The Bones Come Alive

The scripture for today's message comes from;

Ezekiel 37:1-14 ESV --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. 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. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones:

Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 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.” 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. 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. 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.” 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. 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.’ 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. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 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.” --

As a captive in Babylon, the prophet Ezekiel felt as desolate and useless as the piles of bones that he had seen through a vision that God revealed to him. Ezekiel knew that only a miracle from the Lord could bring the broken and scattered inhabitants of Judah back together into the Promised Land. As Ezekiel was scanning over the valley watching the Lord’s mighty hand at work, a miracle started to unfold before his eyes.

Ezekiel before saw nothing but piles of dry dusty bones littering the floor of the desert valley. Slowly, through the valley landscape before him started to change, the piles of dry bones started to turn into muscles, tendons, skin and human tissue. In Ezekiel’s vision God miraculously changed the condition of dry dusty human bones into full lifeless human bodies. The lifeless bodies were not breathing. God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the lifeless bodies to breathe, so they did.

In verse 10 it says that the lifeless bodies started breathing and they all stood up on their feet like a vast army. Through Ezekiel God breathed into them new life. Through this same vision God further reminded Ezekiel that in His own time he would do the same for the nation of Judah. God would transform the spiritually dead and scattered nation of Judah into a new nation full of life and hope.

What about you? Is your life valley of dry bones? Do you feel dry, defeated, empty or scattered? Maybe your valley of dried bones are feelings of failure, or failed relationships, a debilitating illness, or a life circumstance beyond your control. Maybe, all you need is a miracle to take place in your life. Whatever it is that you are dealing with today? God says, “Do not despair!!!” The God of Ezekiel’s era who breathed life into dry dusty piles of old bones is the same God who can transform you today. God can breathe a life of new beginnings into you providing you a new sense of purpose and hope.

As God eventually provided victory to Ezekiel and the nation of Judah, He can and will do the same for you. God is always nearby and He will provide the means and the way for you to overcome your current circumstance. God wants you to be the victor and through the power of Lord Jesus Christ he will turn your valley of dry bones into a beautiful land flowing with milk and honey. Allow God to breathe a new breath of life through you today. Be victorious in Jesus’ Name!!!! AMEN