This famous vision of the Valley of Dry Bones is given to the prophet Ezekiel in Babylonia shortly after the fall of Jerusalem to Babylonia in 587 B.C. As in 1:3 and 8:1, the prophet is seized “by the hand of the Lord,” that is, he is sent into an ecstatic state in which he is given to see new reality.

Israel considers itself to be dead in exile (cf. 33:10; Isaiah 53:8-9). She has lost her land, her temple, her davidic king, her covenant, and her relationship with her God. The forces of death have overwhelmed her, and now her exiles are without the possibility of life, like long-dry bones, scattered aimlessly about a parched and desolate valley. No human help can restore her. She is beyond all hope.

Ezekiel therefore hears the enigmatic question asked him by God, “Son of man, can these b…