Shake off the dry bones

As I woke this morning (5/8/2015), a phrase was running through my mind, “Shake off the dry bones.” I wasn’t sure what that meant, but as I searched through Bible verses with “dry” and “bones” in it, Ezekiel 37:2 popped out at me, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. 

Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry.

Of course, the very dry bones meant that these bodies had been there for a while. There was no flesh, sinew or anything left on them. They were as dead as dead can be. So I’m thinking, “Okay, God. There’s something important about this phrase. What is it?” So, I read the entire section of Ezekiel 37 “The Dry Bones Live”. 

God told Ezekiel to “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So, Ezekiel does, and the bones stand up, getting their sinew and flesh, but they aren’t breathing. God told him to prophesy again. 

Also 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.” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

So now, we have a living breathing army who was once dead come back to life again. You have to remember, this was a vision that God had given Ezekiel about Israel as a nation. God was causing Israel to rise again, and He was reestablishing the army. 

What got me was the next few verses, God’s explanation of what the vision was about.  

Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’”

If we take this and put it into context into today’s time, God is telling us that He will take our old, dry bones and renew them, giving us hope again! If we listen to His words, have faith, and stay strong, He will breathe life back into our dry bones, giving us hope once again!

See, Christians are beginning to get weary. The enemy is fighting us hard, but God says to shake off the old bones! Shake off the weariness and have hope! He will see us through, and He’s going to make sure that we’re set up in the place of our inheritance (His promises). We're an army, and He's breathed life back into us!

Don’t lose hope. Don’t let the dry bones overtake you. Shake them off, and live in faith, knowing that God is going to put us back where we belong. He is going to help us and see us through the difficult times to get us to the good times.

 

‘What do these stones mean?’ - Memorials of God's Mighty Work

In Joshua 3 and 4, God has dried up the waters of the Jordan for the Children of Israel, so that they could walk across dry land.  Just like He did for them at the Red Sea.  So this makes twice that God has dried up rivers for His children to cross without having to put themselves out to get on the other side of a large body of water. 

Why did He do this?  He makes that known in verse seven of chapter three:

The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

 Despite some of the things that the children of Israel had done to anger God, they were still His chosen people.  He had given them a promised land, and they were journeying to it.  So, they had to cross this river, the Jordan, as part of their journey.

But, just like God had taken care of them as they fled Egypt, He was going to take care of them now.  

 
...all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.  (Joshua 3:17 ESV)

But, as they finished crossing over, God told them to make a memorial of twelve stones.

When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” (Joshua 4:1-3 ESV)

Why were they to make this memorial?  Why do we make memorials at all?  To remember someone, something, some event, that was important.

 And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over^, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” (Joshua 4:21-24 ESV)

The twelve stones represented the twelve tribes of Israel who crossed over dry land.  That was a miracle!  That showed the mighty hand of God! 

This verse led me to think about what stones we have in our lives.  What are our memorials?  Our memorials are the testimonies that we have.  Have you been healed?  That's a stone memorial.  Have you been to the brink of breaking but rose back up again?  That's a stone memorial.  What has God done for you that is your memorial? 

More than that though, do we let these memorials be known?  Are our stone memorials visible or are we trying to hide them from the world?  

Don't hide the stone memorials of your life.  If you have something to share, share it!  Let the world know how mighty God is!  He performs miracles on a daily basis.  You woke up this morning.  You had food on the table, and you were able to get to work.  Don't be ashamed to let the world know that you have stone memorials.  

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord...(2 Timothy 1:8 ESV)

What are your memorials?  Share your testimonies and uplift someone else today!