The Valley of Dry Bones

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley — and it was full of bones. Ezekiel finds himself in an open-air graveyard. This is the state of Israel in exile. Spiritually, nationally, communally — they are dead. The bones are very dry, the text tells us. This is not fresh death. This is long-dead, sun-bleached, hope-evacuated death. And God asks Ezekiel the most extraordinary question: Son of man, can these bones live? It is a question designed to expose what we truly believe about God. Can these bones live? Can this marriage be restored? Can this prodigal come home? Can this church be revived? Can this nation be turned? Can these bones live? Ezekiel answers wisely — Sovereign Lord, you alone know. He does not say yes and he does not say no. He puts the answer back in God's hands, where it belongs. Then comes the command: Prophesy to these bones. Speak to the dead. Declare life over what is lifeless. And as Ezekiel obeys, there is a rattling. Bone comes to bone. Sinew forms. Skin covers. And then — the breath of God. The same breath that hovered over the chaos in Genesis 1. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. That Spirit is available to the driest of valleys today.