Ezekiel 37:3
And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

Ezekiel 37:3,4

A Valley of Dry Bones…Ezekiel Chapter 37 contains one of the most dramatic and memorable of all the prophet’s visions. God transports his servant into a valley, a scene of carnage from days long ago when the mutilated remains of fallen soldiers had completely decomposed leaving a graveyard filled with dry bones. As far as the eye could see there were skulls, ribs, vertebrae, joints, long leg bones and narrow finger bones all lying hapless, bleached white by the relentless sun. It was a dismal scene of death and human failure.

God , however, was intent on revealing to His servant what the power of His Spirit could do when the people of God were confronted with, what appeared to be, an irreversible calamity. As the wind of God blew upon those bones, as sinew, muscle and skin clothed and strengthened the long dead warriors, as minds and lungs and hearts began to function once again, as blood flowed through the newly formed veins and capillaries – a mighty army stood upon its feet.

As the prophet stood there amazed at what had been unfolded before His eyes, God then applied the teaching and the lesson:

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. 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. 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, 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.

Ezekiel 37:11-14

Therefore, Israel the people of God, were the dry bones. They had gone beyond the point of being helped by any human instrument. The axe had fallen and they had lost everything. But God was promising that just as He had the power to resurrect the dry bones in the valley so he would resurrect His people out of their spiritual graves, bringing them back to their homeland once again.

Therefore, this is a picture of revival for the Church in every age. When the banner of truth is no longer flying high, when God is mocked in the media and on the streets, when men do not fear God, when the Church is toiling, sowing but not reaping, when the spirit of prayer is at a low ebb, when the tide of blessing has gone far out into the sea of history – THIS IS THE TIME FOR REVIVAL. Revival is God moving in the valley of dry bones.

1: THE PICTURE OF THE DRY BONES

Ezekiel was presented with these dry bones by God:

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,

Ezekiel 37:1

It was strange place to bring a preacher, yet this was without doubt the situation in which Ezekiel had been placed by the will of God. He was placed in a dry, barren situation filled with death.

Ezekiel’s location in the valley of dry bones has been experienced by many through the years and in the present.

A preacher looks at a congregation – preparing sermons BUT shedding tears because he sees prayerless and backslidden Christians and unconverted souls who seem unmoved by the claims of Christ.

A Sunday School teacher gathers a little class together and wonders how much they really are taking in, am I really making a difference?

A Youth Leader works among the young people attempting to enthuse and inspire but sees all too few few lives changed by the power of the Gospel.

Parents observe their children, their teenagers, perhaps their adult off-spring and grow desperate because the Gospel appears not to have reached their hearts.

As a congregation and a denomination we look out at the godlessness of our nation, the darkness of our times, the encroaching secular spirit which appears to carry everything with it like a mighty tide.

The Church in the world sees societies in chaos; war, cruelty , bloodshed are constant. Billions are worshipping false gods and following false hopes while the lowly Man of Calvary continues to be despised and rejected.

All around it seems, there are dry bones; dead spiritual carcasses.

But what about the deadness in our own hearts? The dead wood hinders and deforms, it is found in every character and is embedded in each heart. We look within and can we be satisfied with all that we see?

The question, however, came to Ezekiel; “Son of Man, Can these bones live?”

This was the challenge to Ezekiel’s faith. God had placed him in this valley, for what purpose – that the bones would remain bones? Can these bones live?

Perhaps in our own situations as we are confronted with unanswered prayer, with our needs and the needs of others we find ourselves being asked this very question. Can the dead bones live? Can the desert blossom like the rose? Can there be streams in the desert?

What was blatantly obvious to the prophet was that he had no answers to this situation which was beyond recovery. Therefore he simply replied; “O Lord God, thou knowest?” God alone knows and holds the keys to every discouraging and perplexing situation in which we find ourselves today. We rest and rely upon Him while believing that we have been brought to the Kingdom for such a time as this.

2: THE PROMISE FOR THE DRY BONES

Ezekiel 37:5
Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

God entered into a covenant with Ezekiel and with Israel that the bones would live once more. This was His bond. This was what He would do.

We are incentivised to serve God in the world because of the covenant promises of a God who will never fail.

The promises that flow from God’s election in the great council chambers of eternity mean that we can preach knowing that souls will be saved, because God has decreed this to be the case. This was Paul’s inspiration in Corinth:

Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Acts 18:9-11

God has not only ordained the people who will be converted but He has also ordained the means whereby those people will be converted:

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God

1 Corinthians 1:18

God has not decreed to save the world by song and music, he has not ordained that he will save the world by scientific arguments, through logical reasoning by intellectual theologians, by group Bible studies or any other innovation. There is a school of thought today that the message hasn’t changed but we must change the means whereby we reach the lost. The Church must change to meet the needs of a changing world is the argument. And many get caught up this stream but the danger is this – get caught in the wrong current and you have no idea where you will end up. This spirit which attempts to change and adapt the church is incredibly dangerous because there is no end to the change that is required. It creates something called drift. It may appear adventurous and exiting, it may catch a few followers but it will take the church further and further away from the shore and from its anchor which is the Word is God.

