Them Dry Bones
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Sing it with me:
The foot bone connected to the leg bone,
The leg bone connected to the knee bone,
The knee bone connected to the thigh bone,
The thigh bone connected to the back bone,
The back bone connected to the neck bone,
The neck bone connected to the head bone,
Ezekiel cried, "Dem dry bones!"
Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk aroun'
Oh, hear the word of the Lord!
If we are going to jump into dem dry bones in this prophecy of Ezekiel, then we should start with the context and some background to the prophet and his book.
The book begins with Ezekiel letting us know he is a priest who is thirty years old and goes into one of the fantastic visions of living creatures of what is simply put as a vision of the glory of God (Ezekiel 1:28). In the Levitical priesthood priests become of age at thirty years old. I don’t see anywhere that this has been suggested, but I am wondering if Ezekiel had this fantastic vision on his first day as a priest.
It at least had to be in his first year as a priest otherwise he would be 31 years old or more when he had his Chapter 1 vision. So maybe Ezekiel became a priest and a prophet all in one day.
Ezekiel’s ministry came in the context of hardship. He was living in Babylon because Nebuchadnezzar had conquered his people and exiled some Israelites including Ezekiel. God used the enemy of Israel to punish them and destroy their temple. It was a disgrace for the nation, and such were the days of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel also was a widower since his wife already died (Ezekiel 28:15-18). He was instructed not to shed a tear as part of the difficult series of prophetic messages of hopelessness Ezekiel proclaimed to his nation.
The life of Ezekiel was an object lesson for the nation that had become a dead people. A people that had become a nation of dry bones. There is no hope for this disgraced, disobedient and defeated nation. No hope outside God almighty doing something like had never been done before.
God’s question to Ezekiel. Can dry bones live?
The hand of the LORD was on 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, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” (Ezekiel 37:1-3)
When God asked Ezekiel if dry bones can live his answer is you alone know Lord.
Already God had made a dry stick, Aaron’s staff blossom. (Numbers 17:5-8) “Aaron’s staff sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds.” Of course, God can give life to Aaron’s staff and to the dry bones.
Aaron’s rod blooming was the demonstration of the power of God. They were not to forget this, and Moses placed Aaron’s staff in the Ark of the Covenant to serve as testimony to the power of God, and as a warning to rebelling against God.
Speak to the dry bones.
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.’” (Ezekiel 37:4-6)
Almighty God is the only one who could breathe into the dust and create man. Only God can bring life to these dry bones. But they come alive when Ezekiel preached to them.
For anyone who has new life in Christ you surely remember that you were once dead. You were a pile of dry bones. You were dead in your transgressions and sins (Ephesians 1:1)
I myself was also once a pile of dead bones. But because of his great love God made us alive in Christ. It is by grace these dry bones came to life. It is by grace you are saved, and God seated us up with Christ and seated us in the heavenly realms.
It is that 1 Corinthians 1 foolishness of preaching that the prophet was to speak to these dry bones. We have no power; Ezekiel has no power. It is the power of God, and our Lord uses us to bring life to the spiritually dead. He uses us to preach to the dead.
Bones come together.
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. (Ezekiel 37:7-8)
When these bones come alive Ezekiel will know Jehovah is the Lord God almighty. We are God’s handiwork created to do good works in Jesus Christ.
Not only have we seen dry bones come to life, we ourselves are dead bones who came to life. We are the rod of Aaron that blossomed. We have experienced spiritual birth, and we know that the Lord is God Almighty and what is impossible for man is possible with God.
God can restore everyone.
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, breath, from the four winds 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 37:9-10)
With man it is impossible, but with God, everything is possible. All ministry is impossible. We cannot make dry bones live. Only God can. We can plant a seed, but God causes the life.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)
You have hope.
Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 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. (Ezekiel 37:11-13)
Israel is restored in this prophecy. The was the darkest moment of the Lord’s people. There is hope. God can do anything. His plan cannot be stopped. Abraham will have spiritual decedents like the stars of the sky. The rock will grow into a mountain as Daniel said in Daniel chapter 2. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as he water covers the sea.
Do you have no hope? Then you can identify with Ezekiel’s situation. To sing the blues you have to experienced hard times. This goes beyond that. To identify with the prophets, you have to be hopeless and look so bleak that it seems all hope is cut off. But the Lord says, I am going to open your graves. I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
When God brings hope to the hopeless situation, we know he is Almighty God.
God’s Spirit God’s breath.
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.’” (Ezekiel 37:14)
The Lord can do it. Nothing is impossible.
The Main point is that Israel will be restored.
The application is that this gospel will be preached throughout the whole earth and then the end shall come. God can save even the chief of sinners and use them to proclaim his glory throughout the whole earth.
Aaron’s rod can bloom!
God breathed into the dust for Adam to live!
We are born again. We experience the resurrection of Christ when we put our faith in Jesus Christ.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
Dem bones gonna walk aroun'
Oh, hear the word of the Lord!
