Dry Bones
Ezekiel 37:1-14
April 22, 2012
For so many people, New Year’s Day kind of gives us a new start. It gives us a sense of new hope. Maybe this year will be better than last year. With that comes new dreams, hopes, and expectations. So, what are you dreaming about this year? What is it you want to see happen in your life?
I hope you will do everything possible to help those dreams become a reality. For the next several weeks we’re going to be looking at our dreams and hopes. We’re going to be focusing at who God is calling us to be. We’re going to start out looking at dreams and really kind of the nightmare side of dreams, and go back and forth as we ask a few other tough questions.
Have you ever felt like there was no hope? You were hopeless . . . lost . . . You looked at your situation and there was no way out. You felt trapped . . . stuck. Can we become people of no hope, when we have a God who is all powerful?
When the odds seem to be going against us, what do we do? Do we just cower down and give up? Do we just see the so-called handwriting on the wall and accept the fact that there’s nothing we can do, so we quit?
Or do we look at the situation and keep battling, keep looking for a way to overcome whatever it is that’s not going our way. We can look at many sporting events and see where a team which was getting crushed somehow came back and won.
Maybe it’s much closer to home, it’s a physical illness ... and you were able to come back and live a full life. Maybe it was rejection, a low self esteem, maybe there was abuse, maybe self doubt - - - whatever it was, and you were able to overcome it.
Maybe because of all this you’ve been able to dream, to envision a future that in the past you never could. You felt like everything and everyone was against you, but you looked beyond all the outside interferences and you’ve made plans, you’ve allowed yourself to dream to see a future which was good . . . and now you’re working towards that future.
Well, the Israelites were in a bad predicament. In fact, they believed they were stuck in an impossible situation. The northern kingdom had been taken by the Assyrians, and now the southern kingdom, Judah was conquered by the Babylonians. Cities had been destroyed, the temple was destroyed and the entire nation had been exiled into captivity. All hope seemed lost. Yet God still had a plan. In the midst of this impossible situation God reminded the people through the prophet Ezekiel that He is the God of the impossible. Let’s look at what the Lord told Ezekiel in chapter 37 —
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.
2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were VERY DRY.
3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
4 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!
5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.
6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin;
I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin 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 it,
‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’”
10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet — a vast army. - Ezekiel 37
Now, unless you’re a magician, this was an impossible situation. How do you bring life to something which is obviously dead? When was the last time you faced what appeared to be an impossible obstacle? Do you remember feeling hopeless?
Verse 1 tells us that the Spirit of God was upon Ezekiel, which basically means Ezekiel had a very, very deep spiritual experience in which God took him somewhere. It could be a physical place, it could be a spiritual vision. Whatever it was, God brought Ezekiel to a valley filled with dry bones. The bones represented the Israelites. They had been conquered and exiled and any chance of returning to the good old life, even to a normal life, were gone. They had to learn a new culture and ways to live away from home, with foreigners who oppressed them.
Dry bones are as dead as you can get. Ask a doctor and they will tell you, you cannot bring life back to a bunch of disjointed dead bones. There’s no way humanly possible. This is not a story about a doctor resuscitating someone.
This is far, far worse. This is LONG dead. The body is not just dead – it’s gone! Notice that God makes a point to tell Ezekiel that these bones are VERY DRY! This means, there really is no hope from a human standpoint. You can’t bring life to very dry dead bones! No way! So, can these bones represent you and I? Are we those dried up bones? People of no hope, people with no more dreams?
It’s one thing to believe in God for a miracle to heal the sick or even to raise a person who has just died. Remember the story when Lazarus died. Martha was hopeful, but by the 3rd day, hope was gone. She told Jesus “if only you had been here.” Maybe God can raise the dead, but can even God raise dry bones to life?
Situations in life can be like that sometimes can’t they? There may be issues in your life that seem difficult, but you’re trusting in God to get you through. However, as time goes by these situations don’t change or they grow worse. Still there might be hope. Over time hope fades and at some point dreams die within you and become hopeless situations. Like these dry bones.
