Chapter xxxvii.

The future restoration or Israel, both their national and spiritual revival, which the Lord announced in the previous chapter, is now shown to the prophet in a remarkable vision. The vision emphasizes once more what Jehovah in grace will do for them. "And I will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land" (verse 14). The second half of this chapter predicts the reunion of Judah and Israel represented by two sticks, which are joined together.

I. The Vision of the Dry Bones and their Resurrection.

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which _was_ full of bones. And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, _there were_ very many in the open valley; and, lo, _they were_ very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I _am_ the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but _there was_ no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied, as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived; and Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I _am_ the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken _it_, and performed _it_, saith the Lord (verses 1-14).

Once more the hand of the Lord is upon the prophet, and he is carried out in the Spirit of the Lord and is set down in the midst of a valley. The valley was full of bones and they were very dry. These dry bones, disjointed and bleached, picture in the vision the national and spiritual condition of the whole house of Israel. There was no life in these bones and all is hopeless as they themselves are concerned. Then the Lord spoke to His prophet, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And the prophet answered, "O Lord God, Thou knowest!" Ezekiel knowing the impossibility that these bones could ever live, puts the question of their living upon the Lord. With Him nothing is impossible. He then is commanded to prophesy: "O ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live." And there is to be a complete reconstruction of these dry bones. Sinews and flesh is to cover them and the breath of life is to return. And the prophet speaks the word and there was a noise (literal: voice) and a commotion, bone came to bone, sinews and flesh came into view and skin covered them; but they were still dead, as no breath was in them. Again the prophet is commanded to prophecy, to utter the word: "Thus saith the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." No sooner had the prophet spoken the word as commanded, when suddenly the breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then the Lord explains the vision, so that we are not left in doubt of what is meant by it. The dry bones are typical of the whole house of Israel; they themselves confess "our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts." Thus saith the Lord in answer to their despairing confession, what the vision so strikingly foreshadows, "I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel, ... and shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land."

The national resuscitation of the whole house of Israel, the restoration to their own land and the accompanying spiritual revival (though the latter does not fully come into view here) is the meaning of the vision. It may be used in application[30] in different ways, to illustrate certain truths, but the true and only interpretation is the one which is given by the Lord in verses 11-14. But there is an erroneous interpretation of a serious nature which is widely taught and believed among many Christians. Because "graves" are mentioned, besides the dry bones and their resurrection, it is being taught that the vision means physical resurrection. Systems, like Millennial Dawnism _alias_ International Bible Student Association and others, which teach the so-called larger hope, a second chance for the impenitent dead, the restitution of the lost, teach that all the Israelites who have died in their sins will be brought out of their graves and then be saved. They use this vision to confirm this invention. An advocate of this theory declared that all the Christ-hating Pharisees and Sadducees who lived when our Lord was on earth would be raised up when He comes and then believe on Him. Matthew xxiii:39 was used by him as an argument. These restitution teachers also teach that inasmuch as Israel will have a second chance when they are raised from the dead, the Gentile dead will share also in the same. It needs no argument to refute this. The Word of God teaches a twofold resurrection: a first resurrection and a second resurrection, a resurrection of the just and a resurrection of the unjust (John v:28-29). According to the above theory there would have to be a third resurrection, a resurrection for a second chance and ultimate salvation of those who died in their sins. Of such a resurrection the Bible knows nothing.

[30] We heard once a Baptist preacher speak on this vision, and he used the dry bones as a picture of the dead members of his own denomination, and spoke of them as "the dry bones." A Methodist, Presbyterian, etc., might do the same.

In this vision of the dry bones physical resurrection is used as a type of the national restoration of Israel. It is used in the same way in Daniel xii:2. In that passage the sleep in the dust of the earth is symbolical of their national condition. And when their national sleep ends there will be an awakening.[31] When we read here in Ezekiel of graves it must not be taken to mean literal graves, but the graves are symbolical of the nation as being buried among the Gentiles. If these dry bones meant the physical dead of the nation, how could it be explained that they speak and say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost?" The same figure of speech is used in the New Testament. Of the prodigal it is said, "For this my son was dead, and is alive again" (Luke xv:24). Yet he was not physically dead, nor was he made alive physically. Therefore, this vision has nothing whatever to do with a physical resurrection. The late Dr. Bullinger, whose erroneous suggestions have led astray some, also taught that the vision of the dry bones includes resurrection as well as restoration.

