EXEGESIS PAPER

                    ON

                     EZEKIEL 37:1-14

                                 BY

                       DEAN SHINAVER

THIS PAPER IS A REQUIREMENT BY DR.PAUL WATSON TO FULFILL PROPHETS IV: DANIEL, EZEKIEL, ZACHARIAH, HAGGAI AND MALCHI (OT6309A) OF FALL 2009, AMRIDGE UNIVERSITY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

                                                CONTENT

                                                INTRODUCTION

The vision of the dry bones. One of the most famous prophecies of Ezekiel is the vision of the

dry bones. In this vision God's wind is leading Ezekiel to a valley, which contains lots of dry

bones. No created power could restore human bones to life. God alone could cause them to live.

Skin and flesh covered them, and the wind was then told to blow upon these bodies; and they

were restored to life. The wind was an emblem of the Spirit of God, and represented his

quickening powers. The vision was to encourage the desponding Jews; to predict both their

restoration after the captivity, and also their recovery from their present and long-continued

dispersion. It was also a clear intimation of the resurrection of the dead; and it represents the

power and grace of God, in the conversion of the most hopeless sinners to himself. Let us look to

Him who will at last open our graves, and bring us forth to judgment, that He may now deliver

us from sin, and put his Spirit within us, and keep us by his power, through faith, unto salvation.

I.       The Prophet Ezekiel

Ezekiel, ("God will strengthen"), was a prophet living with the Jewish exiles in Babylon after the taking of Judah and Jerusalem by Babylon, around 580-600 B.C. Ezekiel has visions of God appearing like a man, glowing and dazzling with fire and also of angelic beings with four faces, wings, hands, and wheels that contained all-seeing. The first part of the book of Ezekiel consists of reproaches for Israel's past and present sins and the confident prediction of yet a further devastation of the land of promise and a more general exile. After the first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. l Ezekiel's prophecies changed and he became the prophet of salvation and comfort.

The Prophet Ezekiel was God's chosen man and messenger. As we learned and read through the book of Ezekiel we can see that Ezekiel proclaimed the Words of God to the children of God, the Israelites. Ezekiel is one of my favorite prophets. He is very strong and unique prophet and he has a unique call in his life. Ezekiel was both a prophet and a priest. During his time we learned that Ezekiel went into exile with the Israelites as decreed by King Nebuchadnezzar to the city of Babylon. Ezekiel is a very intelligent man. He was a married man. God gave Ezekiel visions he would act out that were symbolic, providing different meanings to the people of Israel. Ezekiel also proclaimed hope to those Israelites who were in exile. One hard part for Ezekiel involved the passing away of his wife. He could not mourn for her; God did not want him to.

Ezekiel for the most part did his priestly duties to the best of his abilities. Because the Temple was in Jerusalem, he was not able to perform many of the customary rituals as required by a priest because Ezekiel was far removed from the Temple during the exile. Ezekiel proclaimed judgments of the Lord to the Israelites because of various sin related issues and the abominable condition of Jerusalem. God had Ezekiel proclaim judgments on the cities that surrounded Jerusalem because of sin related issues. Ezekiel and his bookend with hope, restoration, and redemption of the Israelites and of God's promised city, Jerusalem.

     Ezekiel wrote: "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. And He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. And He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord God, Thou knowest.'" (Ezek. 37:1-3).

     Then, Ezekiel gazed in amazement as flesh and muscle formed on the bones and finally life was breathed into them. God was picturing for the prophet in a very graphic was that He could also do the same thing for a dead nation. There would be a resurrection of a dead nation, and there was. God was not through with Israel yet because the Messiah was yet to be born. The prophets had said He would come through the descendants of Jacob, or Israel. That is one reason why God restored the nation under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. The Redeemer was coming.

 

II. The Dry bones visions

You know that the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. At

that time, the prophet Isaiah said that the southern kingdom of Judah would also be captured someday. About 120 years later, the Babylonian Empire did conquer Judah and its main city, Jerusalem. Many who lived in the city were taken as captives to Babylonia. One of these captives was the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel had a very important job to do: to give God's word to the people in exile. Ezekiel was given many visions by God. Through these visions, he was able to tell the people what God wanted them to know. He had to remind them of the many times they had disobeyed God's laws. He made them remember that they had often turned their backs on God, or forgotten His teachings. He reminded them of the wonderful things God had done for them—

things for which they failed to thank Him. God told Ezekiel to say this to the people:

On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands.

But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not every man cast away the ugly things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsakethe idols of Egypt. (Ezekiel 20: 6-8)

One of Ezekiel's most famous visions is about a valley of dry bones that will be raised to life.

the Lord brought him into a valley filled with very dry bones. God asked him, "Son of Man, can these bones live?" Ezekiel answered, "O Lord God, you know." The Lord told Ezekiel to "prophesy", meaning to tell what the Lord planned to do. Ezekiel was given power by God to say that the dry bones would live again. And as Ezekiel watched, the bones came together with muscles and skin. Then breath came into them, and they stood up as living people.

