322. Breathe on the Slain
Ezekiel 37:9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy son of man, and say to the wind. Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
When the Holy Spirit (the wind) breathes on someone, that person lives. We, who have been slain by Sin and subject to Death, are breathed upon through the prophecy of the Word of God by the Wind of the Spirit. Then we live. Real living and true life comes from the Word and the Spirit. We were dead in the spirit when we were born with no hope of knowing God or knowing life. But then the Spirit through the Word breathed upon us and gave us life.
We, as sinners, are ever in danger of returning to spiritual death, disease, pain and suffering, since every sin brings a little death. When the sin is forgiven we return to life. We receive the forgiveness of sins when the Spirit breathes life into us. Since we die a little every day, we need to be resurrected and made alive again a little every day. We could not live long or well without the sweet, life-giving Gospel. Prophecy comes to us through the reading, hearing, discussing and learning the Bible. The Breath of God gently breathes life into us again and again. We should use this promise and not try to live too long without hearing the Word of Law and Gospel.
Just like we need to breathe in fresh air every few seconds to keep alive physically, so also we need to breathe in the fresh air of the Spirit to keep alive spiritually. The dry bones will live; the dry spirit will live. Thank God for the Prophets and Apostles who prophesy to the four winds: the Spirit blows and breathes new life. That’s a promise. We may sometimes say we went to church, read the Bible, attended a Bible study, took Communion, and responded by saying our prayers, and then went away empty: “I got nothing out of that.” But that is not true, according to the Promise. The Holy Spirit is always present with the Word of gospel and forgiveness to breathe life. God does not promise you will always feel the life; He says you have life. Believe it.