CAN
THE DRY BONES LIVE AGAIN? (Ezekiel 37:1-14)
Introduction: A recent web
article in the Philadelphia Enquirer reads, “There's evidence that confirms
what most of us can feel in our bones. Earlier this month, the Centers for
Disease Control said that suicides spiked 25 percent upwards from 1999 through
2016. With 45,000 fatalities in 2015, suicide is one of only three significant
causes of death that is rising in the United States. The feeling of
hopelessness is at the center of each suicide attempt.
Another
is drug overdoses, which rose by more than 21 percent in just one year, 2016 —
hardly a surprise to Philadelphia neighborhoods like Kensington that have been
overrun by encampments of those laid low by addiction. Coupled with the steady
toll of alcohol-related fatalities, sociologists have come up with a grim new
term for all this: Deaths of despair.”[1]
It
was July 31,593 B.C there was despair and gloom among the Judean exiles. A
30-year old young prophet Ezekiel was one among the 10,000 Jews that were
exiled to Babylon. The reason for their exile was that they forsook God and
worshipped gods of other nations.
In
those days, hope had become a rare commodity. Ezekiel and the remnant of Jewish
people must have felt as desolate and useless as the piles of dry bones that he
had seen in a startling vision. For His namesake, God was going to bring back
the exiles into their homeland.
I. A VALLEY OF DRY
BONES (1-3)
“The Lord took hold of me, and I
was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. He
led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were
scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. Then he
asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?” “O
Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.” Let’s pay
attention to the conversation between God and His prophet.
The
prophet Ezekiel saw himself being carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a
valley of dry bones. After leading him through the valley, the Lord asks the
prophet a difficult question, “Son of man, can these bones become living people
again? Ezekiel said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know the answer to that.” Then
the Lord told him to prophesy over the dead bones.
Vs.
4-6, “Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign
Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I
will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath
into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” What
can we learn from these verses?
The
dry bones represent the exiled people of Judah who were desperately longing to
return to their homeland. Their situation looked barren and lifeless like dead,
dry bones. Similarly, in our lives journey, we may find ourselves passing
through a dry patch. Wherever we turn, we see barrenness and hopelessness. I am
talking about spiritual emptiness.
We
love to be in control of things. We seek solutions to life’s complex problems.
But like the prophet Ezekiel, not always we know the answers, to certain tough
questions, so it is OK to say, Lord, I don’t know why and how, but all I know is
that you have all the answers.
At
times, God might ask us to take on tough assignments that are beyond us. For
Ezekiel, it was to prophesy over the dry bones to come alive, and for me, it is
leading Hope Church to a place of fruitfulness and impact in a highly pragmatic
and pluralistic community such as Sharon.
For
you it maybe something else. Whatever it may be, when we are willing to step
out by faith in obedience to the Lord’s command and do what he would ask us to
do, we will see a miracle unfolding right in front of our eyes. In the end, we
will know that Jesus is Lord.
It may have looked rather foolish
for the prophet to stand before the heaps of dry bones and bring forth a
prophetic message to them. But let’s see what happened when he stepped out in
faith.
II. DEAD BONES
CAME BACK TO LIFE AGAIN: (7-10)
Vs.
7-8, “So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there
was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came
together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. Then as I watched,
muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their
bodies, but they still had no breath in them.”
What
a miracle of accuracy? Just like in a
Hollywood slow-motion movie, each bone sought its partner and attached
themselves and formed complete human skeletons. Then the muscles, flesh, and skin
covered those frames. The valley of dry bones turned into a valley of dead
bodies. Now the Lord tells Ezekiel to give a prophetic command to the winds.
The
prophet commanded, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from
the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again. And breath
came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a
great army. What a sight to see?
III GOD EXPLAINED
THE VISION:
Vs.
11. Then
he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They
are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is
finished.” God heard those complaints and grumblings of the exiles who were
talking and behaving as though they were dead, all hope is gone, and their
nation is finished. Is this kind of talk familiar to us?
