Dry Bones Shall Rise Again In Our Time

“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.'” (Ezekiel 37:4-6 NIV).

The above statement was Ezekiel's account of what God told him in a vision. In the vision, God took Ezekiel to a valley full of a large number of dry human bones. God asked Ezekiel whether the bones could live. Ezekiel responded, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” (Ezekiel 37:3). Then God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones and say to them that God would make breath enter them and they will come to life; that God would attach tendons to them and make flesh come upon them and cover them with skin; that God would put breath in them and they would come to life; and that they would know that God is the Lord. (Ezekiel 37-1-6).

Ezekiel prophesied, the bones came together, tendons and flesh appeared, skin covered them, breath entered them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet as a vast army. Then the Lord told Ezekiel that the bones were the whole house of Israel who had said that their bones were dried up and their hope was gone, and they were cut off. God also said that he was going to open their graves and bring them up from them, and put His Spirit in them for them to live, and bring them back to the land of Israel so that they would know that he, the Lord, had spoken and done it (Ezekiel 37:1-14).

There is no better picture of sadness and hopelessness than what the Prophet Ezekiel saw at the beginning of the vision about the people of Israel in the valley of dry bones. Among other things, this was a vision about the future restoration of the people of Israel to their land at a time when they were in captivity in Babylon, as God's punishment for their sins, and had lost all hope of ever returning to their homeland.

There were great number of very dry bones, stripped of any signs of life, and scattered hopelessly on the floor of the valley. The sight of the one-time mighty Israeli people and fighting force, the darling of the Almighty God, reduced in a vision to scattered dry bones on the floor of the valley, could not have been more pitiful. When God tested Ezekiel with a question of whether the dry bones could live, Ezekiel answered that only God alone knew.

That was a wise answer. Indeed, only God alone knows. Only God alone knows whether dry bones shall rise again in our time. Only God alone knows the extent, scope and timing of the end of our fight against coronavirus / COVIID-19. That is why we cannot set God aside in our fight against this pandemic. Certainly, the Giver and Sustainer of Life who breathed life into humans at creation and did so in this vision, cannot be ignored if we must win the fight against a virus that attacks the lungs and weakens many infected people's ability to breathe.

We should actively seek God as an ally in this fight. We should not despair or be consumed by fear. Instead, in the name of Jesus, we should pray to God and believe that good things will happen, and it shall be so. In the name of Jesus, we should pray to God and believe that coronavirus / COVID-19 shall be defeated, and it shall be so. In the name of Jesus, we should pray to God and believe that He will grant wisdom and put good ideas into the minds of scientists, researchers, doctors, pharmacists, and all those searching for a cure, medicine, vaccine or some way to defeat coronavirus / COVID-19, and it shall be so.

My fellow Christians, in times like this, it is important to take note of one of the most profound statements our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ made. Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). .

Yes, Jesus said we will have trouble in this world. Many of us have not experienced a life-threatening trouble like coronavirus / COVID-19. We are in deep trouble. However, stay with Jesus when the trouble that he mentioned comes to you, and learn from it. Stay with Jesus for his peace that passes all human understanding. Stay with Jesus and be of good cheer because he has overcome the world. And, because Christ lives, we shall also overcome the world in spite of the troubles.

If you are not a Christian, this is a good time for you to come to Jesus and stay with him. No matter how hopeless you think your own situation is, God loves you and you are the reason God sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross. As the Gospel of John puts it, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17 NIV). Jesus will be with you in this troubled time and show you the way to God the Father in heaven.

The good news is that the gloomy vision that Ezekiel saw had a happy ending. The dry bones scattered in the valley came together and formed a large army of the people of Israel. Similarly, in the name of Jesus, coronavirus which has scattered us through social and physical distancing and under lockdown in the valleys of our homes, shall be defeated and we shall soon come together as God's children. And so in the name of Jesus, if we pray to and believe in “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were” (Romans 4:17b), then dry bones shall rise again in our time.

Prayer is the key. May God grant us the grace to seek Him daily through our prayers.

Dr. Daniel Gyebi, Attorney-at-Law, Texas, U.S.A., and Founder, PrayerHouse Ministry, Kumasi, Ghana.

PrayerHouse Ministry is dedicated to providing a quiet facility for Christians to pray individually by themselves without any intermediary priest, pastor or any other person. This is a free service. No money is demanded or accepted. One facility is located at Kyerekrom / Fumesua, near Building and Road Research Institute Offices, one mile off the Kumasi-Accra Road and next to a house called Grace Castle. If you are interested, please contact Agnes at 054-7498653. Another is located at Kantinkyiren, at the junction of Kantinkyiren and Konkori, off the Kumasi-Obuasi Road, branching left at Trede junction. Contact Kwadwo at 020-8768461 / 0246-989413.