The Healing of The Nation - The Body of Christ

This morning I would like to share with you about God bringing together the body of Christ and how he showed this to me through the 2 broken bones I incurred through the accident I had last fall.  Now you might be thinking:  What does the coming together of the body of Christ have to do with Rachel’s 2 broken bones?  What God showed me is how he is bringing together the body of Christ as demonstrated by the healing or bringing together of my bones. Thus I have given as the title of this message:  The Healing of The Nation - The Body of Christ.

Our scripture for this message is Ezekiel 37:1-14 which tells us about the valley of the dry bones.  To begin, let me give you some history on the state of affairs of the Israelites at this time. 

The book, What the Bible is All About, tells us that “God had told of Judah’s captivity by Babylon over 100 years before it happened (Isaiah 39:6, Micah 4:10).  The seventy years of its duration were foretold by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11-12).  God even told them the exact time of their exile.  But the captivity did not bring the people of Judah back to God. This judgment of God only seemed to drive the people into greater wickedness. They worshipped idols and set up shrines in the hills and defiled the sanctuary of Jehovah (Ezekiel 5:11).  They had been wicked and stiff-necked; they were guilty of unspeakable sin and abomination. When other nations did what Israel had done, God wiped them out. But all of God’s dealings with Israel were for correction. He was punishing his children for their sin and was teaching them great lessons. He said a remnant would survive.

(Mears, Dr. Henrietta C.; What the Bible is All About; pages 257, 259-260, 262)

The Israelites were a broken people.  They were in captivity in Babylon.  They had become lost, despondent, confused, and hopeless.  They saw no end in sight for ever making it to their own land.

In his commentary, Matthew Henry describes them this way:

God had assured them, in chapter 36, that he would gather the house of Israel, ...and would bring them out of their captivity, and return them to their own land; but there was a reason that rendered this very unlikely:  they were so dispersed among their enemies, so destitute of all helps and advantages which might favour or further their return, and so dispirited likewise in their own minds.

www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/ezekiel/37.html

But God!  He never gives up on us.  He didn’t back then, and He doesn’t now.  God needed his prophet, Ezekiel, to begin ministering to the people, and for 22 years, he did just that.  Ezekiel was in exile too and was a captive ministering to captives, but his only responsibility was to deliver God’s message.

From the book entitled All The Men of the Bible, Ezekiel was known as a charismatic priest because of his contact with the Spirit, his visions, and the frequency with which the word of the Lord came to him.  His name means God Is Strong or The Man God Strengthened.  (Lockyer, Herbert; All The Men of the Bible; page 116)

Now we know the plight of the Israelites and a little about Ezekiel.  Allow me to summarize this scripture in Ezekiel 37:1-14 so that we can learn about the dry bones and the bringing together of the Israelites.

At just the right time, God took his prophet Ezekiel into the spirit and showed him a vision.  It was a vision of an open valley with bones scattered everywhere - as far and as wide as he could see because they were scattered among several countries.  But there was something about these bones.  They were disconnected from each other, and they were scattered flat on the ground - not in a pile.  Scripture says they were very dry, which means ashamed, confused, disappointed, or to wither away.

God asked Ezekiel if he thought these bones could live, and the prophet answered that only God knew.  God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to these bones and tell them to hear the word of the Lord.  The word hear is shama’ (shaw-mah’) in Hebrew, and it means to hear intelligently; obedience; be attentive; understand.  So God didn’t just want them to listen to this command, and let the words go in one ear and out the other.  He intended for them to be attentive and to hear these words with understanding.  He meant business.

Ezekiel prophesied to the bones that God would join them together with sinews, cover them with skin, and put breath into them so they would live.  Then they would know that he was God.

There was a noise, a shaking that took place.  It was a vibration, a commotion, a quaking, a rattling.  God’s word had stirred these bones into action, and the healing process had begun.  The sinews connected the bones, and the skin covered them, but there was no breath.  God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the wind, or ruwach meaning breath, to come upon the slain that they might live.  Upon Ezekiel’s word, the breath came into these reconnected bones covered with skin, and they lived.  The word live is chayah (khaw-yaw;) which means to quicken; recover; repair; restore to life; revive; be whole.  They were recovered; repaired; restored to life; revived and made whole again.  They stood up on their feet and were an exceeding great army! 

But that’s not the end of this vision.

The Lord continued to talk with Ezekiel explaining that these bones represented the whole house of Israel.  The Israelites had said that their bones were dry and their hope was lost, but that is not what God said.  God told Ezekiel to prophesy once again to them that he would open their graves and bring them out.  He would put his spirit in them and place them in their own land, and they would know that it was the Lord who performed it.

Throughout these 14 verses which I just summarized, the word used for said (as in God said unto me) is the same word used in Genesis 1 when God was speaking the creation into existence. 

❖    Genesis 1:3  And God said, Let there be light.

Said is the Hebrew word ‘amar (aw-mar’) meaning to say; command; declare; promise.  We know that if God gives his promise, it is a done deal!  Throughout these scriptures, he was making a promise to his people through this vision which Ezekiel is seeing.

