Engraving of "The Vision of The Valley of The Dry Bones" by Gustave Doré
The Story
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. 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. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 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.”
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. 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. 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.” 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.
Ezekiel 37:1-10 (ESV)
What is happening here?
Ezekiel is given an incredible picture here! It’s not clear if God is performing this whole scene in front of him physically or is this in a vision, but either way, Ezekiel is seeing exactly what God wanted him to see and communicate. Ezekiel is told to prophesy to people who are dead and then he gets to watch as God brings them back to life and restores them to a great army. God himself actually provides Ezekiel with the interpretation. He says this:
“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.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves...”
What does it mean for us?
We might be able to say that this prophecy has a double fulfillment. In the immediate context God is talking about restoring the people of Israel back to the promised land. They have lost all hope and it’s as though they are dead, but God will give them life by restoring them to their former glory. He will put his Spirit within them and once again restore their relationship. But this prophecy also points to the future that we now experience in part. When we place our faith in Christ, God takes us (who were spiritually dead) and he makes us alive by giving us his Spirit. And one day in the future God will raise us up as well and we will experience a new resurrected body.