God commanded Ezekiel to tell the people of Israel that they were like the dry bones. They were dead and dried up. Their strength and energy were gone. But God made a promise to them. He told Ezekiel to say to them, "I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it" (Ezekiel 37: 14.) Ezekiel was glad to give this good news to the people. Now, even though they were in exile, they could have hope for the future. They could be sure that God would be with them always. He was there, even if they were far from home

The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. (Ezek 37:1-2)

In the echo of this valley of death, Ezekiel gives ear to Israel's triadic and tragic lament: "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely" (37:11). Immediately, Ezekiel measures the death around him: very many bones and very dry bones. This is death to the core. Even Ezekiel, with his fertile imagination, which had depicted in detail the siege of Jerusalem on a brick, which had led him to climb through a wall in exile, which had conjured parables and allegories and erotic depictions of Israel's sordid dalliances with other nations—even with this imagination, Ezekiel cannot answer, "Yes," to God's question, "Son of adam, can these bones live?" (37:3). Life in such a valley of death is inconceivable even within the boundless imagination of Ezekiel. And yet, in this valley of death the spirit has deposited him. In this valley, among these very many, very dry bones, the spirit will accomplish its most astounding act of vivification. In this valley, Ezekiel discovers hope, hope that resides in the presence and the power of the spirit: Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these

bones: I will cause spirit to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews

on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put spirit in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD." (Ezek 37:4-6) With these words, Ezekiel peers beyond the cusp of death to a world with bones clattering, fresh sinews laid on the bones like a linen tablecloth, flesh layered on the sinews, and skin covering the flesh.

Notwithstanding the vividness of this vision and the promise of the spirit, there is still "no spirit in them" (37:8). For these are not just the bones of those who died naturally, but the bones of those who were "slain," those who died under the curse of Deuteronomy, who have become an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. "Your corpses shall be food for every bird of the air and animal of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away" (Deut 28:25-26). These bones cannot, therefore, easily return to life. They cannot be raised as they had been, in the throes of sin and the pangs of disloyalty to God. Their dismemberment is due to disloyalty, and they cannot be brought back simply by being layered with sinews, flesh, and skin.

Ezekiel's ponderous repetition underscores the theme of this vision, that the spirit brings life to a dead nation in stages, each of which is punctuated by the promise or the presence of life brought about by the spirit within. I will cause spirit to enter you, and you shall live. (37:5)

I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put spirit in you, and you shall live. (37:6) So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no spirit in them. (37:7-8) Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe into these slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the spirit came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. (Ezek 37:9-10)

1.                  The Resurrection

"And He caused me to pass among them and round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley and lo, they were very dry." (Ezekiel 37:2).

The significance of dry bones is that they have been there a long time. The Lord asks Ezekiel an intriguing question: "Son of man, can these bones live?" to which Ezekiel, playing it safe, answers, "O Lord, God, Thou knowest." (vss. 2,3).

And he welcomes honest answers. "Can these bones live?" If you're not sure about something, then an honest "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know" is better than "No way!"

4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. "So I prophesied..."

2. God-breathed life

"Thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. And I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, put breath in you that you may come alive and know that I am the Lord." (Ezekiel 37:5,6).

It was the breath of God by which man became a living soul reflecting the image of God at creation (Genesis 2:7). It was the breath of God which inspired men to prophesy and to write the words which we now have as Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:20,21). Here, God promises to put the breath of life back into these long dead bones.

3. Physical Israel

"The 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 has perished. We are completely cut off." (Ezekiel 37:11).

Ezekiel was a captive with the rest of his people Israel in far away Babylon. Israel and Judah had been completely destroyed; cities torn down; and strangers brought in from foreign lands to populate small towns among the ruins. Even the mighty temple Solomon had built to honor Jehovah, the God Israel had rebelled against, lay in ruins.

Through the vision of the dry bones, God informed Ezekiel, and through him the captive nation, that God can restore life to even long dead, dry bones; "Therefore prophesy, and say to them, 'Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you to the land of Israel" (vs. 12). The grave here is captivity. Israel will again be a nation. God had made a promise to Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Moses, David and others that through Israel the Messiah would come. He had not come as yet in Ezekiel's day, so for God's promise not to fail God would restore the dead nation to life.

4. Spiritual Israel

"And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes, and observe them." (Ezekiel 37:24).

This passage reminds us of many Messianic prophecies concerning God's spiritual kingdom to be established by One to come through David. The Davidic line will continue beyond the captivity. The Lord also promised Ezekiel; "And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.: (Ezekiel 37:26). Note the following points on this verse:

God promised Ezekiel that He will make a new, "everlasting covenant" of peace with new Israel. This He has done through His Son, Jesus (Hebrews 8:6; 1:1,2). Jesus, Himself has become our peace (Ephesians 2:14,17). Where enmity once existed, reconciliation between man and God is made possible on the basis of the blood which ratified this new covenant (Matthew 26:28; Romans 5:9,10).

11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone: we are cut off.' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.'"

