These verses are the record of a vision God gives to the prophet Ezekiel. Chapter 37 builds upon the previous chapter as Ezekiel gives the prophetic assurance of restoration to the nation of Israel in the wake of their destruction. Visions were nothing new to him; this vision is the third one in this book, as referenced in Ezekiel 1:1. However, this may be the best-known vision recorded in this book due to the vivid power of God’s desire to restore life to a community that was literally lifeless.

Verse 1 begins with the hand of the Lord upon Ezekiel as he places him in the middle of a valley filled with dry bones. It isn’t a pretty picture. The nation of Israel had only itself to blame after disregarding God’s very clear direction. The scene is a vision, but it is anchored in reality. The most damaging result of sin is that it cuts us off from life. It leaves us unable to respond to the voice of God.

I remember the first funeral I was ever asked to do. In preparation, I learned that after conducting the funeral, I, as the officiating minister, was supposed to stand at the head of the casket while friends and family walked by the deceased to give their final goodbyes and to grieve. I felt a little awkward standing up there because I could hear everything people were saying to their lost loved one. People cried, one person placed a picture inside of the casket, some reached out to touch his hands, and his wife kissed him on the forehead.

Gut-wrenching emotion was poured out for this man, and yet not once did he respond to any of it. He never cried, he didn’t return any kisses, and he never said goodbye. He just lay there unresponsive because there was no life in his bones.

Paul communicates the same sort of idea in Ephesians 2 when he describes death to explain the condition we have all found ourselves in when it comes to personal sin. The result is that we are unresponsive to the voice and promptings of God.

Can you identify a time or a season in your life when there was no spiritual life in your bones? What did that feel like? How would you describe your communication with God during those times?

Can Dead Bones Live?
As Ezekiel examines the landscape, it all looks pretty final. In verse 2 he describes the bones as being very dry. There was no coming back from this one. Destruction and death were the defining marks of this scene. However, the question God asks him in verse 3 changes everything. He asks, “Can these bones live?”

This is the main question that comes to mind in everyday issues we all deal with. A woman sits alone on a Sunday morning in the back row of a church praying that her husband will come to know Jesus. A children’s ministry volunteer feels burned out and is about to quit. A husband and father can’t find a job after looking for months and months. The irony of life is that it can suck the life right out of you.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the question in verse 3 is that God asks it, not Ezekiel. It is a question of both concern and faith. He is concerned about the condition of his people and yet he desires to know if they have the faith required for him to work.

God still operates in a very similar way today. He is a God of compassion and grace when it comes to our life’s circumstances. He is also a God who desires our faith in his ability to come through.

When are you the most vulnerable to spiritual dryness? Where do you turn for spiritual refreshment?

God Is the One Who Initiates
This passage highlights a truth we see in the Bible over and over again—God is the great initiator. He doesn’t wait for us to make the first move. He has moved first. Verses 5 and 6 are examples of this. Notice how much action is coming directly from God.

He is the one who has spoken.

He will make breath enter you.

He will attach the tendons.

He will provide the flesh and the covering of skin.

He will put breath in you, and you shall live.

These verses are unusual because they are a vision given to a prophet; however, they serve to paint a picture of the great compassion of a loving God. Get past the grisly image of human remains in a battlefield and you see a picture not so different from your life or mine.

Sometimes the spiritual landscape of our lives will be no more inspiring than a valley of dry bones. A child gets sick, a spouse threatens to walk out, your career flatlines, you have about as much motivation to pray as you do to get a tetanus shot.

And yet the Word of the Lord has the power to stir life back into dead bones. Be encouraged by the promise God gives in verse 14, “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.”