Can These Dry Bones Live?

O.T. #1929 "Can These Dry bones Live?"

April 27, 2021

Ezekiel 37

LET IT GLOW

Here are some positive verses:

Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High. And call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. (Psalm 50:14-15)

And the heavens shall declare His righteousness: for God is judge Himself. (Ps. 50:6)

The Lord didn't want ritualism or formalism. He wants our worship to come form the heart. What He wants from us is thanksgiving from their hearts, obedience in His Word, prayer, and a desire to honor Him in everything. (Wiersbe)

Even when life has us spinning around, we can keep our balance when our eyes are fixed on Jesus. Gazing at our circumstances can result in our being dizzy and confused. So when we look to our Savior, He refreshes us and directs our steps so they are steady and sure. Then we can make the right decisions in the right direction.  

LET IT GROW

This is probably one of the well known chapters written by Ezekiel. Have you heard the song about "Dem bones, Dem bones, Dem dry bones?"  Well, this is where it came from, my friend. You see, when the Babylonian army attacked Judah and Jerusalem, they left behind dead Jews in open graves or valleys-piled up bones that dried up. However, remnants were taken to the land of Babylon before the attack. They had lost hope of returning to their Promised Land and encouragement, even before they had lived 70 years in the foreign land.

Then God gives Ezekiel two signs-the valley filled with very dry bones, also Gog and Magog (chapters 8-39). In verses 1 and 2, the Spirit carried Ezekiel to the valley of Chaldea. He saw sun-bleached bones of skeletons, which had been cleaned by scavenger birds and animals, in the valley.

Then God asked the prophet a question, Son of man, can these  bones live?

What was Ezekiel's answer? O Lord God, Thou knowest. (verse 3)

Only God knew the answer, which is true. But doesn't it sound like he was reluctant to speak more confidently since Israel was in ruins and the bones of Jerusalem's people were still lying in the city's rubble?

Before we are too hard on Ezekiel, let's consider that it was humiliating for a Jew's dead body to not be washed, wrapped, and buried in a grave or a tomb. Those bodies the prophet saw in his vision may have been soldiers in the Jewish army. Actually, God had warned Israel in a covenant that their sins would bring shame upon them if they disobeyed Him. (Deuteronomy 28:25-26, Jeremiah 34:20)

McGee said that it was beyond Ezekiel to see how those dry bones could live. Only God knew whether those dead bones could live or not.

Ezekiel must have wondered why God gave him this vision and had him walk around among the bones. From a human point of view, the answer to God's question would have been no, but from the divine point of view, nothing is impossible with God.

Romans 4:17 tells us, God gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

Folks, is our spirit as dry as those dry bones Ezekiel saw in his vision? I hope not. If we are in the valley of dry bones, we must turn to Jesus for a filling of His Spirit to revive us. Does our church seem like a pile of dry bones-spiritually dead with no hope of vitality? God can restore them just as He did bones in front of Ezekiel. We must pray for renewal and not give up. God can restore it to life. Dead churches can live again! He can give us new life and purpose with the Spirit of God in us.  

LET IT GO

Let go of what is making us dry and turn to Jesus for spiritual renewal.

Make us alive again, Jesus!

Fill us with Your Spirit, praising You.