Sunday, February 8, 2026 – Ezekiel 37:1-14
1 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. 2 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. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know. ”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 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. ’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 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.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 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. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 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 have done it, declares the LORD.’”
The dead coming back to life is so “New Testament”. And yet, God speaks to us from antiquity about the power of God to inject life through God’s Holy Spirit into any and everything — even dried, lifeless, spiritless, dead bones. What is clear is that even though these old bones found themselves reassembled, connected in all of the right ways, functional in every respect, clothed with skin, muscle, tissue and have every appearance of being alive, true life and the power of that life giving force comes from God. It comes to us when God breathes the Spirit of Life into us through the presence and power of God’s Holy Spirit. When God does this, our lives can come together individually. But just as important, our lives can come together as a community of people empowered and powered by the Spirit of the living God. Our lives, as much as we make of them, are in reality lifeless forms that only resemble God’s creation until the breath of God gives us life. It is then that we recognize God for who God is and are able to be what God has created us to be. There are many things that have the appearance of life but are absent true life because they lack the presence of the spirit of the living God. Without the Spirit of God giving life to us, we might as well be dried bones in the valley of life.
- How has the Spirit powered living from God empowered you to be more engages with those in the community of faith.
- How has the Spirit of God inspired you to live more productively through the church?
Todays Prayer
Today’s Prayer —
Holy and gracious God, breathe Your Holy Spirit into these lifeless bones of mine until they come together filled with the new life from your Spirit empowered to live in service to you. Amen.
