Then You Shall Know | Ezekiel 37:1–14 | The Spirit Brings Life Through the Word
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On Pentecost Sunday, we often turn to Acts 2—but this sermon takes us deeper into the prophetic background of Pentecost in Ezekiel 37:1–14. In the Valley of Dry Bones, we see a vivid picture of what God does through His Word and Spirit: He brings the dead to life. Pastor Mark Groen shows how this passage points forward to Pentecost, where the Spirit of God empowered gospel proclamation to awaken hearts and build the church. This sermon reminds us that real spiritual renewal is not about emotional hype—it’s about the powerful, certain work of God through His Word.
What This Vision Teaches Us About the Spirit and the Word
What does the Valley of Dry Bones have to do with Pentecost?
Can spiritually dead people respond to God on their own?
How does God bring people to spiritual life?
How can I be sure that God is at work in me?
📖 Click to Show the Transcript of this Sermon
We all like to know things for sure, don't we? Things being up in the air can lead to sleepless nights, stress, and all kinds of emotional issues. In fact, it can easily become the only thing that you can think about when you aren't sure. There's nothing quite like it. It eats away at you. It tears you apart. But when certainty comes, all of that falls away. You're filled with peace, you're filled with confidence, and you're filled with hope.
Well, this morning, we are remembering Pentecost. Last week, we looked at the Ascension of Jesus, and we saw how the disciples were filled with great joy, even though Jesus was leaving them. They were promised that they were going to be the witnesses of Jesus to the world, and his kingdom would go forth into the whole world as he reigned from the Father's right hand. Now as we have read in the book of Acts, we see that they receive the Holy Spirit, and they take that message of Jesus into the whole world.
The disciples have certainty because they've been with Jesus. They've seen that he resurrected after the crucifixion, and they saw him depart in his ascension. At Pentecost, they are given confirmation with the gift of the Holy Spirit that they are the witnesses of Jesus starting from Jerusalem and going to the ends of the earth. But as we remember this important moment in the history of the church, I'm not going to go through the story of Pentecost like we do most years. Instead, I want us to look at our Old Testament text for today in Ezekiel, where we read the story of the Valley of the Dry Bones.
This story shows us that the proclamation of the Word of God brings life to those who are dead in sin and shows us the reviving power that the message of Pentecost had as it went forth into the whole world. And so we come to this story from the book of Ezekiel, and we're gonna do what we do most weeks. We're gonna break it down into three points so that we can understand it and apply it.
So the first thing that we're gonna see is that the valley is full of bones. Now, the idea in this passage is that the state of affairs that Israel is facing is as bad as it can possibly be. And the image God shows the prophet Ezekiel is one of hopelessness. Could there be anything more hopeless than standing in a valley of bones? Life is not going to come to these people on their own accord. They're not gonna get up and walk around because they're in a state of death and they're in a state of decay.
But secondly, we see that life comes to the people of God through the proclamation of the Word of God. Ezekiel is not told to assemble the bones. He isn't crafting anything on his own here. Instead, he is told to proclaim the Word of the Lord, and this is what will give the people of God life. And finally, we see that God is going to put his Spirit within his people. And the image that is given to the prophet Ezekiel points us to the work that God does in his people. He comes to them and not only gives them life, but his Spirit resides in them. And this is something that will certainly come to pass, we read, because God himself has spoken it, and he has declared it to be so. This is a certainty.
And so as we land in Ezekiel, it's important that we understand the circumstances that have led to this vision coming to the prophet Ezekiel. The Old Testament, as we know, is filled with turmoil. The nation of Israel is a wreck most of the time. Like most people everywhere and in every time, these people of Israel are longing for the good old days. They have heard the stories of their forefathers and how eventually God brought them into the land, and He placed David on the throne.
But before that, there was turmoil, and there was turmoil after it. Think of the slavery in Egypt, the wandering in the wilderness, and the on again, off again times of peace that we read about in the book of Judges. But they did have a time where even though there was turmoil, there was a good king on the throne. David was ruling, and they were one nation of Israel in the place that God had planted them to be. They were in the promised land.
Well, even though there was turmoil even during the time of David, it got even worse not too long after his death because at the end of his son, Solomon's reign, the kingdom was split into two. The kingdom was divided. They were a divided people, and even worse, both Judah and the Northern Kingdom throughout this history had proven to be unfaithful to God. Both kingdoms, Israel and Judah, would go off and follow the idols, worship the Baals, and God would come in, and foreign nations would take them into exile as a punishment for their sin and unbelief.
So the situation that most of the prophets speak the word of the Lord to in the Old Testament is one of discord. It's one of exile. It is to a people who have been displaced or to a people who have forsaken the Lord their God. Well, this is no different for the prophet Ezekiel. Things are not good. And so when the Lord is upon him, it says, when the hand of the Lord came upon him, he's brought out in the spirit of the Lord and he's put in the middle of a valley.
And we know what he saw. We see this scene, and this picture is a state of affairs that can perfectly describe the people of God. And this valley must have looked like a scene where a great battle must have taken place in the past because there are bones everywhere. And it's really a morbid thing and a sad image for us to imagine. But it's important that we look at the words that are stated here. What does it say about the bones? They were very dry.
