Can These Bones Live
In the manual: Come, Follow Me lesson 45, “A New Spirit Will I Put within You,” on Gospel Library
Start
The Lord set Ezekiel down in a valley full of bones, “and, lo, they were very dry” (Ezekiel 37:2).
Read Together
This was a vision, and the Lord explained what it meant. “These bones are the whole house of Israel,” scattered in exile and sure they had no future (Ezekiel 37:11).
3And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. 4Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
12Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.
What It Teaches
When the Lord asked, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel answered, “O Lord God, thou knowest” (Ezekiel 37:3). He could not see how, and he trusted that the Lord could. Then he did what he was told and spoke the word of the Lord to the bones.
The bones came together and grew flesh and skin, “but there was no breath in them” (Ezekiel 37:8). They lived only when the breath came in (Ezekiel 37:10). In Hebrew one word, ruach, means breath, wind, and spirit. The Lord explains the vision himself, promising to “put my spirit in you, and ye shall live” (Ezekiel 37:14).
The Israelites said, “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost” (Ezekiel 37:11). The Lord answered, “I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves” (Ezekiel 37:12). Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, that promise reaches everyone who has ever lived. Every body will rise, with every limb and joint restored (Alma 11:43–44).
Talk About It
Ezekiel said, “O Lord God, thou knowest,” when he could not see how the bones could live. What feels impossible to you right now that you could leave in the Lord’s hands?
Take to Church
In Ezekiel’s vision, the bones had flesh and skin and still could not live until the breath came. We need the Spirit of the Lord that way, and through Jesus Christ even graves will open.