“The 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. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I 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.” So 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. I 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. Then 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.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then 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.’ Therefore 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. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 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.‘ ” (Ezekiel 37:1–14, NRSV)
We know that throughout history greations, even empires, have been born and then died. And those that didn't become extinct survive to this day, but they are different than when they were young and vital.
Some interpreters have argued that this passage from Ezekiel is about personal resurrection; that it is a vision ehiovh teaches how God brings new life after death to believers. But at the time Ezekiel had this vision the people didn’t understand personal resurrection. They did, however, believe that their God would not abandon them forever. They believed that in time God would bless Israel again and bring the nation a new life.
So, the dry bones are a vision of Israel dried out and deteriorating in a foreign land, Babylon. Away from Jerusalem, with the temple destroyed, and living in captivity in Babylon they felt like dried bones baking in the desert sun.
Then, Ezekiel had his vision of dry bones. God breathes new life into the bones. They begin to come together, bone to bone. They grow new sinew and muscle and flesh. Israel lives again!Like others, I have been closely watching the developements among the nations of Northern Africa. We have been seeing the transformation of whole nations right before our eyes. And then I began to think about our own nation.
Although we are not in open rebellion, we are troubled. Our economy has been shaken to its very foundations. And I watched this past week as our national leaders argued about how to cut billions upon billions of dollars from our current budget. And again I thought of Ezekiel and his vision of dry bones.
We are not dead as a nation, but we are struggling. And I honestly believe that our leaders are trying to give us new strength. But, without the Spirit of God, without God breathing new life into us their efforts will likely fail, or at least fall short.
As a nation we need to pray, not so much for God to give us prosperity, or power, or authority. What we need to pray for is God’s spirit to breathe on us and give us new life. The Hebrew language calls it nefesh—the spirit of life and vitality, wholeness. So, let us pray together for God to revive us, to breathe into us, and give us new life.
