These Bones - Part Six: Never Thirsting Again!

Welcome back to our last chat about Ezekiel! Last time, we left off in Part Five talking about God revealing the real need to Ezekiel; and about the bigger picture overall.

Can we look one more time at this passage in totality?

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The 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. ² 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. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” ⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶ 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.”

⁷ 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. ⁸ 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. ⁹ 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.” ¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ 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.’ ¹² 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. ¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴ 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.” (ESV)

Every time I read this passage, I am moved by the beauty.  By the never-ending, limitless love, peace, and redemption that God has to offer us.

Those bones on the valley floor? They are our bones. 

We are the bodies, left in the sun.  We are the dry, parched, dismembered bones.

If you are anything like me, there are moments when you feel forgotten.  We are beyond dead and forgotten on the valley floor.  We are so soul-thirsty that we are unrecognizable in our current form.

Maybe you have been abused.

Perhaps you are facing the seemingly never ending dark night of the soul that is depression.

A woman who has had to make a choice she did not want to make.

A broken soul with a past you are convinced is so sordid that God would never want you.

A weary mother (or Father) trying desperately to balance work, home, and the chaos in between.

Like always, God saved the best part for last.  He knew our need.  He knows our need.  We are living with a soul thirst that only God can quench; and y'all, he promises over and over through out the Bible that He offers the Water of Life, that He alone can quench our thirst.  Only God can breathe life back into these dry bones.  

And the very, very bestest (as my adorable seven year old would say) part is that God wants to breathe life into our dry bones.

Let me say that once more...

GOD WANTS TO BREATHE LIFE BACK INTO OUR DRY BONES!!! 

All we have to do is step out in faith.  We must believe that God wants to heal us, that we are worthy of healing, and then accept it.  That is it.


Dear one, will you take His hand? Let's join arms, abandon fear, and step out in faith to accept God's redemptive breath that will save us all!

~JSB