The Valley of Dry Bones

This crazy thing happens to Ezekiel that the prophet wrote about in Ezekiel 37 starting in verse 1. 

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. ² And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” ⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had 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 the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

¹¹ Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴ And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

 

Do you feel like the Israelites did? Do you feel your bones are dried up? That all hope is lost? That you are indeed cut off? Do you know that God can breath life into your bones, into your soul?

 

This text tells us three things about how God breaths life into our souls:

 

We come alive when we embrace the Word of God. (v. 4) Over and over again the Word of God is referenced as what gives life to these dry bones. Indeed, it was with His words that God brought creation into existence. Jesus said in the wilderness, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Are your bones dry today? Have read His Word?

 

We come alive when we “know that He is the Lord.” (v. 6, 13) Over and over in scripture, we are told that knowledge and wisdom begin with the fear of the Lord - that eternal life begins with knowing the Lord – that we ought to regularly and often be still and know that He is God. Do you know that He is the Lord? That He is in charge and you are not? Do you know that He knows what’s going to happen even though you don’t and that if you follow Him He will bring through it in triumph. Sometimes we lose hope because we put our hope in ourselves or our circumstances or somewhere else. But when you remember that He is the Lord and you are not, you come alive.

 

Finally, we come alive when we believe God’s promise of heaven. (v. 14). We must never fall into the mindset that this world is our home. When we do, we begin to take comfort in the things of this world, not just the sins but the securities and comforts, things we’ve gotten used to. We must keep our eyes on the things above where our lives are hidden with Christ in God. 

 

Are you hopeless today? Hear, read and receive the Word of God, know that He is the Lord, and look to Heaven as your home and, as God said the Israelites through Ezekiel, “you shall live.” 

 

Love you church.