Ezekiel
37:1-14 (NIV)
The
Valley of Dry Bones
37 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. 2 He
led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of
the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man,
can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to
them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the
Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a]
enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to
you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in
you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 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. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them
and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son
of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath,
from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So
I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and
stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 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.’ 12 Therefore
prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I
am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back
to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am
the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 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.’”
1.
LOCATION:
Definition: Bones make up skeletons
in humans. Spirit of God took Ezekiel to middle of the valley-sometimes we hit
a stand still in our lives: relationships, business-and we know God led us to
that location.
The hand of God led
Ezekiel to this place. The hand of the LORD is Christ because the Word says
Christ is seated by God’s right hand-Mark 16:9- and we are upheld and
strengthened by God’s righteous right hand-Christ-Isaiah 4:10.
Where are you located? Are you in the valley alone or with
God?
So here we see relationship and intimacy. Sometimes we
lose our intimacy in the journey.
2.
SEPARATION:
He was brought out by
the Spirit-because we are told to come out from among them and be separate in 2
Corinthians 6:17. Ezekiel was led by the Spirit to this valley-sometimes God
leads us to valleys. But we cannot walk by faith if we are concentrated on what
we can see-because we are instructed to walk by faith not sight-2 Corinthians
5:7.
So don’t evaluate your
surroundings on what you can see. Ezekiel was with God in a valley full of
bones.
3.
FAITH:
Hebrews 11:1 tells us
faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Confidence is what you rely on. Are you still confident-do you still have hope
in what God has promised you?
Leadership implies
submission to the will of the leader-are
you submitted to the will of God even when it seems He is taking you in
circles? Ezekiel was led back and forth among these bones. Sometimes we are
in the middle-we have come too far to turn back and we cannot see ahead-but
that is where faith is needed-not sight.
This valley is sometimes
lonely and isolated. Ezekiel could only see bones-sometimes we only see problems not potential.
It is here our faith is stretched-faith
is the substance of things hoped for as said in the KJV. Our substance is built
when our faith is stretched in the middle of this valley.
Questions And Answers:
Sometimes we want
answers to our questions and the LORD responds with a question-but we can only
hear Him if we have established our identity in Him. He addresses us as He sees
us. How do you see Him?
He called Ezekiel-Son of
Man-first-God sees us through Christ-do you have your identity in Christ?
Sometimes we cannot hear because we do not know who we are in Him. Don’t lose
your identity.
The reason He asks us
questions in the valley is to produce perseverance-Romans 5:3-5 says suffering
produces perseverance, which produces character, which produces hope, which
stands against shame.
And faith is the
substance of things hoped for-hence it is all connected.
In the process of
getting to faith, you have to persevere to build your character to produce hope
which gives substance to your faith as now you are not concentrated on what you
can see because through suffering your mindset has shifted to what you cannot
see-which is faith. And faith is the evidence of things not seen.
4. FOCUS:
God asks Ezekiel next if
the bones can live-this is testing his focus. What is your focus? Do you still
believe you will receive that raise/promotion/get married/have children? What
is your focus on your sight or your faith?
God asks us questions to
kill our flesh and build our spirit as Romans 8:7 says the mind governed by the
flesh is hostile to God and does not submit to His law and cannot even do so.
Hence in the place of very dry bones in that valley our mind is tested and made
subject to God-our thoughts are transformed because our mind is renewed as said
in Romans 12:2. So that we can test and approve what God’s will is-not our will
but His will for us-so we can get to that place of submission not based on our
desires but His desires for us. So God will attack the place of your flesh in
that valley-and ask you can these bones live-to change your focus.
5.
FAITH AND DEEDS:
Ezekiel shows this shift
in His response because faith without deeds is dead. James 2:26.
Your deeds will show if
your faith has truly matured in God. Ezekiel said Sovereign Lord, you alone
know-this is submission in His response. How many of us hold God Sovereign in
that medical situation, that job dilemma that promise? We need to come to the
place of submission so we can leave the valley and step into victory. This is
the first step. We need to not meddle and let God be God-be still and know that
He is God as the Word says.
