Introduction
Israel will experience a two-fold restoration:
1. There will be a national restoration, a people’s own existence with its own government.
2. There will also be a spiritual restoration, a new inner self, a new heart and a new spirit wrought by the Spirit.
We see these two sides of restoration in this chapter and also that these two sides will take place in chronological order: first national restoration and then spiritual restoration.
This chapter is the answer to all who see no restoration for Israel, not in Ezekiel’s day and not in our day. In Ezekiel’s time, the destruction of the temple means the loss of their faith. The people are absolutely convinced of the final end of the nation and that there will be no restoration (verse 11; cf. Eze 11:17-20). The LORD responds to their hopelessness through a vision (verses 1-14), a symbolic act (verses 15-25), and a covenant (verses 26-28).
1 - 10 The Vision of the Bones
1 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. 2 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. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.” 4 Again 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 that you may come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.’” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin 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 come to life.”‘“ 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Ezekiel is shown a special vision (verse 1). Therefore, the hand of the LORD comes upon him (cf. Eze 1:3; 3:14,22; 8:1; 33:22; 40:1). The LORD takes him up in the spirit and brings him outside his house and residence and sets him down, in the middle of a valley (cf. Eze 3:22). The valley is covered with bones of men. The valley is not a burial ground, but a battlefield (cf. verse 10). The battlefield is filled with bones of the slain who have been left unburied. It is a great reproach not to be buried (cf. 2Sam 21:12-14; Psa 141:7; Jer 8:1-2; 22:19; Eze 6:5). That reproach has come upon Israel.
The LORD makes him go around about the bones in the spirit on all sides (verse 2). This allows him to take in the whole spectacle. He notes that there are very many of them and also that they are very dry. It has been a massacre done thoroughly. All life has long since disappeared from them.
Then the LORD asks Ezekiel if these bones will come back to life (verse 3). The only answer Ezekiel can give is that the LORD knows. His answer indicates that he does not know the answer to the question or even holds it to be impossible to know, for the scene really offers no hope of life. At the same time his answer indicates that he is convinced that the LORD does know the answer and is also able to give life where the situation is so hopeless (cf. Gen 18:14; Jer 32:17-18). He, like every Old Testament believer, believes in the resurrection as an act of the LORD’s power (Isa 25:8; 26:19; Dan 12:2; Hos 6:2).
After his answer, which shows confidence in the LORD, he is commanded to prophesy over the bones (verse 4). He is to address the dry bones and command them to hear the word of the LORD. Humanly speaking, it is foolishness to speak to dry dead bones as if they could hear and obey as living beings. But to God, that is no problem. It shows His Godhead. He calls things that are not, as if they were, and He brings life where death reigns (Rom 4:17b). It is the same in a spiritual sense. We were dead in trespasses and sins, but when the voice of the Son of God sounded to us, there came a passing out of death into life (Jn 5:24-25).
The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to the bones that He will give breath, or spirit, of life in them, by which they will come to life (verse 5; cf. Gen 2:7; Num 16:22; Psa 104:29; Ecc 3:21). To accomplish this, He will give the bones everything they need to form a body, such as sinews, flesh and a skin (verse 6; cf. Job 10:11). He will also give them breath, or spirit, so that the bones will be able to come to life. By this act of the LORD, the bones will know that He is the LORD. The glory of this event is for Him.
Ezekiel does as he is commanded (verse 7; cf. Eze 12:7; 24:18). His prophesying has immediate results. First there is the noise, a rattling. That rattling is heard because the bones begin to move. They each take their own place in relation to the other bones. Thus they join together to form ordered skeletons. Then Ezekiel sees how the sinews and flesh come on them and how the LORD covered them with the skin (verse 8). But there is no breath, or spirit, in the bodies yet. They still remain corpses.
To bring the breath, or the spirit, of life into the bodies, the LORD uses Ezekiel (verse 9). Ezekiel must prophesy to the breath, or the spirit, to get into the dead. He is to call the breath, or the spirit, to “come from the four winds”, which is a reference to the fact that the Israelites are scattered to all corners of the earth and must be gathered together from there (cf. Jer 31:8a; Isa 43:5-6). This breath, or this spirit, of life comes from God and blows through all nature and gives life to all creatures.
Ezekiel again does as commanded by the LORD (verse 10). Then the breath, or the spirit, comes into them and the bodies come to life. A great army thus arises. Ezekiel is visibly impressed by the size of that army and speaks of “an exceedingly great army”.
11 - 14 Explanation of the Vision
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 has perished. We are completely cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.’”
Then the LORD gives Ezekiel the explanation of the vision (verse 11). The dead bones are not just a picture of Judah, but of “the whole house of Israel”. The whole people have given up hope of a national existence. They see themselves as cut off from God’s land and God’s blessings. This is indeed their situation as a result of their sins. They lead a dry and dead existence (cf. Psa 31:12; 32:4).
After the battlefield as a picture of death, we now get the graves as a picture of death. The valley of dry bones speaks of the totality of defeat. There is no one left to bury the bones. The grave speaks of the impossibility of returning to life. The people are buried, as it were, in Babylon and other lands. Therefore, Ezekiel must prophesy that the Lord GOD will open the graves to come up out of their graves and bring them “into the land of Israel” (verse 12).
He calls them “My people” here. He will raise them from the grave because Israel is His people. That prophecy does not refer to the apostate multitude, but to the remnant whom He, according to the election of His grace, always preserves for Himself (Rom 11:5).
