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The Valley of Dry Bones in the Bible is one of the most vivid visions recorded in scripture. Symbolizing hope and restoration, this vision underscores a powerful message: God’s promises are always fulfilled, and His spirit can breathe life into the most desolate circumstances. It serves as a timeless reminder that in God, there is always hope, reaffirming our faith in His unwavering power and mercy.
The Valley of Dry Bones in the Bible
The valley of dry bones in the Bible is a vision that comes to the prophet Ezekiel in the book of Ezekiel chapter 37. This vision follows God’s promise in chapter 36, through the prophecy of Ezekiel, to restore the people of Israel.
Ezekiel’s vision in chapter 37 begins with the hand of the Lord through the Spirit of the Lord bringing Ezekiel to the middle of a valley littered with lifeless, dry bones.
“And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.”
Ezekiel 37:2 (ESV)
The vision then continues with a dialogue between the Spirit of the Lord and the prophet Ezekiel where God asks Ezekiel if the dry bones are alive. I love Ezekiel’s response; he says, “O Lord God, you know” (verse 3). It feels like an old times version of a “duh” moment, and rightfully so because how could bones in and of themselves be alive?
Anyway, God then directs Ezekiel to prophesy over the clearly dead bones, commanding them to hear the word of the Lord. This word of the Lord is that He will make them alive again.
“Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel 37:5-6 (ESV)
Ezekiel then narrates his obedience to this command to prophesy over the dead bodies, and everything immediately happens as the word of the Lord said it would. The dead bones come together with a great rattling sound as they formed into bodies. However, there was yet to be breath in them.
At this, the Spirit of the Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy over them again, this time specifically regarding the breath to bring the newly formed bodies to life.
“Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”
Ezekiel 37:9 (ESV)
What I find immediately intriguing in this verse is that God refers to Ezekiel as “son of man.” Obviously God would not blaspheme himself, but my first thought was, “ummm… isn’t that supposed to be Jesus??”
However, note that the phrase is not capitalized in this instance, and therefore is already set aside from the Son of Man. Also, Jesus’ title as Son of Man is intended to show his humanity, his likeness to you and I and those He walked amongst; a position of humility.
That being said, God referring to Ezekiel as son of man, specifically in lowercase, is meant to, for lack of better words, put him in his place. This actually makes quite a lot of sense, as Ezekiel is prophesying over a valley of dry bones, causing them to come to life, which is pretty awesome. Therefore, God is making sure that Ezekiel recognizes his position as a lowly human nevertheless, and that it is indeed the breath of God, the breath of life, that is bringing new life to the dead bones, with Ezekiel being a mere messenger, or vessel.
Moving on, Ezekiel does as he is told by God and the bones stood on their feet, breathing and alive. The amounts of them were that of a vast army.
This is where the meaning of the vision of the valley of the dry bones in the Bible comes to fruition, as God relates what has happened with the bones so far to the land of Israel.
“Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.”
Ezekiel 37:11 (ESV)
With this, God sets the scene for Ezekiel to do the work that He has set out for him. Still in the vision, the spirit of God gives Ezekiel another command to prophesy, but this time over God’s people, the Israelites. It is also something that Ezekiel is commanded to do in the real world, outside of his vision.
“Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel… And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
Ezekiel 37:12, 14 (ESV)
Let’s break this down.
Hope in the Lord
One of the main takeaways or lessons that Ezekiel, Israel, and modern day Christians can get from the valley of dry bones in the Bible is that when all hope is lost, there is hope in the Lord; hope in His promises.
Before Ezekiel was transported into the middle of the valley of dry bones with God’s spirit, the nation of Israel was in a period of great distress, and therefore hopelessness. The Israelites, despite being God’s chosen people, had fallen into a downward spiral of sin and evil. This spiral had gone on to the point where, according to God himself in Ezekiel’s vision, the Israelites had lost all hope of ever being redeemed and reconciled to God.
“Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it.”
Ezekiel 36:17-18 (ESV)
The lengths of God’s disappointment and anger towards the sin of the Israelites is related to the “uncleanness” of menstruation. Considering that we do not see menstruation as something disgraceful, unclean, impure, etc. in modern times, and rightfully so, I wanted to dig into why God uses this specific comparison to describe his perception of Israel.
