Ezekiel 37:1-5 - The hand of the Lord was upon 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.  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.  He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”   I said, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”  Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.”

Ezekiel wrote during the most discouraging time of ancient Israel’s history- during the Exile, when Israel was living outside of their homeland, with no temple, king, or priest, because of their own unfaithfulness. Many were at the point of giving up completely, and were settling into their new homelands and blending in with the peoples and cultures around them. The few who still held to the promises of God for their heritage, and the fulfillment of the promises for a new temple, the coming of the Messiah, must have wondered how this could happen.  There was no hope on the horizon for a change. Israel, and the great Project the Lord had begun there, appeared to be dead – totally, permanently dead.

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Ezekiel 14:14 - ”…even if these three men – Noah, Daniel and Job – were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

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Ezekiel 5:3 - ”But take a few strands of hair and tuck them away in the folds of your garment.”

This passage describes both the judgment of God on sin, and the grace of God for his faithful servants.  The biblical pattern is for judgment on the world, and deliverance for the saints, to come simultaneously, by the same stroke of God’s hand.  See, for example, Isaiah 61:12, “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God…” continue

Ezekiel  24:10 – “Heap on the wood, kindle the fire; cook the meat well, mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned up.”

This is a prophetic message that still challenges us today.

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