Monday Morning, June 3, 1974 — Richmond, Virginia
Ministry given through Brother Stephen Kaung.
Please turn to Ezekiel 37. We will read the first fourteen verses.
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
And He caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, behold, they were very dry.
And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, Thou knowest.
Again He said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.
Then said He unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
Then He said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O My people.
And I will put My Spirit within you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and ye shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, saith the Lord.
Before we go into this vision of the valley, the vision of the dry bones, it will probably help us to have a brief outline of the whole book of Ezekiel. We are not able to go into all forty-eight chapters, but at least we should know something of the outline, so that we know where each chapter or message fits in the whole book.
There are many ways of dividing the book, and many people have attempted to do so. But one of the simplest ways I have found is based upon Ezekiel 33:21:
And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
That is the dividing line for the whole book of Ezekiel. Before this point, the prophecies spoken by Ezekiel were given before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. After this point, his prophecies are directed toward things afterward. Thus, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple serves as the dividing line in the book.
From Ezekiel 1 through Ezekiel 32 is the first part; from Ezekiel 33 through Ezekiel 48 is the second part.
The first part may be divided into three subdivisions. Ezekiel 1 through Ezekiel 3 records the visions of God appearing to Ezekiel, together with the calling and commission of the prophet. We fellowshipped a little concerning these three chapters last night.
From Ezekiel 4 through Ezekiel 24 are prophecies concerning the nation of Israel and its subsequent punishment. These are mainly prophecies of judgment.
Then Ezekiel 25 through Ezekiel 32 contains prophecies against the heathen nations that were enemies of Israel. This concludes the first part.
The second part is also divided into three subdivisions. First, Ezekiel 33 repeats God’s charge to Ezekiel that he might be a watchman.
In Ezekiel 3, God gave him this charge. He was set by God as a watchman, and his duty was to watch and warn the people. If he saw judgment coming and did not warn the people, then they would die in their sins, but God would require their blood at the prophet’s hand. If he warned them and they refused to listen, they would die in their sins, but the prophet would be innocent before God.
In Ezekiel 33 this charge is repeated. God says, “I make thee a watchman.” Why? Because God says that it is not His desire that the wicked should perish. God desires that the wicked should repent and live. God wants His people to live. For that reason, He once again charged Ezekiel to be a watchman. This is the introduction to the second part.
From Ezekiel 34 through Ezekiel 39, we find prophecies concerning God’s mercy and the restoration of the nation of Israel. In the first part, the prophecies were mostly of judgment. But after God had judged His people, He remembered His mercy. In His mercy, He promised to restore His people to what He wanted them to be.
Then Ezekiel 40 through Ezekiel 48 is the concluding subdivision of the book. God gave Ezekiel a vision of the temple and the city—in other words, the ultimate of God’s intention with regard to His own people.
Roughly, then, the whole book of Ezekiel may be divided in this way. I hope that having such a background may help us as we go into this book. Of course, we are not going to study the entire book. We will just pick out one or two things and fellowship over them.
This morning, we would like to fellowship together on this vision of the valley—the vision of the dry bones. This occurs in the section after Jerusalem was destroyed, when God began to promise His people that, by His mercy, He would restore them. This is the context within which the vision was given.
The hand of the Lord was upon Ezekiel. The Lord carried him out in the Spirit and set him down in the midst of the valley. Ezekiel was an exile in Babylon, and here the hand of the Lord came upon him. In the Spirit—not physically—he was taken away into a valley.
This valley was most probably the same valley mentioned in Ezekiel 3. In that chapter, the Lord commanded Ezekiel to rise and go to the valley because there God would speak with him. In obedience to the word of God, Ezekiel arose and went into the valley. There God gave him his commission and messages of judgment for the rebellious house of Israel.
Now God brought him in the Spirit to the same valley, but there God began to speak to him in another way. Instead of judgment, God wanted to speak to him of mercy. Yet it was still in the valley.
Brothers and sisters, sometimes God reveals Himself to us in the mountains. Oftentimes, God takes us to the mountains—not necessarily physical mountains. In Scripture, mountains always speak of spiritual elevation. Sometimes God brings us into a spiritual uplifting, a spiritual elevation, and there, on the mountains, He reveals Himself and His mind to us. Thank God for that.
