An inter-Mennonite newspaper, putting the Mennonite world together every week since 1923

EDITORIAL

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To imagine dry bones brings up images of death. When the skin and muscles are gone and only bones are left, there is no hope of life.

Bones of the victims of genocide, like that committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the 1970s, shock us with the reality that bones are the remains of what was once a living being. Dry bones intensify the hopelessness — that life has been gone for a long time.

In a vision from God in Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel sees a valley full of “a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.” Perhaps he felt hopeless seeing the bones, and thought (which God confirmed) that the bones represented the people of Israel. Their situation was dire: “Our hope is gone; we are cut off” (37:11).

Yet God then took the vision in a different direction. He asked Ezekiel if the bones could live. When Ezekiel said God alone knew, God told him to prophesy to the bones to restore the flesh and skin to them.

When the bodies were restored, but without life or breath, Ezekiel was told to prophesy to the “four winds” (37:9) to restore breath to them. Then when life was restored to them, God told Ezekiel that, in the same way, he would restore the people of Israel to their land and, later in Ezekiel 37, to faithfulness.

Today we may feel a similar sense of hopelessness. Perhaps it is from discouragement with the many situations in the world where people suffer and die from war, poverty, hunger and other ills. Maybe it is from the stressed economy, with rising prices, home foreclosures and loss of jobs. Perhaps it is from conflict, financial struggles or membership decline in the church. It may be from broken relationships in our families, or even just a feeling of everyday relationships being mundane. Serious illness and death among our family and friends could cause us to feel depressed. Or maybe it is from dryness in our spiritual lives.

Whatever the circumstances, the vision from Ezekiel 37 reminds us that God can restore what appears to be hopeless. Even after Israel’s disobedience and rejection of God, God offered hope for restoration. Likewise, God remains with us regardless of our personal and corporate failings.

We can have hope in our lives now, knowing that God is at work. Even when we suffer pain and loss, through the prayers and support of the community of believers we can feel encouraged.

God promises to be with us always, restoring life to our dry bones — and not just for today. Ultimately, God offers the gift of eternal life, against which neither discouragement, suffering, pain or death can stand. — Dana Neff