I’ve recently read Ezekiel 37 again, and I do wonder how Ezekiel must have felt about that whole experience.
For some context, God’s people had been doing all the wrong things, so God punished them like He said He would by allowing them to be attacked, plundered, and taken captive. There wasn’t much left of them, just like that valley full of dry bones. It seemed there was nothing that could be done, because how do you revive anything once it’s been dead and scattered that long?
But God can do anything, even give actual life to dry bones. I know the point of the passage is the metaphor that God was showing Ezekiel and by extension the rest of His people, I just wonder what that must have been like to experience that, whether it was happening in real time or simply in a vision. I’m not sure how I’d handle it if God popped me into a valley full of dry bones, asked if I thought they could live, and then, with some instruction on my participation in the process, proceeded to make them live. Think about it: bones rattling across the ground, finding the bones that are supposed to go with them, then sinew and flesh appearing on the complete skeletons, then the wind and/or the spirit that blew across the valley and breathed life into the once dead bodies! As amazing as that must be to see, I still think my own bones might be shaking at that point. I’d probably be equal parts amazed and terrified at God’s power right before my eyes and ears.
But then I’m sure I’d be encouraged, just like God intended. If God can show me how He raises to life a valley full of people that have been dead that long as a way to express what He will do for the Israelites, then He can take care of whatever in my life needs reviving. Read the rest of Ezekiel 37 on the joining of the sticks for some more encouragement. God makes and keeps promises, and given what we know He’s done with others, we know He can certainly do what needs to be done with us, both individually and corporately.