Can These Bones Live?
Notes
Transcript
In your devotion reading this morning, you read this story. I want to invite you to close your eyes for a moment and listen as I read it again. I want you to try and imagine what Ezekiel saw in that moment.
1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by his Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
2 He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry.
Do you see the hopeless situation? Do you sense the lifeless state of the bones? It isn’t that they were near death…this is total death. This was once a mighty army. Needless to say, they didn’t win.
There might be some other bones to think about...like the preacher who divided his church members into 5 types of bones:
1. Wishbones—Folks always wishing for better things, but never willing to work and pray for them.
2. Jawbones—The gossiping kind that keep the church in turmoil.
3. Funnybones—like the bone in the elbow that throws a person into a tizzy when it is hurt. They are touchy, wear their feelings on their sleeves, and are always talking about leaving the church.
4. Drybones—Orthodox but dead as fossils.
5. Backbones—The spiritual support of the church that keeps the body standing.
Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 973.
These bones were dead, no life what so ever and the situation seemed hopeless and the bones were helpless.
In verse 11, God tells us the bones represent Israel.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
This generation of Ezekiel should have remembered the Word of the LORD through Jeremiah 29:11, but perhaps they’d forgotten it or didn’t believe it.
11 For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
The Dry Bones in Death Valley
The Dry Bones in Death Valley
In Ez 37, Israel has been exiled for at least 12 years, Jerusalem fell, the temple is in ruins, many have lost their life, and even though Ezekiel preached to them, they’ve lost hope.
BUT God’s hand was upon Ezekiel. This is how you know something BIG is going to happen…because it is not Ezekiel that will cause this miracle to take place, but rather God.
That’s how you know when a church is revitalized…it can only be explained as a God-sized victory.
The series of visions for Ezekiel are all connected on some level. This valley is the valley of exile. This valley stands in contrast to the very high mountain of Ezekiel 40. From this place Israel must be saved or delivered out of and they will be “brought in” to the land of life ch 40.
He is confronted with total death. God leads him back and forth, all around them to evaluate the helpless state of the bones.
He didn’t miss some spark of life anywhere to be found. Very different than Ezekiel 36:33-36
33 “ ‘This is what the Lord God says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt.
34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by.
35 They will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and demolished are now fortified and inhabited.”
36 Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt what was demolished and have replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken and I will do it.
It isn’t full of corpses like that of a battle just ended…no these are bones where decay has long since departed and there are just sun dried and bleached bones.
There was a lack of spiritual life. Spiritually, Israel was dead.
There was a lack of spiritual life. Spiritually, Israel was dead.
This is exactly where each one in this room this morning, or watching are. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:1
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
Can These Bones Live?
Can These Bones Live?
After the parade of bones, God asks Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
If Ezekiel ever needed to phone a friend, its now. He’s already used the 50/50 option because it is to a yes or no answer.
Ezekiel would’ve known the experiences of Elijah and Elisha when they prayed and saw a child brought back to life. But the gap between the time of death and the resuscitation was short. This…this is all together different. Death and decomposition had passed.
But notice the question… “Can THESE bones live?”
This is not a question of God’s ability or power. In fact, the question should never be, “Does God have the power to do this?” For that answer is always, YES. He is omnipotent, all powerful. In fact, you only need to look at the creation of man in Genesis to answer this question if it is a question of God’s ability. He formed Adam from the ground.
Rather, this is a question of God’s will. God has the power He needs to accomplish whatever He desires in accordance with His holiness and character.
So Ezekiel responds in the only way he can, “LORD God, only You know.”
Paul wrote much later in Romans 4:17b - God is “the one who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist.”
The answer to the question is quickly discovered by Ezekiel as to what God’s will is for these bones. God wills that the dry bones will live.
These Bones Will Live
These Bones Will Live
Now God has some instruction on how His plan will be carried out. He is going to use Ezekiel in this plan. But HOW will they live? He tells him in Ezekiel 37:4
4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
Ezekiel is going to start preaching…to a dead audience. I get that…there have been times when I felt like I was preaching to a valley of dry bones. There have been times when I felt like a dry bone trying to preach.
This is a two step process God gives Ezekiel, both are important, and both are needed today in the church.
Prophesy to the Bones
Prophesy to the Bones
Well…he’s prophesied to mountains, forests, and people who listen like brick walls…whats a few dry bones?
We don’t get any questions or hesitation Ezekiel might have had to this situation. Much to my own sinful heart, I would certainly have some hesitation. I too often wrestle with the Lord’s plan. “You want me to do what?” Three points and poem to get these bones to live?
But like I said, it’s a two step process, the Word and the Spirit.
For the Word is alive (Hebrews 4:12) and brings life (1 Peter 1:23)
12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
23 because you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.
The Word
The Word
4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
5 This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live.
6 I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
What happens as Ezekiel prophesies? Ezekiel 37:7-8
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
The forming of the bodies occurs just as God said it would.
Exalting Jesus in Ezekiel Alive and United 37:1-28
Two of the greatest steps we can take to be used mightily in evangelism are praying and memorizing God’s Word. If we hide the Word in our hearts, then the Spirit can bring its gospel message to our lips and use it to bring others to life. Paul says, “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ” (Rom 10:17). The church at Ephesus was informed, “When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Eph 1:13). Without the word and someone faithful like Ezekiel to proclaim it, dry bones will never live.
But there seems to be a problem, the bodies are reformed, but there is no life in them. Isn’t that exactly what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 2 when he says we are dead in our sin…we may not be physically dead, but there is no life in us apart from Christ.
