We have all described ourselves as being out of breath. It is a common figure of speech to describe the feeling after physical exertion, perhaps due to strong fumes or smoke. The truth is that saying we are out of breath is an exaggeration because if we were truly unable to breathe, we would quickly die from lack of oxygen.
In Genesis, God formed man from dust and breathed life into him. Man was the only of God's creations to have life breathed into them. All the others were spoken into existence. By doing this, God imparted Himself into his creation.
In our text, Ezekiel has a vision of being taken into a valley of death. There, God asks him if the dead bones could live again. He describes the bones as dry, meaning they had been dead for a long time. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones, and he does. There was noise and a shaking, and the bones began to move and reconnect. The bones appeared like a body when it was over, but there was still no life. There are a lot of places in life with noise and movement, but it is still dead and lifeless. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy again. When he did, breath returned to the bodies, and they stood again as a great army. Without the breath of God, we have nothing. Can these dry bones live? Is there hope for our situation? We must have more than noise and shaking; we must pursue the breath of God.
