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 am Yahweh. I have spoken, and I will do it. This is the declaration of the LORD. Ezekiel 37:14
This passage is speaking of the Israelites and how God was going to resurrect them. God took Ezekiel to the Valley of Dry Bones and set him in the middle of the valley where it was full of dry bones. The bones were very dry and God told Ezekiel that he was going to use him to prophesy concerning these bones to breathe life into them. He did just that, Ezekiel commanded the bones and at first he heard a rattling sound of the bones coming together. Then tendons appeared, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath verse 8 tells us. God directed Ezekiel to command the breath to come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so they may live and it worked! They came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.
There was a time when I felt like I had dry bones. I moved to Texas from another state where I had been very involved in my church. I was leading a bible study and felt very close to God. When we started looking for a new church home, it was not an easy task. I could not find church that felt like home and I felt myself drying up spiritually. Gradually, I began to shrivel and I remember telling my sister and friend, that I felt like I was drying up. I was reading my bible but I needed community and not just any community but a spiritual community. They prayed for me and shortly thereafter, we found our church home. It wasn’t long before life came back into these dry bones and I was leading a group of women in bible study. It was refreshing!
In verses12-14 God says the dry bones represent the whole house of Israel as dried up, hope has perished and they are cut off. God tells that a time is coming when He is going to resurrect the people of Israel, lead them into the land and they will know that he is Yahweh. He will put his Spirit in them and they will live and they will know He is their God!!
Since we live in New Testament times, we don’t have to wait to be spiritually alive. It’s a simple heartfelt decision and action to move toward God through his son, Jesus Christ. If we take one step, He meets us there, ready to breath life into us!
What are you waiting for?
Kim A. Thomas 