Introduction
Over the course of this fall sermon series, we are witnessing a series of encounters between ordinary people and extraordinary God. These encounters are called visitations and they are almost always following a crisis of some kind. This is a series devoted to get you thinking and praying for a spiritual awakening.
Today’s passage is the most unusual of visions. A valley of dry bones – how appropriate on Halloween Eve. Yet, this weird vision is a message of hope for hurting, broken people. It’s a vision of God breathing fresh life into His people again.
This is an urgent message. The average life expectancy of Americans today is a little over 78 years. Now some of you are living in overtime now ?. If you are under the age of nineteen, you’re still in your first quarter. If you are under 39, you’re still in your second quarter. If you are under the age of 57, you’re living in your third quarter of life. And if you’re under the age of 78, you are in your fourth quarter of life.
There’s an urgency to the prophet’s vision. If God is near, there is hope.
Today’s Scripture
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had 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 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, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:1-14)
What could Ezekiel’s vision of a valley of bones mean?
1. We are Lifeless
Again, this is the most unusual of visions. And the picture of a valley of skeletons points to an important biblical truth: we are lifeless. Here is a vision of a bone yard: “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones” (Ezekiel 37:1). This must be a powerful experience for the prophet to have “the hand of the Lord” on him. This picture of a valley of bones was a picture hope for a discouraged people. We need hope.
Notice three aspects the prophet highlights for us.
1.1 Dead
The first feature is evident, bones mean death. The reason we hold up skeletons around this time of year (Halloween) is because bones mean death and death is scary for us. Its one thing if we are sick. If you’re sick, maybe something can be done. But, nothing can be done if you’re dead.
Ezekiel is set down in a valley, “a valley full of bones” (Ezekiel 37:1b). The valley and as you look the valley, there are bones scattered throughout the surface of the valley.
For three days the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) raged on. More than 50,000 had died in the battle – 4 times the number of those who died all of the 8 years of the Revolutionary War. Our nation and our government were not prepared to deal with death on such a large scale. There were no dog tags to identify the dead nor were their procedures to notify the next of kin. There were not federal cemeteries to bury the dead. Much of the work of burying the dead was left to the nearby citizens of the surrounding countryside. There were mass graves/trenches containing as many as 150 Confederate soldiers. The smell of decomposing bodies was everywhere so much so that people carried around bottles of peppermint to mask the smell of rotting flesh. The summer heat made the burial of the dead even more gruesome.
Here in front of us the vision of death is to communicate the powerlessness of God’s people. Evidently, the vision of the valley of bones followed a battle where the people of God were devastated in battle. The slaughter was so overwhelming that no one was left to even bury the dead.
Notice the second feature…
1.2 Dry
“And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry” (Ezekiel 37:2).
The Atacama Desert stretches 600 miles from Peru’s southern border into northern Chile. NASA says this is the driest area in the world with parts of this desert having received no rain for 4 years. It is so desolate that it has been compared to surface of the Planet Mars. The average rainfall in this 40,000-square-mile region is 15 millimeters per year (a little more than half an inch!). There is no thriving wildlife. There are no lush forests. You’ll find no grass, gnats, lizards, or even cactus. All you’ll see is the remains of what was once living. The Atacama Desert is place of absolute desolation.
These bones are dry. Not even the buzzards are flying around for these bones were dead. No one even knows what bones are connected to what bones. No one even knows how many people’s bodies this represents. This is a depressing scene before us.
Yet, the 3rd item we are told is…
1.3 Divided
We are told what is pictured by this valley in verse 11: “Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ (Ezekiel 37:11)
Spiritually, you and I are dead: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins…” (Ephesians 2:1) You and I have no real power. The Bible’s message is we have no power spiritually and morally. We are spiritually sterile: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
God comes to those who are in the valley of life. God heals us when we realize we are broken. Are there any broken homes? Are there any broken people here today? Is your life or your marriage broken? We are a valley of dry bones, a spiritual Death Valley if you will.
But remember this: if God is near, there is hope.
2. But We Are Not Powerless
Remember, this is a vision of God breathing fresh life into His people again. There is a question dangling in front of us: “And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:3a) The scene is hopeless then and for many, it is hopeless today.
