Introduction: Michael Card
Michael Card is a well-known Christian singer, song writer, and Bible teacher. And while he is most widely known for his songs, his Wikipedia page comments that he maintains that his musical career is secondary to his calling as a Bible teacher[1].
Card was born in Madison, Tennessee as the son of a doctor and grandson of a Baptist minister. He received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biblical Studies from Western Kentucky University, and was awarded the university’s “Distinguished Alumni Award” in 1997. His studies in physics and astronomy allowed him to support himself while a student by working for six years at a planetarium. He has honorary doctorates in music and Christian Education from Whitfield Seminary and Philadelphia Biblical University.
He and his wife Susan have four children and live in Franklin, TN.
According to his web site[2], Card is the author or co-author of 24 books and 31 albums. He has sold over 4 million albums and has had 19 #1 hits.
The Valley of Dry Bones
Ezekiel 37:1–14 (NIV): The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
Ezekiel was trained as a priest in Judah (the Southern Kingdom), but his hopes and dreams were dashed by the fall of Judah to Babylon, and Ezekiel went into exile in Babylon. The vision of the valley of dry bones is taken as a promise that the nation of Israel will rise again and that God can work miracles in an apparently hopeless situation.
Behold a valley filled with bones
Bones on every side
A valley vast, the floor so full
Of bones so very dry
The Lord did ask
Can these bones live?
Might these bones rise once more?
What else was I to say but
You alone can tell, O Lord
A legion now alive
A resurrected army
A living, holy host
Of a people born again
Then prophesy, O son of man
Cry out to this dead hoard
And when they come to life again
They'll know I am the Lord
And as I spoke what I was told
There came a rattling sound
As bone to bone they formed a mass
Of bodies on the ground
Your dead will come alive
Their graves will lie abandoned
And all those dwelling in the dust
Will wake and shout for joy
And then I called upon the winds
Upon these slain to breathe
At once they stood upon their feet
A mighty, vast army
A legion now alive
A resurrected army
A living, holy host
Of a people born again
Your dead will come alive
Their grave will lie abandoned
And all those dwelling in the dust
Will wake and shout for joy
The Song of Gomer
The book of Hosea is a bit more than I can quote here, but that’s the inspiration for this song….
This book is the first of the 12 minor prophets at the end of the Old Testament. From context, it is set in 790–686 BC, before and during the fall of the Northern Kingdom (722 BC) to Assyria.
The 12 prophets are “minor” in that they’re much shorter than the major prophets, such as Isaiah. The tradition is that these were collected on a single scroll, and the order was established well before the time of Christ, as evidenced by findings in the Dead Sea Scrolls (from 150 BC). The first six of the minor prophets (Hoseah-Micah) deal primarily with questions of inequity, and the latter six (Nahum-Malachai) dealing more with responses to and resolution of that inequity. As an aside, the song Offertory by John Ness Beck, which the FPC choir presents regularly, comes from Micah, chapter 6: And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your Lord.
The book of Gomer is an allegory, talking about God’s unending love for a sinful people. The prophet is directed to marry a prostitute named Gomer, which he does. They have three children. The first, a son, Jezreel (God Sows), refers to the Jezreel valley, where there were many battles. Jezreel is a prophecy of the fall of the Northern Kingdom. The second, a daughter, is named Lo-Ruhamah (Unloved, or Pitied Upon), is also a promise that God will not have pity on the Northern Kingdom for their apostacy. The third child, is also a son, and is named Lo-ammi (Not My People, or Not Mine). In the story line, Hosea is not the father of this child.
The three children are covered in Chapter 1 of Hosea. In Chapter 3, Hosea is directed to bring Gomer back, having divorced her for infidelity. He does so, and actually buys her back from the man (presumably out of slavery or out of debt) for something around a month’s wages.
Don't know what he sees in me
He is spirit, he is free
And I the wife of adultery
Gomer is my name
Simply more than I can see
How he keeps on forgiving me
How he keeps his sanity
Hosea, you're a fool
A fool to love someone like me
A fool to suffer silently
Though sometimes through your eyes I see
I'd rather be a fool
The fondness of a father
The passion of a child
The tenderness of a loving friend
An understanding smile
All of this and so much more
You've lavished on a faithless whore
I've never known love like this before
Hosea, you're a fool
A fool to love someone like me
A fool to suffer silently
Though sometimes through your eyes I see
I'd rather be a fool
This God of yours would not have told
To lift a love that you couldn't hold
And though time and time again I flee
I'm always glad to see you coming after me
Simply more than I can see
How he keeps on forgiving me
The wife of adultery
Gomer is my name
