Ezekiel 37:1-14
I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and his spirit took me and set me down in a valley where the ground was covered with bones. He led me all around the valley, and I could see that there were very many bones and that they were very dry. He said to me, "Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?" I replied, "Sovereign Lord, only you can answer that!" He said, "Prophesy to the bones. Tell these dry bones to listen to the word of the Lord. Tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them: I am going to put breath into you and bring you back to life. I will give you sinews and muscles and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and bring you back to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord." So I prophesied as I had been told. While I was speaking, I heard a rattling noise, and the bones began to join together. While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin. But there was no breath in the bodies. God said to me, "Mortal man, prophesy to the wind. Tell the wind that the Sovereign Lord commands it to come from every direction to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life." So I prophesied as I had been told. Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up. There were enough of them to form an army. God said to me, "Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones. They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future. So prophesy to my people Israel and tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to open their graves. I am going to take them out and bring them back to the land of Israel. When I open the graves where my people are buried and bring them out, they will know that I am the Lord. I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and they will know that I am the Lord. I have promised that I would do this and I will. I, the Lord, have spoken. Ezekiel 37:1-14 (GNT)
Ezekiel was a prophet and priest with a deep faith and vivid imagination. He lived in exile after the fall of Jerusalem. While this passage speaks mostly of his vision of a valley of dry bones that come back to life, it has been interpreted to be speaking of the dry bones as symbolic of the Israelites' loss of hope, rather than the death of the soldiers of the time.
We've all had those "dry bones in the valley" phases in our lives where we wonder if our spirit will ever be brought back to life. It can happen when a loved one leaves this earth or when they receive a difficult diagnosis. It can come when we lose a job or a relationship. It can come when the winter is long and our resources for coping are short.
The remarkable part about this passage is that God breathes life back into our souls as promised. He is there to give the dry bones meat and flesh but goes on to breathe life into what appeared to have died. We need God to breathe life into us. We need to continue to have hope.
Questions for Reflection:
- When you hear, "Breath of the Spirit, living in me.." what do you imagine?
- How can you pass on hope to others?
Prayer
Jesus, giver of life, come into my heart today and remind me that you are my hope and my savior. Help me to spread hope to others in your name. When I am having a "dry bones in the valley" kind of day, breathe your life into me and help me to believe that you will help me. All this I pray in your name. Amen
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