Dry Bones Come to Life
From Death to Life • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Today we are starting a new series of messages leading up to Easter weekend. Our Faith, the Gospel gives us new life. Not only in eternity, but in the present. Between now and Easter we are going to look at a few passages of scripture where we’ll see that our God is a God of resurrection. A God of bring the dead to life.
The first of these passages is in Ezekiel 37. While you are turning there, let me give you a little background about this book.
Ezekiel was both a priest and a prophet. He lived during a time of exile for the nation of Israel. Date references in this book place him living and prophesying to the Israelites between 550 and 600 years before Jesus.
The prophesies written here include both judgement and restoration for God’s people. A prevalent theme throughout the book is that God was doing and would do these things so that the people, both the nation of Israel and other nations, would “know that I am the LORD”. That phrase is used over 60 times in this book.
Before we read and discuss today’s passage, I want to give a bit of a disclaimer. This passage is prophetic for the people of Israel. It is not directly prophetic for the church. It does, however, give a glimpse into the nature of God and what he desires for his people.
There is a pattern that I see in scripture over and over where people are not following God, but then God gets their attention and then they turn to Him. The result is God’s favor being poured out.
Again, this is not directly prophetic for the church, but is descriptive of what God does.
Let’s read Ezekiel 37, starting in verse 1.
1 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.”
First, God brings Ezekiel to a valley that is full of bones. This is noteworthy in a few ways. 1. It would have been customary at this time that people would have been buried and not just left for dead. 2. These bones were not fresh. They were dry, indicating they had been there for a while.
God then asks Ezekiel if the bones could live. Ezekiel answers in a way that acknowledges that God alone is the source of life and therefore only he would know.
I see a parallel to the beautiful state we live in. So many times over the last few weeks I have heard people refer to our state in similar language as Ezekiel uses here. “It is a spiritually dry place.” This spiritual dryness has been there for a while.
Some even question whether it is possible for Vermont to come to life. Just as God asked Ezekiel the question…can these bones live…I find many looking at the spiritual landscape of Vermont asking the same thing.
In our passage in Ezekiel, God then responds..
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.’ ”
Remember this is a prophesy for the nation of Israel. They were dead, dry bones…in exile. Breath given by the Lord will not only bring them back to life, but he will restore the health of their “body” as well.
This restoration will result in them, and others, knowing that God is the LORD.
In drawing a parallel to Vermont, it is going to take some prophetic voices to speak the word of the Lord and then God breathing life into our state.
Ezekiel obeys God in what he is told to do.
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.
There is an interesting thing that happens first. First a word is spoken over the bones and they begin to take the shape of people. Flesh covers them, but they are still not alive. There is 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, 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.
Then a breath comes and they came to life.
There is a picture here for us in how people are born again into new life. At some level a person will hear the word…the knowledge of the consequence of our sin - death, and then the knowledge of what Jesus did for us. He paid the penalty for our sin that we might be forgiven.
The problem with knowledge though is that knowledge only puffs up. It only puts flesh on the bones. Knowledge does not lead to life…breath does.
All throughout scripture God uses wind, and breath as an analogy for the Spirit of God. As the breath comes into these flesh covered bones the come to life. In the same way, the Holy Spirit comes into each believer as a seal of our new life in Christ.
This army being raised up starts with Ezekiel’s obedience to God’s command to speak God’s Word over the dead bones. God meet’s Ezekiel’s obedience with His Spirit breathing new life in the dead.
Just so Ezekiel doesn’t misinterpret the prophesy, or that we would misinterpret... God then gives the interpretation...
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.’ ”
The nation of Israel had given up in following God. They went their own way. God allowed them to be exiled for a time in order to allow them to see what forsaking God looked like. What doing it their own way resulted in.
God’s design in bringing them “back to life” is to show them once again how much he loves them, cares for them and has a better way for them to live.
There is something that happens first though…turn back a chapter to Ezekiel 36, in verse 25…before they can go back to the promised land, something has to happen first...
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 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. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
God cleanses them first. God makes them clean. God gives them a new heart and new spirit. God’s spirit in them moves them to follow God’s decrees and laws.
God’s character hasn’t changed. While you and I were unable to get our lives right and clean, he sent his son Jesus to make a way. To cleanse us, not by our own efforts, not by our good deeds, but by God’s grace. When we put our faith in Jesus, God’s spirit comes to dwell in us.
As we follow him, he changes our desires, he changes our ways. He gives us hope.
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.’
In Ezekiel 37:11, it says that the people of Israel were without hope, they were dried up and cut off. As I think about some of the things happening in our state, I see a people without hope, spiritually dried up and cut off from God. I see mountains of dry bones, dead and scattered.
While that might be the case, I have not lost hope in the one who can bring those bones back to life.
God used Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones in the valley. I believe God wants to use you to prophesy to the dry bones in our state.
***Title Slide***
Ezekiel repeated to the bones what God said to him. Likewise we need to speak to the bones the truth of God’s word. Not just waging our fingers at the sin, but also speaking the truth of the hope we have in Jesus.
I have seen first hand where God has taken you from a place of death to life. A place of despair and hopelessness to a place of joy and hope.