Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The dry bones that Ezekiel saw in his vision represented Israel in a spiritually deadened state. God had been ministering through Ezekiel about holiness, but Israel seemed powerless to change their ways. God even spoke to Ezekiel concerning the New Covenant in the previous chapter to show a time when He would change the heart of man (Ezekiel 36:26, 27).

How could Ezekiel expect dead bones to rise up when he preached to them about holiness? Of course he shouldn’t have expected much, and we should expect no more today. When holiness messages are delivered to people who are unsaved they are wasted; but they are just as useless on people who are saved, but are attempting to be justified by works. Paul said, “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died…For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me” (Romans 7:9, 11). When we urge people to keep the commandments without showing them the mighty power of the New Covenant we are actually strengthening sin inside of them for they are helpless using their own works.

When you serve God under the Old Covenant, though you are a born-again believer, you are still “dead”. You are powerless to please God through your own righteousness, having passed on the righteousness offered by Christ’s finished work.

When Ezekiel spoke to the bones, he was ministering New Covenant to them; where they would be given form and substance based upon no work of their own. After this initial experience the valley was full of bodies that held no life or “no breath in them” (Ezekiel 37:8). This is just like many saints who hear of the New Covenant of God’s goodness and grace but they are far from living the abundant life.

Ezekiel then speaks to the wind (Ezekiel 37:9), telling it to blow into these slain that they may live. As soon as he does this, the wind blows the breath of life into them and they stand on their feet, “an exceeding great army” (verse 10). By speaking to the wind, Ezekiel is calling on the breath of God to do what has been promised that it will do. He is speaking to the wind, but more importantly, he is speaking of God’s covenant. What God promises that He is going to do, He is most definitely going to do, however you and I need to know it, and believe it!

God’s promise in the valley of dry bones is not limited to Israel, for verse 14 says, “And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it…” (Ezekiel 37:14). The word here for “your own land” is ‘solid ground; a place of firmness that is unshakeable’. God is promising that the blessings of the New Covenant will place you on unshakeable ground!

Later in the chapter, God confirms the covenant with the former dry bones by saying, “I will make a covenant of peace with them” (Ezekiel 37:26). Paul introduced us to the God of peace in Romans (5:1), and we know that Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Aren’t you excited to see yet another New Covenant promises nestled secretly into the Old Testament. Wow, how our God loves us!

A Deal with the Devil

1 Samuel 11:1-3

Nahash the Ammonite encamped against the children of Israel that lived in Jabesh, in the land of Gilead. The Ammonites had waited nearly 100 years to retake the lands that the Israelites had taken from them upon entering the Promised Land, and when the Israelites saw them coming, they immediately conceded defeat. Cut off from the rest of the tribes of Israel by the Jordan River, the people of Jabesh-Gilead must have felt completely hopeless.

Nahash means “serpent” in Hebrew, while Jabesh-Gilead means “dry, rocky place”. The typologies are clear, with Nahash being a type of Satan, the serpent who comes against us, similar to the Garden of Eden. The dry, rocky place is any place that we are in which lacks the flowing waters of Christ’s revelation. The enemy loves dry places, for they lack living water.

When Satan sees God’s people wandering in dry places, the opportunity for attack is great. He knows that you are in a weakened position spiritually, and he comes to offer you some illusory form of hope or peace. We often think that Satan looks to attack us in these hours of dryness, but he actually tends to give us opportunities to compromise.

Jesus had been in the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights when Satan appeared to tempt Him. Satan did not attack His physical body or go after His spirit, but rather he offered Him various chances to compromise who He was and why He was here. Turning stones to bread is Satan wanting Jesus to feed Himself on the Law and not on the words of His Father. Casting Himself off of a high place is an opportunity to take glory to Himself as the city watches the angels catch Him and float Him to the earth. Finally, bowing before Satan is an opportunity to have all of the earth and its glory without paying for it in blood at the cross.

Nahash offers safety and protection to the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead on one gruesome condition: they must cut out their right eyes. This form of mutilation was common in the Eastern world as punishment over conquered cities. It brought humiliation and suffering to the victims but it also ensured that there would be little military resistance from that particular village again. Soldiers of that era fought with sword and with shield. Most fighters were right handed, so they held their weapon in their right hand and their shield in their left hand. The shield would cover half of their body, with the other half exposed to fight. It was the right side that was exposed with the right eye available to see the enemy. Without that right eye, there was no chance that they could fight properly.

Satan has always hated mans ability to see. One of his first attacks against man in the Garden of Eden involved man’s eyes, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). He actually tells a portion of the truth, for when they eat the text says, “And the eyes of them both were opened” (Genesis 3:7), though they only see that they are “naked”.

Feed yourself on the fresh water of the Holy Spirit so that you do not get cornered in a dry place. Satan will attack your ability to see who you are in Christ and how great that Christ is in you. Do not exchange the great covenant that you have in Christ with temporary satisfaction from the serpent. Be blessed in your Daddy God!

Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The dry bones that Ezekiel saw in his vision represented Israel in a spiritually deadened state. God had been ministering through Ezekiel about holiness, but Israel seemed powerless to change their ways. God even spoke to Ezekiel concerning the New Covenant in the previous chapter to show a time when He would change the heart of man (Ezekiel 36:26, 27).

How could Ezekiel expect dead bones to rise up when he preached to them about holiness? Of course he shouldn’t have expected much, and we should expect no more today. When holiness messages are delivered to people who are unsaved they are wasted; but they are just as useless on people who are saved, but are attempting to be justified by works. Paul said, “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died…For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me” (Romans 7:9, 11). When we urge people to keep the commandments without showing them the mighty power of the New Covenant we are actually strengthening sin inside of them for they are helpless using their own works.

When you serve God under the Old Covenant, though you are a born-again believer, you are still “dead”. You are powerless to please God through your own righteousness, having passed on the righteousness offered by Christ’s finished work.

When Ezekiel spoke to the bones, he was ministering New Covenant to them; where they would be given form and substance based upon no work of their own. After this initial experience the valley was full of bodies that held no life or “no breath in them” (Ezekiel 37:8). This is just like many saints who hear of the New Covenant of God’s goodness and grace but they are far from living the abundant life.

Ezekiel then speaks to the wind (Ezekiel 37:9), telling it to blow into these slain that they may live. As soon as he does this, the wind blows the breath of life into them and they stand on their feet, “an exceeding great army” (verse 10). By speaking to the wind, Ezekiel is calling on the breath of God to do what has been promised that it will do. He is speaking to the wind, but more importantly, he is speaking of God’s covenant. What God promises that He is going to do, He is most definitely going to do, however you and I need to know it, and believe it!

God’s promise in the valley of dry bones is not limited to Israel, for verse 14 says, “And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it…” (Ezekiel 37:14). The word here for “your own land” is ‘solid ground; a place of firmness that is unshakeable’. God is promising that the blessings of the New Covenant will place you on unshakeable ground!

Later in the chapter, God confirms the covenant with the former dry bones by saying, “I will make a covenant of peace with them” (Ezekiel 37:26). Paul introduced us to the God of peace in Romans (5:1), and we know that Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Aren’t you excited to see yet another New Covenant promises nestled secretly into the Old Testament. Wow, how our God loves us!

A Deal with the Devil

1 Samuel 11:1-3

Nahash the Ammonite encamped against the children of Israel that lived in Jabesh, in the land of Gilead. The Ammonites had waited nearly 100 years to retake the lands that the Israelites had taken from them upon entering the Promised Land, and when the Israelites saw them coming, they immediately conceded defeat. Cut off from the rest of the tribes of Israel by the Jordan River, the people of Jabesh-Gilead must have felt completely hopeless.

Nahash means “serpent” in Hebrew, while Jabesh-Gilead means “dry, rocky place”. The typologies are clear, with Nahash being a type of Satan, the serpent who comes against us, similar to the Garden of Eden. The dry, rocky place is any place that we are in which lacks the flowing waters of Christ’s revelation. The enemy loves dry places, for they lack living water.
When Satan sees God’s people wandering in dry places, the opportunity for attack is great. He knows that you are in a weakened position spiritually, and he comes to offer you some illusory form of hope or peace. We often think that Satan looks to attack us in these hours of dryness, but he actually tends to give us opportunities to compromise.

Jesus had been in the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights when Satan appeared to tempt Him. Satan did not attack His physical body or go after His spirit, but rather he offered Him various chances to compromise who He was and why He was here. Turning stones to bread is Satan wanting Jesus to feed Himself on the Law and not on the words of His Father. Casting Himself off of a high place is an opportunity to take glory to Himself as the city watches the angels catch Him and float Him to the earth. Finally, bowing before Satan is an opportunity to have all of the earth and its glory without paying for it in blood at the cross.

Nahash offers safety and protection to the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead on one gruesome condition: they must cut out their right eyes. This form of mutilation was common in the Eastern world as punishment over conquered cities. It brought humiliation and suffering to the victims but it also ensured that there would be little military resistance from that particular village again. Soldiers of that era fought with sword and with shield. Most fighters were right handed, so they held their weapon in their right hand and their shield in their left hand. The shield would cover half of their body, with the other half exposed to fight. It was the right side that was exposed with the right eye available to see the enemy. Without that right eye, there was no chance that they could fight properly.

Satan has always hated mans ability to see. One of his first attacks against man in the Garden of Eden involved man’s eyes, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). He actually tells a portion of the truth, for when they eat the text says, “And the eyes of them both were opened” (Genesis 3:7), though they only see that they are “naked”.

Feed yourself on the fresh water of the Holy Spirit so that you do not get cornered in a dry place. Satan will attack your ability to see who you are in Christ and how great that Christ is in you. Do not exchange the great covenant that you have in Christ with temporary satisfaction from the serpent. Be blessed in your Daddy God!