Spiritual X-Ray: Can These Dry Bones Live?

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

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Spiritual Health Assessment

Our relationship with God pierces right to the bone—the core of our being. Many Christians show no outward signs of disease but become symptomatic after years of neglecting spiritual health. Through Jesus Christ, our spirits should be renewed, our souls transformed, and our flesh subjugated. While some Christians try to hide their maladies, God’s Word is sharp, cutting down to the bone and marrow of who we are. It diagnoses every spiritual condition and writes treatment plans on the tablets of our hearts.

In scripture, bones are emblematic of the human condition. For instance, fearfully following the Lord while departing from evil is like “health to thy navel and marrow to thy bone” (Proverbs 3:8). Ultimately, our well-being depends upon our service and reverence to God:

 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips . . .

Psalm 63:4-5

The Great Physician, maker of heaven and earth, can wholly sanctify us in spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). People try to heal themselves, but manmade prescriptions have side effects. We need a spiritual x-ray and a good report. Whose report will we believe (Isaiah 53:1)? Earthy doctors give dozens of diagnoses and still miss the mark. I will believe the report of the Lord because his Word never returns to him void.

The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.

Proverbs 15:29-30

Bones also represent God’s judgment upon nations. Humankind has rebelled since the beginning, and disobedience kindles God’s anger. How long must he tolerate spiritual idolatry and adultery? Recall how Jeremiah admonished the Israelites. They had broken their covenant with God and, for disobedience, would be made fully vulnerable to their enemies. Notice the bones in this terrifying prophecy:

At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:

And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.

 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?

Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

Jeremiah 8:1-5

Despite warning after warning, the Israelites would not obey the Lord’s commandments, nor were they ashamed of their sins. Therefore, the bones of their leaders would be scattered abroad as a sign that judgment was upon them. Like the Israelites, we are fully exposed before the holy God.

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

Diagnoses

What would our spiritual x-ray reveal? First, sorrow is like osteoporosis, devastating our spiritual health. Assuredly, God is near the brokenhearted and offered his Son to bear our burdens. There is no hope in atheism, no joy in agnosticism, no salvation in science. Only God can bring us out of dark misery into the marvelous light. Indeed, he is our only hope. Just as healthy human bone regenerates, the Lord will renew our inward man day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.

For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

Psalm 31:9-10

What would our spiritual x-ray reveal next? Sin is like spiritual osteoarthritis, wreaking havoc on our well-being (Proverbs 12:4) and jeopardizing our eternal life. Notice how David laments the damaging effects of his transgressions:

O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.

There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.

Psalm 38:1-3

Stiffened with envy, greed, shame, lust, idolatry, and more, sin is well beyond our power to remedy. God is our only hope. Because he loves us, he sent his Son to bear the sins of the whole world. We have been redeemed because of Jesus’s righteousness, for no sin was found in him.

What more could our spiritual x-ray reveal? Vain religion is like osteonecrosis, and there is no scientific cure. Some believers put more faith in denominational creeds, manmade doctrines, and extra-Biblical rites than Jesus Christ. Others reject the work of the Holy Spirit, suggesting that Jesus would leave his people impotent after he returned to heaven. Still, others sow derision and slander to influence the brethren. In other words, these scribes and Pharisees have a form of godliness but lack power. True disciples worship the Lord in Spirit and truth. Legalism and self-righteousness rot the bone:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

Matthew 23:25-27

All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?

Psalm 35:10

Treatment Plan

Rest assured, pleasant words are healthy to the bones (Proverbs 16:24), and what could be more pleasant than the Word of God? The Word became flesh, and in Jesus Christ, we can be fully restored. For those suffering with sorrow, remember he was rejected and well-acquainted with grief, yet he carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:3-4). For those bound in sin, remember, he bore our sins so we could be reconciled with the Father.

 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:22-23

Finally, those puffed up in self-righteousness must humble themselves and walk in the Spirit, edifying and unifying the Body of Christ. How can we believe in Jesus yet deny the operation of his precious Holy Spirit? The Spirit knows the things of God, and he leads us into all truth. Indeed, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us, and his Word is like fire shut up in our bones (Jeremiah 20:9)!

Prognosis

Overall, the prognosis is good for God’s people. He judges the nations, but he also shows mercy. If we turn from wickedness, he forgives, heals, and restores. Recall how the Lord carried Ezekiel (in the spirit) to a valley of dry bones. The vision revealed Israel’s future restoration. Therefore, the old and new covenants prove he is the God of resurrection and life.

And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.

Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

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.

Ezekiel 37:3-6

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He established an everlasting covenant with his people. Therefore, we have blessed hope in his Son, Jesus Christ, risen from the dead in flesh and bone (Luke 24:39), yet glorified. Though we hide our spiritual ailments from men, he knows we have suffered. And just as the Father asked Ezekiel if those dry bones could live, Jesus asks us today, “Wilt thou be made whole?” (John 5:6). Certainly, he is the Great Physician, who came to heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

3 John 1:2