There is a place for good singing, there is a place for reasoned arguments, there may even be a place for group discussions BUT nothing can and must replace preaching as the central aspect of our ministry. This is God’s ordained means; the way by which He reveals Himself to the Church and to a lost world. I must also add that while live-streaming is very helpful for those who genuinely can’t be with us in person, it is no substitute for those who can be in in attendance. There is a spirit and a presence in live ministry that neither livestream nor video catch-up nor podcast will ever replace. We must defend and value the ordinance of Spirit filled preaching.

We also have the amazing promises of of Saviour where believing prayer is concerned:

Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Matthew 21:21-22

God pledges Himself to fill all of his obedient and submissive people with the fullness of His Spirit:

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Ephesians 5:18

Most importantly these passages in Ezekiel and many others teach us that the Church in the world will grow, that revival is more than an historic act – it is the means whereby God builds up His Church – the bones will live.

3: THE PREACHING TO THE DRY BONES

No preacher had a more discouraging congregation to proclaim truth to than Ezekiel in this valley.

Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD…So I prophesied as I was commanded

Ezekiel 37:4,7

Ezekiel did not preach knowing that he had the power to achieve anything. He did not preach with a plan save that he had the Word of God in his heart.

In like manner we must accept our calling to this Church, to our various ministries and roles, to our families and community and do God’s work faithfully as we have been so commanded.

4: THE PRAYER FOR THE DRY BONES

God permitted Ezekiel’s ministry to have a dramatic yet limited result.

…and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 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.

Ezekile 37:7-8

There was real drama as the bones came together and as skin clothed the skeletal remains. BUT essentially the valley was unchanged. Instead of a valley of dry bones Ezekiel was looking at a valley of dead corpses.

Under the ministries of men there can be noise, and commotion and some transformation BUT no preacher can bring new life. A preacher can say shocking things which arouse curiosity. A preacher may convince people to make decisions or to reform their lives. A talented preacher can work his congregations, stirring their emotions BUT this is not salvation nor is it revival. Too often the accomplishments of man are interpreted as the work of God and we settles for mediocrity. There must be something else.

Ezekiel, dissatisfied with the best that he could do, looked haplessly at the sight before him. Reformed skeletons but there was no breath in them. At this juncture God told the man of God to pray which he duly did:

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. So I prophesied as he commanded me

Ezekiel 37:9-10

O Wind of God, come bend us, break us,
till humbly we confess our need;
then in your tenderness remake us,
revive, restore, for this we plead.

Bessie Porter Head

5: THE POWER IN THE DRY BONES

and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Ezekiel 37:10

The breath of God so blew into these corpses that they not only breathed, and lived, but stood to attention as an army ready for battle. The dead valley was now a place of conviction, of resolve, of freedom, of victory. The situation had been reversed by the power of God.

The metaphor of the wind is highly symbolic of the Holy Ghost and reminds us of the outpouring. of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost:

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:1-3

Just as this army was energised for action in a disciplined co-ordinated fashion, so the disciples were empowered for service. Revival is a revival of service as Christians rededicate themselves to God’s work, it is a revival of evangelism and of missionary activity. There will never be shortage of people to serve and people to support the work when God stirs His flock.

As a boy of thirteen I saw the Lord, working during the opening mission of the Coleraine Free Presbyterian Meeting House. It left a deep impression. I sat transfixed listening to Dr Paisley preaching on the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. When the Gospel appeal was given he stood at the front without his jacket pleading with sinners to get saved. I can still hear the chairs moving as people came forward to be counselled. There was was an indescribable fear of God and hush of eternity in those meetings. Souls were saved night after night as Rev John Morrow preached. At the close of the mission the floor was left open for testimonies with person after person young and old standing to their feet and speaking of what God had done for their souls. The weekly prayer meeting outgrew the new prayer room necessitating a move into the main Church building. Young people and older people came together to the prayer gatherings. In three weeks the Church mushroomed. There were monthly early morning 7am prayer meetings and monthly late night prayer meetings. God came down. Sometimes it is asked – What do we need to do to retain our young people, to attract young people? – While I am not opposed to catering for the youth, respecting their needs, this will never be enough! – There is no substitute for the power of God. This is where the future of the Church rests.

The Evangelical Awakening which swept the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 18th Century is a remarkable testimony to the power of God in making dead bones live. By the 1730s all of the fervour and enthusiasm of Reformation Protestantism had evaporated. Spiritual deadness characterised both Anglican and Dissenter alike.

In Oxford University, however, God was moulding men who would become renowned and powerful instruments in His hands. Zealous in their pursuit of a relationship with God this group, known as the Holy Club, pursued their religion intensely, yet without saving faith.

The first of the company to be converted was a young George Whitefield. From the moment Whitefield began preaching the people flocked to hear him. Before John Wesley was converted Whitefield had begun preaching in the open air with thousands attending his ministry. Whitefield was also used remarkably in the American colonies in what has been called The Great Awakening. Through the entirety of his ministry he has been described as a man who lived in a perpetual state of revival. It was Wesley who took the work that Whitefield begun in Bristol, where numerous coal miners in Kingswood came to faith, and organised the first Methodist Christian witness. Through these and many other preachers the fire spread through these islands, there were few areas untouched by the power of God’s Spirit. In those days a most remarkable work for eternity was done in our nation.

Does this not encourage us to pray? – “Lord come again, cause thy face to shine upon us, make the dead bones live”