Through this summary of the “dry bones” scripture, God was showing Ezekiel how he was going to bring back together the people of Israel - to rejoin them; reconnect them; restore them; to give them hope; to let them know without a doubt that he was their God.  He needed Ezekiel to help the Israelites to understand this and to have hope.  As many times as God’s people turned away from him - whether thousands of years ago as well as now - he continued to use various ways to bring them back to him.  He could have wiped them out, but he loved them too much and wanted them to know that he would never give up on them.

Now let’s leave the scripture and focus on the healing of the 2 broken bones I had last fall.  How does that relate to these “dry bones”?

I heard God speak this thought of bringing together the body of Christ after I had the accident last fall.  He took me to this scripture in Ezekiel, and he showed me that the healing of my broken bones actually demonstrates the healing and restoring of the body of Christ.  The word “heal” means “to restore to original purity or integrity; to make free from injury or disease; to make sound or whole; to cause (an undesirable condition) to be overcome”. (Merriam-Webster)

First of all, we need to learn about how broken bones heal.  This healing process involves 3 overlapping stages: inflammation, bone production and bone remodeling.

●      Inflammation - starts immediately after the bone is fractured and lasts for several days. When the bone is fractured, there is bleeding into the area, leading to inflammation and clotting of blood at the fracture site. This provides the initial structural stability and framework for producing new bone. 

Let me insert here about how a blood clot is formed:

●       Blood platelets are released when a blood vessel is damaged. They stick to the walls in the area and each other, changing shape to form a plug that fills in the broken part to stop blood from leaking out.

●       Proteins in your blood called clotting factors cause a rapid chain reaction. It ends with a dissolved substance in your blood turning into long strands of fibrin. These get tangled up with the platelets in the plug to create a net that traps even more platelets and cells. The clot becomes much tougher and more durable.

●       Then there are reactions which stop the growth of the clot and offset extra clotting factor proteins so the clot doesn't spread farther than it needs to.

●       As the damaged tissue heals and you don't need the clot any more, the tough fibrin strands dissolve, and your blood takes back the platelets and cells of the clot.  The clot dissolves once its purpose has been accomplished.

www.webmd.com/dvt/blood-clots#1

            This body was created to heal itself - it knows what to do and when to do it.

●      Bone production - begins when the clotted blood formed by inflammation is replaced with fibrous tissue and cartilage (known as soft callus). As healing progresses, the soft callus is replaced with hard bone (known as hard callus), which is visible on x-rays several weeks after the fracture.

●      Bone remodeling - the final phase of bone healing goes on for several months. In remodeling, bone continues to form and becomes compact, returning to its original shape. In addition, blood circulation in the area improves. Once adequate bone healing has occurred, weightbearing encourages bone remodeling.​

This is the process for bringing together the broken bones. 

Let’s bring this closer to home.  How does this relate to the dry bones scripture and the bringing together of the body of Christ?  I believe we can use the 3 stages of bone healing to demonstrate the bringing together of the body of Christ.  I will review the physical healing of the bones in my leg and then compare to the “dry bones” scripture.

●       First is the Inflammation Stage or the protective stage

Once I had stepped into that hole and my bones broke, each of these 2 bones had a separation within themselves.  Because of that separation, I could not walk.  But the immediate healing action of my body caused the blood clots to form, and the area became large and swollen which was a means of protecting the area.

After I had fallen on the ground, God told me that the healing process had begun, and I knew that that was a promise from God.  He didn’t wait for a doctor or an EMT to make an assessment before he began the healing process.  It was immediate because my body was in crisis.  The healing action of my body caused the blood clots to form which caused the inflammation and created the initial structural stability in my leg and foot.  It brought the 2 broken bones together again into perfect alignment which meant I did not need surgery or any outside source to restore them.  This was a promise from God when he said that the healing process had begun.

Israelites:  God knew that his people needed to hear that he would bring them together.  So he took action by calling Ezekiel into service to prophesy to them.  He sent Ezekiel to minister with His words and promises in order to put a stop to the ”bleeding” or that grave mindset.  In this vision, Ezekiel saw the entire area as large and swollen with separated bones.  They needed immediate and restorative help.

●       Next we have the Bone Production phase: clotted blood was replaced by tissue which became hard bone; production means to make, construct, build, assemble, create

My broken bones were still in perfect alignment so no surgery was required. All I needed was to keep my foot elevated above my heart, and I needed God’s healing.  So the blood clot was replaced with fibrous tissue and cartilage known as soft callus.  Over time, the body worked to make, construct, build, and create this hard bone by continuing to send life-giving blood and other proteins to the area.  And we know that the life of the flesh is in the blood! (Leviticus 17:11)

Israelites:  Just as God did with me, he gave the command to Ezekiel to let the healing process begin.  The bones were not piled on top of each other but were laying flat on the ground.  I believe that the bones were laying flat because our God is a God of order.  He had the bones placed to come together with like bones.  He had a plan to restore the bones to the way they were connected before - to their original shape.  Each bone (or part of the body of Christ) would be connected to the correct adjoining bone in order to form its original shape.  This demonstrates the reconnecting of the bones to each other and the rejoining of the body of Christ.  The connection would be so strong that no foreign matter would be able to squeeze into the body and disband it once his spirit was in place.

