Can These Bones Live? Hope Through Word and Spirit

Ezekiel 37 opens in a world that looks like a valley of dead, dry bones, but the vision is first of all for God’s covenant people. Israel had not merely suffered a hard season. Israel had ridiculed God’s messengers, despised his words, scoffed at his prophets, and finally reached the place where there was “no remedy.” God’s discipline came upon a people who sang love songs with their mouths while their hearts ran after unjust gain.

The valley makes Ezekiel look carefully at what sin has done. The bones are not a small pile in a field but a vast valley of death, and God leads the prophet all around them so that he sees how far the people have fallen from the word of God. The bones represent the whole house of Israel, a people immersed in wickedness and without any life in themselves. The image also presses a searching question upon any church that has compromised with the world and lost its joy.

God’s question, “Can these bones live?” leaves no room for presumption or unbelief. Ezekiel answers wisely: “Lord God, you know.” Faith does not pretend to possess the power of resurrection, but faith knows the One who does. Christ remains the way, the truth, the life, and the resurrection, able to raise those who are spiritually lifeless.

God commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones. The word goes out first, and the bones come together, tendons appear, flesh grows, and skin covers them. Yet the bodies have no breath until God commands the prophet to call upon the breath, the Spirit, from the four corners of the earth. The word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit belong together. Churches cannot manufacture life by clever attractions, grand buildings, or worldly methods. God calls his people to preach, teach, share, and hold fast to his word, while depending on his Spirit to open eyes and give life.

God interprets the vision with grace. Israel’s graves will be opened, God’s Spirit will be put within them, and they will live. God’s discipline is never presented as a pointless crushing of his people. God disciplines so that his people will know that he is the Lord, recognize the boundaries of covenant life, and return to him with hope.

Christ’s raising of Lazarus stands alongside Ezekiel’s vision. Christ does not only promise resurrection at the last day. Christ calls dead people to life now and sends those made alive to witness for him. Compromise drains joy, ignoring word and Spirit brings discipline, crying out to God revives hope, and perseverance makes a people stand like a strong army to God’s glory.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Compromise slowly steals joy from Christ Compromise rarely begins by openly rejecting Christ. Compromise begins when joy is quietly sought somewhere else, while Christian words are still spoken. The valley of dry bones warns that outward religion can remain while the heart becomes distant, distracted, and spiritually drained. [65:15]
• 2. God’s word must be plainly proclaimed Ezekiel is commanded to preach to bones that cannot respond by their own power. The church’s task is not to make the dead appear alive through entertainment or attraction, but to speak God’s word faithfully. God alone gives the increase, yet he appoints the proclamation of his word as the means by which life is called forth. [50:21]
• 3. The Spirit gives breath to truth The bones gather and receive flesh, but they remain lifeless until the breath of God enters them. Biblical words without the Spirit’s work cannot create spiritual life, and claims of spiritual power apart from God’s word cannot sustain the church. God brings his word and Spirit together to raise a people who stand before him. [52:29]
• 4. Discipline teaches God’s people his holiness God’s discipline reveals that covenant life has real boundaries and that sin is not harmless. Israel’s exile did not mean that God had abandoned his people forever, but that God was bringing them to know him rightly. Grace does not deny the seriousness of discipline; grace opens graves after discipline has exposed the need for life. [59:39]
• 5. Christ still calls the dead to life Christ’s words to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life,” answer the question raised in Ezekiel’s valley. Resurrection is not merely a future doctrine for the last day, but the present power of Christ to awaken hope, witness, and obedience. Christ can raise those who feel bleached by life, worn out, and finished.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [32:15] - Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones
• [33:25] - Israel’s Exile and Judgment
• [37:27] - Why Jerusalem Fell
• [43:17] - A Valley Full of Bones
• [45:38] - Can These Bones Live?
• [48:17] - Prophesy to the Dead Bones
• [52:29] - The Word and the Spirit
• [57:31] - Discipline and Grace
• [60:34] - God Opens the Graves
• [62:31] - Lazarus and Resurrection Life
• [65:15] - Four Lessons for Living
• [68:32] - Prayer for Faithful Churches

1. “The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.” [32:28]
2. “He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.” [43:31]
3. “He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘Sovereign LORD, you alone know.’” [45:54]
4. “Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones and say to them, “Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!”’” [48:22]
5. “This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.”
6. “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.’” [50:58]
7. “So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.” [51:02]
8. “I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.” [51:44]
9. “Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.”’” [52:29]
10. “So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.” [57:52]
11. “Then he said to me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.”’” [58:06]
12. “Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.” [01:00:51]
13. “Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.”
14. “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’” [01:01:14]

1. “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.’” [01:04:42]
2. “‘And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” [01:04:10]

1. “The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.” [37:46]
2. “But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.” [38:05]

1. What details in Ezekiel 37:1-2 show that this was not a small or recent scene of death, but a great valley filled with bones that were “very dry”? [43:39]
2. What is Ezekiel’s response when God asks, “Can these bones live,” and how is it different from simply answering yes or no? [46:00]
3. What happens after Ezekiel prophesies to the bones, and what important thing is still missing from the bodies? [51:02]
4. According to 2 Chronicles 36:15-16, how did God repeatedly show compassion before Israel reached the point of “no remedy”? [37:46]

1. Why does God identify the dry bones as “the whole house of Israel,” rather than mainly using the vision to describe the nations around Israel? What warning does this give to a church that still uses Christian words but has stopped obeying God’s Word? [44:24]
2. Ezekiel is commanded to speak God’s Word to people who are as unable to give themselves life as dry bones. What does this show about the role of faithful Christians in sharing the gospel, and what part belongs to God alone? [50:26]
3. The bodies receive bones, tendons, flesh, and skin before breath enters them. Why is it important that God’s Word and God’s Spirit are not separated when thinking about real spiritual life in a church? [55:00]
4. God’s discipline of Israel is serious, yet Ezekiel 37 ends with God opening graves and putting his Spirit in his people. How can discipline and grace both help God’s people know that he is the Lord? [59:39]

1. Compromise often begins quietly, when joy is slowly sought somewhere other than Christ. Where have you noticed your joy, comfort, identity, or hope drifting toward something that cannot give life? What would returning to Christ look like in one specific area this week? [01:05:21]
2. Israel listened to God’s words as though listening to a pleasant song, but their hearts pursued unjust gain. Are there parts of Scripture you find easy to hear but difficult to obey? What may be keeping obedience from following hearing? [42:42]
3. Ezekiel answered, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” Is there a person, relationship, church concern, or area of your own life that feels too dry or beyond hope? How can this response shape the way you pray about it? [46:05]
4. God calls his people to speak his Word while trusting his Spirit to open eyes and give life. Who is one person with whom you could take a simple, honest step toward speaking about Christ or inviting them to know him better? [52:37]
5. God’s discipline exposes real boundaries in covenant life; sin is not harmless. Is there a pattern, habit, or attitude that God may be confronting in your life? Instead of brushing it aside, what would humble repentance look like? [01:00:17]
6. Jesus is not only the giver of future resurrection; he is “the resurrection and the life” today. In what area do you need Christ to revive hope, courage, or obedience so that you can stand and serve him? [01:04:42]