Ye Dry Bones, Hear the Word of the Lord

As a prophet Ezekiel had many visions, and one of the most well-known has a distinct Halloween flavor. The prophet wrote, “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.” He was in the midst of a valley full of the bones of people! The Lord asked the prophet, “Son of man, can these bones live?” The Lord then explained how they would live with this instruction: “Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.” The Lord instructed him, in this vision, to prophesy that the bones in the valley would come to life and then it happened: “So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.” What an incredible vision! These bones came together and were almost put back into living people. One more thing had to happen: “Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and 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. 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” (Ezekiel 37:1-10). What had been bones in the valley were now a great army of living people. His vision can represent both the gathering of Israel and the literal resurrection of the dead. I love how in this vision the restoration of these bones to life starts with this instruction: “O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” To me that is a symbol of the power of the word of God to bring us spiritual life. We all need to hear the word of the Lord, especially through the words of the scriptures.

               The next section of this chapter indeed talks about the scriptures. The prophet Ezekiel wrote these words which are also well-known: “The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.” President Nelson gave this explanation of these verses, “Today, Saints living in many nations of the earth gratefully hold the Bible (the stick of Judah) and the Book of Mormon (the stick of Ephraim) bound as one in their hands.” Both of these books of scripture are given to us by the Lord to give us His word and teach us the commandments and principles of the gospel. Ultimately, they bring us to the covenants of the Lord as Ezekiel said a few verses later: “Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore” (Ezekiel 37:15-17, 26). The word of the Lord in the scriptures bring us to His covenants which provide peace and a sanctuary for us.

               There is one more well-known passage in Ezekiel that highlights the importance of the scriptures. The Lord said this to Ezekiel: “But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein…. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness” (Ezekiel 2:8-9; 3:1-2). He ate a roll, which was not the kind of roll that we have with Thanksgiving dinner. Rather, it was a roll of words, like a book. I love this imagery that he ate a book, which to me is a symbol of internalizing it and fully taking it in. For us this could represent the scriptures themselves—we should symbolically eat them just as Nephi alluded: “Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3). We are to feast upon the words of Christ in the scriptures. We are to internalize them and make them a part of us, and they will become as sweet as honey to us.