A gentle morning fog rolls over an empty field in the bottom of the valley. The only sound comes from singing birds and playing squirrels. The silence of the valley today pales in comparison to the deafening roar throughout these fields and wooded hills some 160 years ago.

There’s a bit of an eerie feeling when standing in these places. Some of you may have felt it when visiting historic battlefields like Gettysburg or Antietam. Stone markers highlight the positions of soldiers as they fought one another. You can see the position of the soldiers at Pickett’s fateful charge across open ground in Gettysburg. You can view Burnside’s Bridge where many Union soldiers died trying to cross Antietam Creek.

God leads the prophet Ezekiel in a vision through a valley not filled with stone markers, but filled with the very dry bones of a large army that had died in battle. The feelings which may come upon us when we visit historic battlefields pale in comparison to the eeriness Ezekiel saw. As the Lord reveals the valley of bones to Ezekiel, He teaches His people an important lesson.

BY THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT DRY BONES ARE GIVEN LIFE IN CHRIST

The sight Ezekiel sees may have been startling. “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 middle of the valley; it was full of bones. He led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold they were very dry.” Who expects to see the bones of potentially thousands upon thousands of soldiers when strolling through a field?

The bones form a picture story for Ezekiel. Perhaps he already knows the truth. If he doesn’t, the Lord God drives the point home, saying, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel… They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.’”  These bones are Ezekiel’s own people, his own nation, his family, friends, and neighbors.

The Israelites lived in a very volatile location between multiple countries. The land was excellent, but vulnerable to attacks. As long as the Israelites trusted the Lord, His protective hand shielded them from their enemies. But because of their sin, rebellion, rejection of God, and idolatry, the Lord removed His protection from them, leaving them open to conquest.

The Babylonians entered the land, took captive those Israelites who were most useful to them (like Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack, Abednego, and the prophet Ezekiel). The Babylonians left the rest of the Israelites in the Promised Land. They mixed with other people-groups who were brought to the land. They formed the Samaritan people. The Israelites taken to Babylon kept their distinctiveness. Yet, they began to believe their hope was lost, because they were removed from their homes. They were removed from the land God promised to Abraham. Most distressing, they were taken from the Lord’s house.

Ezekiel now stands among the bones of his own hopeless people! How frightening and distressing!

You also stand among dry bones. God says, “These bones are the whole house of humanity.” The flesh that covers the bones of humanity is just that—a covering. Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Israelites weren’t the only ones removed from the Promised Land. Their exile from a good and plentiful land, flowing with milk and honey represents the exile of humanity from God’s holy presence in Eden’s perfection.

Adam and Eve experienced a perfect relationship with God. They lived in the greatest paradise. But when they rebelled against the Lord, they dragged all humanity into rebellion with them. God exiled them from paradise and cursed them with death. We all share in that exile and curse. With our first parents, we became enslaved to sin. Every human being is conceived with a sinful nature that can’t please God, doesn’t want to please God, and can’t achieve the perfection required by the Law. Jeremiah says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” We can’t even comprehend the depth of our sinfulness. God’s Law constantly accuses us.  

Death has entered the world through sin. So, like I said—our flesh merely covers our bones. Humanity is the walking dead in the most real way. The flesh of humanity is slowly wasting away. The bones of humanity really are dry—rotting under death that is earned by sin.

In the end, what can dry bones do? Nothing. They slowly disintegrate into the dust God declares sinful humanity to be. We can’t do anything to make things right with God. Left to ourselves, we are hopeless. Humanity is banished from the land and condemned to die. But the Lord asks Ezekiel a simple question, “Can these bones live?” Of course, He knows the answer!

The Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus brings dry bones to life. As we heard a few weeks ago, the Lord Jesus says, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit He cannot see the kingdom of God.” The Spirit breaths life back into the dry bones of humanity. Only the Lord, who made heaven and earth, who made man in His image from the dust of the earth, who breathed into Adam the breath of life… only the Lord can breathe living faith into the dry bones of lost and condemned humanity. 

It isn’t so much a question of “can” these bones live, but “will” these bones live? Will the Lord bring dry bones to life? That question’s answer is a resounding and jubilant “yes!” The example before our eyes is the raising of a dead-for-four-days man named Lazarus. In two weeks, the whole Christian Church will celebrate the fact that God makes dry bones live. He raised Jesus from the dead, the beginning of the great resurrection to unfold on the Last Day.

But let’s not jump too far ahead. In order for there to be a physical resurrection, their needs to be a spiritual resurrection. God seeks to resurrect the faith of the Israelites through the life breathing Word of the Holy Spirit in Christ. He promises to restore His people, Israel.

The Lord says, “Prophesy over these bones… Say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” As God spoke creation into existence, as Jesus spoke new life into Lazarus, so the Lord brings the Israelite dry bones to life through the Spirit’s Word in Christ.

The Lord declares what He will do, “I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” The problem is that Israel (and humanity) hadn’t known the Lord. They had rejected the Lord. So, the Lord in grace and mercy will reveal Himself to them as the Lord by restoring their life.

Ezekiel prophesies as the Lord commanded, and the Word of the Lord brings the bones together, puts sinews and flesh on them, and covers them with skin. But they aren’t yet living.

So, God commands Ezekiel, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” Ezekiel prophesies as the Lord commanded, and the Spirit breathes the living Word of Christ into the exceedingly great army that was once dry bones—and they live! The amazing work of the Holy Spirit is to breathe new life in Christ Jesus!

The Lord reveals to His prophet Ezekiel what is about to happen. God says, “Prophesy… to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God… ‘I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. I will bring you into the land of Israel. You shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken and I will do it, declares the Lord.”’ The Lord promises a return from exile—a restoration to the land of promise. The Israelites returned from their Babylonian Exile after seventy years away from home. Old Testament books like Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Malachi focus on the return, rebuilding, and spiritual life of the once-exiled Israelites.

Yet, the complete fulfillment of this prophecy doesn’t revolve around the physical Promised Land. Though the Israelites came back to their land, it never fully became “their” land. The glory days of David and Solomon never returned. The Persians, who conquered Babylon, did allow the Israelites to go back home. Even so, the Persians ultimately ruled the land (and the people). Then, the Greeks. There was a brief time of independence, but the Israelites never re-established the nation. Finally, Rome came into power and ruled until Jerusalem came under Islamic control. The modern state of Israel was created in 1948, but it’s not the same nation as ancient Israel.

The promise is fully fulfilled in Christ Jesus. His death upon the cross for the sins of the world and His resurrection on the third day opened the kingdom of heaven to all who believe. By death and resurrection, He established His kingdom with the heavenly Jerusalem being the city of God. The Holy Spirit raises dry bones and breathes life into humanity through the Word of Christ, by which sins are forgiven, eternal life is promised, and hope is renewed. The blessed apostle Paul declares that those who trust Christ for forgiveness, life, and salvation are the true Israel—raised from spiritual death to spiritual and eternal life. That reality has been the case from the days of Abraham until now. Jesus declares that Abraham rejoiced to see His day.

We are no longer captive to sin and death—exiled from paradise—but we have been set free by our Redeemer, we have had new life breathed into us by the Spirit and Word of Christ, and we are given the greatest inheritance in the paradise of heaven. This is God’s merciful and gracious gift in Christ—a love unknown. The Holy Spirit breathes the Gospel blessings of Jesus’ death and resurrection into you, raising you from the dust heap of dry bones to a living faith in the living Lord. As Christ lives, so you do live and you will live, because you are alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.