine of the Spirit suggests the
same analogy between physical breath
and spiritual life.
Sinews, then flesh, then skin, then
breath. The uncanny picture of the
prophets vision, this building of the liv-
ing from the dead, is very wildly pre-
sented
The bringing together again of the
bones Of each skeleton, with a great rat
Ting like thunder, is quite similar to the
idea which some people still entertain OF
the resurrection. They have a notion
that the resurrection Of the body means
the reassembling Of the bones and other
constituents from grave and tomb and
the winds Of heaven. Pauls own teach
ing should indicate a very different view,
for he insists that the body that is raised
is not like the body that was buried.
But there was no breath'in them: as
yet the bodies were mere puppets, COM
plete in appearance bat lacking in life
and power, like Adam before the AL
mighty breathed into him the breath of
life.
Students of the Old Testament know
well enough that to prophesy means pri-
marily to declare the word of Jehovah,
to preach, and only secondarily to pre-
dict. The ordinary reader often forgets
this, however, and is confused by appar-
ent contradictions in the scriptural usage
of the word. Ezekiel ''prophesied" to the
people, he also prophesied to the bones
and the winds.
Our bones are dried. and our hope is
lost: the drying up of the bones is an
Old Testament expression for dearth and
weakness. 1--WE are cut off for our
parts" is in the Revised Version 1--WE are
clean cut off," The desperate case of
Israel was such that even her best men
and post hopeful patriots sometimes
feared that no salvation could keep her
from entire ruin. Can these bones
live? the question OF verse has been
asked by many n good man since Eze-
kiers day, as looking on the wreck of
some shattered life he asked whether
such a creature can be regenerated and
made over into a man. The answer can
come only from God. Human power
could never accomplish this often repeat
cd miracle, the evidence of which we see
about us every day.
~ will bring you into the land of Is
raer': again and again this promise
comes in, with its note of hope and cheer
amidst the gloom Of the exile. 1t was
hope that was never given up, though
its actual fulfllment was far from equal
ing the bright expectations of the past.
"Ye shall live, and l will place you in
your own land: here again the applica-
ton to gospel teaching is striking one.
The breathing of the spirit into human
souls brings not only life, but 1t brings
the soul back to its own true home, the
land where God reigns and all men are
brothers, heaven upon earth, the Canaan
which Is reached even here by faithful
pilgrims.
Teaching Hints.
This lesson will certainly be a valley
Of "dry bones" to the class unless the
teacher can give vividness to the vision
by detailed description, and then apply
its meaning to the modern missionary
history Of the church Of Christ. Album
dnnt illustrations can be found in mis-
sionary annals, showing the raising to