1 Corinthians 3:19 says
the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. Once more, our faith
needs to be stretched so we see things from God’s point of view-so there is no
agreement in our spirit through our flesh to anything that is hostile to God’s
will in our lives.
An academic would have
said those bones were dead and gone. But Ezekiel did not-submission is so
important-it shows your faith and your deeds have agreed and this produces
life. We see God’s sight through faith because we walk by faith not sight.
The next step in coming
out of the valley is agreement. Amos
3:3 says 2 cannot walk together if they are not agreed. Sometimes we get stuck
because we have failed to agree with the will of God in our lives-instead of
responding to the question of the possibility of dead bones living-we go by
sight-and hence we cannot move.
Remember, we must keep
in step with the Spirit-Galatians 5:16-so we must agree with Him.
Now there is agreement
after submission through your deeds
there is life-there is room for your faith to flow. This is because your source has shifted. You no longer
depend on the valley you depend on the LORD. And this enables us to speak a
language of faith. Ezekiel demonstrates this because his response shows not
only submission and agreement but also faith in God’s ability.
This means God needs to change you before He can
change your situation. This is clear because God first addressed Ezekiel
before He addressed the problem.
Spiritual principle #1: The fastest route to your solution
is submission to God.
6.
PROPHECY AND POWER:
Where there is
submission and agreement, prophecy has power to move.
God is a God of order
not confusion as seen in 1 Corinthians 14:33. Sometimes we operate in confusion
and try and attach God to it. But God works with order.
You cannot prophecy into
your situation without submitting to God’s will and coming into agreement with
Him unless there will be no power.
This is why a lot of
believers get stuck in their circumstances. They prophecy without power.
But where there is
order-where there is submission, agreement, faith-there is power to prophecy
because now you can hear and are obeying the will of God. And God will speak.
He instructed Ezekiel not only to prophecy but also on what
to say.
So the question becomes: have you submitted to the will of
God, have you agreed with Him, have you changed your focus-if not you cannot
speak the language of faith and you cannot have prophecy without power.
Another spiritual principle: You cannot have the promise
without going through the process.
The LORD instructed Ezekiel to tell the bones to hear the
Word of the LORD because faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of the
LORD (Romans 10:17).
So are you exercising that muscle of faith? Isaiah 30:21
says we hear the voice of the Spirit telling us where to walk-so it is so
important to be able to hear because we live by faith. The more we exercise our
faith, the clearer we can hear the voice of God.
Ezekiel was told to prophecy with the Sword of the Spirit
the Word of God that is why God’s Word should always be on your lips-it is the
path to prosperity-Joshua 1:8. The Word is a lamp to your feet and a light to
your path.
7.
THE NAME OF THE LORD.
Ezekiel was told to
prophecy using the name of the LORD not his own name-hence it is not your will
that will lead to that promotion-it is the will of God-it is in His Name.
Notice Ezekiel’s submission was encapsulated in the instruction-This is what
the Sovereign Lord says-so are you submitted to the power of His Name in that
situation?
God looks forward: He speaks concerning the prophecy in the future
as He says I will. Isaiah 43:18 says we should forget the former things and not
dwell on the past-so are you dwelling on the past?Are you dwelling on your
struggles/the pain?
This shows the
importance of direction. What
direction are you facing?
You could be standing still because you are facing back. This
means you are dwelling-you are living in the past. When you should be dwelling
in the LORD as described in Psalm 91.
Ezekiel prophesied as commanded. We need to act without
question when God speaks-Prov 3:5 says trust in Him not your understanding.
Ezekiel did not question God-sometimes we question His instruction. Our
understanding is not of God which is why our mindset has to be transformed.
Listen to His direction.
