Ezekiel 37 – Dry Bones
by Rich Murphy, Maranatha Life
Ezekiel 37 – Dry Bones
This study is done from the viewpoint of what God did with Ezekiel, not what God did with the bones.
1: The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in
the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

If we try and operate without the leading of the Holy Spirit, we won’t accomplish anything.
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Jesus only did the things He saw His father doing, we need to operate under the same guidelines.
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God will take us where He needs us for His purposes, if we let Him.
2: And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and,
lo, they were very dry.

There is an overabundance of dryness (lack of living water) within the church today. God wants
us to see this, not to live in the midst of it, but to pass close enough to see what is happening.

We need to have our eyes open to see what is around us. If we don’t see it, how can we do
anything about it?
3: And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

God will ask us questions to get us thinking. He doesn’t need our answers, but when He asks us
something it is so that we can learn.

When Jesus was 12 years old and left behind in Jerusalem, His parents found Him in the temple,
talking with the priests and lawyers, and “they were amazed by His questions.” You can truly tell
an intelligent person by their questions, more than their answers. It takes someone who is thinking
a lot to have good questions.

We don’t need to show our expertise to God. We need to learn from Him. Ezekiel showed
wisdom in his answer to God.

God knows what He is planning on doing. We don’t need to tell Him, we need to hear from Him.
Many believers say, “Lord, here’s my plan, please bless it.” Instead, we need to say, “Lord,
what’s your plan so that I can get in it.” God’s plan is already blessed.
4: Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of
the LORD.

Before we prophesy, we need to hear from the Lord. We need to have our spiritual ears attuned to
His voice. We also need time to listen to Him.

There is a teaching in the Body of Christ today, that comes from the Word of Faith movement
which says that we should speak out “prophecies” which are really just declarations of faith. We
need to understand the difference between prophecy and a declaration of faith. Just because we
say something, doesn’t mean it’s a prophecy. It’s a prophecy when the Holy Spirit says it through
us.

One of the reasons for prophecy is to bring life into those things that are spiritually dead. God had
Ezekiel speak life into the dry bones. God will have us, the believers of today, speak life into dead
hearts, churches, people.

We need to receive prophecies from the Lord for our city. We need His words, His plan, His
purposes, and to be able to speak them out with His words. This will bring results.
5: Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall
live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and
put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

God’s favorite method of evangelism is a demonstration of His power.
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Copyright © 2003 by Rich Murphy, Maranatha Life, all rights reserved
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Ezekiel 37 – Dry Bones
by Rich Murphy, Maranatha Life

This phrase “you shall know that I am the Lord” is very common in scripture. God demonstrates
His power so that we, the people of the earth, will know He is God.

I tend to think that we need the presence of the Lord “the breath” first, before we get the people
“the sinews and flesh.” However, here God is saying, that we need something besides just the
“bones and structure of the church” for Him to fill with His breath. We need a “critical mass” of
people, so that He has someone to breathe revival into.
7: So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and
the bones came together, bone to his bone.

One of the problems in the church today is lack of unity. Without us, especially the ministers,
coming together “bone to bone” there isn’t the firm structure for the “flesh” (the people) to attach
themselves to.

I like how Ps 133:1 in Spanish talks about unity. It says “unified in harmony.” Harmony is a
musical term that refers to a bunch of different notes, that when played together give a pleasant
sound. The notes aren’t all the same, and we don’t need to be all the same. What we need is to
work together to make a beautiful sound.

First he heard, then he spoke, then God moved. This is God’s pattern. We need to follow it.
8: And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above:
but there was no breath in them.

Many times we expect too much from new believers. The church tends to tell them that they need
to be perfect before they are saved. However, we need to get them in the body first, then we can
work on getting the life of God into them.

Notice that the bones had to come together before the flesh could come upon them. We are
looking for people (the muscle) to fill the church before the bones (ministers) are attached
together.
9: Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

The only way God moves upon the earth is through the words, prayers, and actions of His people.
He has already done everything He needs to do; it’s up to us to make His will happen.

Jesus only did those things that He saw His Father doing (Jn 5:19). What makes us think that we
can do things that the Father isn’t? We’re not supposed to present our plan to God for Him to
bless, we’re supposed to obey His will and carry out His plan.

In Genesis 2, God breathed life into Adam. When God breathes, there is life.

There has to be a body for the breath to fill.
10: So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up
upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

When we obey God, it brings life. When we speak God’s Word, it brings life.

We have a great problem with our words. Proverbs 18:21 says “Death and life are in the power of
the tongue...” When we speak words of doubt and fear, we’re speaking death. We need to be
speaking words of faith, which bring life. We need declarations that bring spiritual life into our
cities, our communities, our nations.

God used the words of the prophet Ezekiel to bring life into that which was dead. God can use our
words, when He has control of them, to bring spiritual life into our cities. However, if we aren’t
allowing God to speak through us, He can’t bring life through us.
11: Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our
bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
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Copyright © 2003 by Rich Murphy, Maranatha Life, all rights reserved
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Ezekiel 37 – Dry Bones
by Rich Murphy, Maranatha Life

Everywhere the Bible talks about Israel, or Jews it is talking about the church today.

The church is dry and full of death. However, when we follow the plan laid forth in these verses,
there will be life in the church again.

Dry bones (those without the living water of God) say three things:

We are dry – lacking in living water, the life giving power of the Spirit of God
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We have no hope – even though our God is a God of hope, when we are far from Him, we
lose our hope. We lose track of God’s vision and plan, so we become discouraged by what is
around us.
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We are cut off – we’re all by ourselves, God isn’t with us, nor is anyone else. Nobody cares
about us.
12: Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open
your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13:
And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you
up out of your graves,

Our churches are supposed to be places of life, but due to a lack of the Spirit of God they have
become places of death. God will bring us out of spiritual death and into spiritual life.

God says four things to the dry bones:

I will open the graves – even though you feel like you are trapped in a place of death, without
escape, I will open up that place and show you liberty
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I will cause you to come out of the graves – I have a better place for you. You don’t need to
live in a place of death, I have a place of life for you, and I will bring it to you.

I will breathe my Spirit in you – My Spirit brings life. When my Spirit is in you, you will
have life and power. Not only have I made my Holy Spirit available to you, but I desire that
my Spirit live in you, to empower you and work through you.

I will send you to inherit the land – there is a purpose in having my life and my Spirit within
you; that is to possess the land. It is not enough to be in the land, you must take over the land.
The land doesn’t belong to Satan, it doesn’t belong to the unbelievers, it belongs to My
people.
14: And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye
know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

Right now, the land isn’t ours, it belongs to the enemy. But, when the army of God is raised up, it
will become our land. God will bring about His will through us. Not only will we know that God
has done it, but everyone else will as well.

Any time something is repeated in the Bible it is for emphasis. God said both here and in verse 13
that He would put His Spirit in us; there is a great emphasis in that. God intends for His Spirit to
indwell and empower us. This is not only a desire of God, it is a strong desire and purpose.
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Copyright © 2003 by Rich Murphy, Maranatha Life, all rights reserved
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