EZEKIEL & THE VALLEY OF THE DRY BONES INTRODUCTION: (Music starts playing and pictures comes up on screen) In the Bible…in the Book of Ezekiel, God shows Ezekiel one of the most amazing object lessons of all times. It was so amazing that songs have been sung about it, and artists have painted it, and of course, preachers have preached about it, but tonight I’m going to tell you the astounding story of Ezekiel and the Valley of Dry Bones.

Now to really understand this story, you need to know that Ezekiel lived in a very sad time for Israel. They had sinned as a nation and worshiped other gods and trusted in themselves rather than trusting the one and only God, Jehovah, who had chosen them as His very own people and had given them a land flowing with milk and honey. Because of their sin, God had allowed them to be divided and carried off to faraway lands and their cities and lands were destroyed. It was a hopeless situation.

Then one day Ezekiel tells us, “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones…” As Ezekiel walked around that valley, he noted that there were lots and lots and lots of bones…and he noted that those bones were dry – very dry – very, very dry! And that’s when the LORD asked him the question: “CAN THESE BONES LIVE?” (v.3) Now what the LORD was really asking was: “DO YOU BELIEVE THAT I CAN DO ANYTHING?” Well, Ezekiel looked at those dry, dry bones and He thought of Elijah and Elisha who saw God raise the dead to life and then He thought about God who had created the whole world and everything in it and how he formed man out of the dust of the ground and then breathed into him the breath of life. So Ezekiel answered: O LORD God, Thou knowest. Which was basically saying, If it can be done, You, LORD, are the only one who could do it. Well, I think the LORD liked that answer because he spoke again and this time, he said, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, HEAR the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD… Behold…I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. (v.4-6) Yes, you heard it right! God told Ezekiel to preach to a bunch of dry bones and tell them to LISTEN UP because God’s going to cause them to LIVE! Well, the Bible doesn’t tell us that Ezekiel paused for even a second…He just OBEYED RIGHT AWAY and started preaching to those dry bones: All of you dry bones, HEAR what the Word of the LORD says! God says that He will make muscles grow on your old dry bones (I’ll bet Ezekiel felt pretty silly preaching to a bunch of dry bones when there wasn’t a single ear in the valley, but God sometimes asks us to do something that seems silly like asking us to give the last of our money to someone who has a need or talking to someone about Jesus who obviously has no interest in the Gospel, but Ezekiel knew God so He just kept on preaching!) God says that He will cause flesh to attach to that muscle and then have skin cover your flesh…and then He will give you breath – even though you’re just a bunch of dry bones right now! While Ezekiel was preaching away, the Spirit of the LORD started moving over that valley, and when the Spirit of the LORD starts moving, things start happening. Those old, dry, dry bones starts rattling. It started low at first and then then the sound grew and grew until it sounded like an earthquake as those bones connected to one another – the foot bone connecting to the ankle bone and the ankle bone connecting to leg bone and the leg bone connecting to the knee bone and the knee bone connecting to the… Well you get the idea, but eventually all of those bones connected to become skeletons and then the muscles and tendons and cartilage started forming, kidneys and livers and hearts and brains started forming and then flesh and skin covered those skeletons until Ezekiel looked across that valley and no longer saw a single bone – instead he saw a multitude of men! But not one of them was breathing. So God spoke again: Ezekiel, prophesy unto the wind,…say…Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. (v.9) When Ezekiel heard God’s command, he didn’t hesitate for even a moment, he cried out with all the breath that was in him: Winds from the North, Winds from the South, Winds from the East and Winds from the West, Breathe on these men, Breathe on these men, Breathe on these men, Breathe on these men…THAT THEY MAY LIVE! No sooner had Ezekiel finished speaking then there was a mighty blast of wind that came from the North, and the South and the East and the West and converged on that valley with a great GASP! (loud intake of breath and then a slow outburst of air) And Ezekiel watched amazed as an exceedingly great army of men opened their eyes and rose to their feet ALIVE! Then God told Ezekiel that he would do the same thing for His people – the children of Israel! God would surely do a miracle and bring them back to the Promised Land and make of them a great nation. And today thousands of years later, there is a nation of Israel who live on the land that God promised Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He brought them from the East and the West, the North and the South to make of them a great nation! God’s promises are true! But how does that story apply to YOU – a bunch of Master Club kids on the last night of October in 2018?! Well, I’m glad you asked. Look at Ezekiel 37: 6: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Now read Ezekiel 37:13-14: And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, (14) And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. Just as surely as God had formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, God had taken the bones of a fallen army and resurrected them to new life! And just as surely as God can take the bones of a fallen army and make them live, He can take a sinner who is bound in chains of sin and give them new life… And ye shall know that I am the LORD. He can take a boy who didn’t have money to go to Bible College and planned to work in the uranium mines in New Mexico and make him a missionary to thousands of kids in Michigan… And ye shall know that I am the LORD. He can take a poor Scottish boy working in the cotton mills in Scotland and make him a trailblazer for Christ across the entire continent of Africa And ye shall know that I am the LORD. He can take a small English parlour maid who was told she didn’t have the aptitude for learning the Chinese language and make her a mighty witness for the LORD to men, women and children in China And ye shall know that I am the LORD. He can take a young blind girl and make her one of the greatest hymn writers of all time And ye shall know that I am the LORD. What about you? What can He do with you? Remember what He asked Ezekiel at the beginning of our story: “CAN THESE BONES LIVE?” (v.3) Now what the LORD was really asking was: “DO YOU BELIEVE THAT I CAN DO ANYTHING?” I believe because I remember the day when I was lost in my sins and deserving the wrath of God and He reached down from Heaven and touched me And I knew that He was the LORD. And as I look back over my life, and I see all of the mistakes I’ve made and yet I see how He blessed me with wonderful children and a godly wife and how He has allowed me to minister to teens and to children and to adults and to minister in Brazil and Peru and the Philippines and England and Germany and Belgium and Hungary, then I know that He is the LORD. What can He do in your life? Let’s bow before Him tonight and ask Him.

Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, (2) And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. • “very” me'ôd (meh-ode') properly vehemence, that is, vehemently; by implication wholly, speedily, etc. (often with other words as an intensive or superlative; especially when repeated) Ezekiel 37:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. • The BIG QUESTION: CAN THESE BONES LIVE? Or CAN GOD DO ANYTHING? • Ezekiel’s ANSWER: O LORD GOD, THOU KNOWEST or NOT THROUGH MAN, BUT ONLY THROUGH GOD o “implying that, humanly speaking, they could not; but faith leaves the question of possibility to rest with God, with whom nothing is impossible (Deu_32:39). An image of Christian faith which believes in the coming general resurrection of the dead, in spite of all appearances against it, because God has said it (Joh_5:21; Rom_4:17; 2Co_1:9).” Ezekiel 37:4-6 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. (5) Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: (6) And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. • Ezekiel was commissioned to tell the bones to “HEAR the word of the LORD” – even though they didn’t have ears to hear! • He told the bones that God said that He would give them muscles and tendons and flesh and skin and breath so that they would know that He is the LORD. • He would bring LIFE where there was only DEATH. Ezekiel 37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. (8) And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. • As he simply obeys, GOD does the miracle before his eyes. o Bones connect with bones o Sinews grow onto bones o Flesh and skin cover the bodies • “shaking” ra‛ash (rah'-ash) vibration, bounding, uproar: - commotion, earthquake, quaking, rattling Ezekiel 37:9-10 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. (10) So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. • Once again, God tells Ezekiel what to say and he says it…and God does the miracle with OBEDIENCE to His Word • God says “Tell the 4 winds to breathe upon these slain.” When Ezekiel obeys, a living army of men STAND before him! • NOTE: Two separate actions (body and breath) which correlates to the creation of man in Genesis Ezekiel 37:11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. • Ezekiel lived in a day when the glory of Israel was totally destroyed – the people were carried off to Babylon over 900 miles away and Jerusalem lay in shambles • There was NO HOPE that Israel would ever be restored as a nation again Ezekiel 37:12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. • Israel was DEAD – the land was destroyed; the people were scattered and enslaved, and there was no longer any nation of Israel…BUT…the LORD is giving HOPE to His people. He is GOD and HE CAN DO ANYTHING…even resurrect from the dead! Ezekiel 37:13-14 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, (14) And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. • God wanted Israel to know that they were in the grave because they failed to acknowledge that ISRAEL was a people because God had given them LIFE…and they were destroyed because they did not recognize that their nation existed because of HIM. NOW He is telling them it can exist again because He is God and He is ABLE TO DO ANYTHING.