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ezekiel 37:1-14

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Ezekiel 37:1-14

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”

— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

1. The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which [was] full of bones, 2. And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, [there were] very many in the open valley; and, lo, [they were] very dry. 3. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD. 7. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but [there was] no breath in them. 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. 10. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13. And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14. And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken [it], and performed [it], saith the LORD.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Ezekiel 37:1

Theological / Devotional

The hand of the Lord. Chapter 37 consists of two parts: the vision of the dry bones, and (vs. 15-28) a symbolical act forecasting the future union of Israel and Judah. The vision of the dry bones was designed to illustrate how Israel, scattered and seemingly hopeless, would be revived and restored.

The question may be raised, To what degree is this prophecy concerned with the future resurrection? Many hold that such an application was not at all in the prophet’s mind and that the symbol is fully explained by a restoration of the national life of the people. The most natural way to apply the prophecy is in terms of God’s plan for the revival of the Jewish state. This would ultimately be followed by a literal resurrection, when the patriarchs, together with all the holy men of God, would be raised to share in the new kingdom. It is not necessary to exclude this event entirely from the symbolism. The whole symbolism is intended to describe how events would have evolved in that period and subsequently if the Jews had cooperated with God for the working out of His design for them. But unbelief and disobedience thwarted the divine purpose. NT writers must be consulted as to how these events, which should have met a literal fulfillment in the postexilic period, will be achieved in the Christian Era with spiritual Israel (see pp. 35, 36).

Valley. Heb. biq‘ah, the word translated “plain” in ch. 3:22. Perhaps the same place is designated.

By SdaBc

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