The Valley of Dry Bones
Some situations look hopeless. The Middle East. The Browns. Maybe some situation in your personal life.
Things looked completely hopeless for the people of Israel during the Exile, when they had lost just about everything. They were in such trouble and despair that in one of the visions of Ezekiel they were likened to a “valley full of dry bones”; for the people said, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost.” [Ezekiel 37:11]
Yet there was hope. Ezekiel caught the vision of how God would be at work, raising those dry bones to new life.
In the days of the Exile, the vision was soon fulfilled. On a material level, it was fulfilled in the Return—as God freed the people from the bondage of exile and brought them back to the Holy Land. On a spiritual level, the vision was fulfilled as God breathed new life into the people’s hearts and minds, and they came to a much deeper faith and devotion.
Where might God raise us to new life? We are invited to catch the vision of how God is at work today—to create new possibilities, to bring hope, and to breathe God’s Spirit anew into us.
Sunday’s Scripture Readings
Ezekiel 37:1–14
Ephesians 2:1–7
