From Dry Bones to Living Hope

Devotional

Day 1: When the Valley is Full of Dry Bones

The vision of Ezekiel 37 begins in a place of utter desolation—a valley littered with sun-bleached, disconnected bones. This image mirrors seasons where life feels fragmented, dreams lie dormant, and hope feels buried. God doesn’t avoid these valleys but walks us through them, forcing us to confront the depth of our despair. He asks, “Can these bones live?” not to mock our pain but to shift our gaze from what’s dead to who He is. Even when every human instinct says “no,” faith whispers that God’s power defies logic. The question isn’t about the bones—it’s about His sovereignty. [45:56]

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
(Ezekiel 37:11-14, ESV)

Reflection: What “valley” have you been avoiding or rushing through? How might God be inviting you to acknowledge the dryness while still trusting His power to breathe life?

Day 2: Preaching to What Seems Dead

Ezekiel’s call to prophesy to lifeless bones feels absurd—like shouting at a brick wall. Yet obedience to God’s word, even when results seem impossible, is the catalyst for resurrection. The rattling of bones begins not with human optimism but with divine authority. This moment challenges us to keep speaking truth, praying boldly, and loving relentlessly, even when situations appear static. God’s word never returns void; it stirs movement where we least expect it. Faithfulness, not outcomes, is our mandate. [52:41]

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.
(Ezekiel 37:7-8, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you stopped “preaching” because you’ve seen no change? What step of obedience is God asking you to take today, even if the results feel distant?

Day 3: Rattling Bones and the Patience of Promise

The reassembling of bones into bodies without breath teaches that God’s work often unfolds in stages. We crave instant miracles, but He builds faith through process. The rattling—the first signs of movement—is not the end but a call to persist. Israel’s restoration didn’t happen in a day, and neither does ours. Trusting God’s timing means celebrating small victories without demanding immediate completion. What looks like half-finished work to us is His purposeful preparation. [56:13]

And he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
(Ezekiel 37:9-10, ESV)

Reflection: What “rattling” have you dismissed as insignificant? How might God be using slow, incremental change to deepen your dependence on Him?

Day 4: The Breath That Turns Bodies into Armies

Bodies without breath are hollow shells—a warning against mistaking activity for vitality. The final miracle isn’t structure but Spirit. Ruach—the breath, wind, and life-force of God—transforms corpses into an army. No program, discipline, or effort can replicate this. Just as Adam needed God’s breath to live, we need the Holy Spirit to animate our faith. Surrender isn’t passive; it’s the active choice to let God’s power fuel what He’s built. [58:03]

And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
(Ezekiel 2:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you relying on your own strength rather than the Spirit’s breath? What would it look like to invite God’s ruach into that area today?

Day 5: From Graveyard Silence to Army’s March

The valley’s silence breaks with the thunder of an army rising. God’s restoration always has a purpose: His glory. Resurrected lives aren’t meant for comfort but commission. Israel’s revival wasn’t about their comfort but their testimony to the nations. Likewise, our breakthroughs are not endpoints but enlistments. The same power that raised Christ from the dead equips us to march into battle for His kingdom. [01:03:05]

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
(Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

Reflection: How has God’s restoration in your life equipped you to serve others? What “good work” might He be inviting you to step into as evidence of His power?

Sermon Summary

Ezekiel 37 brings hope right into the place where hope looks dead. God sets Ezekiel down in a valley, not a palace or a temple, but a cemetery, and the valley is full of bones. Israel had known the blessing of God, the rescue from Egypt, the promised land, the law, the temple, and the promise of a Messiah through David. Israel also had turned from God generation after generation, chased idols, ignored prophets, and finally watched Babylon destroy Jerusalem, burn the temple, remove the king, and carry the people into exile.

