RTW 2024

Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”

Ezekiel 37:9

“I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms.” 
Ezekiel 37:22

•  רוּחַ ruach: wind, breath, spirit
• Spirit and wind and breath are rooted in the same Hebrew word. Ruach was a symbolic, a spiritual thing to the Israelites because it was a picture of God’s life, breath, spirit. They did not have meteorology or understanding of the science of wind, so when it came from a certain direction they often equated meaning with it. We can be reminded that wind is a picture of something we see and feel the effects of, but not the thing itself.
• The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit [ruach] of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
  Genesis 1:2
• Why 4? “You must put four tassels on the hem of the cloak with which you cover yourself—on the front, back, and sides.”
  Deuteronomy 22:12
• Tallit: prayer shawl, Tzitzit: tassels, Mitzvah: command, Kanaf: wing or corner
• “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”
  Exodus 19:4
• “Say therefore to the Israelites: I am the LORD, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.  I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians.”
  Exodus 6:6-7 (NRSVUE)
• He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
  Isaiah 11:12 (NRSVUE)
• “You, O mortal, thus says the LORD God to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.”
  Ezekiel 7:2 (NRSVUE)

Ask God to breathe life into us, and to help us breathe life into others.