Intro
I want to begin with a question God asked Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 37:3:
"Son of man, can these bones live?"i
Have you ever faced a situation that you wondered whether anything could be done to fix it? Have you ever had a financial debt that that looked like an insurmountable mountain? Sometimes it’s a sickness, like the woman with the issue of blood had.ii Sometimes it’s a wayward child or an unbelieving husband or no husband. Discouraging difficulties; Impossible circumstances!
Years ago we sang a song that began with these questions. “Got any rivers you think are incrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible. And He can do what no other power can do.”iii
Keep that in mind as we walk through Ezekiel’s experience with him.
Follow with me as we read Ezekiel 37:1-3.
“The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ So I answered, ‘O Lord GOD, You know.’”
Ezekiel was a priest called by God into prophetic ministry. His ministry briefly overlapped with that of Jeremiah. Like Jeremiah he confronted Judah about their unfaithfulness to God. Unlike Jeremiah,iv he was carried away to Babylon with the captives in 597 B.C. His message was primarily to the demoralized Jews who were deported to Babylon.v
In the vision recorded in our text, God is promising to restore Israel. The promise is fulfilled at two levels. A partial fulfillment occurred in 538 B. C. when Cyrus allowed the captives to return to their homeland. The complete fulfillment began in 1948 and will consummate in the Millennium. That is the proper interpretation of this passage.vi However, God operates according to principles revealed in this chapter. So it has application to our lives today. I will talk about both as we walk through the text.
Ezekiel introduces the vision in verse one by saying, “The hand of the LORD came upon me….” God reached out put His hand on Ezekiel. The hand is the part of us that we use to extend ourselves to something. We reach out our hand when we want to touch something—when we want to influence or affect it. God put His hand on Ezekiel. It is an anthropomorphic expression. God took hold of Ezekiel. It’s possible to belong to the Lord, but not have His hand extended to you in this way. When God puts His hand on you, things happen. When the early church prayed in Acts 4:30 they asked God to stretch out His hand “to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done….” Some from the early church took the gospel to the Greeks with great success. Acts 11:21 says, “And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.” They were successful because the hand of the Lord was with them. The hand of the Lord speaks of power. Strength and power are expressed through the hand.The hand of the Lord came on Ezekiel and brought him out in the Spirit of the LORD. This lets us know it is a vision.
Ezekiel continues “and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.” Have you ever had God set you in a valley? Have you ever been in a valley full of bones? I’m talking about circumstances where death is all around you. Ezekiel is living with the Jewish captives in Babylon. Those captives are like dry bones. Their hopes and dreams are dead. Their plans have been dashed.
The Bible is very clear about how they got in that condition. It can be summed up in one word: sin. “The wages of sin is deat.” (Rom. 6:23). Long before this judgment came God pleaded with Israel over and over to repent.
Jeremiah said to Israel, (Jer. 25:4-11) And the LORD has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. 5 They said, 'Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.' 7 Yet you have not listened to Me,’ says the LORD, ‘that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. 8 "Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Because you have not heard My words, 9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the LORD, 'and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.”
That’s how Israel got into their sad circumstance. Circumstances don’t come into our lives by mere chance. The Sovereign God is at work in our lives. God was allowing the circumstances to call them to repentance. Could He solve their problem? Of course, He could; but He is the one who brought these circumstances upon them. The troubles have a purpose. They are God’s attention getters. God wants them to turn from their wicked ways and turn to Him with all their hearts. Anyone who does that will experience the grace and mercy of God.
Ezekiel, can these bones live? Look at:
I. The Condition of these Bones.
Verse 2”Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry.”
Ezekiel saw that the whole valley was full of bones. By the leading of the Lord, he walked all around them and inspected them. There were many bones and the bones were very dry. All the life had gone out of them. All the moisture had dissipated, as they lay bleached out by the sun.
It was an utterly hopeless situation. Nothing left but dry, bleached out bones. Humanly speaking there was no possibility of reviving these corpses. Dead and gone! Only the bones lay there as a reminder of what had been.
Then God engaged Ezekiel with a question in verse 3. “Son of man, can these bones live?” What a question? Humanly speaking, the answer is clear—no way! They are beyond hope. Sick people can be given medicine and perhaps they will recover. But there is nothing the best doctor can do for a skeleton of dry bones. The bones had even fallen apart so that they weren’t even a skeleton. You couldn’t tell which bones were originally connected with the other bones. It was a mess. “Son of man, can these bones live?”
