Thoughts for the Day

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, 'Mortal , can these bones live?' I answered, 'O Lord God, you know.' Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on 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.....'

Then he said to me, 'Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely." Therefore prophesy, and say to them. Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.'

(New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

This vision experienced by Ezekiel must have seemed totally unbelievable. The nation of Israel had been completely destroyed. Its king had been captured, and taken with all the elite to exile in Babylon, at which point his sons were killed and he was blinded. Thousands of people had been killed, Jerusalem and the Temple had been destroyed, and the remnants of those left had dispersed throughout the area. There was no hope of restoring the nation. But the vision given to this 6th century BC prophet-priest by God was to say otherwise. Ezekiel saw a valley full of dry bones that symbolised the dried-up hopes of Israel, and God instructs him to raise them up so that they become living men.

The vision shows that Israel would be restored. The Babylonians themselves were to be defeated by the Persians, and in due course Cyrus the new ruler allowed the Israelites to return to their homeland and even defrayed the cost of building the Temple in Jerusalem from his own purse.

As Covid 19 ravages our world we may wonder if things will ever return to normal. When will schools and colleges reopen, and how many towns will still have high streets left, are just two of many questions that come to mind. You may well have many more such concerns. But we need to hang on to the fact that God is the master architect here. The impossible he can do - when we work with Him!

Lord God,
help us to remember who is in charge of this world
and that when we remain true to Your commands
and faithful to You, then all things are possible.
We think today of all who have lost their faith
and cannot imagine that You can
bring good out of the present situation.
May they learn once more to trust You.
Amen