Bones, Bodies
and
the Breath
of Life
By Phil Beals
Scripture Reading: - Ezekial 37:1-14
Text: - Genesis 2:7
Resp. Reading: - Psalm 33:1-6
Oct 27/13 – LCC
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Bones, Bodies and the Breath of Life
In 5 days … all the kids in your neighborhood, some of whom turn out to be pretty big kids, will be
dressing up in their favorite costumes and heading out to load their bags with all sorts of junk food.
Candy, popcorn, chips, candy bars … and the list goes on.
I remember one church we used to go to years ago. Instead of the kids going out at night … they held a
party at the church and the kids were asked to dress up as Bible characters. They had a ball and at the
end, there were big barrels full of teeth rotting goodies and they went wild to load their bags.
Now … you may be wondering why would the pastor be talking about Halloween on a Sunday morning?
Good question. Here is the answer. I am going to take you through three stages. First, what is at the root
of All Hallows Eve, which is what it was originally called; then, I will get to the matter of Ezekiel 37 and
finally how does it apply to us today.
So … moving on then to the lesson at hand, consider what was going on in Ezekiel’s day and the mass
amount of symbolism and metaphor in this prophetic book. Ezekiel was a priest. He was also part of a
contingent of Jews who were taken into captivity in Babylon … so, things were not going all that well for
the Jews at that time.
Ezekiel was called by God to prophecy to the people, which he did. Mind you, some of the things he
wrote about certainly caused some consternation. As part of God’s call though, God also tags him to be
a watchman over Israel. We find much more on the importance of that function and how it applies to us in
chapter 33 … but that’s not we are here for.
In the latter chapters of this book, hope springs eternal … so to speak. In other words, he does not leave
the Israelites without hope. Then we come to chapter 37. An interesting chapter to say the least. Permit
me to paint a picture for you. Up to this point, and for the first 32 chapters, God has had Ezekiel prophecy
against Judah, Jerusalem and foreign nations.
Then in the next few chapters he is instructed to offer hope to the children of Israel and just before
chapter 37, provides words of restoration. Then God picks him up and plants him in the middle of a valley
full of dry bones, all of which had obviously been there for a very long time and were dried out and
bleached from the sun.
Picture this then. Here is Ezekiel, in the middle of a valley full of bones, likely puzzled at the imagery.
God comes to the rescue. God says to him – ‘can these bones live?’. I am paraphrasing, but Ezekiel
has a smart answer when he, in a way, says to God – ‘you’re the expert … only you know.’
So here comes the big test. God then says to Ezekiel, beginning at verse 4: “Prophesy to these bones
and say to them, ‘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.”
Well … you know what happened next. Ezekiel did as he was told, and it got very loud in that valley.
Imagine it. A valley full of dry bones, suddenly moving about to find other bones to be joined to. Then the
noise of all the muscle and tendon and everything else appearing and fastening themselves to the
skeletal structures until now there is a valley full of bodies.
The problem is, they were all lifeless. God then tells Ezekiel to prophecy to them and call on the four
winds to breathe life into them. He does and this is what Scripture says about that. “… breath came
into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.”
Looking back for just a moment then … we need to take special note of this. These bones belonged to
people who obviously had been dead for a very long time. There was no hope, whatsoever, that they
could ever come back to life.
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The bones were dry,bleached from the sun and bone beside bone did not consistute a skeleton … wiping
out any suggestion of hope. Only by the power of God could life be restored. As with original creation,
God breathed the breath of life into them and they became living souls … Genesis 2.
Ezekiel was probably still a little puzzled, so , God provided an explanation what this represented,
beginning at verse 11. He wrote:
“Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say,
‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ … ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves …Then
you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you
up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own
land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it.”
This vision given by God was to show the spiritual state of His people. In Deuteronomy 30, God made a
promise to the children of Israel, but there were some expectations.
Here’s what we find in that chapter.
“I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His
commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply … the Lord your
God will bless you …But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away,
and worship other gods and serve them … you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your
days … I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and
death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live”
Obviously the symbolism is that they chose death. Now … if you look closely, you can see the
application to the world today, both the lost and the saved. God always gives man a choice. He wants us
to be the recipients of His blessing, but He does not force His will on us. We know then that choosing
God’s way brings life and blessing. Choosing to walk away from God brings death and destruction.
Does this apply only to non believers? No it does not. It also applies to believers, who have not yet
learned or have forgotten the importance of choosing to live the desire of God’s heart.
The same principle then can be applied to the Church. That body of Christ, which at one time once
marched triumphantly under the leadership of the Holy Spirit is now sitting on the sidelines passively. The
church is missing its calling and dying in a dry valley.
By way of this story from Ezekiel we can also see that God actually does have a plan and that restoration
is possible by way of His power. Matthew 19:26 reminds us that – “With men this is impossible, but
with God all things are possible.”
By our own strength and wisdom we may figure out how to draw people into the church. Our advertising
may help. By our own wisdom we can come up with programs and events to entice the world. By our own
devices we can touch people’s minds.
But it is only God who can breathe new life into those dry bones. Make no mistake about it … if God
orders something to happen, it will happen. No if’s and’s or but’s about it. Let me close with this. I came
across an article by Dennis Cocks of New Hope Baptist Church, in Illinois, where he compared 8 different
types of Christians to different bones of the body.
Check this out.
First is the Tailbone Christian. They just sit around, and let everybody else do the ministry in the church.
Next is the Fingerbone Christian … always pointing a finger at everybody else, not taking responsibility
for their own actions.
Here is my comment on this one. The problem with that is that we need to remember that for every finger
pointing at someone else, three fingers are pointing back at you.
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Third is the Jawbone Christian. Their mouth starts moving before the brain gets into gear. know any of
those?
Then there is the Hipbone Christian who tends to sit on their wallet when the offering plate comes
around, when there is a need to provide for, including for the pastor.
Fifth is the Drybone Christian. Their walk with God has dried up. They have abandoned God … they do
not spend time in His word … nor in conversation with Him.
Next, the Wishbone Christian. this Christian is the one who prays for wishes and gets upset when
wishes are not fulfilled. It doesn’t work that way.
Seventh is the Backbone Christian. This person has convictions … knows who and what they are …
and stands by them. The Christian with backbone, won’t live his life to please the world or blend in with
the world. These Christians give testimony of the grace of God.
We are called to be set apart from the rest of the world. Think of the history of the Israelite nation. They
were and so are we, called out from the world to be God’s chosen seed.
Finally he identifies a Kneebone Christian. The kneebone Christian knows that victory in the Christian
life, comes only through a life of prayer. Much prayer, much power … little prayer, little power … no
prayer, no power.
Question … Where do you stand in this list. Remember this, regardless where you stand, Christian or
non Christian. With God, nothing is impossible. Sometimes we look around, and all we see is a valley of
dry, dead bones. It looks pretty hopeless … but God has a plan. Get into His Word, and He will speak to
you. Yield to the Holy Spirit, and He will give you a new life.
Can dead, dry bones live? With God … they can.
(pray)
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