Turn with me to Ezekiel 37. We know that confessing the Word is what we’re supposed to do as God’s sons and daughters. As I was thinking about this, God brought to mind Genesis 1 where God speaks and in Exodus where God told Moses to tell Aaron to speak. For me there are three passages of scriptures that really brings this home.
In Genesis 1, as we just mentioned, it says “God said,” and “God said,” and “God said.” We know that in this record when God speaks He is creating – He’s bringing what’s in the spirit into the realm of the natural. We have God’s life and nature so when we speak we can bring into the nature what is now in the spirit.
In Exodus, when God tells Moses to tell Aaron to speak, what God is doing – now listen to me – God is telling Moses and Aaron that, with your words, you are destroying the works of the devil. Think about that! Everything God tells Moses and Aaron to do is designed to bring down the strongholds that the devil had established in Egypt.
Here in Ezekiel 37,God is bringing dry bones to life and He’s telling Ezekiel to bring it to pass through his words! The image here in Ezekiel is restoration – bringing something back. Capture that.
Here’s what we see: in Genesis God speaks, in Exodus God tells Moses to tell Aaron to speak and in Ezekiel God tells Ezekiel to speak.
One of the biggest mistakes the Body of Christ makes is not speaking the Word. We shut up. We don’t talk. We don’t speak God’s Word.
This morning we’re going to see that sporadically speaking God’s Word is not enough. We’re not going to read through the passage because it’s familiar to us. We’re going to begin with verse one and work our way to verse 14.
In Ezekiel 37, verse one, we read: “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.”
Where was Ezekiel? He was in the spirit. Do you see this? He was in the spirit. This is where everything starts! Ezekiel was in the spirit. So, before we can see it take place in the natural, guess where it starts? In the spirit.
When it says God “set me down,” it means “to rest, to setting down.” The image is spending time in a place.
So God brings Ezekiel to this place and says sit. I want you to take in what you see. And the place is full of dry bones.
To help you understand the significance of what God is saying let me ask you something: what are bones? In Hebrews it says faith is the substance of things not seen. Your bones make up the substance for your body. Without bones, your body cannot function. Your bones are your foundation. They are the structures on which the rest of the body lives.
Verse two: “And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.”
Not only did God want Ezekiel to see the dry bones, now He wants him to walk among them. All he can see is dry bones. Everywhere. As far as the eyes can see.
Notice the verse says the bones “were very dry.” In the natural these are bones without any moisture. For those of you who remember your biology, you know that part of each bone’s make up is water. 22% of your bones contain water. Bones represent 14% of your total body weight.
So, when God talks about dry bones, He’s talking about bones with no moisture, bones that are brittle – that break easily. Let’s bring this home a little bit. Arthritis. Osteoporosis. They are examples of bones that are drying out. Do you see the image? So you have to do something to get moisture back into those bones and that’s what the medicine is designed to do – to increase the moisture in the bones.
Unfortunately, medical science has not found a way to reverse the process. God can reverse the process! So dry bones, they are bones that have lost their moisture. These are “very dry bones.” They are useless.
Notice also here in verse two that it says they were “in the open valley.” They were not protected like we are. We dwell under the shadow of the Almighty. Do you see this? Open valley versus dwelling under the shadows of the Almighty.
Verse three: “And he said unto me, Son of man …” Stop right there. The “Son of man” is a person with a sin nature that has the Spirit of God on him. We have God’s spirit in us! What we are going to see in this record is what a man with a sin nature with God’s Spirit on him will is accomplish by speaking God’s Word.
Let’s continue. “Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.”
What is God asking Ezekiel? Well Bro. Barry we just read it – can these bones live? What is God really asking Ezekiel? Think about it. If God is asking Ezekiel can these bones live, He already knows that they can! So, this is what the Lord is saying: “Ezekiel, do you see these bones the way I see these bones?”
So, the next question, at least for me, is why didn’t Ezekiel say “No?” By faith, he must have seen the bones the way the Lord saw the bones. Let me say it this way. God is asking Ezekiel, “Can this impossibility become possible?”
Many of us would probably have answered “no.” Why? Most of us live our lives based on what we see, not what the Bible says – not what God says.