Now the idea here isn't that it hasn't rained in a while, and the valley needs to be refreshed. What we could use here is some rain on these bones. That's not the idea. What's being expressed here is that the bodies that were here have long since decomposed. This is not a recent event that's being portrayed. It wasn't a recent battle or there's this isn't a recent place where a bunch of people died. There's not some over there in the corner who are maybe still alive, and we need to get the medics to them. No. This is a place that is filled with death. The whole place is long dead.
And so the Lord speaks and asks Ezekiel a question. Son of man, can these bones live? In other words, you mere human, you created being, what do you think of this situation here? Is there any life here in the midst of all this deadness? Now, the prophet Ezekiel is clearly a very wise man. He's obviously been around the block with God a time or three because he doesn't claim to know the answer. He doesn't reply with, No, they're dead. What kind of a question is that? Instead, he replies with, Oh, Lord God, you know.
In other words, he humbly acknowledges his feeble state as a created being. He doesn't attempt to put limitations on his creator and the sovereign Lord over all things. And so the Lord gives an interesting answer. He tells Ezekiel to prophesy. Now, as you've heard me say many times, our idea of prophesying is to predict the future. But in most cases in the Bible, the prophetic word that comes from the prophets is actually proclaiming the Word of the Lord, speaking out God's Word.
Now, yes, the word prophesy can mean to predict the future, but in the majority of cases in the Bible, to prophesy means to proclaim the Word of God. And so, we have seen this valley and it's hopeless. Not just full of some injured people who need a little bandaging up and then they'll be okay. Death is reigning in this valley, and it is a hopeless state of affairs. And this was the way that the things were for the people of Israel.
But it is a truth that permeates time, and it permeates location. This idea of being dead is not something that is just for this story. In our sinfulness and on our own, this is our state of affairs. We, without Christ, are a valley of dry bones. We're dead in sin and unbelief. We're not merely sick. We're not simply misguided. The imagery the Bible uses here and in other places is that we are hopeless apart from the grace and mercy of Almighty God. We're dead. Stone cold dead. Our hearts, our hearts of stone, unless God acts and gives us a heart of flesh.
And where does that life come from? Well, it isn't coming from inside of us. We are dead. We need something to act on us from outside of us because we lack the capacity to act on our own. What we need is a word to come to us that comes from outside of us, just as God spoke at the beginning of creation, and all that we know came to be by the power of His Word. He also creates life in us through the power of His Word. That's how it works.
And look at the powerful words of Ezekiel that he is supposed to prophesy to these dry bones. God will cause breath to enter them, and he will give them life. They will have sinews in flesh and skin, and they will know that he is the Lord. They will have no doubt that the God of their fathers has delivered them because they could not have possibly done this on their own.
And as we move on to our second point, we see that Ezekiel does what is commanded, and God gives life. And this is an amazing thing to think about here. Imagine what Ezekiel must have seen, and I'm guessing that our imaginations couldn't even begin to do it justice. Imagine the rattling sound. That must have been startling. And then the bones come together. And this isn't like some bad animated Halloween special with skeletons walking around without their bones connected or without flesh. This isn't Scooby Doo here. Okay? This is even more.
The bones have sinews and flesh and skin, but they're missing something. Something is absent as we read this story. They have everything it takes. It's all together. They've got bones. They've got sinews holding things together. They have flesh. They've got it all. But they don't have the breath of life. Think about that. Without the breath of life, it goes from a valley of dry bones to a valley of corpses. Without that breath of life, they're still dead.
It's an impressive accomplishment to bring all this stuff together, to get the bones to gather again, and to give them sinews and flesh, an amazing accomplishment. But without the breath of life, what's the point? If they don't have the breath of life, this doesn't mean anything. And so the Lord God says to prophesy to the breath, come from the four winds, oh breath, and breathe in these slain that they may live. And I love that line. That is just an absolute breathe in these slain that they may live. Bring life where there is death. That is an awesome line, and just in the way it sounds and the imagery that it calls to mind.
But it's important for us to understand the idea of wind in scripture. The wind and the breath is the Spirit of God. Remember from Genesis, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters at creation. And we saw in the passage in Acts that we read, the wind coming and bringing the Holy Spirit to the apostles. So what this shows us is that the Spirit brings life. Apart from the work of God, there would not be life. There would not be breath. We would still be dead in our sin.
But the Spirit of God comes from the four winds and breathes in those slain, and they come to life, and they live, they stand on their feet, and they become an exceedingly great army. They are a great multitude that is brought to life, and they're not struggling to be alive. They're an army. They're ready for battle. They're full of power. They're full of strength because God has brought them to life. And it was the word of the Lord spoken that did this. It's not by the power of the bones or even the power of Ezekiel. It had nothing to do with human effort or human power. It was all the power of the word of the Lord.
