Dry Bones

A multitude of people, so long dead that only their dried bones remain, are scattered across the valley floor. Dry bones, one step away from returning to dust.

“Can these bones live?”

This seemingly preposterous question was asked of the prophet Ezekiel, in a vision that God had given him, described in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, chapter 37. Now Ezekiel, being wise in the ways of God by this time, replied “Oh sovereign Lord, you alone know.” The prophet of great faith knew that nothing was impossible for the God who created all life in the first place.

The vision continued. In a style worthy of the latest Hollywood special effects, Ezekiel saw the bones being rearranged into skeletons and equipped with tendons, sinews and flesh. In what was probably more terrifying than dry bones, the valley was now filled with a crowd of corpses.

God then tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the breath. In other words, life only comes into these rejuvenated bodies when the breath of God enters into them.

The vision is a promise of God to the nation of Israel, a nation which had been disobedient, unfaithful and rebellious. They had been sent into exile and felt abandoned by God. They were saying “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.” (Ezekiel 37:11)

 Through Ezekiel God was reminding them of His favour and enduring love, even in the face of His discipline. God says:

“Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 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.” (Ezekiel 37:13,14).

The God who made that promise to Israel through the prophet Ezekiel around 500 years before the birth of Christ is the same God who rules and reigns two thousand five hundred years later. I write this during what is Mental Health Awareness week here in Australia. We’ve just acknowledged World Mental Health Awareness Day yesterday, 10^th October. Is your mental health 10 out of 10? What about your life as a whole?

I am so aware of those who struggle with great difficulties in this life, seasons of trial and dryness, situations that can seem as hopeless as a pile of dry bones. Yet in this narrative God is saying that with Him, there is hope. Jesus Christ raised Lazarus from the dead – could he not revive a dead marriage? Could He lift the clouds of depression? Can He set the prisoner free from the bondage of addiction?

God says that He will put His Spirit in the people. His Spirit is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, not an amorphous mass but a personal being, the Parakletos, the One who comes alongside to counsel and comfort and guide. This adds a spiritual dimension in addition to the medical and practical help that we should be seeking when facing trials in this world. This much under-valued spiritual dimension is accessed through prayer, reading the Bible and enjoying fellowship in a caring Christian community.