The people say it plainly: “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is gone.” Those are not God’s words. Those are Israel’s words. The valley shows what that feels like when a marriage looks beyond repair, a child seems too far gone, faith feels dried out, or grief and anxiety make the future look closed. God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel does not deny what he sees, but he refuses to believe what he sees is the whole story. “Sovereign Lord, you alone know” becomes the wise answer of faith when human sight has run out.

God meets people in dead places. God leads Ezekiel back and forth among the bones so the impossibility is clear. These are not fresh bodies. These are dry bones, death that has been there a long time. Yet God is not intimidated by impossible situations. Where hope ends, God’s restoring power begins.

God tells Ezekiel to preach to the bones. The word of God is never wasted, even when the audience looks dead. Ezekiel obeys, and the valley starts to rattle. Bones move, connect, take shape, and bodies form. But there is still no breath in them. The bodies look right, but nothing is alive. Activity is not the same as life, and spiritual form without the Spirit is still death.

God then commands Ezekiel to preach to the breath, the ruach, the wind, breath, Spirit of God. The Spirit enters them, lungs fill, hearts beat, feet stand, and the cemetery becomes a vast army. Jesus enters the valley of death through the cross and tomb, rises on the third day, and makes dead sinners alive. God restores not just for comfort, but for his glory, so his people will know, “I am the Lord.”

Key Takeaways

1. God meets dead places [47:44] God does not take Ezekiel around the valley. God takes him through it, right among the bones. The dead place is not hidden from God, and the impossible situation is not too ugly for him to enter. The valley becomes the place where God shows that despair never gets the final word when he is still speaking. [47:44]
2. Sight is not the whole story [50:17] Ezekiel sees dry bones, and he does not pretend they are alive. Yet Ezekiel also refuses to let what he sees define what God can do. Faith does not require denial of the facts. Faith says, “Lord, you alone know,” when human wisdom has reached its limit. [50:17]
3. Do not despise the rattling [56:13] God’s work in the valley comes in stages. First comes the word, then the rattling, then the forming, and only later the breath. Small movements of grace may not be the full resurrection yet, but they can still be signs that God has begun to move. [56:13]
4. Activity is not real life [55:02] The bodies in the valley look complete, but they still have no breath. A person can have religious motion, church habits, service, and appearance while the heart is slowly growing distant from God. Spiritual life does not come from looking alive. Spiritual life comes from the breath of God. [55:02]
5. Restoration displays God’s glory [01:02:15] God says, “I will,” again and again, because dry bones contribute nothing to resurrection. God opens graves, brings his people back, puts his Spirit in them, and settles them so they will know that he is the Lord. Restoration is not merely relief from pain. Restoration turns a former valley into evidence of God’s power. [62:15]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[37:25] - Summer Reflections and Ryder’s Encouragement
[38:27] - Wrapping Up the Bestseller Series
[40:16] - Opening the Word of God
[42:10] - Walking Through the Valley
[43:12] - Israel’s Exile and Lost Hope
[45:41] - Ezekiel Sees the Dry Bones
[47:44] - God Enters Dead Places
[51:29] - Preaching to Dry Bones
[53:36] - The Rattling Begins
[54:37] - Bodies Without Breath
[57:45] - The Spirit Gives Life
[60:04] - Dead Sinners Made Alive
[61:41] - Restored for God’s Glory
[64:26] - Dry Bones Are Not the End

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Ezekiel 37:1-14
“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord God, you know.' Then he said to me, 'Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.' So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.'” [41:50]

Ephesians 2:1-5
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” [01:00:04]

Isaiah 55:11
“so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” [52:45]

John 6:63
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” [59:31]

Observation questions

In Ezekiel 37, what details show just how hopeless the scene looked before God began to act? [47:44]
What happens in the valley after Ezekiel speaks the word of the Lord, and what is still missing at that point?
In verse 11, what exactly are the people saying about themselves and their hope? [45:41]
According to Ephesians 2:1-5, how are people described before God makes them alive with Christ? [01:00:04]

