Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1–14) has always been one of the most haunting and hopeful passages in Scripture.
A prophet is set down in a valley littered with bones—scattered, dry, and lifeless. The question from God is pointed: “Son of man, can these bones live?” The answer—“O Lord God, You know”—hangs in the air like a dare to divine power.
Then comes the word of prophecy. The bones rattle, sinews knit, flesh covers, breath enters, and suddenly the lifeless valley becomes an army, alive by the Spirit of God. The vision is explained as Israel’s restoration, but it reverberates far beyond its ancient setting. It is a text about revival, about the collision between hopelessness and divine possibility.
Old School Baptist Churches in the Present Valley
If Ezekiel’s valley is a metaphor, many churches today would recognize the terrain. Congregations in the West especially face decline—shrinking membership rolls, shuttered meeting houses, fading cultural influence. Surveys reveal generational disengagement; buildings that once rang with hymns echo with silence. The bones are very dry.
This imagery isn’t meant to scorn, but to acknowledge a spiritual condition: institutions without vitality, ritual without breath, religion without fire. It is sobering, even frightening, to look across the landscape and see not just individual churches faltering, but entire denominations staggering.
Prophecy, Not Programs
Ezekiel does not revive the bones with clever programs, better lighting, or organizational reforms. He proclaims the word of the Lord. The Word brings structure; the Spirit brings breath. Both are necessary. Without the Word, there is no skeleton to stand. Without the Spirit, there is no life to animate.
The future of churches cannot be secured by sociological tinkering alone. Strategies, technologies, and cultural adaptations may help, but they are only bones and sinews. What is needed is a prophetic word that speaks into death, and a Spirit who gives life.
A Future of Breath
What would it mean for the Old School Baptist church’s future to be like Ezekiel’s valley? It means the possibility of radical renewal. What looks irretrievably lost is not beyond the reach of the Spirit. Churches that have become dry through complacency or compromise are not destined for dust. If God chooses, He can breathe again, and communities can stand as living witnesses.
It also means the church’s future is not in our hands. Ezekiel didn’t know if the bones could live—he only knew that God knew. Churches tempted to despair should learn that same humility: “Lord, You know.” And then wait, pray, and proclaim.
From Skeletons to Soldiers
Notice the final form of the vision: not just individual people made alive, but a vast army standing together. The church’s future is not merely about individual renewal, but collective restoration. The Spirit’s breath gathers, unites, and mobilizes. Dry bones scattered in isolation become a people bound together, alive in purpose.
That suggests the future church will be less about grand institutions and more about living communities—small but resilient gatherings, knit together not by cultural habit but by Spirit-breathed faith.
Conclusion: Hope in a Valley
The vision of Ezekiel 37 insists on hope. However bleak the present, the God who raises the dead is not limited by statistics or cultural trends. The bones can live. The church of tomorrow may not look like the church of yesterday, but it will be alive by the same Spirit who moved in the beginning, who raised Christ from the dead, and who will never leave His people lifeless in the valley.
The question remains, as always: “Son of man, can these bones live?” The answer is still, “O Lord God, You know.” And in that knowing lies the promise of the church’s future.
Here’s a revised devotional version with your request woven in, highlighting that the revival of the church is the Lord’s doing, and that it is accomplished in men who are led by the Spirit.
Ezekiel stood in a valley filled with bones—bleached, broken, and hopeless. Then the question came from God: “Son of man, can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:3).
Ezekiel’s answer was humble: “O Lord God, You know.” The prophet could not speak life where there was only death. But he knew the God who gives life, and he trusted in His power.
Dry Bones in Our Day
Many churches today resemble that valley. Empty pews, silent pulpits, dwindling faith. The landscape feels dry, even lifeless. We look at what has been lost and wonder if it can ever be restored.
The question still lingers: “Can these bones live?”
The Lord’s Doing
Notice carefully—this was not Ezekiel’s doing. He was commanded to prophesy, but only God could knit bone to bone, cover them with flesh, and breathe life into them. What happens in the vision is not man’s invention, but the Lord’s work.
So it will be with the future of the church. No revival can be engineered, no true life can be manufactured. If the church lives, it will be the Lord’s doing. He alone makes His people to stand.
Led by the Spirit
Ezekiel prophesied as he was commanded, but the decisive moment came when breath entered the bodies. That breath is the Spirit of God. Without Him, there was only a lifeless form. With Him, there was an army alive and ready.
This is the lesson for us: the future belongs not to those who lean on human strength, but to those led by the Spirit. When men are moved by the Spirit—whether to preach, to pray, or to bear witness—then the church breathes again.
The Promise of Life
God delights in showing His strength in places of despair. The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead gives life to His people (Romans 8:11). The bones live not because they willed themselves alive, but because God Himself willed it.
This means no church is beyond hope, no congregation too far gone. The question is never about the strength of men, but about the power of God.
Prayer of Hope
Lord, we confess that apart from You we are only bones—weak, dry, and scattered. But You are the God who brings life where there is none. Breathe upon us by Your Spirit. Make us men and women led by Your Spirit, living witnesses to Your power. May the future of the church testify not to what we built, but to what You have done. Amen.
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