Ezekiel 37
McGeeCHAPTER 37THEME: Vision of the valley of dead bones, picturing the Resurrection of Israel
Ezekiel 37:1
THE VISION OF THE VALLEY OF DEAD BONESIn this chapter we have the vision of the valley of dead bones which served as the basis for a Negro spiritual written some years ago, entitled, “Dem Bones.” The interpretation of this chapter concerns the future restoration of Israel. That restoration has to do both with the national entity of Israel as well as the spiritual revival or restoration which the Lord announced in the preceding chapter. We have here a remarkable vision, and I would like to make it very clear that this vision does not have to do with the resurrection of the dead saints of the church. That is the giant leap in interpretation made by the many who spiritualize the prophetic section of the Old Testament. My friend, when we take prophecy literally, it will make sense. We are talking here about the nation Israel, and we are not talking about a spiritual or physical resurrection of individuals. In my notes I have labeled this chapter, “The Resurrection of Israel,” and I think that is a good title, but it is sometimes misunderstood. Some think that I am referring to the raising of the dead from Abraham on. It has no reference to that, but it definitely refers to the nation of Israel. God gives to Ezekiel a real living parable and to do so He takes him to the valley of dead bones: Before Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, Ezekiel was transported to Jerusalem (see ch. 8), and I do not believe God had any difficulty doing that. If man today can make a jet plane which can carry him halfway around the world in half a day, I see no reason why God cannot do something which is commensurate with who He is. So I don’t think that God had any difficulty getting Ezekiel up and taking him to Jerusalem. Here again, I believe God literally moves Ezekiel. When Ezekiel says that He “carried me out in the spirit of the LORD,” he is saying that the Spirit of the Lord carried him out to the valley which was full of bones.
Ezekiel 37:2
Back in 1849, Lewis Manly and his partner by the name of John Rogers crossed Death Valley in California to bring back supplies to the stranded Bennett-Arcane party. The Bennett-Arcane group had mistakenly wandered into Death Valley and would have perished if these two men had not crossed the valley to rescue them. They were actually the first white men to cross this valley and gaze upon its grand scene of death and desolation. Few men have seen such sights, but what Ezekiel saw some twenty-five hundred years earlier must have been even more bleak. He saw a vision of another “death valley,” more desolate, more fearsome, and more awesome than Death Valley, California. The valley which Ezekiel saw was filled with dead bones, and the thing which characterized them is that they were very dry and they were scattered.
Ezekiel 37:3
These bones scattered all over the place are human bones, and the question that is put to Ezekiel is, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel answers, “O Lord GOD, thou knowest.” In other words, he said, “I don’t see how they could. It’s beyond meYou alone know whether these dead bones can live or not!”
Ezekiel 37:4
This is something rather ironical and even humorous. I have always insisted that God has a sense of humor, and here is an illustration of that. If you can’t see where it’s funny, that’s all rightjust pass it by. But imagine Ezekiel now as God says to him, “Prophesy on these bones. Start out by saying, ‘O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’” I have a notion Ezekiel said, “Now, Lord, you really don’t mean for me to start talking to these dry bones here! The man with the white coat and the net will be out looking for me if I do that!” Really, that isn’t a very good sermon introduction is it? No preacher would begin by saying to his Sunday morning congregation, “Oh, you dry bones!” A friend of mine (who also has a good sense of humor) said to me, “You know, I have a congregation with which I’d like to begin as Ezekiel didthe bones I speak to are as dry as Ezekiel’sbut I don’t dare do that.” Ezekiel is looking out on this valley filled with dry bones, and he’s to speak to them. Every congregation that a preacher speaks to includes those who are saved and those who are unsaved. Those who are saved may have ears to hear, but do not hear. And the ones who are not saved are dead in trespasses and sinsthey haven’t been redeemed yet. The preacher is just as helpless as Ezekiel, for any preacher who understands the real state and condition of those who are lost recognizes his own helplessness in speaking to them. Ezekiel is to say to these bones, “I want you to hear what God has to say.”
Ezekiel 37:5
God says, “I want you to speak to them and tell them I’ll be the One who will give them life.” That is our condition todayif God doesn’t move, no one has spiritual life. I receive letters from people who say, “You saved me.” My friend, I save no one. I just speak to dry bones, giving them the Word of Godthat’s all I do. The Spirit of God is the One who has to bring life. That is the only way life can come. This is the application of these verses; we are going to see that they also have a tremendous interpretation.
Ezekiel 37:7
“So I prophesied as I was commanded"this man Ezekiel obeys God. “There was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.” This is the point where that Negro spiritual, “Dem Bones,” is really accuratewhen the bones start coming together. I’m of the opinion Ezekiel had a rather funny feeling when in his vision he saw all these bones come together!
