The vision of the valley of dry bones in chapter 37 of Ezekiel is as spooky as any Halloween story. It is also an excellent Bible lesson for Christian kids on Halloween.
Ezekiel 37:1-4 details a prophecy revealed to the prophet Ezekiel. In the vision, Ezekiel sees himself standing in a valley full of dry, human bones. He is commanded to carry a prophecy, and before him the bones connect into human skeletons and are given tendons, flesh, skin, and eventually breath.
The bones are revealed to be the people of Israel, and God promises to open up their graves and bring them back to life. "I will put my Spirit in you and you will live" (v. 14).
You can use this vision-story to talk about how this prophecy is fulfilled in Christ, and how Jesus defeats death and reverses its power.
Ezekiel 37: 1-14 | The Valley of Dry Bones
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. 2 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. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lordsays to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 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.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 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.’ 12 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.13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 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.’”
Dry Bones Skeleton Crafts
Skeletons are the perfect craft to go with this Bible verse.
We did two versions of this: a mixed media paint-googly eyes-construction paper skeleton craft, and a Q-tip skeleton craft.
Material Needed
- glue
- paper
- paint
- googly eyes
- crayons
- Q-tips (for the Q-tip skeleton)
Instructions
Super simple. Glue your paper bone, or your paper skull on your paper, and then build your skeleton (with paint or Q-tips) around it.
More Skeleton Crafts
There are a lot of skeleton crafts that you can do to go with Ezekiel 37. Here are some easy & adorable ones.
Q-Tip skeleton from All Free Crafts. This is cute, super simple to make, aninexpensive.
Skeleton ripped paper craft from A Little Pinch of Perfection. This is another simple and inexpensive skeleton craft to make.
Clay sugar skulls from Lets Do Something Crafty. These adorable skulls are made from clay, and can be made into necklaces.
This skull garland from Scrum Dilly Dilly is also adorable and super simple to make. (All you need is paper, scissors, and markers.)
Bringing in Ezekiel 37 and talking about its fulfillment in Christ is an amazing way to redeem Halloween, still have some spooky fun, and keep God at the center.