The bones were connected with sinews or tendons.  The word for sinews in the Hebrew is giyd (gheed) and means tendon. If you search it out, it goes to guwd (goode) which means to overcome and then to gadad (gaw dad’) which means to assemble or gather.  So the sinews were the key factor to bringing and assembling the bones together.  Upon Ezekiel’s prophecy, the bones did not only come together but were covered with skin, and breath was put into them, all of which made them stronger.

God’s breath brought them to life as they stood up.  He had brought the bones and the body back together, but it took his breath to give them life.  The body of Christ is being repaired, recovered and restored with His breath, but does that finish the task of bringing together the body of Christ?

Not just yet...

●       Final Phase is Bone Remodeling - bone becomes compact and returns to its original shape./ Remodeling means to fashion or shape; change structure or form.  This is the final stage and takes several months to complete in the natural.

After 7 weeks of elevating my leg, I began to bear weight with an ankle brace.  This provided less support than the boot I had been wearing, but it allowed me to put full weight on my foot and continue this bone remodeling process.  Weight-bearing is an important component in this healing process because it builds the bones and keeps them strong.

For the Israelites, God still had more for them to aid in their restoration process.  He told Ezekiel to prophesy:

Ezekiel 37:12-14  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.

This was the final step for God in bringing the Israelites back together to their original form (as they were in the beginning before the foundations of the world) so that they could serve the God who restored them, and he could love them with all his heart.  He had to get them out of the graves - out of the death state; out of the death mindset.  They were thinking only about the impossibility of coming out of captivity and into their own land.  They were thinking that they were doomed for life and for generations to come.  They had lost their love for the God who loved them more.  But God!

They had to have God’s spirit in them or they would simply be living and breathing.  They would not completely be God’s people.  With his spirit, they would know - with that intuitive understanding - that God was their Lord who spoke this and performed it.  He was the one who gave them life or chayah (khaw-yaw’), meaning to recover, repair, restore, revive, save.

Just as the blood circulation improves in bone remodeling, the blood had begun to recirculate in these bodies of the Israelites.

❖     Leviticus 17:11  For the life of the flesh is in the blood.

In the same way, we must have the spirit of the living God in us, and we do.  But if he is not awakened or quickened in us, we are only breathing.

❖     1 Corinthians 15:45  ...The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

The bone remodeling process takes a long time - months.  But each day is a healing day and a step in the right direction for complete healing.  The Israelites had to learn the process of weight-bearing.  In the natural, this builds bones and keeps them strong.  For the Israelites, weight-bearing involved handling undesired circumstances, trials, tough times, and it required patience.  But with God’s spirit living in them, they could bear this weight that would be added onto them throughout their life, and they would become a stronger people for it.

So can we put all of this information together to have meaning for us today?  Sure we can. 

God is calling the body of Christ to come together.  He is healing us.  He is calling us to simplify our worship and our service to him.  We don’t need programs; we don’t need large organizations to direct us to serve; we don’t need to separate ourselves by demon-nations.  We need only to serve one God with one Spirit and one Baptism.

●     Ephesians 4:4-6   There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

I want you to know with an intuitive understanding that God is bringing together the body of Christ as demonstrated by the healing of my bones.  It is not just a pulling together and closing the gap between the bones or the body of Christ.  It is healing the body of Christ because of these 4 reasons:

1. Our God is an action God who responds immediately to our crises even when we may not be aware. 
2. He is a healing God who created this body to heal itself and live forever.
3. He builds and constructs us to carry out His work.  He makes us stronger each day by changing our “soft bone to hard bone”; by changing our name from children to sons to priests and lords. (1 Peter 2:9)

4. He continues to shape us to our original formation as when we were with

Him in the beginning.  We are stronger because we are learning how to bear the weight of the enemy’s attacks.  And we are stronger because we can only do this with God’s Word and His Spirit in us.

We need God now more than ever.  Our nation, meaning America, is becoming more and more divisive.  We see the acts of the enemy on the national level, the state level, and on the local level in ways that we have never seen before.  But I believe that God is still in control and working behind the scenes.

I believe that God is healing and bringing together the body of Christ.  As a dear friend prayed in an email a few days ago, “May our eyes be open to see and our ears be open to hear and our hearts be open to feel each person whom you have placed in our paths to invite them to come along and experience the life-changing love of Christ and name changing to "Loved",  "Free", "Beautiful," and "Whole."  This is how the body will heal - by taking action; by opening ourselves to each one placed in our path; by inviting them to come along and experience the life-changing love of Christ.

I want to close with one of my favorite scriptures.  I call it one of my favorite not because it inspires me or makes me feel empowered, but because it shows me time and time again what God’s instructions are to us when we feel defeated or when the world appears to be defeated.  This is the scripture that heals me:

2 Chronicles 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

These are God’s 4 simple instructions.  God is Healing the Nation - The Body of Christ.

AMEN!!!

~ Deaconess Rachel West