Dry bones come back to life!

If you saw a news headline that declared, “Dry bones come back to life!” you might think you were reading from a tabloid news outlet or maybe the entertainment section. You certainly would not expect it to be written by an eyewitness reporter who was on the scene when it happened. But the prophet Ezekiel did experience such a miracle. He was used by the Lord to prophesy over a stack of dry bones, and they came back to life.

Read the story from Ezek. 37:1-10 here.

Apart from a miracle from the Lord, there was no hope for these bones to live again. The people who had died in the valley were long gone and all that was left of them were stacks of dry bones. The dry bones were hopeless.

The Lord asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” And Ezekiel answered rightly, “Lord GOD, only you know.” How incredible is that response by Ezekiel! He recognized the limitations of his knowledge, power, and abilities. Yet, he didn’t try to limit God. Ezekiel didn’t know all that could happen, but he knew that God did.

When situations seem hopeless, respond with faith and gut-level honesty like Ezekiel did, and acknowledge that only God knows how things will unfold. And like Ezekiel, act in obedience to the word of God.

God directed Ezekiel to speak words of prophecy to the bones. Imagine how crazy that must have seemed to Ezekiel. It would be like today if God called you to go to a cemetery and speak to the dry bones there. Yet despite how Ezekiel may have felt about the situation, he obeyed the Lord.

The Lord answered in a powerful way!

In a miracle that only God could do, the bones began to reattach themselves. It seems like a video sequence that today would be produced by CGI technology, yet Ezekiel saw it happen in real life. Tendons and ligaments appeared, holding the bones together. Skin grew back over the bones. Then God instructed Ezekiel to speak to the lifeless bodies, and the breath of life was given to them once again.

These dry bones had come back to life!

What are some implications for us today?

• In every situation, our all-powerful Lord is sovereignly in charge, and he can do whatever he chooses to do. Have faith in him. Believe.
• Only God knows the future. Only he knows ultimately what will happen in every situation. Stay humble before him and stay close to him. Trust in him. Listen to him.
• No person is hopeless and no situation is hopeless when your hope is in the Lord. Nothing is impossible with God.
• If God can give new physical life to a valley of dry bones, he can give new spiritual life to people who are dead in their sins.
• Only God brings new life, and he gives new life to people who trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
• God can use you to help bring new spiritual life to others by speaking the word of the Lord to people, telling them that Jesus can give them new life.
• See John 3:16-18 and 2 Cor. 5:17