God in the Graveyard
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March 22, 2026
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Ezekiel 37: 1-14 (NIV-UK)
1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 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.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
AA’s 12-step programme is blunt about where recovery begins. People must admit they are powerless over alcohol; that their lives are out of control; and that only a Power greater than themselves can restore their sanity. Quite simply, alcoholics need to hit rock bottom hard enough to crack cement before change is possible. While they deny the problem and delude themselves that they can improve, they can’t. Knowing they stand in a graveyard is the starting point.
Something similar is happening to God’s people here. Exiled in Babylon, they have clung to the hope that one day they will return to Jerusalem and their nation will be restored. Ezekiel has repeatedly prophesied Jerusalem’s destruction, but they have been in denial. Now disaster has struck: Jerusalem has fallen, and all hope of recovery is extinguished. And at rock bottom, Ezekiel’s prophecy becomes one of hope.
In Ezekiels’ vision, the valley is Israel’s shattered pride. Not a pretty cemetery with flowers, but a harrowing place of slaughter where bodies have been slain and left to rot. Israel is on the verge of national obliteration. Dry bones have no future.
God asks Ezekiel: can these bones live? Bewildered, Ezekiel responds tentatively: you tell me! The obvious answer is ‘No’, and yet, and yet… Obediently, he speaks God’s word to the dead. The Word brings shape and form out of chaos; the Spirit births new life. And God cries out in a loud voice over His broken people, “I will open your graves and bring you up from them - I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live.”
Prayer:
God, like Ezekiel I see landscapes around me which seem devoid of hope. I bring before you the Middle East where conflict seems too ancient to be resolved. I remember the state of your church, thirled to structures of the past. And I pray for a person or family where old hostilities have killed relationships. I hear your question: Can these bones live? God of resurrection power, give me faith that you stand in graveyards and bring new life. Amen.
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