Ezekiel 37:1-14--The Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-14
English Standard Version

The Valley of Dry Bones
37 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on 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 on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”

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This passage goes right along with the last.  I think it is because of the last passage that Ezekiel understands the vision so well and answers correctly when the LORD asks him, "Can these bones live?" Ezekiel will answer, "O Lord GOD, you know it."  That is both a statement of faith that Ezekiel believes they will live again, but also puts the focus on the LORD and His Name and glory--it will not happen apart from His will and timing.  The LORD gives Ezekiel a vision of a valley of dry bones that represented the people of Israel that were doubly-dead like these bones that were dried out and ready to turn to bone-dust if anyone would disturb them.

There was no life in these bones and no one would expect old, dry bones like this to live again, but Ezekiel knew the LORD could do what seemed impossible.  He could bring the doubly-dead people and nation of Israel back to life again.  First the LORD caused flesh and sinew to come on top of the old bones so they had a new body, but that wasn't enough.  This wasn't something that was simply an external change that needed to happen where you could slap a new skin on them and they'd be alive again.  No, this required something that only God could give.  He breathed His Spirit into the first man and He would need to do so again to this nation to give them new life.  He would put His Spirit within them as He had just promised in the last chapter and they would experience regeneration (they would be born again).

Why would the LORD do such a thing?  Because this would be a miracle that only the LORD could do, and it would restore His great Name among the nations and bring Him much glory.  However, it's also part of His greater plan and purpose that will bring even more glory and honor to His Name.  It is also a picture of how God can save any of us that are dead in our trespasses and sins and give us new life.  As Jesus would say in John 3, "You must be born again."  He expected Nicodemus to understand this because he was an expert teacher of the Old Testament, and he should have known these passages from Jeremiah and Ezekiel that spoke of regeneration and the need of individuals and the nation of Israel to be born again.  It is the same way the Gentiles are saved and it is the same today as it was then.  It is only by a miraculous work of God that any of us are born again and saved because none of us can do anything to help ourselves, just like these bones can do nothing to make themselves live again.  It is the Spirit of the LORD that does it all and He alone gets all the glory, honor and praise.