God had called His people, the Jews, out of captivity in Egypt. For over 100 years, they had been in Egyptian captivity. God brought them into the Promised Land, and gave them a land and a King, and made them a nation. But … they turned against God, and God allowed them to go into captivity once again.
Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army invaded Israel. They had reduced Solomon’s Temple to ashes, and had taken many of the Jewish people back to Babylon as captives. This is the condition that Ezekiel is in. The nation of Israel is dead. But … God has a vision for Ezekiel. Let's turn to Ezekiel 37 in your Bible.
Ezekiel 37:1-2 – Ezekiel is carried to a valley full of very dry bones. Try to imagine this scene with me. These bones are scattered everywhere … very white …very dry. Bones all over the place … scattered by the wild animals so that there is nothing but miscellaneous bones as far as the eye can see.
For Ezekiel, this is a vision of the nation of Israel … 37:11. There was no way that Israel could get themselves out of Babylonian captivity. They were like these dead, dry bones … in a graveyard … dead … in a hopeless situation.
Does this describes some of you today? You look around, and it seems hopeless. Everything seems to have gone wrong. Your life is a mess … or … at least it’s not what you want it to be. You see yourself in a valley of dead, dry bones.
Ezekiel 37:3a – Look at the question. Ezekiel is looking at millions of dead, dry bones … scattered about 100’s of square miles … and … God asks him, “Can these bones live?” How would you answer that question?
When you look at your situation … and … all you see is a valley of dead, dry bones … you don’t see much hope, do you? It’s hard to imagine those dead, dry bones having life. It’s hard to imagine your situation ever getting better. It’s hard to imagine life, beyond our present circumstances.
Israel has been taken captive by Babylon … Ezekiel can’t see much hope for his people. But … he answers God’s question … Ezekiel 37:3.
“Can these bones live?” “I don’t see how … if they do, it will be up to You, Lord!”
Ezekiel is telling God that God is in charge … in control. God can do whatever He wants to do. With God, nothing is impossible. If God wants these dead, dry bones to live, they’ll live!
Can dead, dry bones live? With God, nothing is impossible. Sometimes we look around us, and all we see is a valley of dry, dead bones. It looks pretty hopeless … it looks pretty devastating … it looks pretty grim.
But … God’s got a plan. Get into His Word, and He’ll speak to you. Yield to the Holy Spirit, and He will give you a new life.
Again, can dead, dry bones live? With God, nothing is impossible. If you have never trusted Jesus to save you, you are still living in the graveyard of dead, dry bones. God has a plan. Believe His Word, when it says that Jesus paid your sin-debt on the cross. Trust Him to save you, and the Holy Spirit will give you a new life.
One last time, can dead, dry bones live? That’s up to you. God has a plan to make dead, dry bones live. Are you willing to trust Him to give you life?
Scripture: Matthew 6:34; Genesis 2:7; Jeremiah 1:5; Acts 17:11; John 5:39; Matthew 24:24; Isaiah 49:1
Prayer: The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. (Exodus 15:2)
God bless you,
Regina
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