Scripture:
36: “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Sovereign Lord. “Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, Israel!”
37: The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'” So I prophesied as I commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet — a vast army. Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They have said, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 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 have done it, declares the Lord.'”
Ezekiel 36:24–32; 37:1–14
Devotional Thought:
A valley of dry bones. It is one of the most haunting images in Scripture — and one of the most hopeful. This is what Israel looked like in exile: dead, scattered, without hope. Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone. They were not exaggerating.
And God asks Ezekiel: Can these bones live? The only honest answer is the one Ezekiel gives: Sovereign Lord, you alone know. Not yes, not no — you alone know. It is the answer of someone who has stopped pretending to know what God can or cannot do.
Then God tells him to prophesy. Speak to the bones. And as Ezekiel speaks the word of the Lord over what is dead, something begins to happen. Rattling. Bones coming together. Tendons and flesh. And then breath — the same word as Spirit — rushing in from the four winds. What was dead stands up. A vast army.
This is resurrection before the resurrection. This is what the Spirit of God does: he breathes life into what is dead. And Ezekiel 36 makes clear what drives it — not Israel’s worthiness, but God’s own name and character. I am not doing this for your sake. He restores because he is faithful, because he is God, because his word does not return empty.
Whatever in your life feels like a valley of dry bones right now — God is asking the same question. Can these bones live?The answer is not yours to determine. He alone knows. And he is still in the business of breathing life into what is dead.
Reflection Questions:
1. Where in your life — a relationship, a dream, a season of faith — are you looking at dry bones and struggling to believe they can live again?
2. How does the truth that God restores for the sake of his own name and faithfulness — not your worthiness — change how you pray for restoration?
Application:
Spend time today praying specifically over your “dry bones” — the thing that feels most hopeless. Don’t explain it or defend it. Just bring it before God with open hands and say: Sovereign Lord, you alone know. Breathe.