Breath, Life, and One Nation

Ezekiel 37 is the most famous vision in the book. Ezekiel says the hand of Yahweh was on him, and he was set down in a valley full of bones, very many and very dry. They pictured an army long dead. God's question, Son of man, can these bones live? had no human answer. Ezekiel's reply, that only the Lord knew, expresses humble faith.

The bones came to life in two stages. First, at Ezekiel's word they rattled together and were covered with sinews, flesh, and skin, but there was no breath in them. Second, Ezekiel prophesied to the breath, and it entered them. The Hebrew word ruach means breath, wind, and Spirit, and the chapter plays on all three. Like Adam in Genesis 2, the bodies were formed first, then given the breath of life.

God interpreted the vision: the bones are the whole house of Israel. They said, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost. God promised to bring them out of their graves of exile, put his Spirit in them, and bring them home. The sign of the two sticks promised that the divided kingdoms would become one under one shepherd, David. God's tent would be with them. In the New Testament, Romans 8:11 says that the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies.