And he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, Ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah.
Ezekiel stands in a valley of dry bones, long past any hope of life. God asks whether these bones can live, and then gives an order rather than an argument: preach to them. That command raises two questions. Who do these bones stand for? And what can a spoken word do for the dead?
The order to prophesy comes only after the prophet admits he has no answer of his own.
The vision makes no secret of how we are to judge the people pictured by the bones in the valley. There was not only no strength, but not even life. To bring this out all the more we read, "And He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, You know." That helplessness, implied and confessed, opens the way for the word of the Lord.
The chapter does not leave the picture open to guesswork. It supplies its own key.
To a mind that is simple and subject to Scripture there can be no doubt here. We may put the vision to whatever use or application we like. Its direct and express meaning is God's revival of His ancient people Israel. They were then destroyed, dead and buried. Yet they will leave their graves at the word of the LORD: "These bones are the whole house of Israel." God would comfort His people, and He would also rebuke the unbelief that said, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off."
But what kind of resurrection is this?
This is a national resurrection. It is not the resurrection of people who have died, but the restoration to nationhood of the ancient people of God, and their recovery to the land of promise.
The dryness of the bones is the point. Nothing human is left to build on.
The prophet sees no mixture of the dead and the living here. These are wholly people from whom not merely life has departed; they are the dry, scattered remains of the dead. Then comes the question: "Son of man, can these bones live?" To man, of course, this is impossible. Nothing but the power of God has ever brought anything from death to life. And despite all their present thoughts, this is the condition out of which God at last revives them.
The same writer applies this to Israel's own plans.
Right now they are thinking and planning to do it themselves. But their own efforts and achievements will never make them all that the prophets have declared they shall become. Nothing but the life-giving breath of God can do it for them. For that, God has yet to bring them down into the dust, even after all they have suffered through these centuries. There they will learn their needed lesson of humbling. There too they will learn the grace to which, as they will at last admit, they owe everything.
Ezekiel has nothing to work with but a message.
God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the valley of dry bones. As he prophesied, bone joined to bone, and flesh covered each skeleton. Then the winds blew on them, the spirit of life entered them, and they lived. The word of God, spoken by the prophet, brought all this about.
The same principle steadies anyone sent to preach to people who cannot respond.
Outward appearances do not discourage him at all. He knows that everyone he is sent to is alike dead and unable to hear. He also knows that the success of his ministry does not depend on the people he speaks to. It depends on the word as the Spirit applies it.
Preachers often draw the gospel out of this passage. One writer welcomes that use, but draws a line.
Dry — that is just what the sinner is. You are very dry. You have no life or sap in you. Dry bones may well describe your spiritual state if you are an unconverted sinner, whatever you claim to be… I have no objection at all to drawing the gospel out of this passage. But applying a Scripture and interpreting it are two completely different things.
- Confession — The prophet answers, "O Lord GOD, You know." Admitting he has no answer clears the ground for God's word.
- Command — God answers death with speech. Ezekiel gets no method, only a message for bones that cannot yet hear.
- Word — The word of God, spoken by the prophet, does the whole miracle: bone joins bone, then breath enters.
- Nation — The chapter names its own subject: the whole house of Israel. Buried as a nation, they say their hope is lost. God will raise them and bring them back to their land.
- Grace — Only God's breath can do it, so the revived people will owe everything to grace. Preachers today speak to the spiritually dead on the same ground.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto these bones Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.
The vision drops Ezekiel into a valley of bones. They have been dead so long that they are dry. God's first move is not to explain but to promise. His words raise the questions that shape the chapter. Who are these bones? What life is promised? Where does it come from?
God has just asked Ezekiel whether the bones can live. The prophet handed the question straight back to God, and only then does God speak.
There is no hiding the state of those the bones in the valley stand for. There was not only no strength, but not even life. To bring this out more fully we read, "And He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord GOD, You know.'" The helplessness implied and confessed opens the way for the word of the Lord.
The vision does not stand on its own. Later in the chapter God explains it, and that explanation settles what kind of life He is promising.
This section contains a striking vision and a plain explanation of it. This is not about the conversion of the soul. It is not about the resurrection of the body. It is about God causing Israel to live once more as a people, in a day still to come. They were at that time swept away and without any political existence... Here again God revealed it to the grieving captives to comfort them. Facing such overwhelming disasters, they could hold on to the sure hope of their national revival under the gracious working of the Lord.
Every verb in this verse belongs to God. The people, meanwhile, have plans of their own.
They are thinking and planning now to do it by their own strength. But their own efforts and achievements will never make them all that the prophets said they shall become. Nothing but the quickening breath of God can do it for them. First God has to bring them down into the dust, even after all they have suffered for these centuries. There they will learn their needed lesson of humbling. There they will learn the grace they owe everything to, as they will finally admit.
In the vision the bones come together and take shape first. The breath comes later. A complete body can still be a corpse.
