Dry Bones Dancing, Part 1

If you are consistently dry, empty, hopeless, something is spiritually wrong. Dr. Tony Evans says the Lord is ready to raise you up and rejuvenate your spirit. And you'll be able to say, like David, the joy of the Lord is my strength. This is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of The Urban Alternative. If your spiritual life feels as empty and lifeless as an old skeleton in the desert, Dr. Evans has some good news for you today as he explains how God can restore you to the point where you feel like dancing.

Let's turn to Ezekiel chapter 37 as he begins our lesson. There is an anonymous poem that says, first I was dying to finish high school and start college. And then I was dying to finish college and start working. Then I was dying to get married and have children. Then I was dying for my children to grow up and get out. Then I was dying to retire.

And now I'm just dying. And suddenly I have realized I had forgotten to live. Many among us are dying, looking for that next thing to happen that we hope will give us the life we're having trouble finding. Suffering from dryness and spiritual stagnation, where our get up and go has gotten up and gone and we don't know where to find it.

If dryness is your normal state, something is spiritually wrong in your life. Such was the situation among God's people is real in the Old Testament. The problem is stated for us very clearly in verses 2 and verse 11 of chapter 37. Ezekiel says, he caused me, God caused me to pass among and around about and behold there were many on the surface of the valley and lo they were very dry. Bones, mere skeletons. Verse 11, God says in his explanation, Son of man these bones are my people, the whole house of Israel. And they say, so we got talking bones. Our bones are dried up. What does it mean to be dried up?

Our hope has perished and we are completely cut off. Israel was suffering from spiritual emptiness, dryness. Ezekiel is supernaturally escorted to an estuary, a place where bones would be gathered in the nation of Israel before final burial. These bones had been left to bake in the hot sun. We're not just told that the people died, but the bones were on public display and it makes a point to let us know these bones were very dry. In other words, they had been in this state for a long time. It had become a way of life to be dry.

These bones are all configured, confused and jumbled together like pieces of a puzzle in a box, nothing connected, nothing attached. In other words, there was chaos. Verse 11 explains what dryness is. How do you know if you're dry? You're dry because you don't see hope. Verse 11 says there was no hope. Many of God's people today, as God's people back then, are drowning in a sea of hopelessness, surrounded by a land called emptiness.

The skies are always cloudy. No light at the end of the tunnel and when you finally believe you've seen some light, it's an oncoming train. Many of God's people are living under a perpetual fog of despair under overcast skies. It's not simply that we are tired, it's that we've become tired of being tired. So devastating was this reality that God asked Ezekiel a question in verse three.

He says, Son of man, can these bones live? In other words, it's so bad for so long. Can anything be done to fix this situation of dryness? Ezekiel says, God, only you know whether this can be fixed.

In other words, if you're asking me, I don't have an answer. The reason why they were dry in a hole called the valley for an extended period of time is that, watch this now, disobedience had created distance and distance had created dryness. Disobedience had created distance and this distance from God had created dryness. They started off in their own land.

They rebelled. God exiled them to the other nations so they are now removed from fellowship with God and during this time of removal, because of their disobedience, they dried up. Therefore, if you are dry, it's because you're distant and if you're distant, it's because you're disobedient.

You with me? If you are dry, I know we all have dry moments, but if you're living in a valley of dry bones, every day you wake up to dryness. That means that there is a distance that has occurred.

If your ability to dance again and dancing in the Bible is always used of celebration and rejoicing, if there's no celebration on the inside as what's normal and dryness is the exception, if dryness is the norm and dancing is the exception, that's because there has been distance between you and God and there's only one thing that causes distance and that is disobedience. Pluto is a very cold place to be. It's frigid on Pluto 12 months out of the year because it's so far away from the sun. Distance has made it cold and frigid. Mercury is hot, blazing hot 12 months out of the year because it's so close.

Distance to the sun affects temperature. Some Christians are Pluto saints. They live their lives in a far land. They're in the orbit. They're just not close to the center. Others are Mercury saints. They live close to the sun so they're always aflame.

