Breathed to Life

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, 2 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. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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, KJV 1900)

In this passage the profit Ezekiel has a vision from God about a Vally of Dry bones. The people had fallen so far from God, that they had become consumed by death. Despite their assumption that they knew God, there was no life in them. They were dead in their religion; lifeless, a waste, a graveyard. Yet, the Lord promised to reclaim them, to revive them, to put life in them once more.. After He does this, then they will know HE is the Lord!

Notice the Lord does this in a process, done in two stages, and with a glorious end result.

The first time He breaths on the bones they regain form. They become physical bodies, restored, but still lacking breath. They are no longer a pile of disjoined brittle bones, but they had not yet received the breath of life. The bones are pulled together, the ligaments and tendons are set in their places, the muscles are joined and the skin covers them. They are no longer dry, brittle and lifeless. They take form, they are recognizable again once they are brought back together.

Ezekiel standing amazed still could not help but notice something was missing from these restored bodies. He instantly noticed their lifelessness. They have no breath, no motion, and no consciousness. They were still lacking every sign of life. It is in this moment that God tells Ezekiel that He will breathe life into the slain.

When He does this the true transformation occurs. This time they are animated, brought to their feet, and become a great army. God’s army. Not an army for war, but for witness. That the world might know that “I Am”, is God, the Lord”.