Ezekiel 37:1–4 (NIV) records,
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out . . . and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones . . . bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” . . . Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!’”
What has shaped your belief, your faith? Why do you act and respond to challenges the way you do? What life experiences have informed your belief system about God and what He is capable of, about yourself, or about the people you lead? What causes you to speak to situations as you do? What do you see when you look at those whom you are leading—a group of people going nowhere, people dried up and done? Or do you see what God sees—people waiting for life to be spoken over them (Ezekiel 37:10)?
That was God’s question to Ezekiel. “Ezekiel, do you see what I see or are you looking at life’s situation through the lens of your own history, experience, and perspective? Can these bones live?”
In this passage, God reveals to us through Ezekiel’s vision what it will take for us to see God’s vision go forward.
Touched and Led by the Spirit (Ezekiel 37:1–2)
- Matthew 4 tells us that the Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness.
- Luke 4:14 reports that Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.
- In Luke 4:18, Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel. . . .”
To see what God sees, we must be touched and led by the Spirit of God, for those who are led by the Spirit are the sons and daughters of God (Romans 8:14).
Divine Echo: Hear and respond in obedience to the voice of God (Ezekiel 37:4–9)
- Ezekiel saw the hand of God move because he heard, listened, and responded by speaking life over the dried-up bones. Faith comes by hearing the word that God is speaking into your situation.
- Respond in prayer, confessing what God’s Word says about your situation. Life and death are in the power of your tongue (Proverbs 18:21). When God revealed truth to Ezekiel, Ezekiel prayed and declared what God revealed. So, pray it and say it! Agree with God! Confess and believe God’s Word! Feelings come and feelings go, but God’s revealed Word lasts forever.
Process: Remember, eveything doesn’t happen all at once! New life will come, but sometimes it is a process. God took Ezekiel and the dry bones through this process:
- God’s Holy Spirit led him into the valley.
- God challenged his perspective and his thinking; then God revealed His own perspective: Israel is as good as dead, lifeless; however, God said in Ezekiel 37:12–13, they would be raised again. “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD” (Psalm 118:17).
- Ezekiel declared what was revealed by the spoken Word of God. Then there was movement—something was happening in the Spirit; a shift was taking place. God’s Word is spirit, and it is life (John 6:63)!
- The bones then came together, skin covered them, God breathed on them, and they stood! The Bible calls them a great and vast army.
You need to know that it does not take much for God to work. The people you have are enough. You must grasp what God is trying to reveal to you—His vision, His perspective. Be obedient and declare it. God only requires what is in your hand—just your faith in God, just a seed, just the dust of the earth, just five loaves and two fish, just you. He can do anything! JUST speak life! If you do, God will do great things. Do you see what God sees? Do you see what He says it can be?
