Ezekiel 37:1-14 The God of the Impossible
(a) The Prophetical interpretation 12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
(b) The Practical interpretation - God brings life from death.
I. A Deadly Condition - 1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
A. Dead Bones - dead in trespasses and sins: “For the wages of sin is death”
B. Dry Bones - 2 there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry - there is no meat, no marrow, & no moisture.
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. - “having no hope, and without God in this world” (Eph 2:12).
C. Depressed Bones -1 set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones
Valleys speak of depression. We talk of “being down in the valley,”
“the valley of sorrow,” “the valley of the shadow of death”
D. Disjointed Bones - 7 and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
II. A Divine Commission - 3 he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
A. Called to Proceed with Divine Expectancy - 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, And looks to God alone;
Laughs at impossibilities, And cries it shall be done. (Charles Wesley)
“They have gone too far, they are too dry,” “They are too hard,”
“Too scattered,” and “God can’t do it.” God can do it. But not without you.
B. Called to Preach with Divine Urgency - 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD
Only life begets life. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men”John 1:4
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful” zoa—“It’s alive.” - Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life”
You’ve got to prophesy to bones. “Hear the Word of the Lord.”
C. Called to Pray with Divine Fervency - 9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
God breathed into man’s nostrils, and man became a living soul, “All Scripture is given by the breath of God” (2 Tim 3:16).
III. A Dramatic Commotion - 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. -
When God Moves there is: -
1. A Commotion - There is a :-Quaking, (a noise), a Shaking, & a Waking
2. A Connection - (bones coming together)
3. A Cohesion - God brings it together; and things begin to develop
4. A Complication - 8 lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. — they are dead.
Eccl 8:10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
IV. A Dynamic Completion - 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
A. They were Vitalized - "and they lived" - Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
B. They were Energized - “And they stood up upon their feet”
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the Cross. (George Duffield, Jr.)
C. They were Mobilized - "an exceeding great army"
The same God that was in this soldier was in that soldier.
The same spirit that was in this body was in that body.
And, because they had a common body, a common spirit,
and a common commander-in-chief, they became a mighty army.
D. They were Utilized - 14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live,
and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD
have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
Fulfilling God's Purpose for their Lives.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, .... that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
