Ezekiel and the Dry Bones (A Story of Hope)

"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the middle of a valley; and it was full of bones." (Ezekiel 37:1)

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The church service we attend, begins at 10:45 a.m. each Sunday. It's only about a 15 minute drive from our house, so it makes for a relaxed Sunday morning - even with somewhere to be. I've learned that if I wake up earlier than necessary on these days, allowing myself some margin to sit and read before getting ready for church, it instills my spirit with peace. This morning was yet another example.

I quietly slipped out of bed, closed our bedroom door behind me, and prepped my coffee in the kitchen... I retrieved my Bible and journal, turned on the fireplace in the living room, and contentedly sat down in front of the guarded flames. There is an early-morning quiet in our house, that I adore. Few things in this world whisper rest to me like the muffled tick-tock of the clock on our wall, the sound of birds out in the forest behind our house, and the soft settling sounds of the fire at my back. The turning of fragile pages, the reading of Scripture...

Ezekiel 37.

"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the middle of a valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry." (v.1-2)

Okay. Not the most poetic morning-reading. It woke me up, and caught my attention. I knew where the story was going, because I've read it before - but still, it took me off-guard.

I have a vivid imagination (from years of reading, I'm convinced) - so I immediately imagined myself as Ezekiel, standing in a valley... I'm not sure what his looked like, but my valley was dark and covered with haze. Cold moisture filled the air, chilling me to the bone. It was quiet, and eerie. Signs of death were everywhere. Bones under my shoes... I started moving away to avoid them, and kept failing.

For me, this was just my imagination... but for Ezekiel in the Bible, it was real.

"He [the Lord] said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, ' O Lord God, You know.' Again He said to me, ' Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.' Thus says the Lord God to these bones, 'Behold I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.'" (v. 3-6)

If I were Ezekiel... what in the world would I have been feeling, in that moment? God had just asked him the equivalent of a trick-question - did he believe God could bring the bones back to life? Our answer would be, of course, yes! But then the Lord begins to give him words to speak to the bones... and things get real.

"So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone." (v.7) Flesh, skin, sinew, and eventually breath was given to these bones... and Scripture tells us that the bodies come to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. (v.10)

Then, the Lord explains why He did this. He didn't do it merely to show off. He didn't do it just to prove a point (although one was certainly proven).

He did it to offer hope to His people.

The next few verses tell us that the Israelites believed their inheritance to be gone and their heritage to be squandered. They had known death, upon death, upon death... their bones were dried up, and their hope had perished (v.11). But God showed Ezekiel, that He had other plans for them. God showed Ezekiel, that nothing was impossible for Him. Even the driest, deadest of bones, can be brought to life by the power of His Word.

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Sitting in front of a fireplace, on a quiet Sunday morning, in Nashville, TN... I needed this reminder. I needed this crazy, true story, to help me believe again. We all need these reminders - which is one of the reasons God gave us His Word, filled with truth and stories just like the ones we find ourselves in each day.

We pray impossible prayers, and start to fear that they can't be answered in the way we would like.

We find ourselves in valleys full of bones, and find that we cannot step around them.

We start believing that death is the final word.

But then suddenly... there is a noise. There is a rattling. And God begins to put things together, piece by piece.

It could be a story in the Bible, on a quiet Sunday morning, or an aptly-timed encouragement from a friend at work. It could be a dream in the middle of the night, or a sudden clarity in the middle of the day about an upcoming decision. But however it looks, however it starts, we feel our souls fill up with something again. We prepare to stand and watch, as He does the impossible. As He restores our hope. As He answers our prayers.

And we believe, once again - without question, fear, or hesitancy - He is God. He is Power. He is Sovereign. And no matter what lies ahead beyond that moment... right now, we know hope.

We feel it in our very bones.