Ezekiel’s Famous Vision

Ezekiel 37

The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out.  Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”

“O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.”

Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord!  This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again!  I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.

Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”

So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’  Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel.  When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord.  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!’”

Don’t let any preacher tell you that they don’t like preaching this text.  Hope in a valley of dry bones – how can you not love preaching that kind of impossible hope?  Of course, this is the hope that only God can offer.  Ezekiel acknowledges this in his answer to God’s question, “can these bones live?”  He responds, “you alone know the answer to that.”

There is hope in Ezekiel’s answer, but God needs to move him to hope AND faith.  He wants to transform Zeke’s answer to “of course these bones can live if you make it so.”  Zeke needs to believe this because God not only wants him to believe it, he wants the people that hear Zeke’s prophecy to believe it.  So this dramatic and powerful vision is given. 

I invite you to claim this vision for not only yourself, but for someone to whom you could pass on hope and faith.  Imagine the place in your life most completely devoid of hope for renewal.  What is the thing that you’ve given up all hope of renewal and/or restoration?  Could you spend a few minutes today meditating on the possibility if God’s Spirit were to show up?  Imagine it happening in your own “valley of dry bones.” 

But imagine it not only for yourself, but for others that need that miracle as well.  Don’t underestimate the power of imagining the restoration happening.  This spiritual exercise that God took Ezekiel through helped move him from hope to hope and faith.  It can do the same for you.  Then, you get to do it for others.  You see what God did there just now?

Prayer:  Spirit of the Living God, move us from ambiguous hope to certain faith that you can bring new life to our dry bone valleys.  Help us see it so we can help others see it with us. Amen.

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who are losing their homes because they cannot pay the bills.

Song:  Come Alive – Lauren Daigle