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; it was full of bones.2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, 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 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over 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 cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, 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 lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
This brings us to the application of the passage as a principle for Christian work in any age, and it prompts this observation: However obvious the answer, 'No' may be to the question, 'Can these bones live?', we must nevertheless hold on in faith, nothing doubting, for we have contact with the Word and Spirit of God. When Ezekiel said, 'O Lord, Thou knowest', he himself may have been expressing grave doubts, and this may well have been in the first instance a message of reassurance to the prophet, before it became a message to the people. Perhaps the prophet himself, the recipient of the wonderful message about the new covenant in chapter 36, was asking how on earth it could possibly happen, and perhaps God gave him this vision to show him how! Is this a word from God about the Church today? Is He saying, 'I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live'? What a promise! Let us lay hold upon it, for it is food for the soul, and comfort, encouragement, and everything else we need. It does not matter how hard and unresponsive a situation may be. One does not need a point of contact, when the living God is present. He creates the point of contact. The letting loose of the Word of the Lord in society, and its proclamation, formally in pulpit, or informally in personal witness and testimony, with the energy of prayer giving it thrust and cutting edge and life-giving properties, this is the Church's mandate - preaching and prayer - and this is how God works the miracle of renewal.