Foundations for the Bride: Breath of Life

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

(Ezekiel 37:1-8)

We often think we are alive when, in reality, we look more like death. We are like Israel in Ezekiel 37, represented by dry bones that God brought together with sinews and flesh and skin, but not yet with breath. No life. We can be, at times, gangly and lifeless, and only one step better than dry bones. In this state, we are not prepared for battle.

The ways of the world are darkness. Many of us in the church are comfortable in the darkness because we have never completely walked in the light. We don’t know that we’re one small step of faith away from total freedom.

Ezekiel 37 is a vision that deals in allegory to help us understand a deeper truth. I’d like to do the same with an image of what God wants for the church today that relates back to Ezekiel 37. Picture a 5ft x 5ft x 5ft concrete cube in the middle of a wilderness. It’s a small, individual prison attached to no other structure. You are inside of it. From the inside of the prison, you know that it has a roof, a floor, but only three walls. The fourth is an opening. There are no bars, no window, and no door. One side of the prison is completely open. If someone were to look in from the outside into that opening, all they would see inside is darkness. They would not even see that you are inside. Outside, it is bright daylight. From the inside, you just see darkness. There is a stark, thin line that separates the light outside from the darkness inside. Inside the prison, you don’t realize how close you are to the light and that all it would take is one step through the only opening and you would be completely free. You’re not even sure what the light is because you’re not used to it. Maybe you’ve never been outside.

From the outside, one would see many prison cells like this one, scattered individually in the wilderness and not attached to anything. They are seemingly endless. If someone were watching these cells from the outside, there would be nothing to see except that, occasionally, looking into the many dark openings, one might see a bony, near-lifeless hand reach out from the darkness and into the light, but then draw back quickly in fear.

But now things are changing. There are ones and twos who are stepping out of the darkness. People are coming out of their prison cells. They just take one step, and they are completely in the light. The light is too bright for them at first. They are weak, barely skin and bones, with no hair, and their clothes are nearly worn away. But they are in the light, and God is giving them breath. With time, they gain strength. Their hair grows, and they begin to walk around. They find better clothes. With more time, each of them is running at full strength. More and more people are coming out of their prison cells. More and more people are being strengthened by the light. More and more people are beginning to run. They are free from the darkness and wonder why they didn’t step out sooner. When enough of them are free, there will be an exceedingly great army, ready for battle. And the bride of Christ will be prepared for His return.

Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

(Ezekiel 37:9-10)

All of us on our journey with Christ have to take important steps of faith and obedience. We must simply ask ourselves, “What is God asking me to do?” The breath of God gives life by His Holy Spirit. That resurrection life of God separates us from the darkness and the death of the world. When we hear God and obey, we step into the light. When we do not hear and obey, we sink into darkness, and we look just like the world.

One small step of obedience brings great clarity and opens the door for more. In the same way, one small step away from what God wants makes it harder and harder to even remember what God asked you to do. That is how believers end up in darkness, while just inches from the light.

What will you do? Are you walking as the bride, prepared for Christ’s coming? Where is your freedom lacking? Do you have any reason to repent? Please, let nothing keep you from stepping into the light.