Christ First Forum

[iEzekiel 37

Most Israelites may have doubted God's promise of restoration.

Their present condition militated against tthe possiblility of that being fulfilled.

So God stressed the fact of His sovereign power and ability to carry out these remarkable promises.

Their fulfillment depended on Him, not on circumstances.

Ezekiel reported the vision (v 1-10) and then interpreted it (v 11-14).

Ezekiel 37:1-10
God transported Ezekiel by the Spirit to a valley...full of bones.

There he noticed that the bones...were very dry, bleached and backed under the hot sun.

God asked the prophet a remarkable question: Son of man, can these bones live?

Was there potential for life in these lifeless frames?

Ezekiel knew that humanly speaking it was impossible, so his answer was somewhat guarded.

O, Sovereign Lord, You alone know.

Only God can accomplish such a feat.

God then directed Ezekiel to prophesy to these bones.

The content of his message was God's promised restoration: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.

'Breath' could also be translated 'wind' or 'spirit.'

In 37:14, the same word is tranlated 'Spirit.'

Possibly God had in mind Genesis 2:7.

In creating man, He transformed Adam into a living being by breathing into his nostrils 'the breath of life.'

Whether God was referring to wind, physical breath, the principle of life, or the HS is uncertain.

However the results were obvious.

God gave life to these dead bones.

As Ezekiel was giving this prophecy, he saw a remarkable thing.

The bones came together (37:7), flesh developed, skin covered them, breath entered them and they stood up.

37:11-14
To what did this vision refer?

God said it was about the nation of Israel (the whole house of Israel) that was then in captivity.

Like unburied skeletons, the people were pinning away and saw no end to their judgment.

Our hope is gone; we are cut off.

The surviving Israelites felt their national hopes had been dashed.

Israel had died in the flames of Babylon's attack, and had no hope of resurrection.

The reviving of the dry bones signified Israel's national restoration.

The vision showed that Israel's new life depended on God's power, not outward circumstances: I will open your graves. I will bring you back to the land of Israel.

Also when God restores Israel nationally, He will renew them spiritually.

He will put His Spirit in Israel.

The breath of life the corpses received symbolized the HS, promised in Israel's New Covenant (36:24-28)

The Israelites residing in Palestine today are not the fulfillment of the prophecy.

But it will be fulfilled when God regathers believing Israelites to the land (Jer. 31:33, 33:14-16) when Christ returns to establish His kingdom (Matt 24: 30-31)
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Ezekiel's 37:15-17
Ezekiel was told to take two sticks of wood and to write on one of them the name of Judah and on the other the names of Ephraim and Joseph.

Ezekiel was then to hold them together like one stick.

After Solomon died the nation of Israel split asunder, in 931 B.C.

The Southern Kingdom was known as Judah because Judah was its larger tribe and because the country was ruled by a king from that tribe (1 Kings 12:22-24).

The Northern Kingdom was called Israel, or sometimes Ephraim either because Ephraim was the strongest and most influential tribe or because the first king of Israel, Jeroboam I, was an Ephraimite (1 Kings 11:26).

Israel was taken into captivity by Assyria and 722 BC. and Judah was taken into exile by Babylon in 605, 597,and 586 BC.

37:18-28
The uniting of the sticks pictured God's restoring and reuniting His people in the land as a single nation (Hosea 1:11).

Cleansed from their backsliding...they will be My people, God said, and I will be their God. (11:20; 14:11)

When united, Israel will be led by King David himself.

As God's servant, he will be their one shepherd.

Then God repeated the blessings to be bestowed on the people in the land.

They will have an eternal inheritance there and David...will be their prince.

God's covenant of peace (36:15; Isa 54:10) will be established with them, and His presence will remain with them forever.

The reminder of God's presence will be His sanctuary, His dwelling place.

Then again God added, I will be their God, and they will be My people (11:20; 14:11; 36:28)

These promises anticipate the detailed plans for God's new santuary (ch 40_43).

This literal structure will serve as a visual object lesson to Israel and the nations of God's presence in the midst of His people.][/i]