II. Ezekiel’s Answer: “O Lord GOD, You know.”
It’s not the kind of answer you give when you’re on the mountaintop of faith. That answer would be “You can do it, Lord! You could make these bones live.” But Ezekiel’s experience is not a mountaintop experience. It’s a valley experience. He is a man living in the midst of much discouragement. A man like that gives this kind of answer, “I don’t know; You know. I don’t know much of anything these days. I’m not so sure I could give the right answer.” Ezekiel’s answer is not an arrogant answer. All that has been crushed. But it is also not the answer of a man who has lost his faith either. Ezekiel and all his companions have been through some hard times. Their captivity has brought despondency and discouragement. The trials of life have taken their toll. But there is something in Ezekiel that stands firm in God.
His answer sounds a lot like Peter after the crucifixion of Jesus. Peter has not lived up to his own ideals. He has denied the Lord after telling Him he would stand with Him through thick and thin. His self-confidence has been shattered. The resurrected Christ asked him a question, (John 21) “Do you love me?” Do you agape me? Do you love me with the God-kind of love? Peter answers with a diminished form of love. He uses the Greek word, phileo (a friendship kind of love). “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He doesn’t have the courage to use the word agape after his terrible failure; but he knows down deep that he does love the Lord.
Ezekiel’s answer is somewhat tentative. But there is a ring of faith there as well. “O Lord GOD, You know.” Ezekiel knows his on human limitations. He is only “son of man.” But he is talking to the Sovereign God (Adonay Jehovah), the One who created those bones in the first place. So there is faith expressed even in the way Ezekiel addresses the Lord. “O Lord GOD, You know.”
What is the answer to God’s question? Can these bones live?
III. God’s Answer to His own question.
In verse 4 He says to Ezekiel, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!’”
Take action, Ezekiel! Speak My word over these bones. Jesus said, (John 6:63) “…The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life….” Words anointed by the Spirit bring life. “…The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life….” Ezekiel, let’s begin with this. You prophesy to these bones. You declare My word to these bones. That ignites a process of life. “…say to them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!” How can speaking words affect a dry, dead bone? How can Jesus saying “Peace be still” to the winds and waves on the Sea of Galilee calm the storm?vii How can Joshua’s command, “Sun, stand still” stop the daylight from ending?viii When God orders it, the words are powerful.
Ezek. 37:5 “Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: ‘Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live…..’”
Ezekiel, you speak it at my command; and I will bring it to pass by My power. When God tells us to do something, all we have to do is obey. We may not know all the ins and outs of how it will get done. I was encouraged the other day to read the thoughts of a professor at Harvard. He was talking about the experience Columbus had when he connected the new world of America to the old world of Europe. This professor pointed out three things about Columbus. 1. When he left Spain, he did not know where he was going. 2. When he arrived in America, he did not know where he was. 3. When he returned to Spain, he did not know where he had been.ix If Columbus could accomplish great things in that condition, perhaps there is hope for you and me. Perhaps God will do some good things through us in spite of our limitations.
IV. The Process of Restoration.
Verse 7 “So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.”
I wonder if the effectiveness of Ezekiel’s declaration startled him. How would you respond if all of a sudden you began to hear these bones rattling and clicking as the came together? “Oh dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” And suddenly they do hear. Suddenly they do obey. Suddenly they start moving and shaking. The toe bones connect to the foot bones. The foot bones connect to the ankle bones. The ankle bones connect to the leg bones. Everything that lay dormant is moving around. And it is not random. The thigh bone connects to the hip bone just like it was designed to be. The hip bone connects to the spine. And the spine connects to the shoulder bone. And on it goes—bone to bone.
I got this sermon while praying for Life Church—asking God to put the pieces of this puzzle together. And I realized the bones of my church are laying all over Springfield. Many are sitting in a bar on Saturday night. Many were once in church; but now they are disillusioned with church. Many are very dry. Life is found in our connection with the Lord. When people pull away from the Lord they can get very dry. You and I might look at them and think they will never come around. Then the Lord asks us the question He asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” They don’t look like they would ever come around. Humanly speaking the cases look too hard. But the Lord knows the heart of every one of them. He knows His plans for them. He wants you and me to prophesy over them. Declare the word of the Lord over them. Prophesy is another word for preach. Preach to them! Give the word of the Lord. And watch them come alive—not because of who you are—but because of the life that is in God’s word. Watch the bones start to rattle—shake, rattle, and roll bones, come into God’s order of things.
