The hand of Jehovah came upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. And He caused me to pass all around among them, and there were very many on the surface of the valley, and they were also very dry. And He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, You know. Then He said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah. Thus says the Lord Jehovah to these bones: I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. And I will put sinews on you and bring flesh back on you and cover you with skin and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you will know that I am Jehovah. So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh came back, and skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, Prophesy to the wind; prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them; and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel, Now they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely. Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Now I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you will know that I am Jehovah, when I open your graves and bring you up out of your graves, O My people. And I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live; and I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I, Jehovah, have spoken and that I have performed it, declares Jehovah. [Ezekiel 37:1-14 - The Visions of the dead, dry, and scattered bones being formed into an army, showing the regenerating and renewing of God's people]Many times we are like the dead, dry, and scattered bones in the lowest valley. However, when we prophesy, the Lord is able to breath Himself out as life to those who hear. Praise the Lord for "these bones are the whole house of Israel." Even though sometimes we feel dead and dry, we are still the house of God, the church. The Lord is working on regenerating and renewing all of us. Once the dry bones receive the breath of God, which is the Word, the Spirit, they can have life and be build up as an "exceedingly great army." Do we realize that, through our speaking, we can give life to the spiritually dead and dry ones? Do we realize that, through our speaking, we can build up an army (the church) for the Lord?
May we be exercised to prophesy in spirit that all may be supplied to gain life and live.
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." [John 6:63]
May we be exercised to prophesy that the Lord may gain His church, His army.
"He who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but he who prophesies build up the church." [1 Corinthians 14:4]
It's often a battle, especially if we sense an atmosphere of deadness and dryness in ourselves or in the saints. But praise the Lord, for the victorious One in us, our God has spoken and has already done it all: giving life to the dead and making an army out of them! We simply need to be open to hear His speaking and prophesy as He commands us.
