A valley filled with hundreds of bones. Seeing that you might think that you are watching some horror movie. And then these bones rise up and start attaching themselves together, making a skeleton. Now that is scary! But that’s not all. Then muscles, and body organs, and then skin and hair start to come on them. However, this multitude of bodies are still dead. Although they are standing there, there is no life in them. Again, this sounds like something from a very scary movie, something to give one nightmares. Instead, this is something that the Lord showed the prophet Ezekiel, and it had a very important meaning. Let’s look at today’s Old Testament Scripture and see what this is all about.
The exact dates of Ezekiel’s birth and death are not known, though it is believed that he was born around 623 BC and died sometime shortly after 571 BC. He was a major prophet during the years of the Babylonian captivity. The Lord gave Ezekiel many visions which are recorded in his book of prophecy in the Bible, and today we will look at when He brought the prophet to the valley of dry bones, and what this signifies.
At this point in history, the Jewish people had gone into exile in Babylon, their capital city Jerusalem had fallen, and their Temple had been destroyed. The people felt discouraged, even hopeless. In the midst of this, the Lord brought them a message, not only for encouragement, but also to show at a future day there will be a national restoration. Just as God will resurrect the dry bones He showed Ezekiel into a living army, one day He will restore Israel, both physically and spiritually.
As our Scripture passage opens, the Lord brought Ezekiel to a valley filled with very dry bones (vs. 1-2). The fact that these bones were “very dry” emphasizes that they have been dead for a long time. That is a picture of hopelessness. There is absolutely no hope of life in these bones. They are way past any human help. That, though, is just the type of condition that the Lord often likes to work with, a humanly impossible situation where His power will be unmistakable.
God asked Ezekiel one question to test his faith - can these bones live? (vs. 3). Ezekiel knew that if the Lord wanted, He could do anything, so Ezekiel responded that He (God) knows. Ezekiel didn’t know how God would work, but he knew who God was, that He could do anything He desired. The Lord then told Ezekiel to preach to these bones, to tell them His Word. He promised that as the prophet did so, breath would come into them, along with muscles, flesh, and skin (vs. 4-6). He would bring life to these bones. The Word of God is the instrument through which God brings life, even to the dead.
Ezekiel obeyed the Lord and spoke His Word to the bones (vs. 7-8). As he prophesied, the bones started to rattle. Then they moved together, assembling themselves together into a skeleton. Muscle, body organs, and skin came upon these bones. However there was no breath in these bodies. They were not alive.
This had a spiritual meaning, that the people of Israel would be regathered together. This regathering would first be a physical regathering, but they would not be restored spiritually. The people would return to their land after about seventy years of captivity, however most of the people only gave lip-service to God. They did not give Him their heart. Then after 70 AD, following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Jewish people were scattered all over the world. In 1948 Israel became a nation again, but as most of the Jewish people have never accepted Jesus as their Messiah, there is no spiritual life in them. They are like the skeleton with skin on it, but no breath of life within.
The Lord proceeded to tell the prophet Ezekiel to speak His Word again, telling breath to come into these bodies, which the prophet did (vs. 9-10). The Spirit of the Lord came into the bodies, bringing spiritual life to them. Spiritual life is not produced by human effort, but by the sovereign work of the Spirit of God. Those bones are the people of Israel (vs. 11). God proceeded to give a promise to His people. There would be a physical restoration to the land, and also there would be a spiritual regeneration (vs. 12-14). Though they have been physically restored to the land God promised Abraham, there has been no spiritual life. They are like the standing, but dead bodies. Jesus brought the New Covenant, and when He returns they will see Him whom they have pierced, leading to national mourning and repentance, where they will be spiritually reborn (Zechariah 12:10).
This message from Ezekiel is a picture of national resurrection, both physically and spiritually. Life came when Ezekiel preached. God’s Word, the Bible, is His chosen instrument of revival. It is His Word that brings us spiritual life, and will bring Israel spiritual life. Israel’s future spiritual restoration is literal. God’s covenants with Israel, and with us, are unconditional. No program, effort, or emotion can produce spiritual life. Only the Holy Spirit can. There is no situation, person, or nation who is beyond God’s power to restore. Ezekiel preached to bones. We are told to bring God’s Word to spiritually dead hearts, and God gives spiritual life. God has promised to keep His covenant with Israel, and He will also keep all of His promises to us.
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