Ezekiel 37:1-3, “1 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. 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. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
Ezekiel came up to The Valley of Dry Bones. Death was all around. Even the bones were dried up, which is to say that the marrow inside the bones was deceased. The marrow gives strength to our bones which make up the skeletal system of our body. Our body is held up by our bones, our support structure. What happens when the very life of your support structure is eroded, and dried up? This is when all looks hopeless, all signs of life have ceased, and it seems as if there is nothing left to do because all resources are exhausted. Here Ezekiel was staring at an impossible situation. God asks him a very probing question, when He says, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel in his wisdom knew that his knowledge was limited, and therefore replies “…O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
In a practical way God was asking Ezekiel my people Israel are dead (they are the dead bones in your vision) do you think I can bring a dead situation to life? Do you think I can make a seemingly impossible situation possible? Can I bring forth life from death?, can I bring all these people who decided to stay in “Death Valley” and died because of it, out of this valley? No wonder Ezekiel responded as such, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” What was he saying? Lord You know Your power. I know I can’t do this, and I don’t see how it can happen, but there is no one on this earth that can answer this question. Imagine if God asks you a question that you can’t answer. God asks many people many questions in His Word. It would be interesting to search the Scriptures and examine the topic “questions God has asked ordinary people“. But, here God asks Ezekiel the question that no one but God alone could answer. And perhaps he was seeing if Ezekiel would run to a human answer. When problems in this world arise, everyone has their human opinion on the subject, “the lawyer says“, “the politician promised“, “the psychologist stated”, “my mom thinks”, “the self help book showed”, etc. And we are so quick to find an answer that suits our finite thinking, our limited perspective, our many times clouded minds. But not Ezekiel, he wasn’t going to tackle this question in his human estimation. He knew that God had infinite knowledge, unlimited, holy, and eternal perspective, and a mind that could not be clouded but that was far above the clouds.
If you read the rest of the chapter which I suggest, you must do to get the full impact and not just a taste. You will see what God does with this “Death Valley” Situation. He was not talking about an individual, but a NATION.
Think for a moment. We say can, God get me out of “Death Valley”. Perhaps we say Lord, get my family out. Have we asked the Lord to get our city out, our nation out! We limit God so many times to a personal relationship and forget His desire for a corporate relationship. He sees His church as His Bride. In Cinderella the prince kissed her to wake her up from her “Death Valley” and as Pastor Dave shared, the Lord has kissed the face of His children with His divine favor. Oh we are not trial free, because if we were how could God mold us to become like Christ, the Ultimate Conquer of “Death Valley”
Application: Cry out for not only yourself, but your city and your nation to live again.Blessings,Pastor Phil
He Has Magnified His Word 