Ezekiel 37:1-14
In this Easter season the global churches focus of course upon the resurrection of Christ. Many unbelieving individuals around Christmas and Easter time decide to go and visit their local church, perhaps to appease family, as a cultural ritual, or just because they got the seasonal itch. Perhaps every Easter they hear the same message. Christ is risen; and indeed He is risen and that is a glorious message that ought to be proclaimed for years to come. But we cannot let their exposure to God’s Word stop there. To know that Christ is God the Son incarnate and to know that He died on the cross and was resurrected 3 days later are necessary. But they’re not enough. They must know why Christ died. And they must know what it means for them personally. I therefore give to you Ezekiel 37:1-14; the reason for Easter, the result of Easter.
We will break this text into 3 parts.
1: The state of fallen humanity – V. 1-2
2: Divine confrontation – V. 3-4
3: Effectual regeneration – V. 5-14
1: V. 1-2
This is the state of fallen humanity: a valley of dry bones. Ezekiel’s vision takes him to a valley, a large plot of land. And in this valley Ezekiel sees bones. He sees a lot of bones. In fact, he remarks that the valley is actually “full” of these bones. The dead covered this place. Skeletons lined the ground; on every square inch there was death. This is a picture of fallen humanity. See, humanity fell into death, both physically and spiritually, through the sin of our father, Adam. After the fall the world was just like this valley; coated in death. Humans are born in sin and depravity. David claims this for himself, confessing; “I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me”. From birth you were dead. We are all deceased at conception and depraved from the womb. Surely you have all heard, “life begins at conception”. This is a true saying. Yet an even truer saying is this; “death begins at conception”. Because the life that is there at conception is only physical. We may move around and breathe and make noises as children. But every breath, heartbeat, every blink of the eye serves only to make war with God. This is the very opposite of Christ’s definition of life which is intimate covenantal relationship with the Triune God. Our physical life before grace is merely a facilitation of our spiritual death. And with fallen humanity just as with Ezekiel’s valley, these corpses begin to decay. The flesh decomposes. Scavenging animals and insects gather around to consume the flesh of these decomposing bodies, piece by piece until the bones are left completely bare. And the hot sun blasts its rays of heat upon these bones, drying out the marrow within until it is no more than dust. So much so that Ezekiel says, as if it was a matter of remarkable importance; behold, they were very dry. This is no different with humanity before grace. Death begins at conception, but over time, decay sets in. As we grow used to our death, to our sinfulness, to our deformity; as external troubles make us increasingly bitter, as we give more and more into the temptations that come our way – it tears off another piece. And so it is, piece by piece we become less recognizable, less human, less like God. Those of us who live in this manner who are committed to willful sin become hardened to the Word in our hearts. We reject God with more and more fervency every time. Congregation, is this you? Does Ezekiel point to you when he says, “behold, they were very dry”. If a spiritual doctor examined you, would he say; “for what purpose have you brought me a skeleton? No life has been here for a long time.” Sometimes sin has full reign for so long that spiritual death becomes little more than ancient history to us. Maybe you come here this morning and you say, “Yes. I am dead, and I have been dead this whole time. I have lived a full life of sin and it is too late to care.” Perhaps you have heard and rejected the gospel so many times now without any fruit of conversion that you have lost hope. Perhaps you think, maybe I just cannot be saved. Remember, each and every one of you was once a dry and lifeless skeleton. Whether you sit here today as somebody who has known Christ as long as they can remember, or as one who sees their heart as impregnable to the gospel, these dry bones represented you at one point in your life.