But our God is not only the God of the mountain; He is also the God of the valley. At other times, God brings us to the valleys. We may think, “What can you find in the valley? If you want to see God, you have to go to the mountains.”
The valley is the place of death. The valley is the place of humiliation; it speaks of humility. Oftentimes God has to bring us into a place of lowliness, a place of humility and humiliation, and there we begin to hear God, so that He can speak to us.
At any time, in any circumstance, we should not limit God. He can speak to us anywhere, anytime, so long as we have an ear to hear.
Ezekiel was taken in the Spirit to the valley, and he saw that it was a valley full of bones. God ordered him to walk around so that he could see the whole picture.
These bones were very dry—old, dry bones. God was giving Ezekiel an impression of the nation of Israel, the people of God. They had been slain some time before and were lying there, becoming bones and drying up. They were not piled together; they were scattered all over the valley. It was a picture of total defeat, a picture of hopelessness.
As God showed Ezekiel this vision, the Lord asked him a question: “Son of man, can these bones live?”
How would you answer that question? Humanly speaking, the answer would be no. They were already slain. You cannot bring them back to life. They were only bones; all the flesh had rotted and corrupted. These were not fresh bones. They were very dry bones. Humanly speaking, no—no.
But Ezekiel knew that God would never ask such a question unless He intended to do something special. Yet Ezekiel did not know what God was going to do. So he did not say, “No, Lord, these dry bones cannot live.” Neither did he say, “These dry bones will live,” because he did not know what God was going to do.
As one who knew God, he understood that if God asked such a question, something extraordinary must be going to happen. But he did not know what it was. So the prophet said, “O Lord God, Thou knowest.”
I think that is the best way to answer the Lord. You remember one day our Lord Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me?” Peter was not too sure of himself, so he said, “Lord, Thou knowest.” You know better than I do.
Oftentimes we think we have to say something. But the best thing is to say, “Lord, Thou knowest.” We are open. Even though humanly speaking it is impossible, we dare not limit You. With You all things are possible. We do not know what You are going to do, but we are open, and we are waiting to go with You.
Oh, brothers and sisters, that is the attitude we should always have. Oftentimes we limit God according to our own limited knowledge, understanding, or ability. We think of God in terms of ourselves and how limited we are. But we should always be open to Him, because He is the God of the impossible. Nothing is too hard for Him.
Then the Lord said, “Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”
You might think Ezekiel would say, “Lord, You know. If You want to do something, I will not limit You. You can do it.” But instead, the Lord said, “You prophesy. You prophesy over these dry bones.” It is true that God would do it, but He commanded His prophet to prophesy.
The Lord said:
Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
In other words, the Lord was going to do something that only the Lord could do. Yet He ordered His prophet to prophesy over the dry bones.
This is the way God always works. Remember, dear brothers and sisters, God’s work can only be done by God. God’s work can only be initiated by God. It was not the prophet who initiated the whole thing. It was not the prophet who asked God to revive the dry bones. It was the Lord who initiated the whole thing.
Why should the Lord initiate the whole thing? Why not let the dry bones remain dry? It is because of love. The love of God initiates His work. God begins the whole thing, and God does the whole work.
Do not think that we can initiate any work of God. Do not think that we can do any work of God. There are many works that we can do, but the work of God we cannot do. Probably it will take a long time for us to realize that.
We often think that we can do the work of God. We often initiate it and try to make it work. You may succeed, but that is your work. When you come to the work of God, you find that it is a work beyond human possibility.
God’s work is the work of resurrection. No one can raise the dead except God. No one can initiate it except God; it would be presumption. God alone can initiate, and God alone can do it.
But there is one thing in God’s work that He wants us to do: He wants us to cooperate with Him.
All that God required of the prophet was to prophesy over these dry bones. Humanly speaking, if the prophet did not have faith, he would refuse to prophesy. What would be the sense of prophesying to dry bones? How could dry bones hear?
That requires faith and obedience. Brothers and sisters, this is the only thing God requires of us in the work of God, in the work of new creation. God does everything, and yet He desires us to work with Him in the sense that we do what we are told. We cooperate.
Sometimes it may seem absurd. We may say, “Lord, what is the use of it? Why do You want me to do this thing—to prophesy to dry bones?” When Ezekiel prophesied to the children of Israel while they were living, they would not listen to him. Now they were dry bones; could they listen? Humanly speaking, that was absurd.