You want to know what's wrong with them because ain't nobody supposed to be hot all the time. Most of us don't live on Pluto. Most of us don't live on Mercury. Most of us live on Earth where it's hot and cold, where we're up and down, in and out, where we are not consistently cold, we're not consistently hot, we're just up and down.

It's all about distance. God says because you disobeyed, I had to exit myself from you. And when I exited myself, the further the exit, the drier you become. So if you're real dry, Pluto dry, you're a long way away. You can always know how close you are to God by how long you're dry or by how consistently you're hot.

But if you're dry bones living in a valley, you're living in a hole. He talks about their rebellion. He talks about their disobedience. He says in chapter 36, verse 18, they defiled it with their idols. Idolatry is intimacy with an image. Idolatry is intimacy with an image. An idol is anything that takes the place of God in your life.

Now watch this. When they were home, they started worshiping idols. And when they were exiled, they kept worshiping idols. All the while, going to church, praying, worshiping, and doing the religious thing. How can you be doing the religious thing and worshiping idols at the same time? Have you ever wondered how come we can have all these Christian radio programs, all these Christian TV shows, all these church services, all these special programs, all these Christian books, all these Christian songs, all these Christian seminars, all these Christian conferences, and still be dry? How can you go to church 52 Sundays out the year, 52 Wednesdays out the year, read your Bible verse every day, and still be dry?

There is an idol somewhere. Somebody or something else has been brought into God's orbit, and there is not room for two. They turn to other sources to meet their needs, solve their problems, and fix their situation. You know the problem with this valley of dry bones? They couldn't go to anybody else for help because the person next to them was as dry as they were. All of them were dry. It says the whole nation was dry. And the reason that they were dry was because they were separated from God, and they were separated due to disobedience. If you are consistently dry, empty, hopelessness, then that means there is disobedience in your life that has created distance, and that distance is responsible for your dryness. Now, you can skip it.

You cannot want to pay attention to it. You may not like it, but it won't make you less dry. You can go to people, go to position, go to power, have more possessions. It won't make you less dry. And the moment you go to something else to fix your dryness, the something else you went to becomes an idol. That becomes your idol because you've gone to something other than the true God to meet your need, and whenever you do that, that is idolatry. So to be an idolater, you do not have to worship a tree. You can worship the paper that came from the tree called money.

Anything you go to to meet your spiritual need other than the true God will dry your soul and will take away your dancing, your rejoicing, your spiritual celebration. But as Dr. Evans says, in the middle of all those problems, there's a promise. He'll tell us what it is in just a moment.

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Here's Dr. Evans. In the midst of this problem, there is a promise. God tells them in verses 12 and 13 of chapter 37, prophesy and say to them, I'm going to open the graves and I'm going to cause you to come out of your graves, my people. I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know I am the Lord your God when I've opened your graves and caused you to come out of your graves, my people. God says you're dry, you're dead spiritually. They weren't dead physically. That's why they could speak and say our bones have dried up. They were dead spiritually, but God says I've got good news, and that is I'm going to make these bones live again. Now, he asks Ezekiel, can these bones live again? Ezekiel wasn't no fool. Ezekiel said, only you know.

This is bigger than me. I can't make these bones live again. I don't know anyone else who can make these bones live again. Only you know whether these bones can live again. And the good news I have for you today, no matter how dry you are, is that these bones can live again.

These bones can dance again. These bones can rejoice again, because God says I will lift you out of your grave. Now, I believe that's called a resurrection. I believe if you're dead and you come out the grave, that's a resurrection. So the good news I have for everybody under the sound of my voice is no matter how dry you are or your situation is, those bones can live again. But in order to take something that's dead and make it live again, you need a miracle. When your dry bones in the valley, just coming and listening to Ezekiel preach won't help you.

Ezekiel says, God, only you can fix this. When you've gotten to the point where your disobedience that's caused your distance that's led to your dryness is ready to be addressed by the living God, you are ready to live again. The essence of resurrection is what? New life. When you're raised, you're raised to new life. In the Bible, resurrection is being made alive again to a brand new relationship.

