The prophet Ezekiel finds himself living in the midst of tough times. Israel has squandered her inheritance. The kingdoms around her have overrun her borders. The people are being taken captive, taken away as slaves. The temple is in ruins; all is lost. If there ever was a greatness to Israel it is gone. Too much is against them. We hear in our lesson: Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.

By the Spirit of the Lord, Ezekiel is brought into the midst 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 and the bones were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” … As I prepared this sermon I imagined myself standing there. The hot dry wind stirring up dust and the sun baking down. I saw the captives being led away. I saw people of all ages weeping. ‘This is too hard. Our hope is gone; we are cut off.’

What is your valley of dried bones; what is your impossible situation? Are you overrun by heartache or struggles that never seem to end? Have health problems or unfairness left you so dried out that you are a mere skeleton of your former self? Are despair and sadness seemingly your only handmaidens? What leaves you thinking that you or someone you know may be feeling cutoff or hopeless?

My experience as a pastor tells me that a few of you are thinking ‘my life isn’t so bad’; be careful - many of the people of Ezekiel’s’ time must have thought the same thing just before they were taken into exile because of stubborn pride or sinful behavior. Just like us many of them must have chased after self-appointed holy men who said what their itching hears wanted to hear. Whatever the circumstances, whether we admitted it or not, if we are not in a valley of dry bones we may be closer to it than we want to admit - for apart from Christ, we too have squandered our inheritance.

Prophesy to These Dry Bones

(From Ezekiel) Then He said to me, Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones hear the Word of the Lord.’ Hear Words of hope when all seems hopeless; Hear Words of comfort when all seems comfortless; Hear Words of forgiveness when our sins seem too much to forgive; Hear Words of reconciliation when all seems irreconcilable. (Again from Ezekiel) I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.

Seven years ago a friend of ours, a young mother, became seriously ill. In the sixty-minute ambulance ride to the hospital her lungs filled up with fluid and she nearly died. For days a respirator and a drug-induced coma kept her hanging on. Just as she seemed to emerge from this valley she was besieged by a 106-degree fever for three days. We knew if she survived at all she would suffer major brain damage. The doctors were at a loss to explain how or why she emerged from this blistering valley without brain damage.

Then, just when we thought we were headed for better days, things went from bad to worse. She contracted Guillian-Barre Syndrome. It is a paralyzing syndrome that comes on for no apparent reason, paralyzing the body. Then as strangely as it comes, it often goes. As it leaves, the nerves “wake up”. It feels like that pins and needles feeling when your hand has been asleep - only with Guillian-Barre it is ten times worse and the burning lasts for days.

Our friend’s paralysis was the worst case the doctors had seen. One from which they weren’t sure she’d recover. It stubbornly refused to leave. Her body was on fire and her hands were mere clubs. The valley of her ill health seemed to give way into a desolate arid plain. She must have cried, ‘My hope is gone; I’ve been cut off’.

Ruth Ann went in to see our friend. As mothers they wept together. You see this young lady had a baby who was not yet two. She wept that she’d might never be able to hold her baby again. She wept that her life as she knew it was over. She wept as the mothers in Ezekiel’s day must have wept as they and their children were led off into bondage. She wept as many of us do when our valleys of struggle, whether our fault or not, give way to arid plains of despair.

Just as Ezekiel was told to Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord! So, too, Ruth Ann spoke the Word of the Lord to this young mother. ‘You need to give this struggle to the Lord. You have to trust Him. You have to fall back into His arms, and trust Him. He may heal you in the weeks to come or He may not heal you until heaven, but only in trusting Him will you find a place of real hope and comfort and peace. So, too, it is with us who are in the midst of struggles. We must give it over to the Lord, where else would we or could we go?

In a step of faith that young mother gave it over to God. She would later confide in Ruth that her words gave her the encouragement to trust God even in the midst of her suffering. Ruth’s words of hope, Words built on the promises of God bolstered her God given faith, a faith that sees her through even today. It is that same faith that Ezekiel and his people needed when all things seemed hopeless, even when all seemed lost. It is that faith we need when the answer to our prayers is a long time in the coming.

The faith that they needed, is the same faith we need. It comes to us when we hear the Word of God, for it is written, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10.17) That is why it is so important to be in the Word regularly so that our faith might be strengthened, you never know when you will find yourself in the middle of a valley or when you might be called to speak to someone else who is in the midst of a valley of dry bones. You, like Ruth Ann, may be called to speak God’s Word to someone in need. By that Word you can offer the only real hope and lasting comfort.

It is by the Word of God that we can find that the hand of the Lord is upon us. That Hand was upon us in baptism. There God declared us to be His children; there, by the Spirit, real life is breathed into us, And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8.11)

The Hand of God is upon our hearts where we hear His Word. By that Word we learn how much God is for us even when the struggles of this world seem far more than momentary and the thorns of the flesh too enduring. By the Word we find that Jesus came for us even when sin threatened to leave us dead, like so many dry bones scattered across the arid plains of hell. Jesus came to rescue His children.

Of our deliverance the Psalmist writes: They have pierced my hands and my feet…. (that’s Jesus on the cross) I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. (Psalm 22.16, 14,15) By His death and resurrection we were rescued, given new life, and led out of the valley of dry bones.

Having been delivered, having been given hope and comfort one can almost hear the Psalmist sing on our behalf, I love the Lord for He heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned His ear to me, I call on Him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, save me!” (Psalm 116. 1-4) and He did. He delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears and my feet from stumbling. He came to abide with me in times of struggle and suffering, to see me through.

Say to the World of Dry Bones

All around us are people, who whether they realize it or not, are in the midst of valleys filled with struggle and strife. Others will be there soon, and apart from Christ all are walking towards the ultimate valley of dry bones. They like us need to hear about Jesus who came to rescue all of us. They need to hear of the One who offers real hope, comfort and deliverance in and from the valley of dry bones. They need the Word prophesied to them. Dry bones ‘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.’” Amen.