It is clear from what the Bible says that all this has been a vision, not an actual event. But it is a vision within a historical context, and Ezekiel needed to have that vision before he could hear God's message for his people. Ezekiel is in Babylon, with the Jews who have been exiled when the Babylonians took over. It all looks hopeless to the Jews. "Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone: we are cut off." God has abandoned them: there is no hope of rescue, no future, no home. And in human terms, that's so. Jerusalem is destroyed, the temple, the walls, the palace, all gone. The people are scattered or dead, families split up, bereaved, homeless. Ezekiel knows what the people are talking about. But Ezekiel has seen God raise a vast army from a heap of bones, and Ezekiel has heard God speak. "O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel." It's unbelievable. Yet it did happen! The land of Israel may be far from what God intended, but God did bring his people back. So even if you're a heap of dry bones, dead and useless, God can give life, give back what you've lost. And even if there are people around us who are heaps of dry bones, dead and useless, God can give them life, and give back what they've lost: if not in physical terms, then in terms of joy, hope, peace.

III. Early life of Prophet Ezekiel

In early life the Prophet Ezekiel had been witness of sieges and battlefields. He had himself experienced many of the horrors and calamities of war; and this seems to have tinged his natural character in such a way that his prophecies, more than those of any other prophet, are full of terrific images and visions of dreadful things.

He describes himself as set down by God in the midst of a valley that was full of bones. It seemed as if he were stationed in the midst of some spacious battle-field, where thousands and tens of thousands had been slain, and none left behind to bury them. 

No doubt there was an awful silence spread over this scene of desolateness and death; but the voice of his heavenly guide breaks in upon his ear: "Son of man, can these bones live?"

Receiving this answer of faith from the prophet, God bids him 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."

If the scene which Ezekiel first beheld was dismal and desolate, the scene which now opened on his eyes was more dismal—more awfully revolting still: "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." But the voice of God again breaks the silence: "Prophesy unto the wind (or Spirit), prophesy, son of man, and say to the Spirit, Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe upon these slain that they may live."

Before, Ezekiel had bent over the dead, dry bones, and preached unto them—a vast but lifeless congregation; but now he lifts his head and raises his eyes; for his word is to the living Spirit of God. Unbelief might have whispered to him, To whom are you going to prophesy now? Reason might have argued, What sense is there in speaking to the viewless wind to one whom you see not; for it is written: "The world cannot receive the Spirit of God, because it seeth him not"? But he staggered not at the word through unbelief: "So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army."

VI. The application of Ezekiel visions.

1. Unconverted souls are like dry bones.

They are very many. When a soul is first brought to Christ, he enjoys a peace in believing which he never knew before; and not only so, but he is quickened from the death of trespasses and sins into a life which he never knew before. He knows the blessedness of living to God. But even with all this joy, there is an awful feeling of loneliness; for when he looks round upon the world, he feels just like Ezekiel

They are very dry. Dry bones are the farthest of all from the possibility of living.

A.     They are without any flesh or comeliness.

They are without any comeliness. They see no beauty in Christ, and Christ sees no beauty in them-their souls are lean and ill-favoured. Man was made perfect in beauty at the first; for he was made in the image of Him who is perfect loveliness; but a fallen, unconverted soul has no beauty—it is like a beautiful building scattered in ruins -it is like a beautiful statue all defaced, not one feature remaining—it is like a beautiful body smitten by death, corrupting in the grave.

B.     They are without any marrow or spirit.

They are without any marrow or spirit. Man was made to be a habitation of God through the Spirit; and it is only when we are led by the Spirit that we are alive unto God. But the unconverted soul is "sensual, not having the Spirit." The Bible says: "The world cannot receive the Spirit, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him." They have no work of the Spirit in their hearts—no awakening work—no convincing of righteousness—no sanctifying work—no sealing of the soul—no walking in the Spirit—no love in the Spirit—no praying in the Holy Ghost.

C.     They are without any activity or power of moving. And oh! is not this the very picture of poor, unconverted souls—"They are very dry"?

They have no activity or motion God-ward. If we preach the Word of the Lord unto them, they have no heart to attend to the things which are spoken; dry bones have no ears. If we tell them of the wrath of God that is coming upon them, they are not moved to flee; dry bones cannot run. If we tell them of the loveliness of the Lord Jesus—how he offers himself to be their complete Saviour—still they are not moved to embrace him; for dry bones cannot stretch out their arms. Ah! these dry bones are very dry.

2. Lesson from Ezekiel

2.1  The lesson we learn from this vision is, that preaching is God's instrument for awakening the unconverted.

2.2  The lesson we learn from this vision is, that prayer must be added to preaching, else preaching is in vain.

The effects produced by the prophesying of Ezekiel to the dry bones were very remarkable. The bones came together, bone to his bone—the flesh, the sinews, the skin came up upon them, and covered them; but still there was no breath in them—they were as dead as ever. "There is no breath in them"? Oh! then, brethren, let us, one and all, give heed to the second command to the prophet: "Prophesy unto the Spirit, son of man; say, Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army."

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