When
we look at the staggering numbers of suicide, gun-related, and opioid overdose
deaths in our country, one might think and say this is it, our nation is
doomed. When we receive deadly diagnostic news or are faced with a chronic
debilitating sickness, we might hear ourselves saying, it is hopeless, and
nothing can help me. It is normal to feel and talk that way. Back to our
passage, in spite of their negative confessions, God was determined to do
something beautiful for the exiles. He was going to restore their hope by
bringing them back to their homeland.
IV. HOPE RESTORED
(12-13)
Vs. 12-13, “Therefore, prophesy to
them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open
your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to
the land of Israel. When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the
Lord.”
The
prophet now was given another impossible task, that was to prophesy not over
the dead bodies but the living. To prophesy over the dry bones is one thing,
and to prophesy over people who were acting like dry bones was another thing. In
this case, if the prophecy didn’t come through the people could have thrown stones
at the prophet.
Though
the people of Judah rejected God and worshipped other gods, God had not
forgotten the covenant he made with their ancestors, so He called them, “my
people.” God was going to turn their grave like situation around and bring them
back to their homeland. When that happens, they will know He is the LORD. God
promised through Ezekiel to give them His Spirit.
V. THE SPIRIT
GIVES LIFE. Vs. 14
Vs. 14, “I will put my Spirit in
you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will
know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord
has spoken!’ Here we see a life-giving promise of God to the life-less remnant
of the exiles. God promised them a life where once was death, a homecoming to a
depressed nation.
Though
these promises were speaking of the Judean exiles imminent return to their
homeland, its implication is for all God’s people of all generations. Let me
recapture Ezekiel’s vision. The young prophet Ezekiel saw the hard bone-like
reality of the people of Judah in exile. God gave him several tough prophetic
assignments to perform. When Ezekiel stepped into a realm of impossibilities by
faith, he saw the miracle-working power of God. A vast army was raised,
literally from the heaps of dry bones as he saw life coming through God’s
Spirit.
In
the same line of prophecies, the prophet Joel prophesied, “Then, after doing
all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and
daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men
will see visions. In those days, I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men
and women alike.” We are living in the end times. God is bringing life through
His Holy Spirit to all those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ.
How
are we to apply Ezekiel’s ancient vision of dry bones and the ageless promise
of God’s Holy Spirit to our lives today? God showed the dry bones to Ezekiel
and asked him can these dry bones live again? What are the dry bones you are
facing, and can they live again?
As
you are listening to this message, maybe you feel dry, defeated, emotionally
scattered. You may be facing a grave like situation for which there is no way
out unless God intervenes. Perhaps you sit alone, feeling hopeless and
depressed. But do not despair!
If
the God of Ezekiel is your God, and if He could restore the hopes of an entire
nation of Judah, then be assured that even the dry bones before you can live
again. But how? Like the prophet Ezekiel, we need to boldly step out in faith
and speak to those dry situations in our lives. Jesus while he was on the earth, often encouraged people to
step out in faith, for example, He told the blind mand to go and wash himself in
the pool of Siloam (John 9:6). He told Zacchaeus the tax collector to come down
of his tree. (Luke 19). He said to the ten lepers to go and show themselves to
the priests (Luke 17). I can give you more, but you get the point.
When
they all stepped out in faith with boldness, they received their miracles. Jesus is still the same yesterday, today, and
forever. He is calling us by the power of His Holy Spirit to step out in faith
and speak to our dry bones to live again, and they will obey His voice. Whatever
is impossible for you, is possible for God. If only we dare to believe in Him,
and take bold steps of faith we will yet again see the Glory of God in our
days. Amen!
[1] https://www.inquirer.com/philly/columnists/will_bunch/deaths-of-despair-rising-suicide-opioids-kate-spade-anthony-bourdain-20180614.html
