Why did people naturally think the dry bones could not live and Israel could not come back?
From a human standpoint, the bones were exceedingly dry because the Jews had been scattered among the nations since A.D. 70 and dispersed for centuries. Israel was tiny, completely subjugated by Gentile enemies, and seemed destined to be obliterated or assimilated, so natural reasoning concluded there was no way the nation could return.
Les teaches that the bones were “very dry” because the Jews had been scattered since A.D. 70, when Titus destroyed the city and the temple, and they had been scattering throughout the world ever since. From a human standpoint, the normal answer to “Can these bones live?” would have been “No way.” No way could a nation as tiny as Israel, completely subjugated by her Gentile enemies, ever come back on the scene. Israel should have been completely obliterated or totally assimilated into the various nationalities of the world, but they have maintained their identity. In our day, they have gone back to their land, and the revival of the Hebrew language is another miracle.