But when God begins to do a work, we have to have faith and we have to obey. That is all. We simply believe in Him and do whatever we are told. Thank God for the prophet Ezekiel. He was not disobedient because it seemed absurd to him; he prophesied as he was commanded.
Oftentimes this happens: when you expect people to hear, they do not hear. But when you think and judge that something is beyond any possibility, strange enough, that dry bone hears. Only the Spirit of God can do that.
Here the prophet began to prophesy to the dry bones. As he prophesied, as he was commanded, there was a noise. Behold, there was a rustling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
As he was prophesying in the valley over these dry bones, suddenly he heard a sound—a rustling. The bones began to move toward one another and to be joined to one another. They were not merely piled together or coming together at random; they began to join one to another in a proper way.
When these bones began to come together and join with one another, there was a frame there—fitly framed, properly joined. The elbow was not attached to the leg, nor the leg to the elbow. All the bones came together rightly related to one another.
There was much noise, much rustling. Then, when the bones had come together and were fitly framed, the Lord put sinews and flesh upon the bones, and skin covered everything. But there was no life.
Everything was there and ready, but there was no life. Therefore God told the prophet to prophesy a second time. This time he was not to prophesy to the bones but to the wind: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”
The Spirit came into these bodies, and suddenly they all stood up and became an exceeding great army.
Brothers and sisters, when you read this, you cannot help but remember what happened when God first created man. When God first created man, He did it in two stages.
First, God took the dust of the earth and fashioned the form of a man. Everything was there—the bones, the sinews, the flesh, and the skin. He used the dust of the earth to form the form of a man, but there was no life.
Then God breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of this man, and he became a living soul. That was creation.
But in new creation, you find something even more. In the case of Adam, it was all originally fresh. God took the dust, formed man, and breathed into him, and man became a living soul.
But in the case of the valley of dry bones, these men had already been slain, had rotted, had become bones, and were very dry. Yet God was not only the God who calls nothing into something—the God of creation—He was also the God of resurrection.
In spite of the fact that everything was finished, what God had created in the beginning had completely been corrupted and had gone down into death. Yet God was able to raise it up to become a great army of the Lord. Oh, great God! Only God can do that.
Of course, the first application, the interpretation given to the prophet Ezekiel, concerned the house of Israel. At that time, news had already come to the exiles in Babylon that Jerusalem had been destroyed and the temple completely destroyed.
Before the news came, these exiles had been in Babylon for twelve years. Twelve years is not a short period. During those years, they were always expecting to return to Jerusalem. Exiles always do, you know.
False prophets in Jerusalem, as well as among the exiles, prophesied in the name of the Lord that very soon the exiles would return to Jerusalem and Jerusalem would stand. In other words, they prophesied according to what men desired, not according to the mind of God.
They tried to neglect the effect of their unfaithfulness to God and God’s judgment upon them. They tried to say that everything was fine and all right, and that better times would come.
During that period, Ezekiel was prophesying among the exiles that this would not happen. He said it was much better for the exiles than for the people in Jerusalem, because Jerusalem would be surrounded, Jerusalem would be destroyed, and the temple would be destroyed. There was no hope of an immediate return—no hope at all.
When he prophesied this among the exiles, they would not listen. We like to hear what we want to hear, and no more.
But when the news came that Jerusalem was destroyed, the hearts of the exiles sank. From false hope, they fell into utter despair. “Now it is finished. We are like dry bones. There is no more hope. We are cut off forever.”
At that time, God spoke to the house of Israel through the prophet Ezekiel. He said, in effect, “Yes, you are dry bones. You are hopeless. But I am going to do a new thing. I will bring you together. I will put My Spirit in you. You will go back to the land. You shall know that I am the Lord.”
The Lord was going to do a new thing. When God pronounced judgment, it would be fulfilled. But when God pronounced mercy, that too would be fulfilled.
This was partially fulfilled after seventy years of captivity. When Ezekiel prophesied concerning the dry bones, it was about forty-five years before the return of the remnant. After forty-five years, the seventy years would be fulfilled, and a remnant returned according to God’s promise.