It is called revival. If your bones are in the valley today and there is no human solution, dry bones, I got good news. God has a promise to you. These bones can live again. If you are spiritually dry for an extended period of time, it's disobedience that's led to distance that's created the dryness. God gave two words that would raise dead bones from a valley.

Two words. New covenant. He describes that in chapter 36, verse 26. Moreover, I give you a new heart and a new spirit within you and I will remove your heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statues and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. This is a description of what the Bible calls the new covenant. Now how does this new covenant work?

Let me give you two other words. Word and spirit. He tells Ezekiel to do two things. In chapter 37, the first thing he tells them is to prophesy to these bones. Verse 4, prophesy over these bones.

To prophesy for Ezekiel to declare the word of God. To say to these bones what God is saying to these bones. Don't take these bones to the doctor, prophesy over them. Don't take these words to the spiritual mediums, prophesy over them. Declare to these bones the word of the Lord. Because if it's spiritual dryness, only spiritual words can medicate it.

If you're dry and it's caused by disobedience that's led to distance that's resulted in dryness, then the only words that will work are divine words. Prophesy my words to these bones. He said I did that, verse 7, and there was a noise. And bones came together, sinews or muscles were on them, flesh grew on them and skin covered them. When I began to speak some words there was some movement going on, there was some twisting, there was some jerking, there was some rattling. The word by itself connected stuff that was unconnected. Simply by the bones hearing the word, rattling took place. But there was a problem. He said because even though I gave the word, verse 8, there was no breath in them. You've got to stay with me now. He said I preached the word and there was a whole lot of shaking going on.

But it was lifeless movement. You can come hear the word of God preached to you forever and a day. You can jump up and shout and feel bones coming together.

But the Bible by itself can only make the connection. It can't give you the breath. You don't live without breath.

You can be a body in a coffin attached, but without life. Many of us came here today with no breath. We'll leave here today having heard the Bible and think we're alive because we feel better until the skin get dry again. Because it takes more than hearing the prophecy and knowing the prophecy or being under the hearing of the word in order to remove the dryness from your life. So he says in addition to prophesying the word, telling them what I said, he says in verse 9, prophesy to the breath, oh son of man, and say to the four winds.

And remember what I just read you? He says I'm going to put my spirit within you. The word breath, Hebrew word ruah, means spirit. When God created, God spoke, let there be. But when God spoke, he also did something. It says and the spirit hoover over the waters. It says God formed man from the, watch this, dust of the ground.

But then he had to blow into his nostrils the breath of life. And then it says and then man became the living soul. What I'm trying to tell you today is being under the Bible is fundamental but not sufficient. Hearing the Bible preached is absolutely necessary but not enough. Memorizing verses is critical but it won't change you. Going to church, listening to Christian radio, reading Christian books is absolutely wonderful but you could still be dry bones connected rather than dry bones disconnected.

Because in order to leave the valley, you've got to have life, not just connection. If you begin to intersect, not hearing the word, but the application of submitting to the Holy Spirit, giving him the right to transform the inner side inside of you, based on his word, you will be able to dance again. You will be able to live again. You will be able to rejoice again because you won't be waiting for stuff out here.

The party will be happening in here. And you'll be able to say, like David, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Dr. Tony Evans, encouraging you to celebrate your life in the Lord.

If you'd like to get a copy of today's lesson to review again, just visit tonyevans.org and look for the message titled Dry Bones Dancing. Better yet, get the full-length version of this and all 14 lessons in Tony's current two-volume series, Turning a Nation to God, along with the added bonus of the book I told you about earlier, Stronger Together, Weaker Apart. This special package is yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help keep Tony's teaching on this station. Get all the details and make your request online at tonyevans.org before this limited-time offer runs out. Again, that's tonyevans.org. Or call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members assist you.

That's 1-800-800-3222. If you don't drink enough water, you'll not only get thirsty, but your body can't function properly. Tomorrow, Dr. Tony Evans will explain how spiritual dryness will set in if we don't let the Holy Spirit rehydrate us. I hope you'll be back for that. The alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by The Urban Alternative and is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners like you.