Ezekiel 37:11-14 – Returning to spiritual vitality.

In Ezekiel 37:1-10, God’s Spirit in a vision led and set the Prophet Ezekiel in the middle of the valley of dry bones. There he was told to prophesy to those dry bones so that they could have life again. We have established that the valley was Israel with its national life gone. From the vision, we learn that God can certainly renew us and bring life to our spiritual ineptitude.

In Ezekiel 37:11-14, Israel, God said, was the valley of dry bones. In captivity and cut off from their homeland, many were feeling the effects of their captivity. Here in verse 11, in their despondency, they were heard lamenting that their bones were dried up and their hope was gone. The captivity was like a grave to them.

This pathetic state would discredit God for His name was linked with them in the covenant relationship. To revive them and bring honor back to His own name God told Ezekiel to prophesy and announce what he was about to do to revive the nation.

Like a grave being opened and the dead revived and let out, the door of their captivity would be swung open, and they, His people would be brought back to their homeland. This transforming miracle would be the work of God’s Spirit. For God would put His Spirit in them and they would not only return to life but would also return to their promised land. In what would happen, God would leave them without doubt knowing that He, the faithful God would always be true to His word.

God has no desire for us to remain in our spiritual doldrums. For a lifeless Christian can never testify to His goodness. In collaboration with the Spirit of God, we can break out of our spiritual stagnation. There are three definite steps we need to take: we must identify and realize what led to spiritual apathy; repent and confess our failure; and return to the Lord and commit to walking aright.