Valley of Dry Bones - The Book of Ezekiel

In this Bible Story, we are taken up in the Spirit of the Lord with Ezekiel as he scanned a large valley of dry bones. As the spirit of God rushed into the valley, the bones come to life and are restored. This story is inspired by Ezekiel 37. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is Ezekiel 37:5 from the King James Version.

Episode 161: Among the fields of Babylon, the prophet Ezekiel was walking and praying to God. Suddenly, he was given a vivid vision of a dry valley filled with bones. And as he walked through this valley, God asked him, “can these dry bones live?” God was making a point that even though His people looked dead on the inside, He would indeed give life to the spirit of Israel. He would bring Israel and Judah together once again and would appoint a savior to lead them.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray thus saith the Lord God. Unto these
bones behold, I will cause breath to enter into you,
and ye shall live Ezekiel thirty seven.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Five.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Lord, through the power of your Holy Spirit, I will
speak life into the dead dreams of others. Like Ezekiel
thirty seven, I will prophesy and speak the words of
God over every person I see. May your breath fill
them with every ounce of hope needed for them to

(00:37):
step into their God given identity. I declare and decree
that through my life, I will do everything in my
power to help raise up an army of purpose filled
people who will inspire others to live the life that
You have created them to live. This mindset as my anchor,

(01:03):
I speak to every dead and forgotten dream in my life,
for you are alive. I declare that this will be
a season of rebirth and newness. I declare that whatever
and whoever I come in contact with will receive your
life giving power to accelerate and succeed in Jesus' name, Amen,

(01:34):
listening to these daily prayers strengthens your relationship with God.
Continue hearing from the Lord by listening to Today's Bible.
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Speaker 3 (01:55):
Valley of Dry Bones. In our last story, of Judah
struggled to regain stability. Some leaders desired to serve Babylon
and make peace, others desired to rebel. As a result,
brother turned against brother. The remnant of Judah was torn,
and many of them fled to Egypt despite Jeremiah's warnings.

(02:19):
Now we are introduced to another prophet by the name
of Ezekiel. Ezekiel is given a unique glimpse into the
heart and mind of God. He is taken up by
his spirit and shown an image of Israel's dead souls
coming back to life. Inspired by the Book of Ezekiel.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
This is Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible
in a Year podcast. Thanks for joining us. In our
last episode, we heard about the remnant of Judah that
remained in the land after the Babylonian conquest. Those who
stayed had a difficult, demanding task. It was rebuilding their homeland,
which was laying in ruins. Though they tried to remain

(03:01):
faithful to God, evil conspired against those who sought to
do God's will. In fear, much of the remnant fled
to Egypt rather than trust in God's provision and protection.
Today we will meet a new prophet, a man named Ezekiel,
who will receive an awesome vision from God that shows
him God's heart for his people and the power that

(03:23):
only the God of Israel possesses to bring life even
to dead dry bones. Let's listen now to the reading
from God's word.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
It was dusk, the sky was painted a strong amber.
In the prophet Ezekiel was walking among the fields. The
light breeze whistled through the valley, causing the grain to
dance back and forth. Ezekiel looked up to Heaven, praying
to the Lord. Then in an instant, Ezekiel was thrown
out into the spirit of God. The earth around him spun.

(03:56):
Ezekiel fell face down and looked up. It was no
longer in the lush fields. Ezekiel lifted his eyes to
see a blighted valley. The earth was coarse and black,
and the sky was dim with smog and soot. Ezikiel
heard a crack beneath his hands and feet bones. Ezekiel

(04:17):
sprung to his feet and saw that the entire valley
was laced with dry and rotting bones. The spirit of
the Lord took Ezekiel by the shoulder and led him
among the valley of dry bones, so dry that they
cracked and ground into a powder. As he stepped on them.
A wind blew through the east. Dust and bone covered

(04:38):
the entire land. It was a bleak and ominous sight.
A voice flew in with the wind and asked, son
of Man, can these dry bones live? Ezekiel looked at
the blighted valley. There was no sign of life for
a hundred miles in every direction. Oh, Lord, Ezekiel responded,

(04:58):
Only you know the answer to that. The wind blew
against his face. Speak over the bones, Ezekiel, God said,
speak for me anything, Oh you dry bones, hear the
word of the Lord. I will breathe life into you.
Your bodies will be covered in sinew, flesh and skin.

(05:19):
I will put my breath in you, and you shall
know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel nodded and looked
upon the desolation. He lifted his voice to the dry
bones and spoke the Lord's words to them. As he spoke,
the wind picked up, as if the breath of God
was flowing through the valley. The wind whistled, and the

(05:39):
sound of rattling filled the atmosphere. Ezekiel watched as the
bones rolled across the valley to find one another and
come together. Bone found, bone, and skeletons were made whole.
Sinew wrapped around the dry and blighted bones, and muscles
began to form around the limbs. Skin covered them, and

(06:00):
Ezekiel saw a sea of people lying lifeless on the ground.
There was no life in them, no breath of God's spirit.
Ezekiel could feel the light caress of the breeze in it.
He heard God speak again, saying, Prophesie to the breath, Ezekiel,
speak for me, and declare the four winds of God

(06:20):
to breathe the life into the dead. Ezekiel was quivering.
His heart could barely contain what he was experiencing. At first,
Ezekiel said nothing. He struggled with the words as he
stared upon the valley of lifeless bodies. He regained his
composure and prophesied over the dead bodies with the words
of God. And in that instant, the wind howled from

(06:44):
every direction, the breath of God's spirit, the ruak, the numa,
the same breath that breathed life in a mankind blew
mightily through the valley. Ironically, Ezekiel was breathless. He watched
as life was into the dead bodies. He watched them
rise from the ground and stand to their feet. Soon

(07:06):
the bodies were covered in armor, and a vast army
stood before Ezekiel. It was a magnificent sight. The prophet
fell to his knees, beholding the army of living bones.
These bones are the house of Israel, my children. God
said to Ezekiel. They believe their hope is lost, just
like these dry bones. You must tell them that I

(07:28):
am able to open their graves and raise them to
new life. I shall put my spirit in them, and
they shall truly live. They shall know that I am
their God, and I am the author of life. Ezekiel
was still on his knees, trembling at the voice of
the Lord. His presence was comforting yet terrifying, strong yet gentle.

