Ezekiel 37:1 (NIV) “The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.”
The book of Ezekiel was written by the prophet bearing the same name, which means “God will strengthen.” Picture the scene. Ezekiel was carried off in the Spirit and taken to a valley of dry bones.
The Bible says these bones were “completely dried out “
Ezekiel 37:2 (NLT) “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.”
These “completely dried out ” bones symbolised a situation that looked completely hopeless.
In the vision, God asked Ezekiel a question. He said, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
Ezekiel 37:3 (NLT) “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.”
Next God said to Ezekiel, “Prophesy upon these bones”
Ezekiel 37:4 (NIV) “Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!”
Whenever the Lord speaks, things happen.
Ezekiel 37:7 (NIV) “So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.”
When we proclaim God’s word over our circumstances, it’s going to cause a rattling. Things are going to happen.
Then, as Ezekiel began to be prophesy, there was a rattling. Suddenly, the bones were being pulled back to their original partners as God began the amazing process of reassembly. At this point all the body parts were in their proper place. The bones, muscle, and skin were in position, but still there was no life.
Ezekiel 37:10 (NIV) ”So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.”
God gives life.
Ezekiel 37:11 (NIV) “Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.”
Ezekiel 37:14 (NIV) “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.”
The Lord is our only hope
Psalm 39:7 “And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.”
Psalm 25:3 (NIV) “No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame”