Bible Studies

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The Scriptures
Ezekiel 37:1-14 - Dem Bones
Key Verses: (NRSV)

• 1: "The hand of the LORD came upon me, and He brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones." - Ezekiel's experience and vision demonstrates the manner in which God becomes intimately involved in our lives. He reaches in, lifts, guides, and leads, but importantly, as these verses will show, He breathes His spirit and the promise of new life into what we thought was dead.
  
  
• 4: "Then He said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.'" - Listening is the key to life. We are all to listen for the word of the Lord in our lives.
  
  
• 7: "So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone." - Acting upon what God tells us to do brings about the results He intends - this is kingdom building.
  
  
• 11: "Then He said to me, 'Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.'" - When we are separated from God as the Israelites were separated by their sin, we not only are "cut off completely," all hope is lost.
  
  
• 14: "I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act,' say the LORD." - Life, true life filled with joy and hope, comes from the spirit of God living within us. With His spirit, knowledge and truth resound; His words guide and teach; and we act in ways that reveal His glory to the world.
  

Points to Contemplate:

• Has the "hand of the Lord come upon you?" Has He reached into your life and lifted you out of the darkness? Has His spirit brought you out into the light, filling you with the promises of hope and love that He provides? What was your response? Did you go back to live your life in the same old way? Did you remain stuck your the muck of hopelessness? Or did He set you down in the middle of new opportunities and provide you with new purpose?
  
  
• What are your dry bones? Are they the remnants of your past sins cluttering your path? Do they represent your misconceptions or narrow points of view? Could they represent damaged relationships or a stack of hurt feelings? Perhaps they are the people in your life that have not experienced the hand of the Lord? Regardless of which imagery best fits your circumstances, do you see that through God, there is opportunity to bring these dead things back to life? Can you call out to God and ask Him to breathe His spirit into your life where only death and hopelessness now resides?
  
  
• Upon what soil will God place you? Do you see that once God breathes new life into you that He will place you in a soil richly suited for your roots to expand and grow? Do you see that He will nurture you with His knowledge and quench your thirst with His spirit? Do you recognize that in your growing, you will bring forth an abundance of fruit and this fruit will be a blessing to the world? With your new life, filled with the Spirit of the Lord and nurtured by His love, what fruit are you bearing?
  

Promises of the Gospel:

From the beginning of time, God has been actively involved in the lives of His people. He reaches in and lifts us up into new and wonderful circumstances. As we listen to His voice, as we invite His spirit into our hearts, and as we respond in action and deed, death is set aside. The dried bones of our lives have new life. The dryness of hopelessness is washed away. With renewed life and placed in the soils of opportunity, we flourish and become the blessings He created us to be.

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