(07:50):
He hung on every word spoken to him. Take two
sticks and write on them, God commanded. The prophet grabbed
two fallen branches about the size of his arm and
began to carve out the words.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
Of the Lord.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Behold, I am going to take the branch of Judah
and the branch of Israel and make them one again.
I will gather them and make them a single nation.
They will not fall again into idolatry, for I will
cleanse them of all unrighteousness. His Ekiel marveled at the
words of God. The thought of the two nations once

(08:24):
again coming together seemed too good to be true. It
was a dream come true. But who would lead such
a nation. None had been successful since the reign of David.
The Lord spoke again, saying, a son of David will
be king over the one nation. I will make a
covenant with them. They will sit in my presence, and

(08:45):
we will be close once again. I will shepherd them,
and all the nations shall be blessed because of them.
This God spoke concerning the coming king, the great Hero,
that all heroes pointed to, the Great Priest, that all
priests pointed to. The Great King, that all kings pointed to,

(09:05):
the son of David, would bring about the true character
of God and bridge the gap between mankind and its creator.
This hero would be Jesus, the Christ and the Son
of God.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
In today's reading, we're introduced to a new prophet, a
man named Ezekiel. God had spoken through Ezekiel for many years,
warning Judah and calling them back to God. But as
we already know, Judah did not repent, and they were
defeated conquered by the Babylonians. Ezekiel was taken along with

(09:44):
his people into exile. Ezekiel's name means God will strengthen,
and as we will soon discover, God is going to
use Ezekiel to tell his people just that that their
God will bring strength even to what they believe to
be and hopeless. For one day, God's spirit came upon
the prophet and he was taken up in a vision.

(10:07):
As he looked around, he was in a valley surrounded
by nothing but dry, dead, lifeless bones. God didn't ask
him a question that seems ridiculous from a human perspective.
He asked, can these bones live? Wisely, Ezekiel said, only
you know that. God. He surely knew that God, who

(10:30):
had made man out of nothing but dirt and breath,
could do anything he will, bringing life even to bones.
The Lord then commanded Ezekiel to speak his word over
the bones, and as he did, these dry, brittle bones
began to come together with muscles and tendons and flesh.
Suddenly the valley was covered with not bones, but human

(10:52):
bodies full of flesh. Yet there was no sign of life.
We have to think a vision of thousands of human
bones seemed disturbing enough, but these lifeless bodies all around
would have been a terrifying sight. But God wasn't done yet.
He told Ezekiel to speak to the four winds, calling
them to fill these lifeless bodies. This was no mere wind.

(11:17):
This was the breath of God, the powerful breath of
the Almighty, the same breath that filled Adam's lungs and
sprung him to life in the garden. It was the Ruach,
the wind God sent over the waters to make them
recede after the flood. There was great power in the
breath of God, and as Ezekiel prophesied to the winds,

(11:39):
they came and filled the bodies with life. It is
an amazing reminder of God's life giving power, and this
was the message God wanted Ezekiel to give to his people.
The once lifeless bodies rose from the ground and stood
before him an awesome army of warriors. Then God spoke
and we read in Ezekiel thirty seven, verse eleven twelve

(12:00):
and thirteen. These words, Son of Man, these bones are
the people of Israel. They say, our bones are dried
up and our hope is gone. We are cut off.
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

(12:21):
bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you,
my people, will know that I am the Lord when
I open your graves and bring you up from them.
Despite the disobedience of God's people, their lack of faithfulness,
God would not leave them in a hopeless situation. God
has a plan and eternal plan for Israel. Though they

(12:43):
could only see despair and darkness and death in their exile,
God was giving them a message of hope. The same
God of hope is alive and working today. Even in
your most hopeless situation, where nothing good seems possible, where
there is only dry bones in death, God promises hope,

(13:04):
and it is the core, the same hope that he
was announcing to his people at his core. This is
the hope that God was giving to his people through Ezekiel,
and it is the hope that he promises us today
through our Lord Jesus Christ. And here was the promise
to God's people, even though they could not fully understand it.

(13:25):
God was promising that he would restore the nation to life.
They would be restored to their homeland, and the two
nations Judah and Israel. God was going to bring them
under one king. Dear God, we pray for revival in
our nation, spiritual awakening around the world. May you take
what is dead and bring it to life. Revive your church,

(13:47):
Oh God, bring your people back to life. May we
stand and not be silent with the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus. May we live under the
banner and the power and in the breath of God's Spirit,
Christ the King. Dear God, Thank you that even in
the most desperate and desolate circumstances, when death is all around,

(14:09):
you are still in control and you can bring life
out of death. You did that in the resurrection through Jesus,
our Lord, and it is in his name that we pray. Amen.
Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
We are so glad that you have joined us. I'm
pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download the

(14:30):
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(14:52):
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