So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army (Ezekiel 37:10).
Perhaps its due to my getting up in age that this verse takes on more meaning. Yes, the bones are creaking and the body that covers them is slowing down nonetheless there is a powerful message that the Spirit of the Lord seems to be speaking.
A few weeks back I was able to attend a Bible Conference that lasted over a period of three days. Throughout the meetings the thought of “Dry Bones” came up through songs of worship, messages, as well as prophetic utterances. To me, this is not coincidence. God is seeking to get our attention so that we can be a people who are in alignment with what He is about to do. God is doing His part; our part is to hear and respond in obedience to His agenda. Let’s do a brief review of the Biblical scene for the purpose of making application for our day.
The dry bones were very dry!
Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry (Ezekiel 37:2).
Do you appreciate the emphasis on the bones being very dry? In the natural there was no semblance of life or function that these individual bones could perform. Perhaps you are going through a season where you can identify with these very dry bones. There seems to be no hope, no light at the end of the tunnel for your situation. This was the landscape that the Prophet Ezekiel was facing. The following question that was posed to Ezekiel may well be a question the Lord is presenting to us.
Can these Bones Live?
And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know” (Ezekiel 37:3).
The Lord oftentimes challenged his prophets to believe Him for the impossible. He asked Jeremiah the following: “Is there anything too hard for me” (Jeremiah 32:27)? We all know God is able to do all things, but it can be a different story when it becomes personal.
As you survey the challenging situations that pertain to your life are you able to see God meeting that need? Perhaps you are in a financial dilemma, a relationship breakdown with a loved one, or struggling in areas of sin. Can these dry bones live? Is God able to answer your cry for help in the midst of desperation? Ezekiel knew God and was able to trust and believe God that the dry and broken bones could be restored.
Prophesy to the Dry Bones
Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD (Ezekiel 37:4)!
Nothing happened until Ezekiel obediently began to speak and prophesy to those dry bones with the Word of the Lord. This does not mean we can just speak any prophetic utterance and expect the same result. It must be alignment with what God is saying.
In the conference we attended the Lord prompted us to rehearse His Word and His Promises that were spoken throughout the years. Many of those Words have yet to come to pass. In fact, some of the promises go back decades, yet the Lord was speaking to the conference to prophesy and speak the Word of the Lord into our spiritual graveyard of bones.
Once again, we need to appreciate our part in this prophetic process. The bones did nothing, they remained very dry until the prophet began speaking to the bones the Word of the Lord. The bones took on flesh and soon thereafter joined themselves together as a mighty army (Ezekiel 37:9-10).
The following words of the Apostle Paul speaks to this point. Note the sequence that Paul presents to us in the following verses:
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach) (Romans 10:8).
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:10).
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 17:10).
The Words that are to be prophesied must be Words based on Faith. How does Faith come to us? It is by the Hearing of God’s Word. Once we hear from God, we can begin to speak or prophesy to our respective valley of dry bones.
Read and reread Ezekiel 37 and ask the Lord to quicken His Word and make it alive and personal to you. The frequency of these verses being shared over the past month is no accident. God is Speaking, He is Moving, and He desires for us to align our hearts and voices to His Spirit, in this hour of Restoration and Power.
DAILY MEDITATIONS:
Monday: 2 Peter 1:21
For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Tuesday: John 6:63
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
Wednesday: Genesis 1:3
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Thursday: 1 Corinthians 2:13
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Friday: Ecclesiastes 3:7
A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
Saturday: Luke 6:45
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Sunday: Jeremiah 33:3
Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
All scriptures are quoted from the New King James Version (NKJV).
By Pastor Timothy O’Connell
