Dry Bones Revived

"I 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.

(from Ezekiel 37:1-14)

In 586 BC, the Israelite rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar came to an end and Jerusalem was in ruins.

As was the custom of the time, the bones of fallen warriors are left on the battlefield, denied formal burial, and desecrated by animals.

For the Israelites, this felt like God's broken covenant and unspeakable loss.

God's hope for this desperate situation, is calling the prophet Ezekiel, showing him a valley of dry bones.

God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?"

God tells Ezekiel to speak the Word of the Lord, in this valley of dry bones. 

As Ezekiel speaks, God breathes into the bones re-creating new life.

Thorough God's spirit, dry bones are not the last word.

In Ukraine, 2,600 years later, Ezekiel's metaphor takes on real life. 

Death, destruction, and despair seem to dominate a similar scene of disaster, devastation, and loss. 

Just as Ezekiel spoke in the valley of dry bones and re-created new life, so God will breathe new life into the Ukrainian situation.

God will revive them because dry bones are not the last word.

As it was with the Israelites, as it is occurring now in Ukraine, it follows that the Word of the Lord breathes new life into us as we face our own losses.

The dry bones we experience are not the last word.

We readily observe the dry bones of racism, of protests, and destitution. 

We are well aware of the dry bones of catastrophic illnesses and serious mental disorders leaving us with a sense hopeless.

Ezekiel's vision breaks into these situations with good news: God brings life from death. 

God restores the broken!

God does not leave us where we are!

God is present with us in our times of dry bones!

Dry bones are not the last word!

Think about it: When was a time you felt God breathing new life into you?