Question: What is the meaning of “The Valley of Dry Bones”?
The Valley of Dry Bones is a reference to Ezekiel chapter 37 where we find him being carried away and set down in a valley filled with bones. They are a disconnected, dried up body whose bones are scattered, without life. Their hope is gone.
These ‘bones’ are the House of Israel, the Body of Christ.
Then God instructs Ezekiel to tell those bones to come together as one body. And as they did, flesh began to form but there was no breath in them.
“Then He said to me, Prophesy unto the wind, Son of Man. Say to the wind, ‘Thus saith the Lord GOD; ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’
Ezekiel 37
These Bones form the Great Army of God
So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding 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, and our hope is cut off.’
These Bones are Resurrected Together
Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O My people, I will open your graves/sepulchers and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up out of your graves. And will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then you shall know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.’”
Ezekiel 37:9-14
These Bones form One Nation upon the Mountain
“And say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, where they are gone and will gather them, and bring them into their own land:
And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountain of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions. But I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and cleanse them: so they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
The chapter concludes with:
“My servant of David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. And shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt. They shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and My servant of David shall be their king for ever.
These Bones make up the Tabernacle
“I will make a Covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting Covenant with them …I will set My Sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My Tabernacle also shall be with/of them: yes, I will be their God, and they shall be My people…”
Ezekiel 37
These Bones Stand Together as One on Mount Zion/Sion
“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion/Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their forehead. …They sang as it were a new song before the throne … and no one could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth… These are they which follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile. For they are without fault before the throne of God.”
Revelations 14:1-5
“And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”
Revelations 7:4
These Bones make up New Jerusalem, The City of God
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away… And I John saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the Tabernacle of God is made up of people and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people and God himself shall be with them and be their God…
And had a wall great and high, and twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east three gates; the north three gates; the south three gates; on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb… And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the Angel…”
Revelation 21:1-17
Dry Bones Playlist:
Spirit Wind, Casting Crowns
Valley of Dry Bones, Michael Card
Dry Bones, The Delta Rhythm Boys
The Cry, Whiteheart
The Holy City, Michael Crawford
Jerusalem Narration
On Your Walls, Jerusalem