Breathe On These

Ezekiel 37:1-10

"BREATHE ON THESE!"

October 19, 2025

Ezekiel, a 25 year old priest from the family of Zadok, when he, along with King Zedekiah and 10,000 Jews were taken to Babylon in 598 BC. Five years later, in 593 BC, Ezekiel was thirty when he was called into the ministry. The ministry of Ezekiel was marked by a series of visions. One of those visions, “The Valley of the Dry Bones,” is a very familiar passage of Scripture. God is speaking to the nation of Israel, v. 11. He sees them as a dead nation. He promises this dead nation that a day will come when He will raise them from the dead and use them again for His glory. The ultimate use of Israel will be when they realize that Jesus is the Christ and preach the Gospel to the world. Acts 3:19, speaks of a time of "restoration" when Jesus comes back, and in Matthew 23:39 Jesus says the people will not see him again "until" they say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" When Ezekiel received this vision, he found himself surrounded by the bones of the dead. He was commanded to preach to them. And, he was commanded to pray over them. When he obeyed the Lord’s command, Ezekiel saw those dead bodies brought back to life. Like Ezekiel, we are surrounded by the dead. Everywhere we look there is evidence of the spiritual death that dominates our world. And, like Ezekiel, we have been sent out to tell the dead that they can live. From where Ezekiel stood that day, his task must have seemed impossible. Yet, he obeyed God and the Lord blessed his efforts. Today, the task of reaching those who are dead in sin also seems like an impossible task. If we do what God has commanded, we will also see Him bless our efforts.

I. V. 1-2 A REVELATION - The vision Ezekiel saw was of a valley full of dry, scattered bones. It depicted the desolation, destitution, and devastation of Israel. Until we have a similar vision of the world in which we live we will not be stirred to action. We need to see what Ezekiel saw when he looked out over that valley of dry bones. It is the same vision we need today as we look out over a lost, dead world. He Saw Death - What do you see when you look at the world around you? Although the people around us may be living their lives, working their jobs, enjoying their hobbies, raising their families; while they may be charming, intellectual, reasonable, and apparently fit, if they do not know Jesus Christ, they are spiritually dead. Paul tells us that until the Holy Spirit quickens men and women to spiritual life they are “…dead in trespasses and in sins,” Ephesians. 2:1. We should pray and ask God to open our eyes and help us see the world around us as it really is. That was what Jesus said to His disciples, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest,” John 4:35. We need to see the world as it really is. He Saw Devastation - The bones Ezekiel saw were “very dry.” We need to recognize that this is the very condition of the lost who live around us. In Romans 3:12, Paul writes, “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” This verse reminds us that the lost sinner is unprofitable in the sense that He cannot use them for His glory. The lost are trapped in a quagmire of sin, and they cannot escape. They need someone to tell them about a way out. They need someone to warn them and to point them to the Lord Jesus Christ. He Saw Defeat - The Bible describes the lost around us as “…having no hope and without God in the world,” Ephesians 2:12. The hopelessness in the world is easy to see. The restlessness of the nations, the upheavals in our culture, the horrible condition of our economy, and the constant threat of war, all speak to the fact that people feel hopeless. When there is peace in the heart, there is rest in the life. When peace is missing, hopelessness reigns. I pray that we will be burdened by their condition to point where we do more than talk about it. I pray that we will come to the place where we will actually get up and go to them and tell them about the only true source of hope and peace.

II. V. 4-9 A RESPONSIBILITY - The same responsibility that rested on Ezekiel's shoulders then rests on our today. “…Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” When God asked the question, “…Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel's answer was “O Lord God, Thou knowest.” No doubt Ezekiel was overwhelmed by the sight of all the death, the devastation and the defeat he saw represented by those dry bones. Just like we are often overwhelmed with this responsibility, God has not promised to bless our theological systems, our superficial interpretations, or our philosophical theorizing, but He has committed Himself to bless the preaching of the unadulterated Word of God. He says, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it,” Isaiah 55:11. Only through such preaching will there be “…a noise,…a shaking;…bones coming together, bone to his bone.” It is only the Word of God which can produce such miracles, for “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged 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. The Gospel of Christ “…is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…” Romans 1:16. What does a lost world need? They do not need to hear about our church buildings, our denominations, our preachers, or our opinions. They need to hear the Gospel of grace. They need to hear the truth that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save sinners. They need to hear that He rose again from the dead to save all who will come to Him and it is our responsibility to tell them! Only then will the Breath of Life, the Spirit of God, come down upon them “…breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” With the preaching there may be a noise, a shaking, a coming together of bone to bone, and even the appearance of sinews and skin, but the Word says “…there was no breath in them,” Ezekiel had preached the Word of God to the bones. They had the appearance of life, but they were still dead. They needed the touch of God before they could live. It is our obligation to see that we not only preach with divine urgency but pray with divine fervency. We must be satisfied with nothing less than the outpouring of the Spirit of God. The world of lifeless, useless, and hopeless men and women will never be changed unless the Holy Spirit breathes upon the preaching and the people. James 5 teaches, “…pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”