May 28: The Breath that Revives Dry Bones

 

By: Dr. Alicia Valasse-Polius 

Odsan SDA Church; St. Lucia 

“Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.” Ezekiel 37:5

Bones. Rigid, living, protector of organs, facilitator of mobility, keeper of minerals.

Now, dry bones…that’s certainly something else.

Venture with me reader to a valley …not your typical butterflies-flapping-their-wings kind of valley, or your standard flat-floored sanctuary for plants, wildlife and meandering waterways. This is a valley of death. That state of being when you get excited to complete secular tasks but remain constantly sluggish in spiritual things. Valley. That mindset where you play Church, and you know that you are playing Church, but you play Church anyway. Valley. That place where you have been waiting, waiting, waiting, and you can no longer find God in the waiting. Valley. That inner disconnection you feel in your relationship with the Creator. Valley. That detachment you feel from Christian purpose. Valley.

Well, exiled Israel found itself in a similar predicament, captured in God's revealing of spiritual death - the Valley of Dry Bones. The God of Second Chances sets Ezekiel “down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones”, causing him “to pass by them round about” (Ezekiel 37: 1-2). And these bones “were very dry” and scattered. A walk through the valley revealed a bleak death scene - the grave of exiled Israel; a separated house, a conquered lineage carrying the shame and curse of the dead who were left unburied in Ancient Israelite Culture (Deuteronomy 28:26), a seemingly hopeless existence, “cut off” from the source of Life for so long.

“Son of man, can these bones live?” asked the Lord of the Resurrection (Ezekiel 37:3). Can these empty, dispersed, disgraced structures live again? A prophet, devout and obedient, knows that “with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37). So he answers, “O Lord God, thou knowest” (Ezekiel 37:3). Then God directs as he always does, "Prophesy to these bones”. Say to them, “Hear the word of the Lord” - the word that never returns “void” but accomplishes God’s purpose, God’s desire, God’s will (Isaiah 55:11).

At the word of the Lord, “sinews and flesh came upon” the once parched bones, “and skin covered them”, but “there was no breath” (Ezekiel 37:8). No breath …until “the breath of the Almighty” gave life (Job 33:4). No breath…no life really without “the breath of the Almighty”.

In every dispensation, every circumstance, “the breath of the Almighty” can will life into the dead. It can wake up the spiritually comatose and “stir up the gift of God” in the backsliding believer (2 Timothy 1:6). It can resurrect deadness and create awareness in the Laodicean. It is Hope in every seemingly hopeless situation. So, to the individual who is dead in the Valley of alcoholism, debt and social alienation, the “breath of the Almighty” can restore and comfort. And to the ones dead in the valley of peer shaming and sexual gossip culture, “the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead” can “dwell in you and quicken your mortal bodies”...if only you seek Him (Romans 8:11). To the Christian with a drying lamp, pacing on the boundaries of Ministry, these dying bones are awaiting the “breath of the Almighty” to rekindle the spiritual fire that once lit up rooms, awaken streets. To the spiritual leader, moving in survival mode, going through the routines, detached from Ministry - renewal is sure with the “breath of the Almighty”. No situation is beyond his reach.