Valley of Dry Bones

Did you know there are over fifty named valleys listed in Scripture? Valleys with either a proper name or a descriptive name like the one above? Neither did I. And then there are dozens of times a place is just called “a valley” or “the valley.” And all tell a story.  But because there are so many, I’ve decided to only write about another half dozen or so, in no particular order, before moving on.

This week’s valley, the Valley of Dry Bones, is an incredible place. God takes the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37: 1-14) to a valley of bones and asks him, “can these bones live?” If God is involved, of course the answer is “yes!”  The entire passage concerns Israel (“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel” verse 11) and how God was going to make them a nation again, which He fulfilled in 1948. 

But my question is this: if God can make a dead nation come back to life can He not make the dead things in our lives come back, too? 

Many of us have, at one time or another, visited the Valley of Dry Bones.  Maybe some of you are still there.  Maybe your marriage is dead or your finances, or your job opportunities.  Or it could be your good name, your reputation, your hopes, your dreams, all dead, all finished, or so you believe. 

It’s interesting that God asked Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones. “”And he (God) said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.”

I’m not a name-it-and-claim-it Christian, but I do believe in the proper of prayer and the importance of speaking life (God’s word) over our situations. It’s too easy to be negative and give up when we’re in the Valley of Dry Bones.  But if there is anything to take away from these passages in Ezekiel, it’s that we shouldn’t throw in the towel too quickly.  God is able to do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). So is He able to bring our dry bones back to life?  The answer: a resounding “yes!”

Until next week,

Sylvia