The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet #6323

The Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

Here Ezekiel was carried out "in the spirit of the LORD" in the same manner as was the apostle John in Rev. 1:10 (see note in Companion Bible), for what we are about to read is "end time" prophecy. Ezekiel was carried out and then set down (which also means "to dwell") in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. Can you PICTURE this in your mind? Can you see Ezekiel (picture yourself if you are a watchman) standing in a huge valley (actually it's a "plain" in Hebrew) surrounded by skeletons, "bones"!
 Ezekiel has got to be thinking, "I don't imagine I'm here for a fun vacation."

Notice that if you are a servant of the LORD, an appointed watchman, and He has a job for you to do, He can easily just take you by the hand and set you to work in the midst of the field!  Or He could carry you to your job in the belly of big fish, like Jonah. Attitude can be important, you know.

We are going to be given some more details of this dismal scene, but first let's jump ahead to verse 11 and learn right away what these "bones" symbolize:

Ezekiel 37:11
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel:

Here's a good question, "Why use "bones" to represent "people" when we can clearly SEE people?" Because the bones represent a characteristic, a condition, of the people. You see, though they are "physically alive" and walking around, let's say Times Square, the people of the whole house of Israel are "spiritually dead", a condition of the soul which you can't SEE with your flesh eyes. But you can see a valley full of dead bones, can't you?

Let's continue. So far we have learned that Ezekiel, who is a type of God's elect in the final generation, was sent by God to dwell among his people, the spiritually dead house of Israel, in the last days just before the restoration of the Millennium which we have been discussing in these last few chapters. We are actually going to SEE how that restoration begins and how God uses the ministry of the watchman to help bring it about. Again, let there be no doubt, lest any man should boast, it is the Lord GOD who does the restoring, not man. This chapter will document that!

[2] And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

It is because of the spiritual famine (no bread of life) and the spiritual drought (no living water) of these last days:

Amos 8:11
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

Amos 8:12
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

[13] In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

Ezekiel 37:3
And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

[4] Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

[5] Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

Ezekiel 37:6
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 Ezekiel did exactly as he was commanded by God, without question or argument. Teach, teach, teach! Let see what results there are.

[7] So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

[8] And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

Let's do a current day reality check ourselves. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, consider now the whole house of Israel. As His watchman, look now out over the valley of the dry bones and consider how many, out of the many, many dry bones (vs. 2), have the "breath" in them! How are we doing? Consider all the true teaching of God's elect, His watchmen, from 24 hour satellite, to internet, to radio, to local Bible studies, to one on one encounters! Have the majority of the whole house of Israel been "sealed" with the living Word of God? Hardly!

Do you know how many out of the whole house of Israel will be sealed before the 6th Trump sounds and the archangel Michael, who is "holding back" Satan and his angels, casts them out of heaven (Rev. 12:7-9) and the devil himself appears on earth, in person, claiming to be the Messiah? Not very many. Thus saith the Word of God:

Rev. 7:1
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

[2] And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

Things change rapidly when this happens, for the great apostasy spoken of by Paul in 2 Thes. 2 takes place and the whole world, with the exception of God's very elect, will bow and worship antichrist as if he were God. Satan will claim that he is the Messiah returned and he will perform miracles in the sight of men to show that he really is! It will be overwhelmingly convincing! However, as it is documented in Rev. 9:5, his personal appearance has been shortened to five months. So Flight 666 departing from heaven and arriving on earth has been delayed due to ground work in the bone yard by the watchmen!

Rev. 7:3
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

[4] And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Let's return to Ezekiel chapter 37, verse 9, where now these "four winds" are brought into the picture of Ezekiel's ministry. Why? Because when they are released and antichrist and his angels are here, the example set forth in Acts chapter 2, of the prophecy quoted from Joel in Acts 2:18 (above), takes place and the "WIND" the Holy Spirit of God, will "breath" and proclaim the gospel through His servants and His handmaidens upon the slain.

Ezekiel 37:9
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.

[10] 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.

Ezekiel 37:11
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

[12]Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

[13] And ye shall know that I Am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

[14] And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.