Ezekiel 37:12

Open your graves. In v. 2 the bones were represented as “in the open valley.”

Here they are spoken of as being in their graves. The new figure may point to the larger promise of awakening those who have gone to their graves in the hope of the kingdom of God. There is no apparent reason why this glorious prospect should be withheld from the pioushearted in Israel. Such an event was to mark the climactic consummation of the whole restoration. On the other hand, this prophecy should not be taken as primarily a forecast of the final resurrection at the end of the Christian Era. God’s original plan for a restoration, culminating in a resurrection, was not realized by literal Israel. That which God would have accomplished with the nation of Israel will now be worked out through the Christian church. With circumstances thus altered, certain features of the prophecy are changed. NT writers have the function of informing us how these prophecies, which should have met an earlier fulfillment, will ultimately meet their application (see pp. 35-38). These writers clearly describe the time and the circumstances of the final resurrection (John 5:28, 29; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17; Rev. 20:1-5; etc.).