Advent: Week 3 Day 1

The Prophecy of Ezechiel



"Prophesy to the dry bones... I am going to open your graves, and you will rise from them, and you will know that I AM the Lord. I shall fill you with my Spirit, and you shall live."

Ezechiel spoke, and the bones were covered with sinews, and muscles, and skin.

Then Ezechiel spoke again, and the Spirit entered, and they lived.

A strange, almost "Halloween" kind of image - but "Halloween" is just the anticipation of All Saints - and the fulfillment of the promise which we profess in the Creed: "et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum" = "and I expect the resurrection of the dead". That Day is coming. Again another fragment of the Easter excitement!

But there is MORE. And it is quite in keeping with my comments about hierarchy. Not only does Ezechiel see (following upon the first command) the re-structuring of the army of the People of Israel, from bone to sinew (tendons) to muscles to skin, and (in a second command) the re-animation with Spirit - we see that there is divine structure here, But we see that this unites Easter with Pentecost: not only are we dead to sin, but also alive in the Spirit, as St. Paul writes - and this is according to the Divine Plan, to be carried out in the fullness of time.

Update: After looking over this a few hours later, I corrected a couple of the worst typos. Also I want to note some things.

1. About this rather incomplete allusion to hierarchy with respect to the re-constitution of the dead body: I am laying groundwork (or, I mean, God speaking through Ezechiel) for St. Paul's Grand Unified Theory which unites computing and biology - you know, it's in his first letter to the Corinthians, about how the body has many members, but is still one body "and so it is with Christ" - but that is one of my many books-in-progress. Still, there is something very profound about the two commands, one to re-constitute the body, and the other to re-animate with the soul... Is this how it is going to happen? Very interesting. John goes too quick at that point, but I'll have to defer all this to another posting.

2. Why does that guy look the same as in other pictures? That's intentional, not just my weak artistic skill - red robe, brown beard - it is intended to suggest Jesus. He is the one who is the subject of all these predictions. Also, sometimes when the prophet "speaks" or "acts" in a way we have seen Jesus speak or act, or (in this case) expect Him to speak or act - well, that is just like the priest offering Holy Mass. The prophet indeed speaks "in persona Christi" - in the person of Christ. God Himself indicated what the prophet is to do - but it ought to be understood as a reference to Christ's actions and words.

3. In this picture, the two commands are symbolized by the two different "signals" from His hands: the arcs indicate the re-ordering of the body, the white beams indicate the re-animation of the soul. I don't exactly remember why I put in a lightning storm (I drew these 19 years ago); I will ponder it and get back to you if I learn anything about it.