♫ Your leg bone connected to your knee bone ♫

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

So, this is probably the most well-known part of Ezekiel. The valley of bones is a memorable, haunting image. It’s not too much of a stretch to also be reminded of the Valley of the Shadow of Death from Psalm 23. It’s also where that song, Dem Bones, comes from!

It’s a picture of a miraculous revival. Not like someone being resuscitated from near-death on an operating table – these bones are properly dead. Dead for a long enough time that they’ve dried out. And notice what it is that revives them. The word of God, spoken by Ezekiel. As he prophecies, he first sees the bones come together, and then he prophecies to the wind to go into the bodies and breathe life into them.

The bones – now an assembled army – are able to tell us themselves what was going on. Death cuts us off from God. And it’s his Word and Spirit (the ‘breath’ described by Ezekiel) that have the power to revive us and bring us back to life. A very vivid picture of one of the core truths in the Bible.

Head: Have you ever thought about how powerful God’s word is that it can revive the dead?

Heart: Have you felt cut off from God before?

Hands: What can we do every day to show we have been revived by God’s word, like the dry bones in Ezekiel.

Prayer: Lord, we pray for your people who are cut off from you. Because of sin, we can’t overcome death. Only because of your word, connecting our bodies back together, and your spirit breathing life into us, we can fully be with you. Your power to revive and renew is incredible

A song to listen to: Made Alive

Zoe Harland- Creek Road Presbyterian Church- Carina