The Spirit
The Spirit
This is where the second message comes in…the bones are blessed to have two sermons in one day…ok, they are short sermons. :)
The second part of this work is the work of the Spirit of God. We are born because God forms us, but we are reborn because God fills us.
God formed Adam from the ground, but there was no life in him until God breathed life into him.
I relate this to my CPR training years ago…I was taught that you put your ear close to the mouth/nose and listen and feel for breath at the same time looking to the chest to see if it is moving as the victim breathes.
So God instructs Ezekiel 37:9
9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!”
Ezekiel obeys Ezekiel 37:10
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me; the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.
Did you know that twice Ezekiel experienced something similar to this in his own life. Twice he was confronted by the awesome majesty of God, fell facedown before the glory of the LORD, and twice the Spirit of God entered him and stood him on his feet as he listened to God speak? Ezekiel 1:28-2:2, and 3:23-34. This is exactly what happens to the dry bones. Them dry bones have come to life.
This valley of death has become a valley of life restored.
Ezekiel’s job was to prophesy, preach, proclaim the Word of God to the bones.
God’s role was to produce the results. IT is the same for us today church. We proclaim, but God renews, restores, and regenerates what is dead.
What did this mean for Israel?
What did this mean for Israel?
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
The bones, with no hope of ever seeing life again, reveal how Israel feels about the current exile they were in, this exile being the discipline of God. They believed God was finished with them. The curses of the covenant were upon them and they were cut off. Most likely if a poll had been taken of Israel with this question, “Can these bones live?” the answer would’ve been a loud and clear NO!
Three things about these bones:
They were dry…dead for a long time.
They declared they had no hope…hope was dead.
The bones were separated…dispersed just like Israel in exile.
But God had a plan for Israel. Our God is faithful. When He makes a promise He keeps it.
Let all the despair fall to the wayside. Despair belongs in the pile of rubbish. God determined to deliver His people and nothing would stand in the way. This is why you need to remember truth when you’re feeling despair. Truth leads to Hope. Israel felt like God forgot them, but they were NOT forgotten. They were still His people, and truly this is directed more as a testimony to His faithfulness than Israel’s.
God is not acting because they earned time served for good behavior…but rather because He is good. Because He is good, we find hope in His goodness.
What does this mean for us today?
What does this mean for us today?
Wake Up!
Wake Up!
I don’t have time to cover the entire book of Ezekiel in one sitting, but there are constant themes throughout and we need to remember this going forward because it answers the question…how did these bones get here…how did Israel get to this place?
Throughout the book, you’ll pick up on Israel’s moral depravity and an absence of spiritual concern. They’re exiled and then his message turns to one of hope and restoration.
Some 60 times the phrase, “that you/they may know that I Am the LORD” is used.
Some 46 times the phrase, “the Word of the Lord came to me...”
Often, “I, the LORD, have spoken” is another frequent phrase.
Israel was listening to false prophets proclaiming words that God never said.
So…they didn’t pay attention to the Word of God, listen and trust His promises, and they failed to live and walk by the Spirit of God.
You can’t sleep when the Spirit of God moves. When that wind blows. Wake up sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you!
This means 2 things in regards to church revitalization and renewal:
We must preach the Word of God. - Not what we feel about the Word, but the hard truth of God’s Word. For too long the church has partnered with the world in darkness, and its watered down the message of the Word to a point where it is just one of many voices that speak into our lives. The dry bones didn’t come to life by hearing a watered down version of the gospel or God’s Word or a mixture of cultural influences…the Word of God spoke to those bones through Ezekiel and they began to rattle and move.
Paul warned Pastor Timothy of a day when people would turn away from the Word of God.
2 Timothy 4:2-4
2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching.
3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.
4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.
This must include the work of the Holy Spirit. God declared through Ezekiel, “I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live.” 37:14 The stress is given in this promise to revival and renewal as a result of God’s power, not mans power.
We are just like Israel in Death Valley.
We are just like Israel in Death Valley.
We share a common spiritual condition with Israel in that we too are a valley of dry bones. It is not a near death experience but a total death. I’m not perfect, are you? Have you ever sinned in your life? Paul reminded the Colossians 1:21
21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions.
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.
3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.
We are in the same place Israel was in Death Valley. And just like Israel, we are in need of God’s intervention.
Can we live? It isn’t a question of God’s ability to make it happen, it is a question of God’s will.
Not can He raise sinners like us, but will He raise sinners like us? The Good News is, He will...
God gives life in Christ Jesus.
God gives life in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-5
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us,
5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!
Why and how is the even possible? 1 Cor 15:20-23
20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.
22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.
For too many though, they want to sleep on. Too many in the church say to the Lord, let me sleep…but God calls to the church Ephesians 5:14
14 for what makes everything visible is light. Therefore it is said: Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Don’t despair, but find your hope in Christ Jesus, the “hope of glory.” (Col 1:27)
22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
As come to a close this morning, don’t check out…listen God wants to work in your life. Christ has come that you may have life, yet if you’ve never trusted Christ Jesus as Savior & Lord of your life, then you’re not alive.
But praise be to God that you have an opportunity right now to express your faith & trust in Jesus. Turn to Him this morning...
Dear Lord Jesus, I confess my sin to you and that I am dry bones. I ask you to forgive of my sins and offenses to your holiness. I confess my trust in you as Savior & Lord, and believe in my heart that God raised you from the dead. Wake me up and breath life into me this morning, and help me to do your will.
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