In biblical times, specifically the old testament before the ultimate redemption offered by the blood of Jesus, rituals were a major part of communication with God. One could not enter into the dwelling place of God, such as a temple, without performing pre-determined acts of cleansing and purifying. If they were unclean, they would simply drop dead in the presence of God’s glory and holiness.
That being said, menstruation was considered unclean. Not because of anything moral, as it was and still is simply a part of life for a woman, but because of ritual. “Since God is a God of life and the loss of blood belongs with anti-life, conditions like this (among other things like the discharges of men and the touching of a dead body) were considered unclean and contagious, and restrained people from walking into the sacred space of the tabernacle (where God dwelt) for a limited time. “
Relating all of this information back to the original passage in Ezekiel chapter 36. God is not saying that menstruation is disgusting point blank. He is saying, within historical context, that what Israel has done is anti-life and therefore directly opposing to Himself.
However, God does not leave them in the wake of his wrath. He uses the valley of the dry bones to give Ezekiel a message of hope to deliver to the land of Israel. This message of hope is a promise of the Messiah to come, whether they knew it or not.
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God promises to raise the Israelites from their graves, not necessarily literally, but from the figurative graves that their sin has placed them in; the grave of eternal damnation and separation from their God. This is done through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
He also promises to fill them with his very own spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, making them truly alive. This too is done by the good news of the sacrifice of Jesus.
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”
John 16:7 (ESV)
As God has proven multiple times throughout scripture up to this point, as well as he proved in the midst of the valley of dry bones with Ezekiel, God’s fulfills every single promise he gives. Before He gave the message for the nation of Israel, God has Ezekiel prophesy over the dry bones, and each time he did, everything went exactly as God said it would.
God said he would give the Israelites new life, and He did. God tell us that He will restore every broken thing in this world, and He will. Whenever we feel too far gone, crushed by the weight of our own failure and the failure of the world around us, there is yet hope in God.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23 (ESV)
God’s Power, Not Our Own
The second major lesson learned through the vision of the dry bones in the Bible is that their is nothing we can do on our own, apart from the power of God.
This lesson is found in two different aspects of the vision: God referring to Ezekiel as son of man, and life coming to the bones and to the Israelites through the breath of God.
Remember, son of man in this context is not giving a title to Ezekiel that belongs to Jesus Christ alone. Rather, it is God’s way of humbling Ezekiel by reminding him of his lowly position of a mere human. It was not his words bringing the bones to life, nor would it be his words that would restore God’s people. It was the words of the Lord through Ezekiel as a messenger, a vessel, that would hold the true power.
The other aspect of the vision that contains the lesson of the powerlessness of man is in the desperation of the Israelites. Again, leading up to the vision, Israel had dug themselves a big ole’ gaping hole of separation from God because of sin. And this was not a result of God’s work, but a result of man’s work as the people of Israel had gone astray from the Heavenly Father and depended on their own strength, ideas, powers, you name it. And where did that get them? To a pit of hopelessness.
But God in HIS great love and mercy promised, and of course succeeded, to pull them out of their self-made pit of despair. He breathed new life into the people of Israel, giving them HIS spirit to walk in.
If it were not for God’s breath and God’s breath alone, they would have remained in their graves dug by their sin. And so would we.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.”
Ephesians 2:1-2 (ESV)
Whenever we live according to our flesh, we are dead, destined for eternal separation from God. But through the life-giving spirit of God, we are made alive in in Christ. Not because we deserve it, and surely not because we could do anything to earn it, but simply because God, in his power, wants to be with us.
The meaning of the Valley of Dry Bones in the Bible serves as a powerful testament to God’s ability to bring life and restoration to even the most desperate, hopeless circumstances. Not only was the prophetic message given to Ezekiel a message of hope and revival for Israel, it is a message to the church today to find peace and rest in the enduring hope and renewal found in God’s unwavering power and mercy.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
You may enjoy this video about dry bones in the Bible:
Or one of these other recommended resources:
From Dry Bones to Living Hope: Embracing God’s Faithfulness in Late Life by Missy Buchanan
Secrets of the Dry Bones: Ezekiel 37:1-14 – The Mystery of a Prophet’s Vision (Illuminated Bible Study Guides) by Susan Rohrer
ESV – “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”