So how will God shape this church? He will bring bones from the north, south, east, and west. He will connect bone to bone. Then He will put flesh on those bones and skin on the flesh.
It doesn’t all happen overnight. But it happens as we proclaim the word of the Lord.
Ezekiel says in verse 8 “Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.”
An amazing miracle has occurred; but there is still work to do. The bones have come together. Sinews and flesh have come upon the bones. It all looks much better. But something is still not right. There is no breath in these bodies. Everything looks good on the surface; but it’s still dead. Have you seen churches like that? Lots of people, well organized, well connected. But something is not right—an absence of the Spirit.
Ezekiel, you must not stop here. This is good; but it does not fulfill the objective.
Verse 9 “Also 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….”
So God tells Ezekiel what to do next. You must not be satisfied with something that just looks good. It has to have the life of God in it. So call forth the “rauh.” There is a play on that Hebrew word in verse 9. Rauh can be translated breath, wind, or spirit.x It can have any of those meanings. After God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, Gen. 2:7 says God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living soul. Ezekiel prophesied over these lifeless bodies and the breath of God came into them. Ezek. 37:10 “So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.”
When the life of God came into them, two things happened: (1) they stood up. They rose to their feet. They became active. That’s what happens to the church when the Spirit of God comes on her. (2) They became “an exceedingly great army”—ready and equipped to fight the Lord’s battles. No longer lifeless and defenseless-- an exceedingly great army (vs 10).
We don’t have to figure out the interpretation of all this. God gives that to Ezekiel in verse 11. “Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.’”
These bones are the whole house of Israel. This is a prophesy to the nation of Israel. Ezekiel’s companions were in a state of hopelessness in Babylon. They felt like dead, dry bones. The said their hope was lost. They considered themselves cut off from their homeland and forsaken by God. God said “I will bring you up out of your prisons that feel like graves. I will bring you into your homeland.”
When their 70 years of captivity were over, God did that for these people. The Medo-Persian king, Cyrus, issued a decree and they were allowed to return to Jerusalem. It was an answer to their prayers. But it was not the complete fulfillment of God’s promise to this chosen nation. We have yet to see the fulfillment of God’s promise to restore Israel. For one thing, the people who returned were only those from the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom remained in captivity. Notice in verse 11 God says, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.” In the last days, God will not only bring home the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin, but He will also bring the northern tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and others. In fact, the last part of this chapter guarantees that. Verse 15 “Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 16 "As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: 'For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.' 17 Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.” As you read on you find this action was symbolic of God restoring both the Southern and Northern tribes of Judah.”
After the fall of Masadah in 70 AD, the Jews were once again dispersed among the nations. For 1900 years that remained unchanged. Then in our lifetime, in 1948, the nation of Israel was restored—the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s last days’ vision began. It is a process. Bones are rattling and some are coming together. But it is far from complete. There still needs to be a spiritual awakening. They still need to receive their king, Jesus. Events have happened; but events lie ahead as well. We are privileged to watch these things come to pass. Glorious days await the nation of Israel. Paul explains it in Romans 8-11. So our text must be interpreted as it is a prophesy to the nation of Israel.
But it has application to all God’s people. For when you think all is hopeless, God may ask you, “Can these bones live?” Be sure you put it in His hands and at least say, “Lord God, you know.” And when He tells you to prophesy the word of the Lord over those bones, do it. For it is an act of faith that God honors. Declare the word of the Lord over your family. Declare the word of the Lord over your finances. Tell your body to line up with God’s provision of health and healing. When God says prophesy, speak the word of the Lord. You may hear some dry bones start rattling and moving.
Invitation
END NOTES:
i All Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise.
ii Luke 8:43-50
iii See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_C._Eliason for source information.
iv JEREMIAH (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers).
v R.E. Hayden and H.M. Ervin, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, Jack W. Hayford, gen. ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2002) p. 1050.
vi Some interpret this passage more symbolically and attribute the promise to the Church. However, the more literal interpretation is correct in my opinion. See Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology by J. Dwight Pentecost, p. 349 for more information. Also see New Spirit-Filled Life Bible notes on this passage.
vii Mark 4
viii Joshua 10:12-13
ix Illustration made available by staff at www.sermoncentral.com.
x Rauh is the Hebrew word used here. See R.E. Hayden and H.M. Ervin, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p.1098.
