Articles
A Valley of Life or a Valley of Death?
Visiting a traditional well-tended graveyard can encapsulate the beauty of a person’s life and the potential their spirit has to find everlasting peace. Yet, walking through an unkept place that is full of dry dusty bones can strike eeriness into the strongest of hearts. This is probably because mankind’s physical existence can also appear as futile and finite. When communicating with others as God’s children, are we seeing others as dry bones that are destined to be dust? Or, are we willing to help their spirits understand God and His righteousness that leads to eternal life?
God’s divine power to raise the dead can be seen throughout the Bible. In the New Testament, Jesus brings Lazarus and Jairus’ daughter back to life. In the Old Testament, an instance when God displays His power of resurrection is when He talks to the prophet Ezekiel through a vision. In chapter thirty-seven Of Ezekiel, the prophet is walking through a valley with the dry bones of the Israelites all around him. In Ezekial 37:3 (ESV), the Lord says to Ezekial, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel replies, “O Lord God, you know.” Therefore, God commands Ezekiel to prophesy over the dry bones. The bones start rattling and the flesh starts rejuvenating until the Israelites come back to life. The Israelites had become lost and without hope because they had sinned against God (Ezekiel 27:11). The Lord in Ezekiel 37:14 then promises to His 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.”
God restored His people at the cost of His only son, Jesus Christ. God’s children may see other people in the world as their enemies but God sees them as His lost children that He sent Jesus to die for. Ezekiel preached to dead bones because God told Him to, so that they could live again. God tells us to preach His words to the world for the same exact reason. The question isn’t whether or not we believe the bones are too dry to be saved: it is whether or not we believe that God has the power to save them. God sees life where we see death. How do you view life on this Earth? Do your actions correspond to your beliefs?
