Ezekiel 37:1-14
1The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” 7So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 11Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ 12Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.
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Here we have one of the most famous visions in the Bible from the prophet Ezekiel, the Valley of Dry Bones. Many college and high school choirs have sung the famous Spiritual “Dem Bones.” The chorus of the song is as follows:
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.
Now hear the word of the Lord.
Followed by the verses:
Toe bone connected to the foot bone
Foot bone connected to the leg bone
Leg bone connected to the knee bone…
In the time of Ezekiel, Babylon had conquered the known world and brought the people of Israel into captivity to serve the king and infrastructure of Babylon. The temple was destroyed and treasures brought to Babylon. Significantly, the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of the presence of God, was lost. It was certainly the darkest of times and the people despaired in their situation and even questioned the power of the God of Israel. It was against the backdrop of despair that Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones gave hope that if Gods power can breathe life into these dry bones, he can certainly deliver you from your current despair. To the black slaves, this passage brought hope of deliverance and a great spiritual to share. In the pandemic, many experienced isolation being cut off from those we love and for a time, in-person worship and fellowship. To this, Ezekiel boldly proclaims God words, “I will put my Spirit within you and you shall live.”
Prayer: Dear Lord, as we travel through our valley of dry bones let us remember that you have the power to raise us up no matter how far gone we may think we are. Amen.
(Now I challenge you to complete the verse of the song. The knee bone connected to the thigh bone…)
—Mark Pladson