Dry Bones, Come to Life!

 

Open Your Bible (Ezekiel 37)

God brought His prophet Ezekiel to the valley to see an astonishing, terrifying sight. To Ezekiel's amazement, he saw what appeared to be an oversize graveyard. God caused Ezekiel to walk all around the valley and view the large number of dead, dry, bleached bones which filled it. God asked the prophet a question: "Son of man, can these bones live?"

You and I have seen skeletons, and realize that there is no life in dead, dry bones. If we had looked upon the pile of jumbled bones, and the Lord asked us whether the bones could live, we might have answered, "No, Lord. Dry bones cannot live. They are dead." But Ezekiel gave a better answer: "O Lord God, You know." Ezekiel understood that if God wanted dry bones to live again, He could revive them. After all, He created them to begin with.

God instructed the prophet to speak to the bones: "O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.'"

Ezekiel must have been amazed at what happened when he spoke those special words to the bones. Right before his very eyes, the bones reconnected to each other, developed muscles and flesh, and then skin covered the restored bodies. God then told Ezekiel to order breath to enter the new bodies. As the group of bodies in the valley began to breathe, Ezekiel recognized that he was in the presence of a great army of the Lord's making, which only moments before was a pile of rotting bones.

As God explained the meaning of this incredible miracle, Ezekiel learned some important lessons which are valuable for us as well: God can restore spiritual life even to penitent people who formerly rejected him, as the Israelites often did. Also, God can raise the physically dead, as He promises to do when Jesus returns (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18). Let's live godly lives in Christ so that we may be prepared for that great day!

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