The Prophet Ezekiel: An Analytical Exposition

by Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Then follow still greater restoration promises and blessings, which Israel never possessed in their past history nor to-day. He will be their God and they will be His people. There will be an increase in the corn; famine will disappear forever. The desolate land will be tilled so that those who pass through the land will say: "This land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited." When this restoration and blessing through grace is accomplished then will they remember their evil ways and loathe themselves for their iniquities and abominations. This will be their national repentance. It is not repentance first, but the Lord will be first gracious and merciful to them, and as a result they will remember their ways of evil and humble themselves before Him. And the nations round about will know that He who has done all this is Jehovah. All these blessed things will surely be accomplished in the day when the Lord arises and has mercy upon Zion (Ps. cii:13): "I, the Lord have spoken, and I will do it."

THE VISION OF THE DRY BONES.
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.

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.

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.