Week 1 August 2026 – REFLECTION ON THINGS THAT RATTLE

“Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley…”  Ezekiel 37:7

Quite suddenly as well, I may be stirred from deep sleep by the strong rattling of my upstairs bedroom window.  A jet headed for landing at nearby Van Nuys airport, is flying unusually low.  Family nerves were rattled after a jet intentionally crashed into New York’s twin towers and in the wake of the 911 disaster, all air traffic across our nation was halted for one week.  The abnormal silence was unnerving.  Parents tiptoe into the baby’s room at the playful sound of the rattle, but run like heck from the grassy hillside backyard at the ominous sound of a snake’s rattle. More to be feared is Leviathan, the legendary crocodile of Job 41:29.  He regards clubs raised against him as “stubble” and “laughs at the rattling of the javelin.”

Way more beastly was the Northridge Earthquake that occurred at 4:31 AM on January 17, 1994.  It rattled our house so badly it became unlivable for 6 months.  Lasting only seconds, it toppled freeway overpasses like building blocks.  57 people died, while thousands were injured and left homeless due to collapsed homes and apartment buildings.  What left residents even more shaken was the fact that an unknown fault line in the San Fernando had triggered SOCAL’s most devastating earthquake. This meant the BIG one lurking on the San Andreas Fault could suddenly make for even bigger national headlines.  While driving down from our mountain cabin with the dogs, I visited with my husband at a hotel near our home.  He went there daily to feed our cats and check on the repair work.  Driving through some neighborhoods, I was struck by how many facades had fallen off and were still littering lawns and driveways.  Not keen on having my nerves rattled some more, I choose not to recall the taxing common hassles that were perpetuated by foot-dragging insurance companies.

Israel’s religious veneer had fallen off to the point of forceful removal to Babylon for 70 years. Having hit rock-bottom in their relationship with Yahweh, a future stripped of hope and recovered purpose seemed inevitable.  Not surprisingly to Christ’s own today, divine “Seasons of the Suddenlies” are always to be expected. To that end, Ezekiel 37 is a must read.  Verse 7 is guaranteed to topple that gloomy picture.  The post exilic prophet famously heard a “rattling” in the valley of dry bones and when God spoke through him, they came together.  “And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.”  Next, the “son of man” was ordered to prophesy to the breath.  “Then the breath came into them, and they came to life, and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.”  Verses 11-13 identify the dry bones of God’s judgment as the “whole house of Israel” returned home.  “Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it…”  If we see red over current chaos, the red balloons of Pentecostal ruach/pneuma descent, demand we diligently read and pray from the God-breathed Scriptures and expect our best “Season of the Suddenlies.”