zeke and the zombies

"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked  me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?'

I said, 'O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.'

Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.''

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered him, but there was no breath in them.

Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet-a vast army." -Ezekiel 37: 1-10

 

I'm a Disney freak (and proud of it, I might add), so naturally I would think of a scene from The Lion King where Simba and Nala are checking out a graveyard full of elephant bones. I can remember as a kid, pretending with my little brother that he and I were Simba and Nala, sliding down our staircase as if it were the inside of an elephant like in the movie. However, what these two cubs experience in the elephant graveyard is not even close to the experience Ezekiel had in the valley. Can you imagine being led by the Lord to a valley full of dry bones-ew, but it's in this valley that he got to see first-hand the work of the Lord come together before his very eyes.

 

I love how God asked a simple question and Zeke (my nickname for Ezekiel) just responds with probably the most perfect reply-one we all should take note of. The Lord asks if Zeke thought the bones in the valley could live. I imagine good ole Zeke looking up at the sky, shoulders shrugged and wearing a kind of dumbfounded look saying, "I don't know God, but you obviously do or you wouldn't have asked me."

 

Can you imagine how different our relationship with the Lord would be if we would just acknowledge the fact that we don't hold the answers, but He does. I know in my own life, that would literally flip my walk with the Lord inside-out and right-side up. Rather than simply looking at the bones resting at his feet, Zeke acknowledges the sovereignty and ability of the Lord.

 

I imagine God smiling, cracking his knuckles (maybe not, but that's what I do when I get ready to get to work), and then giving Zeke his instructions. Zeke follows what God commanded and something incredible began to take place. Bones began to zip together, like magnets, forming skeletons, then muscles started forming together around the bones, and skin to form around the muscles.

 

I don't know what Zeke's reaction was while he was speaking the words instructed to him from God, but I think my jaw would be at my ankles and my eyes would literally be bulging out of my head. He literally just saw what was dead come back to life, except not. Why not, you ask?

 

The body was there, but there was no breath.

 

(Allow me to, "chase a rabbit" for a second,as my dad would say) According to zombiebiology.com, a zombie is, "a human that has died for a period of time and re-animated with a reconfigured central nervous system and without a beating heart."GASP. ZOMBIES...BIBLICAL ZOMBIES! All I'm saying is AMC, all comic book writers, and Hollywood producers probably think they hit the jackpot when they created all the zombie shows, cartoons, etc., but I've got news for them. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts..." Isaiah 55:8 The God I serve created them long before they were on the big screen and in comics. (Consider the rabbit chased.)

 

Here stands before Zeke, a vast number of breathless bodies.

 

What I find absolutely inspiring about Zeke, is that while watching an incredible resurrection take place while he is carrying out the message God instructed him to, he doesn't stop. I would be pulling out my phone to Instagram, Tweet, and Facebook what was going on, but Zeke obediently does what was instructed of him, and when he finishes that task, God gives him the words to speak next and he does it- no questions asked. No time to recover from the shock of watching bones come together, then muscles, then skin.

 

I have to think that he might have been wondering what move God would make next, therefore he did what was asked of him, so that he could experience what would take place next. And he was right.

 

He watched as God breathed life into the vast number of once dry bones. He watched as what was once dead was instantly brought to life through the power of both the Word of God and the breath of God.

 

I love the way Louie Giglio describes the scene that takes place in Ezekiel 37, "The Word of God comes first, then the breath of God...the breath makes all the difference."

 

I have been reading a book that I purchased at the Passion Conference this past February. This passage from Ezekiel 37 was used in one of the chapters and it literally has been stuck in my mind the last day or so. As I reflected over these few passages, I was reminded of Romans 6:11

"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ."

 

You and I were once dead-to sin that is. We were the real life walking dead, but through the Word of God and the breath given to us by Him, we are made alive.

 

I don't know about you, but I'm incredibly thankful to be breathing. Though each breath I take could easily be my last, I know that those breaths are saturated in life-eternal life found in Jesus Christ.

Are you waiting to catch your breath? Wait no longer, the Lord desires to breath life into and have a personal relationship with you. Don't hold keep holding your breath. Take a deep breath. Breath Him in and taste and see that the Lord is good.