Interpretation questions

Ezekiel answers, “O Lord God, you know,” instead of either denying the situation or giving up. What does that response show about faith when a person can clearly see that things are broken? [50:17]
The bodies in the valley looked complete, but they still had no breath. What warning does that picture give to a person or even a church that has plenty of outward activity? [55:02]
God’s work in the valley came in stages: the word, the rattling, the forming, and then the breath. How might that shape the way a believer thinks about slow change, unanswered prayer, or small signs of growth? [56:13]
God says again and again, “I will,” and then explains that the purpose is “then you will know that I am the Lord.” What does that reveal about why God restores people? [01:02:15]

Application questions

“Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost” are honest words from people in pain. Where is it easiest right now to think that way in personal life: family, faith, health, grief, anxiety, or something else? What would it look like to bring that specific valley before God instead of hiding it? [42:10]
God led Ezekiel through the valley, not around it. What dead or painful place has been avoided lately? What might it look like to let God meet someone there instead of pretending it is not real? [47:44]
Sometimes the first sign of God’s work is just a rattling. Has there been any small movement lately—a softer heart, a hard conversation, a new desire to pray, a little healing, a renewed conviction—that might be a sign God is at work? [56:13]
Activity is not the same as life. Where is there a temptation to settle for looking spiritually healthy—showing up, serving, saying the right things—while feeling dry on the inside? What honest step could help move from appearance to dependence on God’s Spirit? [55:02]
God’s word is never wasted. Is there a place right now where someone needs to keep speaking Scripture, keep praying, or keep trusting even though nothing seems to be changing yet? What makes that hard? [52:45]
Christianity is not self-improvement but resurrection. In daily life, where is there a tendency to try harder in the flesh instead of asking God for real spiritual life? [01:01:18]
God restores people for his glory, not just for their relief. If God brought life into a dry place, how could that become a testimony that points others to him rather than back to self? [01:01:41]

Sermon Clips

49s

#GodBreathedLife

“The silence of death was replaced by the sound of thousands of standing to their feet, a vast army for the glory of God. Let me ask you one last question. What changed? Wasn't the valley. Wasn't the body bones. Not not the time. What changed was God spoke. What changed was God breathed and and God restored. And maybe you've been staring at your own valley. Maybe you started saying what Israel said, my hope is gone. There's no hope left. If that's you, hear the good news of Ezekiel 37. Dry bones are never the end of the story when God is in the valley.”

41s

#AliveInChrist

“Dead people can't rescue themselves. Dead people need someone outside of themselves to give themselves life. If you're dead on the table in a hospital room, you're not bringing yourself back to life. Maybe the doctors could do that in that moment. That's exactly what God has done through Jesus Christ. That Jesus entered into our valley, takes our sin upon the cross. He enters death. He's laid in a tomb, and three days later, he defeats death so that we can live, so we can have eternal life. And that's why Paul goes on to say in Ephesians two five, but God made us alive with Christ.”

42s

#ResurrectionNotSelfHelp

“We were the dry bones, and God made us alive. And maybe maybe someone in here needs to hear that today, or maybe someone joining us online needs to hear that today. God isn't asking you to simply become a better person. He's offering us new life. He's offering us to let the breath of God live in us because Christianity isn't about self improvement. It's about resurrection. God doesn't raise people from the dead so they can simply stand there. He didn't raise them from the dead. They go, oh, great. Now we're all standing. Now let's clap. He gives life for a purpose.”

43s

#RestoreMyValley

“Invite him into your valley. Lord, restore the dry bones. Breathe life back into my life. See, the God who restored Israel, the God who restored Lazarus, the God who raised Jesus from the dead is the same God that we worship today. No heart's too hard, and no life is too broken, and no sinner is too far gone, and no church is beyond revival, and no valley is beyond his reach. Because when we reach the end of our hope, we discover that we've never reached the end of God's power. Let's pray together.”

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