dry bones

Dem Bones

Posted on by Betsy

Sometimes we experience a death of something that seems impossible to revive. The death of hope, the death of a career, the death of a marriage, the death of a church, the death of a dream … life if full of little deaths that leave us feeling bereft and alone. It is good in those moments to remember that the prophet Ezekiel was once commanded to prophesy to a Death Valley filled deep with dead bones.

The fact that these bodies had not received a proper burial in the ground tells us that they died in disgrace. Their bodies had been left for the buzzards to consume. Nobody said words of comfort over them as they were lowered into the ground. No one stood beside a grave pit and mourned. No, these corpses were deliberately scattered across the desert and had been left there for a long time. We see this as a statement regarding the disgrace the Israelites had brought to their nation through their disobedience and apostasy. In his vision, Ezekiel sees the long lost nation of Israel lying in bones and ruin in a waterless expanse of desert. There was no hope anymore.

Then something completely unexpected happened. God commanded him to prophesy over the bones, telling them that God will put breath in them, and they will live again.

Ezekiel 37 (Common English Bible)

37 The Lord’s power overcame me, and while I was in the Lord’s spirit, he led me out and set me down in the middle of a certain valley. It was full of bones. 2 He led me through them all around, and I saw that there were a great many of them on the valley floor, and they were very dry.

3 He asked me, “Human one, can these bones live again?”

I said, “Lord God, only you know.”

4 He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, Dry bones, hear the Lord’s word! 5 The Lord God proclaims to these bones: I am about to put breath in you, and you will live again. 6 I will put sinews on you, place flesh on you, and cover you with skin. When I put breath in you, and you come to life, you will know that I am the Lord.”

This is certainly a statement of the power of God. Not a resurrection of the dead, but a complete reversal of the decomposing of a corpse. The bones came together, bone by bone, sinew by sinew, skin on skin. Not surprisingly, God put each body back together in a right and orderly manner.

Just as God does.

7 I prophesied just as I was commanded. There was a great noise as I was prophesying, then a great quaking, and the bones came together, bone by bone. 8 When I looked, suddenly there were sinews on them. The flesh appeared, and then they were covered over with skin. But there was still no breath in them.

9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, human one! Say to the breath, The Lord God proclaims: Come from the four winds, breath! Breathe into these dead bodies and let them live.”

10 I prophesied just as he commanded me. When the breath entered them, they came to life and stood on their feet, an extraordinarily large company.

Dead bones rise again to become a huge army. With the breath of God in them, they are empowered to become the house of Israel once again.

11 He said to me, “Human one, these bones are the entire house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished. We are completely finished.’ 12 So now, prophesy and say to them, The Lord God proclaims: I’m opening your graves! I will raise you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to Israel’s fertile land. 13 You will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you up from your graves, my people. 14 I will put my breath in you, and you will live. I will plant you on your fertile land, and you will know that I am the Lord. I’ve spoken, and I will do it. This is what the Lord says.”

We will be celebrating Pentecost this Sunday. This is a time when we commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples who were gathered in Jerusalem, waiting for this gift that Jesus had promised. The Spirit of God was delivered in tongues of flame and a mighty wind. Could you use a mighty wind right now?

What are you waiting for? Do you need the power of God’s Spirit to come and revive some aspect of your life? Have you experienced the death of hope or a dream?

If God can make a new nation of Israel out of old, dusty desert bones, surely he can revive you, too.

After the storm.

Dry Bones

Posted on by Betsy

Sometimes the scriptures are breathtakingly beautiful, like when you encounter a psalm that poetically describes the majesty of God’s creation. Sometimes they are incredibly uplifting, like when you read that God has a future with HOPE planned just for you. And then sometimes scripture can just be creepy.

Today is a creepy day. We join Ezekiel in a startling vision of a valley of dry bones. At God’s command, Ezekiel tells the bones to transform into sinewy, fleshy, skinned-covered beings. Ew.

I can’t imagine what that looked like to Ezekiel, but visions of The Walking Dead are dancing in my head this morning. How about you?

Ezekiel 37 (New Revised Standard Version)


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.

There is much to be gained from this passage in regard to flesh vs. spirit. These bones could be reconstructed, but without the breath of God upon them they were nothing. We are the same. We are flesh, but without the spirit of God we are mere dust in the wind.

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.

We might say the same thing for our society today. Take a look around you. Are you living in a valley of dry bones that sit in front of a television all day? Are our sidewalks filled with zombies glued to their cell phones as they walk into things? Are people staring blankly into screens for hours on end rather than engage with live humans? Are your kids more alive on their PS5 player than they are at the dinner table?

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.

God intends us to be spirit-filled, living, breathing beings made in the image of our Creator. What is God calling you to do today to awaken your own dry bones?

Holy Spirit, come and breathe life into our faith once again so that we may be living water in this valley of dryness around us.

Dry Valley by Faye Gardner

Dry Bones

Posted on by Betsy

The upswing this week in the number of virus cases and the subsequent death toll increases have taken hold, and we are now riding a steep, upward curve. An image of George Clooney’s fishing boat riding up a treacherous wave in the movie “The Perfect Storm” keeps flashing through my mind as I see the projections. The idea of the ocean’s power has always TERRIFIED me. What’s happening now also terrifies me.

This wave is not under our control, and it will result in dry bones. We will have these bones scattered all around us for a very long time: a dry-bones economy, a dry-bones social life, a dry-bones educational system, a dry-bones health care industry, and tragically, so many dry bones in hospital morgues all over the country. Dry bones everywhere.

Let’s take a dive into Ezekiel and remember a time when he encountered dry bones:

Ezekiel 37 (The Message)

 1-2 God grabbed me. God’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun.

3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Master God, only you know that.”

4 He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!’”

5-6 God, the Master, told the dry bones, “Watch this: I’m bringing the breath of life to you and you’ll come to life. I’ll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You’ll come alive and you’ll realize that I am God!”

Oh, the HOPE! God says to the dry bones, “I’m bringing the breath of life to you and YOU’LL COME ALIVE.”

I believe with all my heart that we will come out of this with more flexible sinews, meat on our bones, and the breath of life in our lungs. These dry-bone days are a unique opportunity to really internalize the Word of God and become the people that we were designed to be.

God himself will breathe life into us. When the season of dry bones is over, we’ll come alive in a new and completely altered way. We will hope more fervently. We will love more deeply. We will APPRECIATE more fully. And we will serve more gladly.

There are two important things to do in the meantime.

  1. LISTEN. “Dry bones, LISTEN to the Message of God!”
  2. REALIZE. “You’ll come alive and you’ll REALIZE that I am God!”

Get ready. God promises we will come alive.

And guess what? We are one day closer to the end of this thing.

Dem Bones Gonna Rise Again Photo by Michelle Robertson