Revival is needed today. For many of us, spiritual awakening is nothing more than a distant memory. When our eyes scan the American horizon, the skies for biblical Christianity look dark in many respects. The tide of God’s grace is out to sea. We need heavenly rain. God’s church languishes rather than flourishes in our day, and we are helpless to do anything about this. We are like sailboats without wind, or coals without fire. We are useless without the animating power of God.
You need a spiritual awakening. Do you feel that? Do you feel like a valley of dry bones? The minute you turn your attention away from your relationship with God is the moment your spiritual life begins to decay. Yet, a glimmer of hope emerges. I love the prophet’s answer to God’s question: And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know” (Ezekiel 37:3). “You alone know, Lord,” is the reply.
Remember the angel’s message to Mary: “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) Even though we are spiritually sterile, we are not powerless. Again, if God is near, there is hope. God is the source of our power! God is the source of our hope! Returning to God is the need of the hour! We dare not despair for despair is insult to God.
3. Behold the Power of God’s Word
Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, HEAR the word of the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:4). This is amazing since bones don’t have ears! And the prophet then sees the reversal of the process of decomposition. There’s a certain understanding of anatomy in this passage.
Let’s look at the passage again:
“So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had 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 the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” (Ezekiel 37:7-9)
And how does life come about? Spiritual life’s the power of the Word of God. The way people are transformed and renewed is by the Words of God. There are so many Christians who have forgotten their first love. We have to believe the Lord will do it again. The first stage of the recovery is to hear a “rattling.” Sometimes it is good to just hear little rattling going on.
Imagine if I asked you to take a Bible, pick a passage, and stand in nearby Smithfield Cemetery. Find any tombstone of your choice and begin to speak the words of God. What kind of reaction do you think you might have? What kind of results?
Faith
If we are going to expect dead things come to life, then we must speak in the power of faith. Bones don’t raise themselves. This is a time when we need missionaries, Bible study leaders and convictional believers. This is a time when we need to see “hold back nothing” Christians. Just as Ezekiel believed God before anything in the valley came to life so you believe in advance. Speaking the Word of God and seeing life come in advance, is supernatural. We must act just as Noah built the Ark by faith. We must see believe in God’s ability to revive just as the children of Israel walked around Jericho by faith.
Look at the tremendous result of God breathing life into the valley of dry bones: “So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army” (Ezekiel 37:10).
If God is near, there is hope. God’s Word will reverse the process of your spiritual and moral decomposition. God’s word is powerful even to overcome your self-inflicted destruction. So many of God’s people had committed spiritual suicide.
Remember if God is near, there’s hope. There is still hope for you. There is still hope for you even if you didn’t to yourself. It’s by the power of God’s Word that dead people can be resurrected!
Consider yourself for a moment. Are you a personal Valley of Dry Bones? Are you a spiritual cemetery? The great reformer, Martin Luther made an unusual statement. Luther said there's two days in my calendar: this day and that day. That day to me referred to the bema the judgment seat of Christ. I want to live with an eternal perspective.
Listen to this statement. In the name of Jesus, I want to do now what I'll be glad I did then. That will change the way you live. It will change your heart when you consider your life from the perspective of eternity. Over and over again, the Bible says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body.
But consider our church as another layer. Is our church a Valley of Dry Bones? This is a vision of God breathing fresh life into His people again. We need to be lifted to a whole new level. If you landed on the moon, you could literally lift a ton. You could lift a ton on the moon, because you are not hindered by gravity. With all that weighs you down, you can be lifted to a whole new level. The Holy Spirit in you lifts you. He is your Helper.
Closing Prayer
Father, Your grace and mercy are incomparable. Your power is undiminished. No one can compare to You – no one. Yet, we look around and we are in despair. We see few items that really bring us hope today.
Whether we truly know it or not, we are desperate for you. We need you. You have spoken to us in times past and we have rebelled against You. We have defied your commands and the disgrace and shame of our times, belongs to us. The fault rests squarely on us, on me. We have abandoned You. Bring us to our knees today. Stir humility and brokenness in us. Break our stubborn refusal to repent. Remove our arrogance and our selfishness. God’s people are asleep. You are a God of compassion and mercy. Unleash a fresh move of your grace and mercy in us this morning.
