1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.

4 And He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and tell them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

5 This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life.

10 So I prophesied as He had commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet—a vast army.

11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’

1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.

4 And He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and tell them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

5 This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life.

10 So I prophesied as He had commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet—a vast army.

11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’

14 I will put My Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.’”

— Ezekiel 37:1, 4-5, 10-11, 14

13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

— Romans 8:13-14

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 records that God transports Ezekiel to a valley of dry bones, which represents the hopeless Israelites in exile. After Ezekiel prophesies, the bones miraculously assemble and are covered with flesh, followed by a second prophecy that commands the breath of life to revive them into a vast army. Ezekiel’s vision of dead bones invigorated with life reveals how desperately we need God to work within us to bring life to our paralyzing deadness.

Exercising His grace and mercy, God does not leave us stuck in our sinfulness. He offers hope and transformation. Through the new covenant, activated by faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice, God delivers what His people need – the indwelling Holy Spirit. Therefore, ultimately, no one can rightly live for God until His Holy Spirit transforms their hearts and empowers them to obey as self-effort alone cannot overcome the inherent pull toward sin and sin’s consequence – death.