Of course, only a remnant returned, not the whole nation of Israel. For the whole nation of Israel to return to God, we must wait for the future day when the Lord shall return. Then the whole house of Israel shall repent and turn to Him.
Thus this prophecy concerned not only the immediate fulfillment forty-five years later, but its full fulfillment is yet to come in Christ. All God’s prophecies have to be fulfilled in Christ, and they will be fulfilled in the future.
This is the immediate interpretation, the primary interpretation. But, brothers and sisters, we know that the Bible is for us. The historical events apply to all ages because spiritual principles know neither time nor space. Therefore, this vision of the valley of dry bones can truly be applied to us.
If we are humble enough before the Lord, if we are in the valley, we shall see that it is a valley full of dry bones. Brothers and sisters, Christianity is in captivity. The testimony of the Lord Jesus seems to have been lost. The world seems to have conquered Christians.
After so many years, we are dry bones—dry bones. Through the centuries we have tried everything we can, but what can we do? As time goes on, you find that, as you look out, it is just a valley full of dry bones.
God’s people have been slain by the world. God’s people are out of joint. Every joint has given way. These bones are scattered, and as we are all scattered, we lose everything that speaks of life.
Brothers and sisters, as you look into the valley, as you look into Christianity today, if you have a humble spirit, you will see it is a valley full of dry bones. And the word of the Lord is, “Can these dry bones live?”
Humanly speaking, there is no way. How can you make the Bible mean anything? But God is doing a new thing. God has spoken in His Word that He is going to do a new thing in Christ: these dry bones shall come together and be fitly framed and rightly joined.
That is the first thing. As you look into the situation of God’s people today, one thing that really saddens your heart is that God’s people are so scattered. There is not that relatedness one to another. Because we are scattered, we dry up as dry bones.
The first thing God will do is bring the dry bones together. His Word is the Word of life. The Lord said, “My words are spirit, and are life.” When the Spirit of God speaks to us, His Word can quicken us, awaken us, and convict us.
Is it not true that God’s people in recent days have begun to realize how we need to come together? If we do not come together, we will be left in the field as dry bones. We may try to get a little revival or a little refreshment, but we need to come together.
Now you find that the Lord is convicting His people to come together. These dry bones must come together. There is a rustling now. You can hear the noise. God’s people are beginning to move toward one another.
But this moving to one another must be for the purpose of being properly related. It is not merely a piling together.
There is a great difference between coming together as a congregation and being fitly framed together. People may come together for Bible reading, prayer, fellowship, and all these things. That is good.
God’s people everywhere have begun to realize the need of coming together. Once a week for one hour in a service is not enough. So God’s people begin to meet in different homes and places. They have Bible study, testimony, prayer, and fellowship. Fine. But is that all?
If that is all, you are merely piling these bones into piles. It may look neater than before, but it is still only a pile. What the Lord is doing today is more than this, brothers and sisters.
If you will allow me to say this, on the one hand I rejoice when I see God’s people coming together in homes for prayer and fellowship. Praise God for this moving. But on the other hand, I am deeply concerned.
Why? Because people may take this as the final thing, the ultimate thing. If you take this as the goal, you will miss something of tremendous value. Oh, no—it is more than that.
These dry bones must come together in order to be fitly framed and rightly joined. In other words, we need to find our place with one another. There needs to be a spiritual relatedness. We are no longer merely individuals.
God does not take away our being individuals, because we are still members one of another. But, on the other hand, individualism must be gone.
How much do you find among God’s people today who have come together and are really rightly related one to another? My elbow should be joined to my shoulder. My hand should be joined to my elbow. My feet should be joined to my legs, and my legs joined to the other members of the body. How much do you see today of this work of God? Not too much.
This is what God is doing. This is important, because unless these dry bones come together and are rightly joined and fit together, there is no preparation for what God is going to do.
Oh, how God’s people need to see that it is more than just coming together for a time of prayer, fellowship, or Bible study. These are all good, but it is more than that.
I have seen people busy every day of the week because there is something going on every day. Today you go to one place, tomorrow to another, then to another. You attend groups and groups and groups. You seem to be nourished and helped, and that is good.
But you may never be rightly framed and properly joined together. After you have gone around all these places, you are still an individual. You stand by yourself.
