Our Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-14The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." Then 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, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon 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."

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD."

Our Worship
As I consider my own heart, I assume that most of our body of believers are similar. We live every day and gather every Sunday morning as a people that are so in love with ourselves. We have become our own idols. We love the stability that we believe we have created. We love the wealth that we believe that we accumulated. We love the relationships that we believe we have fostered. We love the disguise that we have created to shield each other from the reality of our sins. Indeed, we are a valley of dry bones. We are completely dead and unable to imagine what it is for our Almighty Creator to open His hand and satisfy every living thing. So often we appear to be aimlessly wandering about, grasping for anything that we think could possibly bring us a breath of fresh air.


It is our responsibility to worship in spirit and truth. However, it is our necessary duty to stop our feeble attempts to worship in spirit and truth and come to Christ confessing that we are unable to worship in this way. It is only when you come to Christ and see Him as the one who brings flesh and breath to the valley of dry bones, that you will truly taste the essence of worshiping in spirit and truth.

Oh Lord,
Help us to know that your are the LORD, when you open our graves, and raise us from our graves, as your people. And put your Spirit within us, that we shall live, and place us in our own land. Then we shall know that you are the LORD; that you have spoken.
Amen