Sermon Central
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Them Dry Bones Series
Contributed by Brad Beaman on Dec 7, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: The life of Ezekiel was an object lesson for the nation that had become a dead people. A people that had become a nation of dry bones. There is no hope for this disgraced, disobedient and defeated nation. God’s question to Ezekiel, Can dry bones live?
Them Dry Bones
Sing it with me:
The foot bone connected to the leg bone,
The leg bone connected to the knee bone,
The knee bone connected to the thigh bone,
The thigh bone connected to the back bone,
The back bone connected to the neck bone,
The neck bone connected to the head bone,
Ezekiel cried, "Dem dry bones!"
Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk aroun'
Oh, hear the word of the Lord!
If we are going to jump into dem dry bones in this prophecy of Ezekiel, then we should start with the context and some background to the prophet and his book.
The book begins with Ezekiel letting us know he is a priest who is thirty years old and goes into one of the fantastic visions of living creatures of what is simply put as a vision of the glory of God (Ezekiel 1:28). In the Levitical priesthood priests become of age at thirty years old. I don’t see anywhere that this has been suggested, but I am wondering if Ezekiel had this fantastic vision on his first day as a priest.
It at least had to be in his first year as a priest otherwise he would be 31 years old or more when he had his Chapter 1 vision. So maybe Ezekiel became a priest and a prophet all in one day.
Ezekiel’s ministry came in the context of hardship. He was living in Babylon because Nebuchadnezzar had conquered his people and exiled some Israelites including Ezekiel. God used the enemy of Israel to punish them and destroy their temple. It was a disgrace for the nation, and such were the days of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel also was a widower since his wife already died (Ezekiel 28:15-18). He was instructed not to shed a tear as part of the difficult series of prophetic messages of hopelessness Ezekiel proclaimed to his nation.
The life of Ezekiel was an object lesson for the nation that had become a dead people. A people that had become a nation of dry bones. There is no hope for this disgraced, disobedient and defeated nation. No hope outside God almighty doing something like had never been done before.
God’s question to Ezekiel. Can dry bones live?
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.” (Ezekiel 37:1-3)
When God asked Ezekiel if dry bones can live his answer is you alone know Lord.
Already God had made a dry stick, Aaron’s staff blossom. (Numbers 17:5-8) “Aaron’s staff sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds.” Of course, God can give life to Aaron’s staff and to the dry bones.
Aaron’s rod blooming was the demonstration of the power of God. They were not to forget this, and Moses placed Aaron’s staff in the Ark of the Covenant to serve as testimony to the power of God, and as a warning to rebelling against God.
Speak to the dry bones.
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 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.’” (Ezekiel 37:4-6)
Almighty God is the only one who could breathe into the dust and create man. Only God can bring life to these dry bones. But they come alive when Ezekiel preached to them.
For anyone who has new life in Christ you surely remember that you were once dead. You were a pile of dry bones. You were dead in your transgressions and sins (Ephesians 1:1)
I myself was also once a pile of dead bones. But because of his great love God made us alive in Christ. It is by grace these dry bones came to life. It is by grace you are saved, and God seated us up with Christ and seated us in the heavenly realms.
It is that 1 Corinthians 1 foolishness of preaching that the prophet was to speak to these dry bones. We have no power; Ezekiel has no power. It is the power of God, and our Lord uses us to bring life to the spiritually dead. He uses us to preach to the dead.