And as the passage concludes for us today, we see that Ezekiel is told what all of this means. This wasn't an exercise in God showing what he can do. It was to show Ezekiel what he was going to do in history for the people of God. And you have to love that God just flat out spells all this out for Ezekiel. There will be no questioning the interpretation of this vision here. Right? Ezekiel has what he has seen explained to him clearly.
The bones are the whole house of Israel. They feel as though they're dead and they have no hope. They've been cut off. That's how the people of God feel. But God is telling them that even though they feel as though they are lost and without hope, dead and gone, he is going to open up their graves. And while this passage does point us to the resurrection, that wasn't the specific point being made here. What God is saying here is that he is going to bring those who were exiled from the land, and he is going to bring them back, and they will know for sure that he is God when he does this.
It will not be done by their own strength. It will not be a conquest that they will win by their own power because they are powerless. It will be by God's hand that victory is won. The situation is hopeless, but with God, their situation has hope. But we see that God is gonna do something more. Just as the wind came and breathed life into the dry bones, his spirit is going to occupy his people, and they will be spiritually alive. They will know for certain that he is the Lord because they have been brought to life by his Holy Spirit.
And so this passage ends with certainty. I have spoken and I will do it. That's what God says. So the promise is ironclad. It can be taken to the bank. It will come to pass because the one who is the Lord does what he wills, and he will most certainly do it. And as we have seen in this sort of story of Pentecost, he has done it. The four winds were called forth and the apostles received the Spirit. And from that place, the word of the Lord went forth into the whole world, and the gospel was spoken, bringing life to people who were dead in their trespasses and sins.
The Spirit has brought life to the people of God. It brought life to us. His Spirit is within us. And so we come to the close of this passage. And I wanna give you two specific applications to consider as you step out into the world this coming week. The first one is, hear the Word of the Lord. We have seen displayed for us this week that the Word of the Lord is powerful. Those passages were amazing. It's transformative. It brings dead to life.
If we understand this truth about the Word of the Lord, and when we understand that this is how God does His work, we should be seeking out hearing that powerful, transformative, and life-giving Word. And there's a beautiful truth that gives us so much freedom as we seek to be transformed by God's word, as we seek to hear the word of the Lord. We know what the word of the Lord is. It is clear. It is here. We don't have to go looking for notions or inklings that we feel within us and have to wonder, is God speaking to me? We don't have to do that.
God speaks through his word, and it's sufficient. It is enough. You don't have to interpret signs or think you need some kind of wondrous miracle to know that God is speaking. We read of those things in his word, yes, because God was establishing His definitive Word so that you could live in absolute freedom knowing for certain that He has spoken to you. And through the power of the Holy Spirit in you, this Word will take root, and He has promised that it will work in you.
Trust in the power of that word because really, it's all we've got. Trust in the power of that word. We aren't gonna grow in holiness magically on our own. The word at work in you is the means by which God does these things. And so we read the word to know what God has to say, because his voice is very clear. And we hear the word, trusting that it will be powerful and effective in us. It has brought us out of spiritual death, and the Spirit has breathed life in us through that Word. And so may we trust that we will continue by the power of that same Word to grow in Him.
And secondly, proclaim the word. The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel and he proclaimed it. And what happened? Life came. And we are called to proclaim the word. And as I mentioned just a few moments ago, we know what that word is. We don't need to wonder whether God is speaking when we trust in His holy word as our only source for faith and practice.
And so when we proclaim that word, we trust that God is speaking through us to proclaim that life-giving word of the gospel. We're called to proclaim that word to the world, and to our friends, and to our families, trusting that He will be at work through his word just as he always has. So when we proclaim the word of the Lord, we are doing that which Ezekiel does. We're proclaiming what has been spoken by God and trusting that God will bring life through those words.
We might not see it immediately, but we trust that God will do his holy will through the proclamation of it. That is how he brings life. That is how he brings faith. And as we contemplate these two important applications, hear the word, proclaim the word, I wanna remind you sort of what I talked about at the beginning of the service. This is precisely what we've done this morning.
Worship is a conversation. It's a dialogue. We hear God speak through his word and we respond. God calls us to worship and we respond in praise. The word calls us to confess our sins and we respond. And then we hear that sure and certain word telling us that despite what we have done, we have been forgiven by his grace. You get the idea. Worship is a dialogue between God and his people.
And we can leave here today absolutely certain that we have heard God speak, not only through what I have said, but what you have proclaimed together as you proclaim the word together. You have heard the word. You have proclaimed the word. We respond by proclaiming his word to the world knowing that it will be effective because this is how God brings life.
So we live in certainty, not in speculation. We live in certainty that God has clearly spoken because he has given us his word. And so we celebrate the certainty of God's word and of that spirit that is at work in us. Because it is at work in you. It's making you holy. And you can trust that. Because just as it said at the end of our verse 14 that we read in Ezekiel, I have spoken and I will surely do it. God is at work in you through His word and spirit. He has spoken and He will do it. Amen.
Pentecost wasn’t about spectacle—it was the Spirit giving life.
Watch how that message unfolds in the early church:
📺 From Prophecy to Reality – Acts 2:1–21
