Note: You can watch this teaching on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel.
Note: Scroll to the end to see tips on how to use this text to grow throughout the week.
What would it feel like to wake up one day and be told at gunpoint that you had to leave every possession behind except what would fit into a suitcase, and be removed from your home and placed in an entirely different, foreign, inhospitable environment? Our thoughts go to the Jewish people who endured the Holocaust. Or to Africans ripped from their home continent to become the slaves that enriched and enabled our country to stand on its own two feet. Or to the Indigenous People who were killed or moved out of their homes to make room for colonization. Most of us in the United States today can only imagine the horror, loss, grief, and despair of such a thing. The Jewish people, however, experienced this roughly six centuries before Jesus was born as their nation crumbled before the Babylonian Empire. Most of the key people were ripped from their homes in Israel and displaced hundreds of miles away to present day Iraq under the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II. Ezekiel and his family were among those taken into exile. Fifteen years (!) into exile, the Jewish people received word that their beloved city, Jerusalem, had been completely leveled. All hope seemed lost. It was during this deep despair that Ezekiel had a vision (Ezekiel 37:1-14 | NLT).
The LORD took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the LORD to a valley filled with bones. He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
“O Sovereign LORD,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.”
Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”
So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.
Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’ Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the LORD. I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the LORD has spoken!’”
Remains. The vision begins with an up-close view of a terrible scene: a valley where a horrible battle was waged a long time before, with the war dead’s bones scattered about. Ezekiel didn’t view this from a Vista Point; he was led into the valley so as not to miss the details of how many remains there were, how dry the bones were and how scattered they were. I think our self-preservation systems keep us at the Vista Point where we don’t have to see things as clearly. Yet I believe that if we want to really heal through the painful times in our lives, we need to take a close look. Ezekiel had the Lord as a guide – we always do, too. Sometimes we need a counselor, or authors, or speakers, or friends who really listen well to help us see what we are dealing with. If we don’t, sometimes our problems are simply big, tightly wound knots that are difficult to deal with. Closer inspection helps us untangle our pain so that we can deal with it more manageably and pursue healing sooner. Sometimes time heals wounds, but the amount of healing and the time is takes is aided when we take a slow walk through Skeleton Valley. What are the unexamined areas of your life that you have preferred to keep at a distance? What is keeping you from taking a closer look? Who can you invite to walk with you?
Religioned. The Lord asks Ezekiel if the bones can live. Like Jesus’ disciples, Ezekiel had learned by now not to make assumptions and rightly responded, “God only knows”. By the power of God, the bones reassembled, and flesh even returned. These were now bodies capable of life. What dawned on me is that there was a process involved. So it is with us. We don’t just go from broken to whole in an instant, whether we are talking about physical or emotional pain. There are steps that can’t be skipped that take time. In my experience, I need to get to one level of healing or insight before I am able to receive the next, sort of like working through an escape room whereby solving one puzzle leads you to a new puzzle leading you to more puzzles until the last one is solved that opens the door to freedom. Life is like that. Religion is supposed to help people do just that, to re-ligament their broken lives so that people can become whole again. Where are you in your process of becoming whole? What might your next step be in your lifelong journey of becoming?
Resurrected. In the vision, the bodies were back together, but there was no breath in them. The Lord instructed Ezekiel to call on the Wind to make the difference. This scene reminds the readers that we are more than flesh and bones. Our underlying essence is born of the Spirit. Neglecting this reality likely will leave us as lifeless lumps. In my experience, the world around us doesn’t encourage such things, which means we have to be intentional about it, which takes time and discipline. In my experience, my connection to the Spirit is fostered through regular time for prayer, sacred reading, solitude, silence, listening, and journaling. It serves as a vision reset. God is always present for the meeting, but I must get myself there. What are you doing to intentionally foster your connection to the Spirit of God?
Revisiting Context. I have focused mostly on how to apply this vision to our personal lives. We must remember, however, that the original recipient was a nation. The same principles apply. If we want genuine healing in our nation, we have to be willing to really examine Skeleton Valley up close and personal, with the aid of others to help us see what is there. We need to go through each necessary stage of healing. And, to keep us from finding ourselves in the same mess, we need to have our hearts molded by the Spirit so that we will see each other and all of creation more clearly. In our overly politicized culture, how might we encourage these steps?
Deepen your experience: Try Divine Reading. This is a time-tested practice that allows time and space for the Spirit of God to speak to us as we engage biblical passages. Use this week’s text this week. Carve out at least 20 minutes or so in your schedule when and where you can be alone, still, and silent. Take some deep breaths before you begin to help you get centered. Read the text slowly. Pause for a few moments. Read it again slowly. Pause again. Read it a third and final time. Sit silently, choosing to be open to listening, and see if anything bubbles up. Perhaps a word or phrase jumped out at you. Maybe an idea came to mind related to the text. Right about it in a journal (trust me – it helps). Over time I believe you will learn more and more to discern the voice of God and the movement of the Spirit in your interaction, which will lead you to Life itself.