8. SOUND AND SIGHT.
Now we see that the
prophecy has power; first there was a noise, and noise is perceived through our
ears. Hence this was all happening through the avenue of faith. We need to be
spiritually sensitive to hear the solution coming-through faith. Those bones
responded to the Word of faith not flesh.
Faith will cause that
situation to respond because of your agreement with God.
Next there was a
rattling sound. Rattling is as a result of shaking. This is powerful because it
shows the hand of God at work. Are you sensitive to the rattle? To the movement
of God in that situation? Can you hear it? The thing is you can both hear a
rattle and see it shaking. This shows the process of faith taking form. Can you
see the order? The response comes from the spirit before it is seen in the
flesh as we can see here: there was sound and then sight.
His faith took form in
the flesh-Ezekiel heard the noise before he looked and saw tendons and flesh
appear. Notice also there was order in the way the bones assembled to flesh.
There were tendons, skin and then flesh. This is how God puts our lives back
together-in order. Hence His presence is evident in the solution because it is
so specific-so clean.
The Process to the Promise:
Breathe to the flesh.
God first stated the
promise-the breath to enter the bones before He provided the process. We
are usually given the promise before we are told the process. But we go through
the process to get to the promise. Ezekiel walked through the
process by speaking to those bones that became flesh but now he needed to
release the Word of God addressing the promise to come to life. He prophesied as he was commanded-this is
because the only way to get to the promise is to follow the instructions of God
solely as directed. This is why after he followed the command; breath
entered-the promise came to life. And it was evident that the promise came to
life because they stood on their feet-the promise will stand on the promise of
God not on you-this is why it will be a vast
army.
Revelation:
The Word says he was
told to prophesy to the slain.
This addresses
revelation. Before we did not know the bones were of the slain-in the process of walking to the promise,
we receive revelation of the problem.
When God speaks into the
bones in your life-you will see where the slaughter happened.
Restoration:
This leads to
restoration-Ezekiel prophesied as instructed to the slain and breath
entered=hence whatever error caused that violent rupture-that crisis-is
reversed through the breath of Christ. It has received life.
Sometimes we make the
mistake of stopping at the revelation we have received concerning the bones
forgetting to wait for the breath of God to enter the situation-we abort the
pathway to restoration because we are
focused on our sight. The situation looks healthy so we leave it. But this
is why we need to be so spiritually sensitive-Ezekiel noticed the bones now flesh
had no breath. So that situation may
suddenly seem alive but are you sensitive enough to see if it is still dead?
Ezekiel was. This is spiritual maturity. Remember Galatians
3:3 says are you so foolish you started in the Spirit and now you want to end
in the flesh? This passage describes the importance of faith.
Rearrangement:
The bones became flesh
then they became a vast army. Can you see the process? This shows whatever area
of pain you have gone through God turns it into purpose-His strength is made
perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) The weak bones because the vast
army.
Redemption:
This is the power of
redemption-which we see in the next passages. Our graves-our dead areas are
arisen in Christ because we receive resurrection and life-every dry place is
made alive. This is salvation and freedom from slavery and the wages of sin,
which is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life.
We also see reception of the Spirit-the seal of
salvation-who is also a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (Ephesians
1:13-14)-and this is why after this we see that there is a settlement-this is
the inheritance we have received in Christ.
It is through these
experiences of trial and triumph from the valley to the victory, that we come to know God has spoken over our lives
and breathed into our lives.
This is why we should
praise His Name-because only He has done it and no one else.
God sets us free from
our trials so we can worship Him-as He told Pharaoh to do in Ezekiel 9:1-to let
His people go.
The LORD said, in 2
Corinthians 7:14 that if my people who are called by my name will humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then He will hear from Heaven and will forgive our sins and heal the land.
So to get to victory from the valley, we
need to submit and agree with God’s will in our lives, we need to come to a
place of faith that we are sensitive to His direction, so our prophecy carries
power, and this will release the promise through the process. (Ephesians 6:18)
And in all things, we
come at it seeking His face through prayer and praise on all occasions. Amen.