There are three stories in the Bible where God’s creative power is affirmed by God breathing life into lifeless realities. Ezekiel’s vision of God breathing life into a valley of dry bones is the second of those pivotal stories.
The first story of God breathing life into lifeless reality is found in the second chapter of Genesis. Following the initial creation story told in the first chapter of Genesis where God speaks order to chaos as defined through the days of the week, the second chapter of Genesis defines creation as “the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens” (Genesis 2:4a). While both creation stories witness to the creative power of God, there is a difference in each story’s understanding of how God created humankind.
In the first chapter of Genesis, humanity is the crowning achievement of God’s creative work as God says on the sixth day of creation in Genesis 1:26: “Let us make humankind in our image.” In the second chapter of Genesis, humans are God’s initial act of creation as God breathes life into the human that God has shaped from the lifeless dust of the earth. Genesis 2:7 witnesses to God’s first act of creation as told in Genesis 2:7.
The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)
The third story of God breathing life into lifeless reality is found in the 20th chapter of the Gospel of John where Jesus’ disciples have gathered behind closed doors following Jesus’ crucifixion. Entombed by the fear that they may be next in line, they encounter the reality of God’s new creation as Jesus resurrects them from the lifeless reality of their fears by breathing God’s Holy Spirit into them. John 20:19-23 tells of this pivotal story.
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any they are retained.”
(John 20:19-23)
Between these stories about God breathing life into lifeless reality is Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones. The context for this scripture is that the leaders of the southern kingdom of Judah are living in captivity as exiles in the foreign land of Babylon. It is a devastating lifeless reality that is void of hope as defined by Ezekiel’s vision of very dry bones. These bones are deadly reminders of what had once been life-filled possibilities for the people of Judah. Psalm 137:1 defines the despondency the exiles encountered in Babylon with these words.
Psalm 137:1-6 defines the despondency the exiles encountered in Babylon with these words.
By the rivers of Babylon—there we sat down, and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my righthand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.
The irony of this psalm is that the reason the leaders of Judah were living as exiles in Babylon was because they had not remembered God when they lived in Zion. Even in the lifeless captivity of Babylon, God instructed Ezekiel to share a message of hope that the God of creation who breathed life into dust in Genesis 2:7 is the God of re-creation who can breathe life into very dry bones of hopeless possibilities.
“Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil: then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.
(Ezekiel 37:11-14)
It was in the lifeless reality of Babylon that Ezekiel prophesied of God’s re-creative possibilities as God breathed life into a valley of dry bones. It was in the lifeless reality of lifeless dust that God breathed life into dust in the beginning of creation. It was in the lifeless reality of fearful disciples gathered behind closed doors that Jesus breathed resurrected life into his disciples.
Any dry bones in your life? Maybe it is time to breathe in the presence of God.
Breath of God
by Pastor Marc Brown
March 26, 2023
Accompanying Scriptures: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Fort Hill United Methodist Church
Order of Worship for March 26, 2023
Scripture Lesson Ezekiel 37:1-14
The Good News “Breath of God”
Music “Breathe” by Marie Barnett
Prayer
Blessing
Closing Music “I Want Jesus To Walk With Me” arr. John Carter, feat. Daryl Knott
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