Bringing Life to Dead Bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14) :: By Dr. Donald Whitchard
The thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel presents what, on the surface, seems to be a story of desolation and ruin that is beyond any hope of restoration by human standards. This chapter describes a tragic episode in the history of Israel as a nation. It paints a bleak picture of its past but also shows that God, although He had punished them for their idolatrous and wicked ways, He was not and is not finished with them. The Jews are the proof of God’s existence and the fact that He has kept a covenant with them that has not been broken, even in the worst of times.
When I say that the Jews are proof that God is real, what is meant by that statement?
Historians and sociologists will tell you that whenever a nation is destroyed, either by war or interior factors and the citizens of that nation are scattered elsewhere, it does not take but two to three generations whereby the language and the culture of that nation will gradually cease to exist as new generations assimilate to the culture in which they now live.
By that reasoning — after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and Judea in AD 70 by the hands of the Romans — those Jews that survived and scattered to other parts of the Roman Empire should begin to lose their national identity, history, language, culture, and religion because their original country no longer existed and they were expected to adapt to the ways of Rome. It did not happen, as the Jews were forced to wander from country to country for the next two thousand years, each generation experiencing prejudice and ostracism. The ultimate persecution occurred under the devil-possessed Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler, who had developed the idea of a “Final Solution” to get rid of the Jews, whom he saw as the main culprit in tearing apart the German Empire after World War I.
World history has not been kind to the Jewish people, but God has always protected and preserved them in terms of culture, language, history, and faith. The Jews have not changed as a people or nationality, but He has dealt severely with those nations and governments that would try to rid the world of His chosen people, and the results are frightening.
In the opening verses of Chapter 37, the prophet Ezekiel is taken by “the Spirit of the LORD” to a valley full of bones, symbolizing the apparent end of the Jewish nation at the hands of its enemies. God shows that He is the Final Authority not only concerning Israel but of both history and creation. Everything begins and ends by His Sovereign will (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:16-18).
Starting with verses 1-14, we read the following:
“THE hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ So, I answered, ‘O LORD God, you know.’ Again He said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the Word of the LORD! Thus says the LORD God to these bones, ‘Surely, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you, and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you, and you shall live. Then you shall know that I AM THE LORD.’
“So, I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also, He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the LORD GOD, ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they might live.’ So, I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.’
“Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD God: ‘Behold, O My People, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, have spoken it and performed it’, says the LORD” (NKJV).
When Ezekiel wrote down these words, the land of Israel had become a barren wasteland. The people had either been killed or exiled to Babylon by this time. The kingdom of Israel was gone for good in their eyes. They would not know what it would be like to be back in the land for another seventy years. Israel’s hopes for the future were dead and buried forever, or so it seemed.
Let this be a lesson to every one of us that what looks impossible on the surface is no match for the power of God. The dry bones and their supernatural assembly by the creative Word of the LORD show that the powers of death and despair vanish in His presence. God’s demonstration of His power contains assurance beyond the revival of Israel as a nation. Ezekiel’s vision shows that Israel is an earthly clay out of which God will call into being the people of His eternal kingdom.
He brings life to the dead soul and salvation not only to Israel but to a world deserving nothing but judgment and eternal wrath (Romans 5:6-11). He takes our seemingly dead and dry existence and transforms us into new creations through the power and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). God offers life, purpose, mercy, and grace to all who come to Him in faith. He can take your life and make it into something wonderful, both here and in terms of eternity. Turn from your sins and allow your dry bones to be revived by the power, mercy, and saving grace today. Come to Him – and live.
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