The word of the Lord is, “Come together, members one of another.” We have to be rightly related. When you begin to be rightly related, there will be a lot of rustling.
There will be much discipline. We need to learn to bear with one another. We need to know the lesson of the cross working in us, taking away that which does not fit. There will be a great deal of chiseling, sawing, and noise—rustling like thunder, especially in the valley with all the echoes.
But thank God, these bones begin to come together. As the bones come together, rightly framed and joined, the Lord gives sinews and flesh.
Even if the bones are rightly joined, there is only a skeleton, and people are afraid of skeletons. But God will put flesh and sinews upon them.
I do not pretend to know how to spiritualize the whole thing. But somehow I think of Colossians. In Colossians, you find that when we are fitly framed, we are joined and supplied by bands and joints.
Bands and joints—sinews and flesh. When God’s people begin to be rightly joined together, the Lord gives sinews. Sinews are for binding the bones together and holding them together. God will raise up some people who are like sinews, like bands, who can help hold people together.
Then there is flesh to supply them with the riches of Christ. And over all, the skin covers everything. What is the skin? The only thing I can think of is love. Love is that which covers.
Among God’s people, instead of being separated, isolated, scattered, and individualistic, people begin to join together. They begin to enjoy the riches of Christ, and the love of Christ prevails. That becomes the whole atmosphere.
Then the prophet prophesied a second time to the wind. In the original language, wind, breath, and spirit are the same word—both in Hebrew and in Greek.
Instead of speaking to the bones, he spoke to the wind. Then the Spirit of life entered into them, and they became an exceeding great army.
God’s people coming together to be rightly related is a preparation. When God’s people are really rightly related to one another, then the Spirit of God shall fill that body, just as the glory of the Lord fills the temple.
In other words, the church will become a temple of God, filled by the Spirit, full of life, and under the full control of the Holy Spirit.
When they are under the full control of the Holy Spirit and enjoy the life in fullness, they become an exceeding great army of the Lord. Instead of being defeated and slain, they become a great army to fight the good fight.
But, dear brothers and sisters, as in the day of Ezekiel, he prophesied and saw these bones coming together. In the vision, he saw that not one bone was left. He saw the great army because he saw all the way to the end.
But when you come to history, you find that it is not so. In history, first a remnant returns as the firstfruits, and then comes the harvest. God’s intention for His people shall be fully fulfilled at the very end.
I wonder if this is true today. It is God’s intention that His people should all be joined together one to another, and that His Spirit should fill His church so that His church may be a testimony to the Lord Jesus. This is what God desires to do.
But unfortunately, probably only a few respond to God. Is it not true that when the message is given, only a few really move toward one another?
We hear, and yet we do not hear. There is no movement. How can we say we have heard if there is no movement? We do not move toward one another; we still stay where we are. It becomes only knowledge—nothing more.
But thank God, some will hear, and probably some will move together. They will learn to be rightly related to one another. They will be willing to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow the Lord.
When they come together, the Lord will add sinews, flesh, and skin. The life—the Spirit of life—will fill and control them. They shall be the warriors, the army, to fight the battle of the Lord.
They are the firstfruits. Now, the firstfruits guarantee the harvest. Therefore, one day all the bones shall be joined.
When you read Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, you see it. Not one dry bone is left dry. You do not see the bones anymore; you see Christ. That is what you see.
So, brothers and sisters, may this vision of the valley of dry bones really give us encouragement. It must have been a great encouragement to the prophet Ezekiel. He had prophesied judgment after judgment, and now, thank God, he was able to prophesy God’s promise of mercy.
Do we go to one extreme? First, we are tired of judgment and will not listen. Then probably we will not listen to mercy either. We say that all is hopeless, but we are not open to the fact that the Lord is able to do this.
Lord, we do confess that we are the dry bones. There is nothing in us. But Lord, we praise and thank Thee: Thou art the God of resurrection. When Thou shalt speak, even the dry bones shall hear.
O Lord, move us one to another, that we may be rightly related and really be joined together as one body. We look to Thy Spirit to fill us, that we may be an army of the Lord, fighting for the Lord and for His purpose.
O Lord, may Thy people hear Thy voice. May Thy Spirit do and perfect His work in the new creation. We praise and thank Thee. We commit ourselves to Thee and Thy Word, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.