CAN THESE BONES LIVE?

"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 midst of the valley; and it was full of bones." (Ezekiel 37:1, AMP)

The Lord set Ezekiel down in the midst of the valley. Ezekiel didn't wander there. He didn't get there by happen chance or by taking some wrong turns. No, the Lord set him there, and He didn't just set him at the opening of the valley or at it's edges. He set him in the midst, completely surrounded on all sides.

"And He caused me to pass round about among them, and behold, there were very many [human bones] in the open valley or plain, and behold, they were very dry." (Ezekiel 37:2 AMP)

The Lord caused him to be among all the dry bones (and notice, they were not just dry bones but very dry bones). He caused him to not just be among them but to walk around them, observe, see, notice, to pass through the midst of them. He was surrounded on all sides by the dry bones; every way he turned to look they faced him.

I believe we are in time where the Lord is causing many of His people to be in the midst of dry bones. Dry bones are but a remembrance of what was once living, alive and full of breath. They are painful to look at and be around; we often divert our eyes, turn the other direction and shove down the emotions that try to arise. But many have been in a long season, even successive seasons in the valley of dry bones and have been forced to look at them. They have been so numerous you haven't seemed to be able to move in any direction without encountering them. It has seemed everywhere you have turned there has been another dry bone you have been confronted with, and another and another. It has been painful, exhausting, utterly draining and it has attempted to take you out.

For many it has been equally confusing as you've been encountering places that you thought were long dead and buried, places that you wish would stay buried. For some, it has been places from your childhood. The confusing part is that they don't seem dead. On the contrary, they have been so confronting, so persistent, so relentless, so loud and overwhelming, that the enemy has attempted to use this place to blind you from seeing anything else. Fatigue, doubt, and weariness have set in. Many have wondered when will it end, when will I be delivered from this place?

Listen to what the Lord says next to Ezekiel,

"And He said to me, SON OF MAN, can these bones live?" (Ezekiel 37:3a AMP, Emphasis mine)

The Lord doesn't just ask the question, He calls out Ezekiel's humanity first. Ezekiel responds how we often do.

"And I answered, O Lord God, You know!" (Ezekiel 37:3b AMP)

Many in this season have been crying out to the Lord to be rescued, and like Ezekiel have exclaimed, "You know God!" because the bones have been so numerous and so seemingly impossible you don't even know what to do.

The Lord continues with Ezekiel and says,

"...Prophecy to these bones and say to them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath and spirit to enter you, and you shall live; And I will lay sinews upon you and bring up flesh upon you and cover you with skin, and I will put breath and spirit in you, and you [dry bones] shall live; and you shall know, understand and realize that I am the Lord..." (Ezekiel 37:4-6AMP)

The Lord didn't just speak to the dry bones and remove them, He said to Ezekiel, YOU speak to them! Our heavenly Father is waiting for us to partner with Him.

"For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God" (1 Cor. 3:9a, AMP).

Moreover, He has equipped us to do so. He has created us in His image and likeness (Gen. 1:27), the creator of the universe who but spoke and it was so (Psalms 33:6). Scripture further tells us that the tongue has the power of life and death! (Prov. 18:21a).

The Lord did not stop at equipping us, He has also given us help.

"Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a gift] from God?" (1 Cor. 6:19, AMP)

"...greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4b, NASB95)

And even greater still, Romans 8:11 says we have the same spirit living in us that raised Jesus from the dead!

So Ezekiel did as the as the Lord said,

"So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise and behold, a shaking and trembling and a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked and behold, there were sinews upon [the bones] and flesh came upon them and skin covered them over, but there was no breath or spirit in them." (Ezekiel 37:7-8)

Pieces started to come together, there was order, something was built, but yet it was still not living, still not breathing. How often do we think we heard God's word for something, we don't see change and we begin to doubt we heard Him and lose hope? There have been many in this season that have seen movement, started to see moments of breakthrough but things have seemed to stop just short. Doubt, confusion, hopelessness and delay have crept in, but the Lord commanded Ezekiel, prophecy again!

"Then said He to me, Prophesy to the breath and spirit, son of man, and say to the breath and spirit, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath and spirit, and breath upon these slain that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath and spirit came into [the bones], and they lived and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great host." (Ezekiel 37:9-10, AMP)

The Lord does not desire to just deliver you from these places, but for you to partner with His word and His Spirit so that He may redeem them, multiply them, and leave you with an exceedingly great host!

People of God, there is a mighty, rushing wind coming! It is His wind for the dry bones, the dead places. The breath of it will carry restoration, healing, and deliverance. There will be revival, resurgence and resurrection of many lost things! It will bring freedom to places that have long been held captive. There will be a breaking, a coming forth of suddenness in these places, and a lifting up. A new level of clarity is being brought to many people of the Lord!

I hear the Lord saying now, "Prophesy to the bones! Prophesy to the dead places! Tell them what I said!"

Hear Him saying now, "I will cause to enter you, I will lay upon you, I will bring up upon you, I will cover you, I will put in you!"

"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 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. I will put my spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and have done it, declares the Lord.'" (Ezekiel 37:11b-14)

*All quotes are taken from NIV unless otherwise noted.

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