“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. 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. He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘Sovereign LORD, you alone know.’” (Ezekiel 37:1-3)

It was a high and holy day for the people of Israel. They had settled in the Promised Land, given to Abraham. “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” (Genesis 15:7) King David’s reign had brought victory and prosperity to the people. David’s son Solomon had completed the Temple. The people could now worship God in the land promised to Abraham. Amid this celebration God speaks words of warning and a promise to the people.

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-15)

Move ahead to a time where the people had rebelled and sinned against God. The sin was so great that God had brought judgment upon the people. His judgement had brought to the people a time when they had been carried into captivity and the Temple had been destroyed. This was the time of Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones.  Thus, the question, “can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:3) It was a desperate day for the people. They needed hope.

God would tell Ezekiel to prophesy, to proclaim to the bones. “‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!’ This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 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)

In the power of God, these dry bones can live. The call to God’s people is still the same if my people pray. God had already warned the people about their sin. And God was looking for someone to stand in the gap between God and the people. “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22:30)

This brings us to Jesus. He stood in the gap. He prayed to the Father on behalf of those who believe. He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice. He comes to us who are dead in our sin and brings us to life. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) He took our sin on the cross and in the gap paid for our sin, then overcame our sin through His resurrection. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25) He prayed for the believer’s unity that the world would know Him and come to Him. “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20-21) Now as the perfect sacrifice He offers life. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10b) Now we who were the dry bones have come to life because of Jesus Christ. He has come to revive us with His life. “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” (Romans 8:11)

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block