East Baptist Church – Denison, TX

Breathing Life Into Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-10 (KJV) ¹ The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, ² And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. ³ And he said unto me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, thou knowest.” ⁴ Again he said unto me, “Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, ‘O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’ ⁵ Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: ⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.’” ⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. ⁸ And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then said he unto me, “Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, ‘Thus saith the Lord GOD; “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”‘” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

If I was to point to Scripture that sums up the mission of the church and each member this is it.  Because in this passage of Scripture, we also see how God brings life from death, and we see that God is the God of the impossible. What God has done for Israel He can do in any situation where life needs to be brought out of death. So, let’s take the application and apply it today to your lost friend, neighbor, person—or your friend who is dead in trespasses and sin—and let’s see what the Lord Jesus Christ can do for them. For what He did in the Valley, He has done for all of us that claim the Name of Christ.

On the outside, we look fine. We are dressed. We are seated. We are smiling. But the truth is, some of us are not sitting in pews at all. We are standing in a Valley of Dry Bones. We need to see this from both the side of the Lost and then the side of those that have been Saved.

Time and years in the ministry have taught me, when you find yourself in a valley, God’s Word has a way of meeting you there. When your words run out, His Word speaks. When your strength fades, His truth stands. That is why Ezekiel chapter 37 matters so much, because it shows us what God does when His people feel worn down, dried out, and almost done.

God did not meet Ezekiel in comfort. He met him in a place of confrontation. God carried him into a place Ezekiel would not have chosen so he could see what God could do where hope seemed beyond repair.

These bones were dead bones. They were dry bones. They were depressed bones. And they were disjointed bones. They were scattered all over – nothing made sense. There was no cohesion. Life was fragmented, because it wasn’t life at all. It was death. So, here is a picture of dry bones. And you could just skip over that picture as just “impossible.” But God specializes in things that seem impossible. Life is disjointed without God in Christ.

Look at how God breathes life into the dry bones: By His Word as preached by the prophet. Ezekiel 37:4-6 (KJV) ⁴ Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. ⁵ Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: ⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

My beloved you may say this is a prophet, a preacher, a proclaimer of the Bible, so yes, his Words matter. I submit to you that you are also to be a witness and your words matter, maybe even more than mine. What kind of words did you as a Christian proclaim to the world around you last week, for we live in the Valley of Dry Bones called earth. Hebrews 4:12 (ASV) ¹² For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.

What the Bible is talking about here is the Holy Spirit of God. Here is the prophet saying, “O God, it is not enough for me to preach. O God, You must move.”  My beloved I can preach a sermon that is exegetically correct. I can preach a sermon that may be doctrinally pure. But, dear friend, nobody is going to get saved by that kind of preaching, unless God breathes on them—unless the Spirit of God moves.

God breathes life after the bones are connected:  Before breath came, connection came. Before life came, unity came. God connected the bone not just to the individuals, but the whole church, before He breathed life into the old dry bones.  The coming to life and the standing do not happen in isolation. The bones did not rise one by one. They rose together. ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

I think that we all need to get hold of the truth that what the devil would love to do more than anything else here at East Baptist Church is Divide us. “That we endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).