It almost seems that Ezekiel was flooded by many visions from God. In this text the prophet says he was taken to a place where many skeletons had accumulated. The emphasis about these bones is that they were very dry, meaning that they had been dead a long time without any hope. In the previous chapter God promised that the nation of Israel would be restored. (36:24-38) The vision of our chapter is a fulfillment of that. God will make it to be accomplished. Verse 11 plainly states that these bones represent Israel.
As Ezekiel faces these dry bones, he was able to relate to the hopeless continuation of his people. The Jews carried on a relentless cycle of idolatry and then experienced the chastisement of the Lord with captivity by other nations. Let it be known as a certainty that they brought their troubles onto themselves. The patience of God was tried over and over as he rescued his own people from the captivities by foreign nations. By the time we meet Ezekiel as a prophet, they are in a hopeless state. It was as if they had no alternative, no clear directives, and without the potential to have any national future.
Yet, through Ezekiel’s vision God declared their rescue. The dry bones or the brittle state of their existence was nothing more than a people who found their bodies without flesh, without hope. It was important that Ezekiel saw this valley of dry bones that reflected their unhappy situation.. We cannot turn away from this vision because it could be our own at times when we are discouraged, have nowhere to turn, and on the verge of giving up.
Should you find yourself in such a position as these dry bones with the (figurative) sun beating down on you by circumstances, know that God is still involved in your life. Perhaps you have had to deal with difficult circumstances that was a consequence in which God had to chastise you as the son that he loves. Or, you may be enduring hardships undeserved, brought on, not by yourself, but others or something that awaited you when you turn the next corner. Do you feel that the bones that make up your emotions have been so scorched that you have been falling apart sinew by sinew?
Now that you are facing your own Valley of Bones, it could be time for you to prophesy over them. The first thing to do is to bind yourself to the knowledge that God is fully aware of your situation. Then look forward to God’s relief in faith even if it takes a miracle like bones rising out of the grave. What is happening to you by your surrender to God makes for a new leadership to a new land to new circumstances to new relief, to new authority over with the world and what Satan places on you. In doing so, confirm your understanding that God will put a new spirit in you. You may feel crushed, pulled apart, dried up, but even in that condition God is not helpless. You shall live a victorious life. He will take you to a new place in spiritual growth. You can worship him in a new and effective way by confirming to yourself that your deliverance has been spoken by God and performed by God. (verses 11-14)