Ezekiel had a relationship with God. He knew that if God asked a question He knew the answer. The Bible says God is not the god of the dead but of the living. So when God asks the question, He’s saying these bones can live again.
Ladies and gentlemen, all of us, if we live long enough, we’re going to have dry bones in our lives. The question for us will be do we believe that we have a God who can make those dry bones live again? Whatever that dry bone may be for you.
Not having enough money may be a dry bone for you.
A lump in your breast may be a dry bone for you.
A bad relationship with your children, your parents, your in-laws may be a dry bone for you.
Do you think your Heavenly Father can give life to that dry bone you’re facing? Do you believe that? Ezekiel knew that God could give life to those dry bones and until you know that God can give life to your dry bones, your dry bones are going to remain dry bones. And you’re going to tell people “I’m praying, I’m believing God is going to take care of this ‘dry bone’ and I’m waiting.” As long as you have doubt in your mind, that dry bone is not going to receive any moisture!
Look at verse 4. “Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”
“Ezekiel, I want you to speak My will to these dry bones.” We must speak to the dry bones in our lives. One of the reasons we don’t speak is because we’ve been taught the faith and confession messages so much, and many times they are not in agreement with the Bible, that we let them go in one ear and out the other.
Speaking God’s Word can be the difference in you having death working in you and having life working in you.
James says we don’t have because we don’t ask. We are not putting God’s Word in our mouths and bringing it forth as He commands. And we’re really going to see this real clearly as we continue in this chapter.
The word “word:” in this verse, in the Hebrew, means “a matter spoken.” In the New Testament, this word would be rhema and we know that rhema is the spoken word.
So, what God is saying through Ezekiel is this: “Dry bones listen to Me and do what I say.” We are God’s children, the dry bones in our lives must do what we say!
Look at verse five. “Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; [Who’s really talking? Ezekiel. Don’t forget that because it is so-o-o-o important!] Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live.”
Notice what the scripture says. The word “breath” is spirit, life. God says I will cause life to enter into you.
Verse six says “And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall Iive; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”
We see in verse five that speaking God’s Word starts a process. “Process,” by its very definition means you are going to go through stages until you get to where you’re going. So when you are believing God for something and it doesn’t happen overnight, don’t get frustrated. You’re starting your process. We give up too early.
The process that we’re seeing says the dry bones are starting to regain some moisture I them and they are starting to once again align themselves in their proper order and sequence, then God says it’s time for the sinews. Then the next thing will be the flesh followed by the skin to cover the flesh. After all of that, verse six says God is going to put breath in the dry bones – He’s going to put life into them.
My point in all of this ladies and gentlemen, depending in the situation you have been speaking God’s Word over, you could be in the sinew process, in the flesh process or even in the skin process. Are you following me?
Get the mental picture. You’re moving. You’ve got the sinew. You may be in the flesh area right now. But understand – you are making progress. You don’t see it because it’s happening in the spirit.
In Genesis 2:7 it says “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and mana became a living soul.” When God, your Heavenly Father, breathes life into something, it lives!
Now look at verse seven. Read the first part with me: “So I prophesied as I was commanded.” Do you see this? I prophesied as I was commanded! I did what God told me to do. Say this with me: “I speak what God has told me to speak.” “I say what God tells me to say.” “I am an obedient son. I am an obedient daughter.”
Aren’t you tired of living in areas that are dead? But how tired are you? Are you just tired enough to complain or are you tired enough to do something about it? And what do we need to do? Speak what our Father gives us to say!
Remember where Ezekiel was. He was in the spirit. “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.” Where is Ezekiel? He’s in the spirit. Where did the noise begin? In the spirit. Are you seeing this? Where did the shaking begin? In the spirit. When did all of this begin? “As I prophesied” – as I spoke. Eventually it’s going to show up in the realm of the natural.
Look at verse eight. “And when I behold, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.”
What would have happened if Ezekiel stopped speaking at verse eight? The bones would not receive breath. The bones would not receive life.
