CHAPTER 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. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4 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. 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. 9 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. 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. 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. 13 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.

This valley of dry bones to which God took Ezekiel is symbolic of "the whole house of Israel" (verse 11).

To get the full impact of these verses one should realize that Paul spoke of "all Israel" being saved, and that "all Israel" includes the Gentiles who would be "grafted in" (See Romans 11:16-26)

As God spoke to Ezekiel, the dry bones represented the nation of Israel that was enslaved in Babylon. They were broken, defeated and had no life within them. They were without hope within themselves.

Would these dry bones ever rise again to life? Ezekiel responded, "O Lord God, thou knowest." Ezekiel's response credits all life and resurrection power to God alone. There is no hope after the grave except it be the hope of God and His mercy!

The nation of Israel had sinned, and the "wages" of that sin had brought about their defeat. Now they were enslaved, and had no hope of life. Truly "....the wages of sin is DEATH; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

The nation of Israel at that time, stands as an example of what sin does in any person's life. It separates the person from God and REAL LIFE. A life without God is broken, defeated and without hope. Life without God is as dry as the unburied bones of an army on a battlefield.

But God can bring NEW LIFE to a person defeated by sin. God told Ezekiel to "prophecy." The prophecy he was to speak was "O ye dry bones, hear the WORD of the Lord" (Verse 4). The only way sinful man can receive hope again in his life is to hear and surrender to the "WORD" of God.

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17)

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." (2Corinthians 5:17)

How did this NEW LIFE come about? Ezekiel had to PROPHECY! The ownership of and reality of eternal life is of God alone. But His mercy and grace extends an open invitation to all who will HEAR His WORD.

And just as God granted the right of "procreation" to Adam and Eve for physical life, God has granted the right of "procreation" to the church for spiritual life.

CHURCH, LISTEN UP!!! If the people of God do not exercise the right of procreation by preaching the WORD of God, then defeated and broken sinners have NO HOPE!

God told Ezekiel to "prophecy," which means to preach what God has SAID. Ezekiel obeyed God (verse 7) and NEW LIFE was given to the dead bones! The mercy of God is extended through the cross of Christ. The grace of God is extended through the MOUTH OF THE CHURCH!

Ezekiel preached and some life was shown. Then he was told to preach AGAIN (verse 9). First, there is the PROPHECY from God; then there must be the PREACHING from the church.

15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. 18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? 19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. 20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. 21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

First, there was the PROPHECY, then there was the PREACHING, now there is a PRESENTATION. The presentation is of two "sticks" (or staffs) being joined together.

The twelve tribes of Israel had once been unified, but then they became separated by the vanity of man (See 1Kings 11:43 through 1Kings 12:17). The northern tribes of Israel had been overcome by Assyria and scattered as slaves around the world. The southern tribes of Israel had been captured and taken to Babylon. But God says He will join them ALL back together again.

They were once separated by petty jealousy, anger, animosity and prejudicial acts. But God says He can and will make them UNIFIED again!

Friends, the world is separated because of the vanities of man today. People are estranged from one another by petty jealousy, anger, animosity and prejudice. But God can make people come together in UNITY! ((See Ephesians 2:11-22))

God came in person as a descendent of David. He lived, died, was buried in a tomb, and by His own power was resurrected. You see God IS LIFE!!

And God can give HIS LIFE (eternal life) to all who will come and be joined to the ONE KING -- JESUS!

God puts HIS SPIRIT into those who are willingly surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." (1Corinthians 12:13)

Is God's "sanctuary" in you? Is His "tabernacle" set up in your heart? Then PROPHECY!! Tell the GOOD NEWS!! Tell how God has resurrected you from sin's death and given you NEW LIFE -- REAL LIFE!!

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.