When I read the story of Ezekiel standing in a valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1–14), several people in my small group broke out singing spontaneously:

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,
Now hear the word of the Lord.

The catchy tune made the rest of us smile, and several others started tapping their feet and swaying to the rhythm.

That light-hearted moment instantly changed the way I saw this text. Because suddenly, what I had considered a rather gruesome vision of Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones became less gruesome. I had imagined the gloomy valley of dry bones with the dead rising like ghastly, ghostly figures—like zombies from the horror movies I never watch. But in that moment of light-hearted song, those figures became humorous and almost comical.

No Laughing Matter

In contrast, the original setting of this text was certainly no laughing matter. Ezekiel’s people lived in exile away from their homeland in circumstances that seemed hopeless. A survivor of the destruction of Jerusalem told Ezekiel, “The city has fallen!” (33:21). The people were broken and scattered. They were Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones—a great crowd of people once full of life, now devastated by exile and drained of every ounce of energy. Dead, dry, and disconnected, they had no vitality of their own, no way to pull themselves together and be the community they once were.

Could they live again? It seemed impossible, underscored by Ezekiel’s observation that the bones were “very dry” (verse 2). They gave no sign of life. But in Ezekiel’s divinely inspired vision, the resurrection power of God raised them to new life! For Ezekiel’s people, his vision was neither gruesome nor comical. His vision radiated hope for their future.

A Vision of Hope

In Ezekiel’s vision, new life in the valley began with the word of God:

Prophesy to these bones, and say to them:
“O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord” (verse 4).

So Ezekiel prophesied over them just as God directed him, and the dry, dead bones responded. With a great noise and shaking, the bones came together, until a vast army came to life and stood up in that valley. The scene mirrored the creation account of Genesis 1, when God spoke and created the entire universe and everything in it. Now in Ezekiel’s vision, God spoke again, and re-created life.

When African American author and songwriter James Weldon Johnson and his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson wrote Dem Bones in the 1920s, they included this line: “Now hear the word of the Lord.” In their original song, that line repeats a number of times—at the end of the first verse, throughout the song, and as the final touch at the very end. With that repetition, the song directs attention to the word of the Lord, reflecting the scripture reading where God’s word was central to Ezekiel’s vision.

Now Hear the Word of the Lord

But when I checked the song online, I found many different versions, and a number of those versions omit the word of the Lord altogether. So, for example, instead of ending with “Now hear the word of the Lord,” one version of the song ends with “Dem noisy, dry bones.” Another ends with a rather breezy dismissive: “And that’s the way it goes.”

I also discovered several cartoon versions with animated skeletons apparently doing a happy dance. And those versions ended with “Doin’ the skeleton dance.” Or “Let’s shake them skeleton bones.” Those versions certainly add humour, but they also miss the point of Ezekiel’s encounter with God in his vision. They missed that ringing affirmation and challenge: “Now hear the word of the Lord.”

After all, without the word of the Lord, Ezekiel was at a loss in answering the Lord’s question: “Can these bones live?” (v. 3). That seemed impossible. Without the word of the Lord, the valley of bones would have remained still and silent. Without the word of the Lord, there would have been no bone connecting with bone, no new flesh, no new life, and certainly no dancing. Just as in the creation account of Genesis 1, so in our text from Ezekiel, the word of the Lord played a critical role and set everything in motion.

The Resurrection Power of God

What God’s word began, the Spirit of God continued to completion. By the resurrection power of God, those dry bones lived again!  

Ezekiel’s vision ended with a word from God addressed directly to the people. As if to reinforce the vision of dry bones coming to life, God said, “You shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people” (v. 13). One day, their long exile would be over. One day, they would return home with joy and purpose. One day, they would be fully alive once more as a community of God’s people.

Like Ezekiel and his people, our world today could use a fresh vision of hope. We have our own valleys of dry bones today. In the conflict between Israel and Palestine, in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, armed conflict in Syria and Sudan and Ethiopia and Afghanistan, and in too many other places around the world. We have our own disconnected and dry bones in our personal lives and among people we know—broken relationships in families, deep grief over the death of loved ones, people in our communities struggling with food insecurity, housing insecurity, mental health insecurity, addiction, and other challenges.

Can these dry bones live? we might well ask. Can broken and disconnected communities today be restored? Can Ezekiel’s vision possibly be for us too?

Now Hear the Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God, the answer comes to us in the New Testament, when God spoke again by sending Jesus, the Living Word of God, through whom everything was created. The Gospel of John says, “ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people” (John 1:4). God’s promise of new life in the valley was not only for the prophet Ezekiel and his people. But for all people. God’s resurrection power was at work not only for the prophet Ezekiel and his people. But for all people.

Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones was about the survival of his people, the survival of a whole community. In the late 1900s, Ezekiel’s vision was preached by African American pastors concerned for the survival of their people, concerned for the survival of their whole community. In that context, Dem Bones would become a kind of anthem in the struggle for racial equality. It spoke to people looking for connection, looking for new life, looking for transformed relationships.

More recently, British-born rapper M.I.A. did her own take on Dem Bones:

Head bone connects to the neck bone…
Neck bone connects to the arm bone…
Arm bone connects to the hand bone…
Hand bone connects to the internet…
connected to the Google…
connected to the government.

Is that our digital skeleton today, where the internet has become so much a part of us? Is the song a lament? Or perhaps a warning: “to recognize the patterns, to become aware of the cycle, and to question the status quo of our plugged-in lives.”

Like many contemporary versions of Dem Bones, M.I.A.’s version omits the line repeated in the original: “Now hear the word of the Lord.” But as we consider the many social concerns of our day: whether it’s technology or the ongoing struggle for racial equality, or the ongoing violence in our world, or whatever else we might think of, we need that affirmation and challenge: “Now hear the word of the Lord.”

In this Advent season, may we be like Ezekiel and hear the word of the Lord. May we witness God’s resurrection power in our lives and in the world at large. May we find new life in the valley.