“And he said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’” (Ezekiel 37:3-4)
The Lord brought Ezekiel to the valley of dry bones. This valley was symbolic not only of the death of the nation of Judah as a whole, but also of the spiritual death of all Israel. She had become as useless, as dead, as defiled and unclean as a skeleton. Nevertheless, the bones are restored to life by the word of God spoken by the prophet by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The dead bones also represent the spiritual deadness of each human being, the deadness and decay brought about by sin. Each person is dead in his or her sins and yet the Lord comes and breathes new life into us by His Holy Spirit. Only the Lord God has the power to create spiritual life out of what is spiritually dead. This is accomplished by the good news of Jesus spoken through the prophets, apostles and the church by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
The Lord commanded Ezekiel to speak His words that accomplished the resurrection of those dead bones. And He commands us to do the same. We speak the truth of God’s word in Christ Jesus so that He may raise others into His eternal life.