[31] See "Exposition of Daniel," by A. C. G., page 200.

Equally bad is that spiritualizing method which takes a vision like this, as well as the hundreds of promises of a coming restoration, and applies it all to the church, ignoring totally the claims of Israel and their promised future of glory. This is the general trend of commentators.

They say that all these visions and promises were exhausted in the return of the remnant from Babylon (less than 43,000 souls) and the spiritual and larger fulfilment is now going on in the church. This method is evil, for it robs the Christian of the true key which unlocks the prophetic Word.

"Their interpretation of prophecy in particular is vitiated by this fatal mistake, which practically razes the hopes of Israel from the Bible and lowers ours to a mere succession to their hope and inheritance with somewhat better light and privilege. It is a part of the first and widest and most tenacious corruption of Christianity against which the apostle fought so valiantly. And it comes in the more insidiously, because it seems to those under its influence that they are of all men the most distant from the false brethren Paul denounced. To their minds the truest guard against Judaizing is to deny that the Jews will ever be reinstated as a people, or be restored consequently to their own land. All the predictions of future blessedness and glory to Israel they turn over to Christendom now or to the church in glory. Most pernicious error! For this is exactly to Judaize the Christian and the church by making them simply follow and inherit from Israel. The truth is thus swamped; Israel's bright prospects are denied; Gentile conceit is engendered; and the Christian is rendered worldly, instead of being taught his place of blessing on high in contrast with Israel's on the earth."[32]

[32] Wm. Kelly.

II. The Reunion of the Nation and their King.

The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou Son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions; then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and _for_ all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou _meanest_ by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which _is_ in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, _even_ with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and I will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant _shall be_ king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, _even_ they, and their children, and their children's children, for ever: and my servant David _shall be_ their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore (verses 15-28).

The prophet is next commanded to demonstrate another coming event for God's ancient people by a symbolical action. He was to take a stick and write on it "for Judah and for the children of Israel his companions." On the second stick, he was to write, "for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions." He was then to join the two sticks so that they became one in his hand. It denotes the reunion of the house of Judah with the house of Israel. The sad division of the nation will end and both will be in His hand one, symbolical of the royal rod or sceptre, which will be in the hand of the Lord in the midst of His redeemed people. The Lord will do all this. "Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the nations whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all." The house of Israel never returned from the captivity; only a remnant of Judah came back. Since then they have been termed "the lost tribes," though this term is incorrect, for the Epistle of James is addressed to the twelve tribes of Israel. Nothing is lost with God. They are hidden rather, and the time will come when the enigma of the two tribes will be solved. Attempts have been made to locate them but all have failed. The Anglo-Israel theory (that England and America are the lost tribes) is so ridiculous and fantastic that it merits not even an investigation. God has kept track of them, and when this promised restoration takes place they will be brought to light. Then, reunited as they were under David and Solomon, they will have one King over them. This King is foreshadowed by both David and his son Solomon. As King he is called, "David, my servant," who will be the One Shepherd. And "my servant David, their prince forever." It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of David, the true and greater Solomon, the Prince of Peace. How obvious it is that all this does not mean the church. The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church in glory, but He is also the King of Israel. When the restoration takes place the angelic message finds its blessed fulfillment: "The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke i:32-37). But how can anyone believe that the words of promise given through Ezekiel have no future meaning for the seed of Abraham? Has Israel ever been restored as announced in these words? Have they ever been saved as promised in verse 23? Have they ever walked as a nation in perfect obedience, as stated in the words, "They shall also walk in My judgments, and observe my statutes and do them." And verse 25 promises an abiding dwelling in their land which at this time they do not yet possess. It is the sanctuary of the Lord set up in their midst.

Only when our Lord returns will all this be accomplished. Then will it be true, "My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I will be their God and they shall be My people."

GOG AND MAGOG