Day 20: The prophetic significance of the valley of dry bones

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. – Ezekiel 37:1 ESV

Eric Morey with the Aliyah Action Counsel shares:

In Ezekiel 37:1–14, the Lord takes the prophet into “the valley of dry bones” and has him pray over the dead bones. They are at first physically resurrected; then, they are spiritually resurrected. We can’t help being reminded of the physical restoration of the people of Israel to their Promised Land, which is to be followed by a spiritual restoration. In verse 12 (KJV), He says: “Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.” This is repeated again in verse 21. In fact, the whole chapter of Ezekiel 37 is clearly about Aliyah!

This picture of Aliyah takes place in “The valley”—a specific valley. Could it be the Jordan Valley? Historically, many of the building blocks of the nation of Israel began in the Jordan Valley, including the kibbutz, the Histadrut (the labor organization which represented 85% of the workers and owned 25% of the industry), the first health fund, the first department store, the largest bank, the largest construction company and much, much, more. Also, many Biblical events took place in the Jordan Valley, including Moses’ looking into the Promised Land; the entry of Joshua and the children of Israel into the Land; the immersion of Jesus (Yeshua) and the start of His ministry; the center of Jesus’ ministry and much more.

So much happened here in Biblical times, and in a very real sense, the modern physical restoration of the people and nation of Israel began here. Is it possible that the spiritual restoration—the great Jewish revival when “All Israel will be saved”—will also begin here? (Note: Eric lives in the Jordan valley area.)

Meditate on and study the following verses:

Read Ezekiel 37:1–3.

• What is the setting?
• How did Ezekiel get there?
• What did God ask him and how did he answer?

Read Ezekiel 37:4–10.

• There is so much in these verses. I encourage you to read them in at least two translations before you begin studying them. As you read them, ask God to open your understanding of what He is saying through the verses. I have heard many interpretations on these. Rather than looking at what people say, let’s just study what the Scriptures say.
• In verses 1–3, we see God taking Ezekiel in the Spirit to a valley full of very dry bones. What did God ask him and how did he respond in verse 3?
• What did God tell Ezekiel to do in verses 4–6?
• What were the results in verses 7–8?
• What did God tell him to do and what were the results in verses 9–10?

Read Ezekiel 37:11–14.

• Verse 11 interprets for us who those dry bones represent. What does that tell you?
• Who is God speaking about? Does it say the church? I believe we can also apply the Scriptures to ourselves, but they were written to the house of Israel.
• Why do you think they felt like they were dry bones and their hope was lost when they were scattered in the nations?
• What do verses 12–14 tell Ezekiel to prophesy next? List each thing God tells them that He “will” do.
• Three times in this passage, God tells them that they will know that He is the Lord. This is important to God, and it is something He is going to do when the people come back to their land. What does that say to you?
• Notice the progression in verse 14. Write down each thing God says He will do or what will happen once He does His part.
• What did God show you through these passages?

A prayer to pray

Abba, thank You that You will resurrect the dry bones in Israel. Raise up an exceedingly great army as You breathe Your life into them. Please bring hope to Your people who are scattered around the world. Reveal Yourself to them and let them see that You have so much more for them than they have yet experienced. Would You use me to bring hope to Your people, wherever they are?

Prayer points for today

• Ask God to bring hope back to His people and an understanding that He has great plans for them when they return to the land He gave them through Abraham.
• Pray for the protection of Israel and the Jews, both in the land and wherever they are around the world.

An action to take

Reach out to one or more Jews to share what you learned from Ezekiel 37. Don’t immediately try to convince them that Jesus is their Messiah. Instead begin a conversation using the Scriptures in Ezekiel 37, or wherever God leads you to begin in the Tanakh (the Old Testament).