In an unforgettable flash of creative energy, God breathed life into a valley of dry bones. The passage reads like something from The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien, a committed Christian, undoubtedly held Ezekiel 37 in the back of his mind while writing that section).

Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

God called for tendons and flesh and skin. There was noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together…tendons and flesh appeared and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Next, God breathed life into their bodies. Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe life into these slain, that they may live. Breath entered, and born again they stood on their feet—a vast army.

Reminiscent of the creation account in Genesis when the Lord breathed life into Adam, after molding his body from the dust.

Also reminiscent of the cross, where God took one life, and by doing so breathed fresh, eternal life into the world. What were we in our sin but dry bones? Piles of discarded pieces with no spiritual life? The Lord animated you and me, put tendons and flesh together and breathed new life in us. And so we stand before him today.

I will put my Spirit in you and you will live. With the Lord is life. Without the Lord I’m just a bag of bones.

Ezekiel 37 in week forty-five of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Trollinho