This prophecy is a wonderful promise of the restoration of Israel as a nation on their land. The return from Babylon is like a resurrection from the grave and death. But that is only a partial and also a temporary resurrection. In the future, that resurrection will be expressly for the whole people.
They will know that He is the LORD when He has done this mighty life-giving work to His people by opening their graves and raising them up from their graves (verse 13). Then He will also give them His Spirit and they, after their national restoration, will also be restored inwardly and receive new life (verse 14). They will see that what the LORD has spoken has also been fulfilled by Him. The Spirit is yet to come (Joel 2:28-32). He is coming in a converted Israel. It is, as has already been said, a restoration in two stages: first nationally, then spiritually.
15 - 28 God Will Reunite Judah and Israel
15 The word of the LORD came again to me saying, 16 “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18 When the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”‘ 20 The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. 24 “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. 25 They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. 26 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. 27 My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”‘“
The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel (verse 15). He is to perform another signifying act (verse 16; cf. Eze 4:1,9; 5:1; 6:11; 12:3; 24:16). He is to take one stick. On it he is to write “for Judah”, which is the two tribes realm. He must also write on it “for the sons of Israel”. This does not mean the entire ten tribes realm, but refers to the “companions” of Judah among the Israelites. By these companions we can think of the tribe of Simeon (Jos 19:1-9) and of the tribe of Benjamin. We can also think of those who joined the two tribes realm over time from the ten tribes realm because they wanted to remain faithful to the LORD’s service in the temple at Jerusalem (2Chr 11:13-14; 15:9; 30:11,18; 31:1).
Ezekiel must then take another stick and write on it “for Joseph”. It is “the stick of Ephraim” – the name often used to designate the whole of the ten tribes – “and all the house of Israel, his companions”. “His companions” are all who belong to the ten tribes.
Ezekiel is then to bring those two sticks together and join them “one to another into one stick”, so that in his hand they become one (verse 17). The symbolism of the act is clear. Yet the LORD expects the exiles to ask questions about what Ezekiel is doing (verse 18). The symbolism is that the two houses of Israel will become one again. But there is no belief in this among the people who were taken away. So they ask not so much what it means to them, but what it means to Ezekiel.
The LORD tells Ezekiel what to answer (verse 19). Then it appears that what Ezekiel is to do are the actions of the LORD Himself. He, the LORD, takes Ephraim as a stick and adds it to the stick that represents Judah. Thus He makes them one stick. The place where that happens is His hand. In His hand they become one. The joining together is His work. As Ezekiel passes on what the LORD says, he is to hold the stick, on which he has written the names, in his hand before the eyes of his audience (verse 20).
Next, the LORD tells Ezekiel to tell his fellow people how He will make the two sticks one stick (verse 21). He will take the sons of Israel from among the nations to which they have been scattered and bring them into their own land. Then He will make them one nation on the mountains of Israel (verse 22). They will then have one King over them, that is the Messiah, and will no longer be divided into two kingdom. This prophecy was not fulfilled at the return from the Babylonian exile, but will be fulfilled in the future.
Then, when they live in their land and enjoy the blessing of the Messiah’s rule, they will no longer fall into idolatry (verse 23). Their return will be accompanied by a cleansing work of the LORD. He can only recognize a cleansed and pure people as His people and of that people be their God. His Servant David is the Messiah (cf. Isa 9:6; Jer 23:5; 30:9; 33:17; Amos 9:11; Mic 5:2-4). He will be both King and Shepherd (verse 24). The Lord Jesus, Who is already our Shepherd, will then also be the Shepherd of His people. Under such a leadership of loving care and beneficent authority, they will walk in the LORD’s provisions and observe His ordinances. They will not want to do otherwise.
The land they live on is the land that the LORD promised to His servant Jacob many centuries ago (verse 25; Gen 28:13). In that land his descendants have lived. In that land future descendants will also live, forever. The guarantee for this is that the Messiah will be their Prince forever. By “forever” is meant the coming age of the realm of peace, when the Lord Jesus will reign.
An additional confirmation of this continued blessing is the “covenant of peace” that the LORD will make with them (verse 26; Num 25:12; Eze 34:25). This covenant is also an “everlasting covenant” (cf. Gen 9:16; Gen 17:7,13,19; Exo 31:16; Lev 24:8; Num 18:19; 2Sam 23:5; 1Chr 16:17; Psa 105:10; Isa 24:5; 55:3; 61:8; Jer 32:40; 50:5; Eze 16:60), which can only be made on the basis of the blood of Christ (Heb 13:20).
The LORD gives them a place of blessing where He will also make them numerous. This numerous posterity will be dedicated to Him, so that He can put His sanctuary in their midst. That sanctuary will also be there forever. Since the exodus of the people from Egypt, the LORD has longed to dwell with a redeemed people. This will then be the case in a perfect way, because the people will be completely in tune with Him.
Thus there is a threefold assurance that the blessing will last forever, that is throughout the period of the realm of peace:
1. Their Prince will reign forever.
2. The covenant is an everlasting covenant.
3. The sanctuary of the LORD will be in their midst forever.
His tabernacle, His dwelling place, is then with them (verse 27). Then that perfect fellowship between God and His people can be enjoyed, to the joy of His heart and to the good of His people. By the presence of His sanctuary in the midst of His people, the nations will know that He is the LORD, Who sanctifies Israel (verse 28).
It is clear that Israel does not owe it to themselves to be back in the land and enjoy abundant blessing. Their return and the blessing they may experience are a testimony to the glory of the Name of the LORD. All honor will be given to Him. He will receive that honor both from His people and from the nations.