Instead of doing my usual post this month, I wanted to share one of the ways I share the gospel with others this time of year. While I’m not a fan of Halloween, the truth is that many people are. During this season, people are already thinking about dead things and skeletons. In fact, skeletons have become a phenomenon if you haven’t noticed. I wrote about this last year (here’s the link). Thus, this time of year can be an opportunity to share the prophecy of the Dry Bones from Ezekiel 37 to both believers and non-believers.

In this blogpost, I will share information from a handout that I have given to people to share the prophecy of Ezekiel 37. It explains the significance of the nation of Israel, as well as how the prophecy applies to Christians.

Ezekiel 37 is all about restoration and resurrection from the dead. People are focusing on death and horror this time of year, but they need their focus to shift towards how Jesus has brought us out of death and into life. As Christians, we were all once dry skeletons with no life in us until the spirit of the living God entered and transformed us. Not only does He transform us spiritually, He also resurrects the dead things in our life that need restoration.

I actually have a shirt that I love to wear this time of year. See picture below. People stop me in the stores or when I’m out and about, asking me what it means. This gives me a great opening to share the gospel as I explain what the shirt means. You can find these shirts on Etsy and other sites that sell T-shirts.

Below is the information I have used to make handouts… if you would like to copy it and share it, feel free. You may want to add some clip art if you decide to print and share…

Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

37 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; and it was full of bones. ² He caused me to pass all around them, and behold, there were very many [human bones] in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry. ³ And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” ⁴ Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will make breath enter you so that you may come to life. ⁶ I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and I will put breath in you so that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on the bones, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, 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.”’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

In these verses, Ezekiel was prophesying about the nation of Israel. For thousands of years, the Jewish people have been persecuted and killed. As a people group, they were almost destroyed when Hitler set his diabolical plan of extermination in motion. After the Holocaust, their bones were left behind in ovens and mass graves. Years of starvation, torture and bitter hardship left its mark on their battered bodies. Upwards of six million Jews became lifeless, dry bones in the valley of death.

BUT GOD WASN’T DONE….

God resurrected His people and brought them back into their own land. Israel would become a nation once again on May 14, 1948, and the population of Jewish people would rise once again. No other people group had been resurrected and brought back in this miraculous way.

The second part of Ezekiel’s prophecy will come true when Jesus Christ returns to Jerusalem and the Jewish people finally receive the Spirit of the Living God. Then they will be fully ALIVE.

This prophecy also applies to our lives as Christians.

Before receiving Christ, we were all like dead skeletons walking around. We were a shell waiting to be filled. Like skeletons which have no organs, our body’s most important organ, the heart, was empty. It was there, but there was no life in it. Once the Holy Spirit entered our bodies and minds through Jesus Christ, that all changed. Not only did our hearts beat, but we were filled with the blood of Jesus, which redeems and covers us from sin and death.

Without Jesus, we are doomed to become a skeleton in the ground–dry bones with no hope. But with the saving grace and blood of Jesus, we are given the gift of eternal life. We will never taste death like a skeleton.

Ezekiel 37 also applies to the dead things in our lives that need resurrection. It may seem like they’ve been dead for so long that there’s no hope. The bones are dry. There is no skin. There are no sinews, muscles or tendons.

But like the nation of Israel, we too can experience God’s resurrection power to bring life back to the dead as He works with us to solve our problems and restore our lives.

The nation of Israel awaits the mighty Holy Spirit of God, but we already have access to it. Thus, our prayers and connection to Jesus are what brings the dead back to life. The timing is always up to God, just like the timing of when the people of Israel were gathered back into their land. As we pray, we are called to have faith and trust that God is working.

While you await the answer to your prayers, remember the theme of Ezekiel 37 and the Word of the Lord which says, THESE BONES SHALL LIVE!

GOD CAN RESURRECT ANYTHING!