Read Ezekiel 37:1-14
This passage is one of those memorable ones we always recognize and associate with Ezekiel. If you’re like me, you have the “Dry Bones Song” going through your head, recalling how all the bones connect and then walk around. The lyrics say Ezekiel tells us to “hear the word of the Lord!” That’s exactly what Ezekiel was doing – hearing and listening to God, and then taking action by doing what God says.
This is another one of those “transporting” visions where Ezekiel is whisked away. This time he is standing in the middle of a valley with dried up bones scattered all around him. What do you think Ezekiel was thinking in this moment before the teachable moment he received from God?
The situation proceeded to get a bit stranger before it started making sense. First, God asked him if the bones could live again. Didn’t you love Ezekiel’s response! Then, God told him to talk to the bones, to prophesy as if they could hear! That had to sound like such a strange request!
Ezekiel has always been obedient, so, of course, he did as God had said and spoke to the bones. The scene that follows would leave anyone with mouth agape, don’t you think? I often try to transport myself into each Bible story so I can feel like I’m living in that moment, too. This is definitely a “trip” that would be worth seeing.
From dry bones to a great army, God’s word had spoken it so. Ezekiel had only been the messenger. It’s hard to fathom. It’s one of those awe-inspiring moments in Scripture that is almost tangible. Then, if all of that transformation wasn’t enough, the rest of the teachable moment comes.
These bones represented Ezekiel’s people. The bones were dry when Ezekiel arrived in the valley. How long had they been that way? As dry bones, the people of Israel were withering away, dried up, lost, desolate. They were disconnected from God. Does that mean anyone far from God is dried up and dead? Dead to sin, perhaps.
Ezekiel saw how the story ends though. The bones miraculously come back to life. Life goes on for God’s people, and that’s the hope this vision was meant to bring to Ezekiel’s people. Of course, we can glean our own message from his vision if we sit with it for a while and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal our lesson.
What else struck you as you read today’s passage? Maybe it was the first time you encountered the “old” dry bones vision. Whether new or familiar, what Ezekiel saw that day was powerful. It was one of those “you had to be there” kind of moments. The message brought hope. God wasn’t going to let his people dry up completely.
The LORD says, “I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the LORD has spoken!” Just as these winds carried God’s breath to bring the bones to life inside the flesh, the Holy Spirit can breathe into our lives, our flesh. Wind is often one of the ways we think of the Holy Spirit.
Don’t rush past the beautiful miracle in this passage. How does God want to bring something alive inside you today?
Let’s pray. LORD, thank you for this passage today. It’s such a great reminder that no matter how depleted or exhausted we feel in this life, we are still more than just dry bones. We acknowledge your presence in our lives and thank you for sending the Spirit to guide us and sustain us. I ask you to help me better at relying on your power. There is so much comfort knowing that you love being in a relationship with me, too, and that’s your desire for me. I hunger to draw closer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
