Ezekiel 37
Dry bone valley of resurrection
Them dry bones
1I had a vision [1] in which the Spirit of God took me to a valley full of dry bones. 2He led me on a walk through the bones—and there were a lot of them.3He said, “Human, is it possible for these bones to come back to life?” I said, “You’re the Lord God. You’ve got the answer to that one.”
4He said to talk to those bones and tell them this:
Dry bones, the LORD’s about to talk. So, listen. 5This is what the Lord God says. I’m going to put breath in you. I’m bringing you back to life. 6I’m going to slap some muscles and tendons on you and wrap you up in skin. Then I’ll pump some breath into you. You’ll wake up and know that I’m the one who did this, and that I’m the LORD.
7So, I did what he said, and suddenly I heard a rattling. It was the bones. They were starting to move. They began snapping themselves together into human skeletons. 8Ligaments, tendons, and muscles started appearing on the bones, lashing the bones in place. Skin covered it all. But there was no breathing going on.
9Then the LORD said, “Human, talk to the wind. Say, ‘Four Winds, come and breathe on these people who were killed. Breathe on them until they come back to life.’”
10I did what he said. Then the wind came and blew into the bodies, and they began to breathe. When they all stood, I could see there were enough of them to field an army.
Meaning of the dry bones
11The LORD said:Human, the dry bones you saw represent the people of Israel. They complain, “Our bones are dried up. Israel is dead and buried. There’s no hope for our nation anymore.” 12So, I want you to tell them the LORD God says this: I’m going to dig up your graves, pull you up out of them, and march you back to Israel.
13When you see me do that, you’ll know I’m the one who said I would do it and I’m the one who did it. You’ll know I am the LORD. 14I’ll give you my Spirit, who will breathe life back into you. Then I’ll bring you home. When you’re standing on your own land, you will know that I did what I said I would do.
United Israel to come
15The LORD gave me a message:16Human, grab a piece of wood and write this on it: Judah [2] and allied tribes. Then get another piece of wood and write this on it: Joseph’s tribe of Ephraim [3] and the other tribes of Israel. 17Hold them together in your hand as a single piece of wood. 18The people will see you do this, and they’ll ask, “What does this mean?”
19Tell them the Lord God says this: I’m going to put Ephraim and Judah back together and hold them in my hands as one instead of two. 20While you are holding the wood in front of them, 21tell them the Lord God says this:
I’m going to bring back to Israel all the people of Israel scattered among the nations. 22I’ll reunite them as one nation living among the hills of Israel. I’ll give them one king over all the people. Israel will never again split into two nations. They will never have one kingdom in one place and another kingdom in another.
23The nation will never again spiritually defile itself by practicing the disgusting rituals [4] of idol worship. I’ll direct them away from worshipping other gods. I’ll cleanse them of that sin and forgive them. They will become my people, and I will be their God.
24David, [5] my devoted servant, will be their king. He’ll lead them as their only shepherd. They’ll obey my laws and pay careful attention to the directions I've given them. 25They’ll live in the land I gave their ancestor Jacob—the land where their families once lived. They’ll live there with their children and their children's children for generations continuing forever. And my devoted servant David will led them as their prince forever.
26I’ll make a peace treaty with them that will never end. My part of this sacred covenant will be to bless them, make them grow, and to live among them forever. 27The place you will find me is with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28When that happens, the people will know that I have cleansed them of their sins, that I’m living among them, [6] and that I’ll continue to do that forever. The people of Israel will know I am the Lord.
Footnotes
The word “vision” doesn’t show up in the verse, but it was apparently the most common method prophets and apostles used to communicate with God. They either had a dream or got their messages in a trancelike state (Genesis 20:3; Daniel 2:19; Acts 10:9-10).
The two pieces of wood represent the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Ten northern tribes split from Judah, the dominant tribe of the south—where Jerusalem is located. Northerns left the united kingdom after King Solomon’s son and successor threatened higher taxes and more forced labor to work on royal projects.
Ephraim was a tribe descended from Joseph’s son, Ephraim. It became the leading tribe in the north. Israel’s first capital city was there, Shechem. Later, Samaria became the capital. It was along the northern border of Ephraim with Manasseh, further north.
Rituals reportedly included sacrificing children (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2-5; Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10; 2 Kings 16:3; 17:17; 21:6; and still more) and entertaining the gods by having sex with worship leaders at pagan shrines (Deuteronomy 23:17-18; 1 Kings 14:24; 15:12; 22:46; and more).
David has been dead for about 400 years at this point in Ezekiel’s history. And Zedekiah, the last king of Judah has been captured and blinded, finally ending David’s family dynasty. So, it seems God must be talking about a descendant of David. For Christians, Jesus comes to mind. For many Jewish people, Ezekiel’s reference to David sounds like code for a great leader or messiah—perhaps one in Ezekiel’s lifetime.
“Living among them” is from the Hebrew word miqdas, which can mean a sacred place, worship center, shrine, temple. Some Bibles translate it here as a reference to rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple. But that wouldn’t come for another generation and that temple lasted only until Romans tore it down in AD 70. The temple hasn’t been rebuilt. It would be a hard sell to rebuild it over the 1,400-year-old Dome of the Rock Muslim shrine that now sits on the hilltop where the Temple stood.
Discussion Questions
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