2: V. 3-4
This is a divine confrontation: God is demanding an answer from you. Keep in mind, Ezekiel is not the one asking this question. Surely the dead bones are not asking the question either. It is God who is asking the question. Can these dry bones, these seemingly hopeless and depraved sinners who dove so deeply into death come back to life? Hear me; God is not waiting for long-dead skeletons to take the initiative to request resurrection. God makes the first move, He demands an answer. To Ezekiel, can apostate Israel live? To the pastor, can your unbelieving congregants live? To the father, can your rebellious children live? To the wife, can your irreligious husband live? To any and all who feel a lack of hope in this world amongst all the sin, and all the unbelief God is confronting you today, He asks you; can these bones live? Ezekiel’s answer is much like that of our own in these scenarios. There’s nothing extraordinary about it. We would never dare to question the immeasurable power of God. God can do anything that He would ever wish to do. He is a God that creates out of nothing; of course He can restore life to dead bodies. But when it comes to our own hopeless situations, we often doubt God’s willingness to save. We doubt that God’s love extends to sinners such as ourselves. You who today find yourself in Christ know, God’s love extends this far. And it extends further. To put a limit on grace is to misunderstand it. God comes along us in our doubts just as He does for Ezekiel. When we fear that God doesn’t will to save those who’s unbelief weighs heavy on our hearts, God says to us; “prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.” Brothers and sisters in the Lord do not disregard those in your life who are lost because they seem too far gone. Do not settle for silent prayer. Confront them with the gospel. Proclaim God’s Word to those dry bones that they may live. It doesn’t matter if they have no eyes to see or ears to hear. Neither do dry bones. The Lord will make them ears to hear. Just as the Lord assembles once again the bones, with ligaments, fat, muscle, blood, skin, and the breath of life too will God put into them and all this from the proclamation of His efficacious Word. The Lord has said to you in regard to His will for them, proclaim God’s Word to them. For you too were once a sack of dry bones. God’s hand is never short of miracles.
3: V. 5-14
This is effectual regeneration: and so it begins. In this vision, Ezekiel is commanded to prophesy to the dead bones to tell them that God will resurrect their bodies with all the fixings; sinews, flesh, skin, and the breath of life. And as he does this, behold, the bones, the very bones which were dead and dry, begin to assemble. He hears a rattling and the bones suddenly come together, and with all the anatomical pieces of the human body, just as they once were. Yet, they were not alive. So God says, Son of man, proclaim to the breath that it would go into the bodies that they may live. This vision so far may seem rather confusing. Luckily for us, God clarifies His point in V. 11-14. This prophecy is about Israel. See, Israel was dead in sin. As a nation, the nation had lost all hope. You see, they thought that after their fall that God was done with them. That they were in regard to the spirit; nothing more than dusty dry bones, mere memoirs of a life that had been snuffed out long ago. What a hopeless perspective. But God comes along them as a nation, and He says to them; yes you are dead. But I will resurrect you. And when you are resurrected, when you rise from your graves that I rip open and I place you back into the land and fill you with my Holy Spirit then you will understand. Then once you understand the depths of grace, then you will be in true covenant relationship with me. Mind you, this is in the time of the exile of Israel. The land for Israel represents the New Jerusalem which is still yet to come. The second go at the Garden of Eden, the better Eden. This land represents a future where we can dwell face to face with the living God in covenant with Him. God will raise these people up from the dead, from their state of inability. He will put new life into them, He will fill them with His Holy Spirit, and He will bring them into the new Eden and will dwell with them in the land for eternity, and all this by the power of the Word of God. This is the resurrection unto life. This is the renewal unto glory. Christian, can the dry bones in your family, your church, your neighbourhood, can they live? God says yes. Yes, yes, and a thousand times yes. In fact, go and proclaim this to them. God commands you to go straight up to these bones and to say with authority; behold, thus saith the Lord God;
1: you are dead in your sins
2: Christ died to make alive those who are dead in their sins
3: All who by the power of the Spirit’s regenerating grace, those who by trust in Christ will pass from death into life, spiritually and physically, and will reign with the Lord God for eternity in the final, and the perfect Eden.
How can we know that this will work? Because Christians, you were once nothing more than dry bones. You once had neither eyes to see nor ears to hear. Yet by the power of God’s Word, He reassembled you, He gave you new eyes, He gave you new ears, He gave you a new heart, He filled you with His Spirit. You are risen with Him to eternal life in the kingdom of the most high. Can these dry bones live? This church is living proof that they can.
He is risen, so that we also shall be.
