So that when they do hear, they will know that it was God who brought them back to life. It was God who purposed to give them life even before they could hear and understand.
"If we want to use the dry bones prophecy to prove regeneration before faith, then it is clear that the first thing a person must do is hear the word. Nothing happens before that. "
Wrong. God had to give the dead men life before they could hear His word. It wasn't their hearing that gave them life, it was God speaking that gave them life. They heard AFTER they had been made alive. Thus regeneration precedes faith.
"It is only after they hear the word that the process of new life begins."
Wrong, God gives them life, then they hear His word.
"the clear and unambiguous implication of the third sentence is that it is the hearing of the word that regenerates the spiritually dead. In other words, you are actually saying that it is the hearing that causes a regeneration. Which is it?"
I am not saying that the hearing causes regeneration. God speaking life unto the dead causes regeneration, once a person has been regenerated, they are able to hear His word unto faith. Regeneration precedes faith.
That still doesn't follow with the text you quoted. The Lord said speak to the dry bones.
He didn't say speak to the bones I regenerated.
There's a simple way to prove it. Quote the Scripture that backs this up. If there is no scripture that backs this up, it is pure doctrine, and not biblical.