Ezekiel 37:8
We have here a method which I want you to notice. The first state of the bones is that they are scattered, dry, and dead. Then gradually they come together, and the sinews and flesh come upon them. This is a processit is not instantaneous at all. At this point in the vision all you have is a bunch of bodies, actually corpses; it is just an undertaking establishment down in that valley. They are no longer bones, but bodies with flesh upon them. They are human beings even, but they do not have any life in them.
Ezekiel 37:9
Ezekiel spoke, and life came into those bodies. What happened here resembles the creation of man at the very beginning. God took man of the dust of the earth; Ezekiel started with bones, but God didn’t. God started with just the dirt of the earth, and then He breathed life into man. Now what has happened to these bones has occurred in three stages: (1) they were scattered bones, just as dead as they could be; (2) then they came together, and flesh and skin came upon themthey were bodies, but dead bodies; and finally (3) they were made alive. We will find in these three stages a real key to understanding Bible prophecy concerning the nation Israel. Now this verse explains the meaning of the vision:
Ezekiel 37:11
“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.” We are not talking here about the church; we are talking about the house of Israel. “Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.” You see, the people in captivity had gone from one extreme to another. As long as Jerusalem had stood and the false prophets continued to say they would return, they maintained a false hope. Now that Jerusalem has been destroyed, they go to the other extremethey have what psychologists call manic depressive psychosis. They are in a bad state: they were high up one day, but now they have hit the very depths. They say, “We have no hope.” This vision is being given to them to let them know they do have a hope, and it is for the whole house of Israel.
Ezekiel 37:12
After reading this verse, someone is apt to say, “Wait a minute. You said this vision was not concerning physical resurrection.” I still insist upon that. Let’s drop down to verse Eze_37:21:
Ezekiel 37:21
This is what God meant in verse Eze_37:12 when He said, “I will cause you to come up out of your graves.” Israel is buried in the nations of the world, and they are to be brought back and become a nation again. I want to say something very carefully now concerning the three stages of the bones Ezekiel saw. I have said they are the key to understanding the future of the nation Israel, and I now want to add that if there is any place we have fulfilled prophecy, it is in these three stages. I don’t go much for finding prophecy being fulfilled on every hand, but I do see it here. Follow me carefully: The nation Israel was buried and scattered in the nations of the world, and was dead to God, dead to the things of Godthat’s the first stage of the bones that we saw. Now since 1948 they have come back as a nation, but it is really a corpse over there today. They have a flag, they have a constitution, they have a prime minister, and they have a parliament.
They have a police force and an army. They have a nation, and they even have Jerusalem. They have everything except spiritual life. If you walk from the old Arab section of Jerusalem where Islam dominates and come over into the Israeli section, there is no spiritual life. I want to say this kindly, but, as far as I am concerned, there is as much spiritual deadness on the one side as the other. There is a great deal more of that which is materialistic, which is intellectual, and which denotes civilization on the Israeli side, but there is no spiritual life whatsoever.
This is symbolized by the second stage of the bonesbodies, but without life. That is where Israel stands today. In verses Eze_37:15-28 Ezekiel mentions two sticks. I will not go into any detail here other than to say that they typify the northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) kingdoms which will again become one nation. This means, my friend, that there must not be any “ten lost tribes of Israel"at least, if there are, God knows where they are, and I am confident that it is not Great Britain which will be joined to them in that land!
Ezekiel 37:22
God will make them one nation.
Ezekiel 37:24
That one Shepherd is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. When He came, He was born in the line of David. Read Matthew 1; Luke 1 and 2both very carefully record that He came in the line of David. The One that came in that line is the Shepherd, and He will rule over them. I personally believe that God will raise up David to reign over Israel, either in the Millennium or in the eternal Kingdom which will be ushered in immediately following the Millennium. Some commentators say he will reign in the Millennium; others say it will be the eternal Kingdom. I believe he will reign during both, that he will serve as the vice-regent of the Lord Jesus Christ down here on this earth.
Ezekiel 37:28
This is going to come to passit has not yet come to pass. “When my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.” There will be a millennial temple for an eternal temple down here on the earth. In Revelation where it speaks of there not being a temple, it is referring to the New Jerusalem, which is where the church will be and which is not to be upon this earth. The eternal home of the children of Israel will be upon this earth, and God’s temple will be in their midst. Although there is no doubt that Israel is the subject of Ezekiel, and especially of chapters 37-39, we can certainly make an application of it for our personal lives. The world that you and I live in today is a death valley, full of dead bones, dead people, if you please. Oh, people talk about being alive and say they are where the action is, but they are really dead in trespasses and sins.
They have no spiritual life. That is the reason they have to have a drink or two, or take some sort of drugs, or do something to liven up the old corpse. God has made it very clear that “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1Jn_5:12). If you have the Son of God, you have life. If you do not have the Son, you are dead. There are two kinds of people: live people and dead people. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (Joh_3:36). That means that the person without the Son is dead. God is saying to you today that you are dead if you are not a Christian. Ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord. You can come to life. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. This is the application we can draw from this portion of Scripture, but the subject of the prophecy is the nation Israel.