Ladies and gentlemen, how many times have you stopped prematurely? Because we don’t see what’s happening in the spirit, we get faint in our minds and stop speaking. Think about this. What if they next time you spoke the word the breath came in? But you stopped. There was not next time. There was no breath. Are you with me?
It’s a process. Sinews. Flesh. Skin. Then comes the breath.
Verse nine. “Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith he Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”
We have to do the whole thing! Because we live in this side of glory, we don’t hear the is noise in the realm of the spirit. We don’t see the shaking going on in the realm of the spirit.
All we see is the same situation facing us day after day after day. It could be a situation that you’ve been speaking the Word over for a year, two years. You’re not seeing what’s going on the realm of the spirit. To you, things still look the same. “Two years later. Why am I wasting my time speaking God’s Word? It’s been two years. Nothing has happened.”
What if it all happens two years day one? You stopped at two years. All you needed was one more day and you would have gotten the manifestation of what you’ve been speaking over for two years.
It’s a process. As you put on the sinews, your level of faith has gotten to the sinew level. As you put on the flesh, your level of faith is now at the flesh level. As you put on the skin, your level of faith has risen to the skin level. And, as you now breathe life into that situation, that’s where your faith has gotten.
Two years and a day can be the difference between you seeing what God wants for you in your life regardless of what that situation is. It could be shorter. But my point is this. God says you’ve seen the sinews come on these bones. You’ve seen the flesh come on these bones. You’ve seen the skin come on these bones. But there was no breathe. Why? You have to call those things which are not as though they are!
Verse nine again. “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.”
What does verse 10 say? “So I prophesied as he commanded me.” I did what God told me to do. He says this twice. I did what God told me to do. Are you seeing this?
Ezekiel says “So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them.” When did the breath come? After Ezekiel prophesied. After Ezekiel obeyed. After Ezekiel opened his mouth. That is when the breath came.
“…and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, and exceeding great army.”
Look at verse 11.
(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.
(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.
For the sake of this message. Who is telling us, the house of Israel, your bones are drying, your hope is lost, you are cut off? Who tells us this? Satan. He comes to steal, kill and destroy. And the first thing he wants to steal is the Word in your life. He wants you to feel like you have no hope. He wants you to feel like you’re in a dry and thirsty land.
But God says “I want you to know Israel, I want you to know Body of Christ, that I will open your graves. Just like I raised up My Son Jesus, I’m going to raise you with Him.”
Hold your finger in Ezekiel and go to Romans 6.
(4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
(5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also in the likeness of his resurrection.
In Ephesians 2, look at verse six: “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
In the Father’s mind, we were raised from the dead at the same time Jesus was raised from the dead. When Jesus came up out of the grave, we came up out of the grave with Him!
Back to Ezekiel 37. Look at verse 13. “And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves.”
“When I have done for you which is beyond hope, then you’ll know that I am the Lord.” That’s what God is saying. That is what He’s been saying in this whole passage. God says “When you cooperate with Me, when you speak My Word, then I can bring into existence what My Word promises.”
Verse 14 – “And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land; [Once you have spoken My Word. Once you have seen My Word come to pass.] then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.”
Turn to Hebrews 4:12. It says “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joins and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
When it says the word of God is like a twoedged sword, the word “twoedged” means “two mouths.” One mouth, God has spoken His Word. That’s one edge of the sword. The other edge comes when we speak God’s Word. The twoedged sword works in the realm of the spirit to bring things into the realm of the natural. Do you see this?
So here in Ezekiel 37:14, God says “When you are occupying your land, you will know that you are living there because you spoke what I gave you to speak and I performed what was spoken!”
So, ladies and gentlemen, as you go on your way today and you think about his message and the situations you’re facing, think about the process that God has laid out here in Ezekiel 37. Continue to speak the Word. When your mind gets faint and you want to tell yourself this isn’t working, tell yourself “I don’t know exactly where I am in the process, but I am going to continue to speak the Word.”
Remind yourself that you’re in a process and that if you’re faithful to doing the process you are going to receive what the Word has promised. But the question ladies and gentlemen, and Ezekiel said it twice – “So I prophesied as He commanded me.” Are you prophesying to those situations as God commanded?
Please stand.
