NEW LIFE WHEN WE NEED IT
Ezekiel 37:1–14
Introduction
A few weeks ago, we began a trio of lessons from the Major Prophets. All who are Thirsty, Come - a message from Isaiah encouraging a turn to God. Hope where we least expected it - a message from Jeremiah to those exiled. Today, we will turn to Ezekiel’s best-known text, New Life When We Need It - Ezekiel 37.
Ezekiel was a priest and a prophet exiled to Babylon in 597 BC during Nebuchadnezzar's deportation of Judean elites, where he ministered to fellow exiles through dramatic visions and symbolic acts. He was called to be a prophet at age 30. His cinematic visions stir the imagination, beginning with a throne-chariot and four living creatures. His life as a prophet was not easy. God asked him to vividly portray the judgment of God’s people with acts like lying on his side for 430 days; shaving and burning his hair, and not mourning the death of his wife - all to dramatize the consequences of rebellion for a spiritually numb audience. Earlier prophecies targeted Israel’s sins, but later they shifted to hope - a renewed heart and spirit. When we get to chapter 37, Ezekiel is taken to a valley of bones with a different story, a story of God’s people who had lost their way, lost their hope, lost their spiritual breath.
In Ezekiel 37 we find ourselves. From times of spiritual dryness and death, God desires to breathe new life just when we need it.
1. The Vision of The Valley of Dry Bones (37:1-2)
37:1-2 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.
Ezekiel is set in the middle of a valley of dry bones.
-As a priest and a Jew, he would have found this repulsive - it would have caused him to be unclean.
-These bones were dry - they have been there a long time and nature has taken its course.
-These bones were in a multitude, not just a few bones here and there.
-These bones indicate not only death but humiliation - the body of a dead Jew was to be washed, wrapped, and buried with dignity in a grave or tomb.
This was a vision of life without God - a result that God had warned them of many times.
The same is true today - even if we cannot see the valley of bones. When spiritual life is ignored and we wander from God we begin to feel that life without the source.
-Prayer feels too difficult, so it ceases to be a vital part of life.
-Faith feels useless, so we give up. We do not live by the truth we know.
-Sin feels powerful, so we give in.
-Spiritual passion has evaporated. We happily adjust to the world's lifestyle and the slightest excuse seems sufficient to keep you from spiritual duty / opportunity.
Ezekiel 37:11b “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.”
Rick Warren wrote, “Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.”
But God isn’t through. He asks a significant question: Ezekiel 37:3 “Son of man, can these bones live?” Humanly speaking, we know they cannot. Romans 4:17 says that Abraham believed in “the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.” Ezekiel wisely answered, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
2. The Message of Restoration (Ezekiel 37:4-8)
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.
Ezekiel had prophesied to the mountains and to the forests, and now to the valley of dead bones. He preaches to the bones, and unexpectedly, they began to come together “bone to bone." It is hard to imagine that scene, but there was a valley of bones that had come together and skin covered them. Wiersbe wrote, “...What was lying there in the valley looked like a sleeping army. The bodies lacked only one thing…”
Ezekiel 37:8b “…but there was no breath in them.”
One of my favorite comedies is called Keeping Up Appearances. The main character is Hyacinth Bucket, portrayed by the recently deceased Patricia Routledge. She is an eccentric, snobbish social climber from a working-class background who pronounces her surname "Bouquet" to sound more refined. What makes the show work is the knowledge that no matter how much she tries to keep up appearances, it doesn’t work. She isn’t Hyacinth Bouquet, She is simply Hyacinth Bucket. Most of the time the things that are funny to us are revealing things we know about ourselves.
Every one of us would say that sin takes us down the wrong roads, keeps us there longer than we want to be, and costs us more than we can pay. But it still has an appeal - a false appeal - an appearance.
-Sin Appears Wise. “See to it that nobody enslaves you with philosophy and foolish deception, which conform to human traditions and the way the world thinks and acts rather than Christ.” Col. 2:8
-Sin appears Fun! “Don’t be deceived, bad company corrupts good character. Sober up by acting like you should and don’t sin.” 1 Cor. 15:33-34a
-Sin can even appear religious - doing all we can so that we will appear to be more righteous than we are.
J. C. Ryle wisely wrote, ”What would you expect? Sin will not come to you, saying, ‘I am sin.’ It would do little harm if it did. Sin always seems ‘good, and pleasant, and desirable,’ at the time of commission.” J. C. Ryle
3. The Breath of Life (Ezekiel 37:9-10)
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.
Just as in Genesis 2 - Adam was created and complete physically, but he had no life until the breath of God entered into him. In Ezekiel’s vision, the breath of God entered these dead bodies, and they arose as a vast army. Without the breath of God, we only appear alive. With His breath… everything changes.
4. The Promise of New Life Just When We Need It (Ezekiel 37:11-14)
11 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. 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 God promised to Israel in Ezekiel’s vision—life where there was only death—is exactly what God does for us in Christ, as Paul describes in Ephesians 2:1-5.
-Ephesians 2:1 “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…” Without the work of God in our lives, we are a valley of dry bones even today. The world is lost without Chris,t and that is what we were.
-Ephesians 2:2-3 “in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.” It looks alive! Bodies with skin and flesh - but there is no spiritual life at all. Something has to happen to bring that spiritual life into reality.
-Ephesians 2:4 “Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” It wasn’t until the Gospel was spoken and we heard the Good News about Jesus and followed him that life came.
Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 5:5 “...God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
All of this points to Jesus. “I am the resurrection and the life…” (John 11:25). If He can call Lazarus from a tomb,
if He can step out of His own grave alive, He can breathe into your tired bones today.
CONCLUSION — WHEN GOD MEETS US IN THE VALLEY
We all face valleys of discouragement, sorrow, suffering, pain, sin. But God never abandons His people in their valley. He meets them there. He speaks there. He breathes there. And when He breathes —dead things rise, dry things revive, scattered things reconnect, hopeless things bloom. He is still the God who breathes. Still the God who restores. Still the God who brings life from death. And if you will open your heart today, He will breathe His Spirit into you again. Don’t leave the valley the same way you entered it. Let God breathe into your tired bones.
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LIFEGROUP QUESTIONS
1. God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” How would you be tempted to answer that question in your own “valley” seasons? What does this reveal about our own doubts and God’s ability?
2. What are some examples of the deceptive appearance of sin (benign, wise, fun, religious) that you have seen most at work in our culture? Why is it so easy to be deceived by sin?
3. The sermon used *Keeping Up Appearances* to show how we can look “put together” but not really be changed. Where are Christians today most tempted to “keep up appearances” instead of seeking real spiritual life?
4. In Ezekiel 37 there are two key moments: the word is preached to the bones, and then the breath (Spirit) comes. What does that teach us about the relationship between Scripture and the Spirit in bringing new life?
5. In Ephesians 2:1–5, what parallels do you see between “you were dead in your transgressions and sins” and the dry bones image? How does seeing yourself as once “dead” rather than just “slightly off track” change the way you think about grace, worship, and mission?
6. J. C. Ryle noted that sin rarely presents itself as “sin” but as something “good and pleasant.” What helps believers discern when something pleasant is actually spiritually deadly?
7. Leonard Ravenhill wrote, "As long as we are content to live without revival, we will." What do you think he was trying to get his readers/listeners to understand?
8. What else did you want to talk about today?
NOTE: If you follow along each week, there will not be a sermon posted for next Sunday, December 14.