God looks at Ezekiel and asks, “Son of man, can these bones live?" Most of us would give a quick and simple answer, “No way!” Ezekiel replies “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” Some say Ezekiel's words show helplessness. I don’t! I believe he has hope in only the Lord. He knows this is over his abilities. Only can perform this miracle. So, Ezekiel defers to God. Only you know, Lord. It’s up to you Lord. You are the sovereign God who can do all!
Are you facing any impossible situations in your life? Are there any dry bones you’re facing? Things that seem absolutely hopeless. Dreams that have long since died and been buried within you.
Ezekiel is told to prophesy to the bones — “Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!” When most people think of prophecy they think it’s like fortune telling or standing out on a street with a sign that says “end of the world near – repent.” To prophesy simply means hearing God’s voice and proclaiming it.
Sometimes it may not make a whole lot of sense. When God calls to us and even speaks to us, we need to learn to listen, to discern . . . is this God’s voice or mine? Is it the voice of evil - passing thoughts and ideas into my heart which go against the will of God. Always know that if something is contrary to God’s nature, then it’s not from God.
I believe God continues to speak into our difficult situations. Sometimes, and I know I can be that way, I see the worst of a situation. Sometimes, I immediately think all is lost, until I slow down. Until I listen to God and catch His wisdom and insight. At first we try to solve what we can on our own, but we need to trust in the God who can bring life to very dry bones.
We can be that way, can’t we? We see the worst - - and sometimes it overwhelms us and takes over in our lives. We end up losing hope and dreams and we become like those old very dry bones . . . kind of worthless, not living the way we should, not worshiping the way we should, not able to see hope and a future.
But - - we have a God of hope! A God who gives us mercy and grace, who came into this world so we could have hopes and dreams. A God who loves us so much that He sent His Son for you and I. A God who calls you child, holy, dearly loved.
When God reveals His will and plan to us we need to speak those words into the impossible situations in our life. What is God saying to you in your present situation? What is He asking you to do right now?
With God — valleys of dry bones become armies of righteousness. Impossibilities become possibilities. The perishable become imperishable. The dead come to life. There’s nothing God cannot do.
When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you’re slamming the door in the face of God. There are no hopeless situations. But the people felt that way. Verse 11 tells us --
11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.
They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’
Do you hear the sense of despair from the people? They feel like dried up, dead bones, and their hope is lost. They feel cut off. Is this not how we sometimes feel when life is not going well? But God then tells this to Ezekiel -
12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’”
What word is the Lord speaking to you today. What “grave” is the Lord going to bring you up out of? Would you believe that this morning?! Would you trust that God will not leave you in that valley of dry bones. He desires to raise you to dream new dreams to see your future.
We need to think big thoughts and dream big dreams. God has a plan for your life and He wants to use you. Maybe it’s time to awaken some of those dreams which have been within you. Take God at His word, step out in faith and remember that God is a God of the impossible.
Remember God’s words from Jeremiah 29 –
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. - Jeremiah 29
That’s part of the promise from God. God knows His plans! And that’s great news that He has plans for us. They are plans for good, not for harm, even though bad things do happen. God’s plans are to give us hope, to give us a future. The key is what we read in verse 12-13 -
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
You see, we must call upon the Lord. We cry out, we whisper, we talk, whatever way it is, we call out to the Lord . . . and what will the Lord do? HE WILL HEAR US! That’s great news!! That gives me confidence in coming before God. Then,
13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
When we seek God we will find Him. It’s not hide and seek. God wants to be found by us. He’s not running from us. He’s always, always there!! But, and here’s the caveat for this morning. How do we need to seek God?
With all our heart. Not half heartedly. But with all that we have. 100%
I believe that when we do that, we will discover a newness, a freshness with God that will surpass anything we’ve experienced before. That’s my hope for us this year . . . that we all will seek after God with our whole hearts and do what we thought could never be done!
Is there a dream that has died in your life. Have you given up on something you knew was God's plan for your life? God wants to speak to you today. He wants to revive that plan for your life. He wants to create an army of righteousness out of your bones of despair.
To dream those dreams we never thought were possible because - - well - - because God has planted that dream within you. Not for your glory, but to His praise and glory!
