Can Dry Bones Come Alive Again | Thoughts On The New Year
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. 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. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God , you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord . 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 .” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 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.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 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.’ 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 you shall know that I am the Lord , when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 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 .”
I always hated the story of The Giving Tree. If we are being brutally honest, it’s a story of codependence of the tree and an abusive boy. The boy whittles the Giving Tree down until he is nothing more than a stub, taking advantage of the Tree’s good nature. And then in the ultimate insult, when the tree has nothing else to give, the boy now an old man, sits on him. Yes, it tells the story of sacrificial giving which is admirable, but at some point in the boy’s maturity, he should have seen the impact of his selfishness and stopped so that future generations might enjoy the tree.
It is likely I am overthinking the story a bit.
2024 felt a little like being the tree. Navigating a difficult circumstance, giving it everything I had and coming out on the other side broken, tired, and lonely. Stepping down from my job in January with absolutely zero plan took an emotional toll on me after having quite a lengthy emotional toll already having been taken. Not to mention the loss of friends, the loss of direction, and the few outlets of purpose and expression I had one all went away one by one. In one week I started applying to new jobs, tried out some new churches, and attempted to make new friends. In short, everything changed almost overnight.
My original plan had been to throw myself into the Gospel Outpost and into project creation, finally scratching the itch to become a Christian content creator. But good content. Not the weird garbage you see on TikTok and Instagram Reels. In January of this year, I sat down to write and plan blog posts, book ideas, and everything else for the year. Staring at the screen with my cup of coffee in hand I came to the shocking conclusion… I had no ideas or ability to do anything. The tank was empty. Giving Tree was down to the stub. To be frank, I felt dead and buried, like dry bones scared that I had given everything I had. Overtime, the Lord drew this passage in Ezekiel to my mind over and over. For however done I may have felt, God can always bring hope for even the worst of situations.
Hope For Today
In the most immediate sense, God provides hope of life for today. For however spent a person may feel or whatever they may have gone through, with Jesus Christ, it is not the end. Too often, our view of Christianity means that we only suffer on this side of eternity and the joy comes only after we have died. Our eternity in Christ starts the moment we move from death to life. Even in the midst of our greatest trials and difficulties, we still have the presence of God dwelling within us. As the Spirit seals us for life in Christ,
Have you been hurt by others? God offers healing and rest as we find ourselves in Him. Have you been felt alone and tired? God offers relationship with Himself to all who reach out to Him. Have you wrestled with sin over and over feeling like you will never be free of a particular struggle or sin? God offers forgiveness and a path to Him, giving us His strength to overcome the temptations of our flesh, finding our strength in the victory of Jesus Christ. As the old hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” says, we have strength for today because of the mighty hand of Jesus Christ who brings us the victory over our enemies and over our situation. God breathed life into the people of God reviving them from their death into to return to the way God intended their life to be. For however much our hope fades and is lost, Jesus revives our hope in Him to live according to His plan and purpose for our lives.
Hope For Tomorrow
To merely focus on the day to day, though, would take a shortsighted view of the Gospel. One of the growing threats to the church is the idea that Jesus’ work exists just to make our life better. In the past, this term has been called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. The notion suggests that God is nothing more than a figure to change our behavior to make our daily lives better. The Gospel, though, is so much deeper than that. Apart from Christ, our situation is so much worse than we can possibly imagine. In our sin and trespasses we remained dead as we cut ourselves off from the source of life. Scripture is clear that the wages and the cost of our rebellion against God is death. Without Christ is there no hope and our bones are dead and dried. Yet, when Ezekiel is challenged, being asked if the bones can live, the Lord provides the means for even the dead to come to life. By proclaiming the word and the Gospel to the dead bones, what was dead comes alive.
The foundation of our hope is not in whether or not we will find victory over our temptation or past hurts. The foundation of our hope is built on knowing that we once were dead and now, in Jesus Christ, we have come alive. We receive a new life that transcends the need for validation in this world as we live as people with the hope of tomorrow. Our life is secured by the mighty hands of God not our own ability to grow, overcome, or become great in our own eyes. Our past hurts, failures, and pains no longer define us. Only the work of Jesus Christ to proclaim life to our dead souls remains.
For me, I went in to 2025 with everything still changing. Some good friends are in the process of moving, adjusting to a new career, a new church, and new basically everything else. And yet, while the change is sad, I feel a profound amount of hope for the upcoming few years. It feels like the dry bones of my depression and sadness are being restored by the graciousness and goodness of Jesus Christ. The future looks great, not because of anything I have done, but because of who Jesus is and what HE has done. Here’s to the new year and seeing everything that God does in and through us all.
About The Author
Daniel Burton is the founder of The Gospel Outpost. He is passionate about discipleship and seeing people grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. To find out more about him, check out his Author Page.
