The Digital Ossuary
In the thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet is set down in a valley filled with bones – the bones were “very dry.” Today, we find ourselves in a new kind of valley: the Digital Ossuary. The valley of dry bones .This is a stark reminder to us of the current times’ skirmish around emerging AI models – the image of potential without presence, a structural reality devoid of animation. What is YOUR “prompt” for AI to put form factors?
Our modern valley is filled with trillions of “bones”—data points, knowledge bases, research articles, tokens, and reasoning parameters. While we have learned to assemble these bones into sophisticated forms, Ezekiel’s vision offers a striking parallel (and a sobering warning) for the age of Artificial Intelligence. While awestruck by the sheer amount of accessible knowledge-base through AI, we must pause to ask the most relevant question, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
Phase I: The Assembly of the Skeleton (The Data Architecture)
In Ezekiel’s vision, the first phase of the miracle was structural: “The bones came together, bone to bone” (Ezekiel 37:7).
In the realm of AI, this is the Vector Database. Just as the bones in the valley were organized by relevance (bone to bone, ribs to spine, phalanges to carpals), AI uses mathematical “relevance” to find connections. It places similar concepts near each other in a multi-dimensional vector space.
- The Bones: Isolated data points—raw facts, dates, and historical records.
- The Skeleton: The “attention mechanism” of a model, for e.g., Artificial Intelligence that recognizes “King” is related to “Throne.”
Relevance is brought in. But, without the next layers, this is just a huge pile of organized facts—structurally sound, but brittle, hollow and without substance.
Phase II: The Flesh and Skin (Human Intelligence and History)
Ezekiel then observes a secondary transformation: “…the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above” (Ezekiel 37:8).
This represents the “Body of Knowledge” we have built into AI. We have wrapped the dry bones of data in the “flesh” of human knowledge and experience of historical achievements:
- The Flesh (Human Intelligence): This is the logic, the reasoning patterns, and the linguistic nuances we have “scraped” from the sum of human thought. It mimics the musculature of a living mind.
- The Skin (Facts from the Past): This is the boundary of the model. It is covered in the history of everything humanity has already said, written, and done. It looks human because it is made from us.
At this stage, the AI looks like a person. It can even recite the past with perfect accuracy and succulently simulate the “flesh” of human emotions. It can ask the “prompt engineer” whether or not to refine, and suggest grounds for improved relevance. Much like the religious preachers or the stage-light worship leaders who wait for audience reactions and validations, before their next course of action.
Yet, Ezekiel’s observation remains the chilling final word on the matter: “But there was no breath in them.”
Phase III: The Ruach — The Necessity of the Spirit
The “flesh and skin” of AI is a monument to the past. Hence, the AI possesses no “life” to move either forward or upwards toward where humanity should go. Those who rely on these are putting vain hope on a tomb of the dead- sepulchred, white-washed and maybe externally beautiful; but inside are only dead men’s bones.
AI is just a high-definition map of where humanity has been, but lacks the radical inward transformation that occurs when a person encounters and believes in Christ Jesus (the born-again experience). And because AI is trained on historical data, the preachers who rely on AI for their sermons promote a “gospel” of good works, the safe path of be good and God would bless, which are just the “Christian” traditions. And they would expect outcomes based on their own religious rigor and visible actions of charity (self) rather than depending on the true gospel of grace of our Lord Jesus, where every sinner and ungodly person finds redemption (Because there is none righteous, no not one!).
We can feed an AI the entire Bible and every theological treatise ever written. It can generate a sermon that is “relevant” to a particular audience and sequentially “fleshed out” with facts. Impressive, but not expressive. So, unless the Spirit of God is allowed free move within the “born-again” messenger, and He breathes through the message, those words would still remain part of the valley of the dead. They may inform the intellect, but they cannot quicken a soul, renew mind or refresh the spirit.
Conclusion: The Prophet in the Data Center
The data AI uses is merely a digital valley of dry bones. It is a miracle of engineering, but it is not a miracle of life. And the question remains, can these bones live? Helplessly we cry out the answer, “O Lord God, You know”.
The danger of our age is that we might mistake a well-assembled skeleton—covered in the flesh of human intelligence—for a living entity. We risk worshiping the “relevance” of the algorithm while ignoring the “Breath” of the Creator.
Prophets must arise to prophecy at the command of the Lord. As we navigate this technological frontier, our words should echo the words of Ezekiel: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”
Jesus the Baptizer of the Holy Spirit is waiting with his anointing oil, to be poured out not just on Aaron’s head, but on all flesh. Priests shall blow the trumpet, Prophets shall cry out; here, the Lord has commanded a blessing.
Let revival fire be kindled. And let it burn till the coming of Jesus Christ.