In today's text the man of God Ezekiel is snatched away by God and taken to a valley of despair called the valley of dry bones. Ezekiel found a place of absolute desolation. It was a place without life and without water. Within this text we find the solution to our hopeless situations in life. When the valley is the darkest and the deadest, God steps in to bring life from death and hope from despair. He is the Living God of the living who have been touched by the hand of the Master.

Scripture Text: 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, 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. 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: 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. 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. 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.

1. A Time of Ruin. (Vv. 1-2) These were the bones of the slain past people of God. What would we do? How would we view such a place as this? How does God view this place, and what does He do? There was no life there. There was no breath there. There was no God there. This is a picture of the people of God without God. This is a picture of our society and our lives without Him.
2. A Time of Resistance. (Vv. 1-3) God barges in to interrupt this picture of hopelessness. He intercedes and intervenes in our behalf. He steps into our lives and says that this can't be. This death and destruction must be stopped. God sees our need and cares enough to do something about it. Sufficient Grace from God to stop the desolation of Hope. God is the only source of hope and help for us. Ron George can't do it. You can't do it. But only God can bring life from the desolate experience that we call life.
3. A Time of Revelation. (Vv. 4-7) The man of God with the Message of God for the people of God. God says through the preacher: I will cause breath to enter you. You will live. I will put flesh on your dead bones. You will know that I am the living God. A revelation is a revealing of God himself to his people. It is a presence, a message, a messenger which meets the need of the people to have hope in the midst of hopelessness.
4. A Time of Resurrection. (Vv. 8-10) It starts with a man with a message from the Lord of all creation. When he is obedient to the Lord the Lord works through him to raise the dead. Can you imagine what Ezekiel must have been thinking? What?!! Preach to this valley of dead and dry bones. What a waste of time! Lord why don't you send me to some place where there are some bones that have meat on them? But the Lord told him to go to the valley of Dry Bones. Sometimes we don't understand the direction of God in the present, but when we are obedient to his direction in our lives we can be sure that he knows what he is doing. And He will supply the power to do it. This was a test of faith for the man of God. Can these bones live? Is there any hope for the situations of our lives? What happened when the Message was delivered? When the message is delivered it has a startling effect on the valley. When the farmer went into the barn and turned on the light the birds began to sing even though it wasn't daylight. But he had turned on the light. Ezekiel turned on the light and these bones responded as God empowered them. But then there was a need for a second sermon. Why the second sermon? In the beginning God created man in his image from the dust of the ground. Then God breathed into him the breath of life. That breath of life was the gift of God himself. This was the presence of God that gave life to that old bag of bones. After Adam disobeyed God that breath of everlasting life was taken away for the punishment of sin. For the wages of sin is death. But then the second man came who was called Jesus. The second touch from God is needed to bring back that breath of life. Jesus said that unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. We need to examine ourselves to see if we have received that second touch from the hand of God. Jesus said to Nicodemus that you must be born again. You must experience that second touch from the hand of the Master and receive him as your Lord and Savior. Let him bring hope to you hopeless situation. In him there is life everlasting. In him there is hope even in the most desolate of places. God had called Ezekiel to raise the dead. He may be calling you to give yourself to him to go to some valley of dry bones. If you go you must take plenty of water. Take God and you will always have all that you need…