What is in a Name?

Life to these dry bones... taking the Word of Life to the dry bones of Rome, Italy

This is the title of my blog and I want to explain what that means and where I got the idea. When I was praying and seeking God's direction concerning being a missionary in Italy the Lord took me to Ezekiel. I have read bits and pieces of Ezekiel before and was familiar with the passage in Ez 37 called The Valley of Dry Bones. I sat down and read Ez 37 and it was as if the words jumped off the page! Read the passage for yourself...

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "Sovereign LORD, you alone know."

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'"

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones come together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'" So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet - a vast army.

Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.'"

************************************************************************************

After I read this I thought about what God was really calling me to do. He is calling me to go into a very dry nation and speak the Gospel, to prophecy life into dry lives (bones). WOW! It was like God was talking to me just as much as Ezekiel.

I felt the Lord ask me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" Nicole, can the people of Italy have life? And my response was the same as Ezekiel's, "Lord, you alone know!" And of course God's response is always right, just and true. Just as He called Ezekiel to prophecy breath into the dry bones, He is calling me to speak/prophecy breath of life into the dry souls of people in Italy.

In this passage God was talking to Ezekiel about the nation of Israel. In this passage God is talking to me about the nation of Italy. But there really isn't a difference. Both of these nations have hardened their hearts toward the Sovereign Lord, bowed down to idols, and rejected their creator. The one who gave them their very breath!

I wanted the title of my blog to express what I truly believe God has called me to do. And that is to take the Word of Life (the Gospel of Jesus Christ) to the dry bones (the dead souls) of the amazing people of Rome, Italy.

~Nicole