The nation is to be new born by the word of God, out of death. Every step here is a true creative work of God. So the prophet prophesies, and sees the miracle done — the wonderful miracle of resurrection. He sees the bones come together and the flesh cover them, and the form given, while as yet there is no breath from on high. But then God tells him to prophesy to the winds. The wind is the picture of the Spirit, as we know from the Lord's words. From the four winds the breath comes into these slain, and now they live. A moment before, they were only lifeless, scattered wrecks of a life that had gone. Now, all at once, they are a very great army, the hosts of the Lord.
Preachers have long used this chapter to picture a dead sinner coming alive. One writer allows that use, then draws a line.
Dry — that is exactly what the sinner is; you are very dry, you have not got a bit of life or sap in you. Dry bones may very well describe your spiritual state if you are an unconverted sinner, no matter what you claim to believe... I have no objection at all to drawing the gospel out of this passage... But you see, the application and the interpretation of a scripture are two totally different things.
The promise does not stop with breath in a body. One writer follows it through to where the chapter ends.
The dry bones of Israel, of the nation as a whole, are gathered together by the power of God. God does this work by His Spirit. But His Spirit acts in power on His people to produce certain effects, rather than to give spiritual life (though no one need doubt that those blessed among the Jews will be spiritually quickened). It is the resurrection of the nation, which was really dead and buried. But God opens their graves and places them again in their land, restored to life as a nation.
- Death — the bones have no strength and no life. Ezekiel admits he can do nothing about it, and God then speaks.
- Word — God does not argue about what is impossible. He sends His word to bones that cannot hear it.
- Breath — the bodies lie there whole but lifeless until the wind comes. Only the breath of God makes them live.
- Nation — the promise is Israel's revival as a nation and return to the land. It is not one soul's conversion, and not bodies rising from graves — though preachers may still apply the picture to a dead sinner.
- Grace — God first brings them down into the dust. In the end they admit they owe everything to His grace.
And I will put 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] Jehovah.
God makes this promise to bones — hearers with no ears, no strength and no life. That helplessness is not a barrier to His word. It is why the word comes.
First God asks the prophet whether these bones can live. His answer leaves the outcome with God.
There is no disguise about the estimate intended of those meant by the bones in the valley. There was not only no strength, but not even life... The helplessness thus implied and confessed opens the way for the word of the Lord.
This is not weakness that could recover in time. It is death, and only one power reverses death.
There is no mingling here of the dead and the living as the prophet sees them. They are altogether those from whom not merely life is departed, but who are the mere dry and scattered remains of the dead. The prophet is challenged by the question: "Son of man, can these bones live?" To man of course this is impossible. No one has ever passed from death to life except by the power of God alone. And this, despite all their present thoughts, is the condition out of which God at last revives them.
The chapter explains its own picture. That explanation decides how we read the verse.
To a mind that is simple and subject to Scripture there can be no hesitation here. Whatever use or application we may make of the vision, its direct and express meaning is God's revival of His ancient people Israel. By then they are utterly destroyed, dead and buried, but they will still leave their graves according to the word of the Lord: "These bones are the whole house of Israel."... He declares that He will not only dig them out of the graves where they now lie buried as a nation. He will also bring them into the land of Israel.
So the resurrection in this vision stands for something else.
Ezekiel 37:1-14... is a figurative description. The chapter itself fully explains it: it means the restoration of the two houses of Israel, long buried among the nations and made one again under David their King.
The verse lists an order: sinews, flesh, skin, then breath. The vision keeps those stages apart. A body can be complete and still be a corpse.
So the prophet prophesies and sees the miracle worked — the wonderful miracle of resurrection. He sees the bones come together and the flesh cover them, and the form given, while as yet there is no breath from above. But then he is told to prophesy to the winds. The wind is the picture of the Spirit, as we know from the Lord's words. From the four winds the breath comes into these slain, and now they live. A moment ago they were only lifeless, scattered wreckage of a life long gone. Now, at once, they are an exceedingly great army, the hosts of the Lord.
One writer applied that gap — body without breath — to Israel's return to the land.
The dry bones of Israel are stirring. The graves — that is, the countries where they are scattered — are opening. Sinew and flesh are coming upon the nation. The Jew is going back to his land in unbelief, full of ambitious plans for a future meant to outshine their past in glory. But as yet no breath of the Lord has come upon them as a nation.
The verse ends not with survival but with recognition. Life given is what makes God known.
There will be a national resurrection, and, says the Lord, "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." Once they are quickened they will understand, and they will at once seek the Lord.
Preachers have long used this passage to describe an unconverted person. One writer who did so still drew a firm line.
Dry — that is exactly what the sinner is; you are very dry, you have not a bit of life or sap in you. Dry bones may very well describe your spiritual state if you are an unconverted sinner, no matter what your profession may be... I have no objection at all to drawing the gospel out of this passage... but you see, the application and the interpretation of a Scripture are two totally different things.
- Word. God speaks His promise to bones that cannot answer. Their confessed helplessness opens the way for His word.
- Body. Sinews, flesh and skin come first — a real, visible rebuilding, but still without breath.
- Breath. Life comes only from God; the passage from death to life has never been made by any other power.
- Land. God brings them up out of their graves and places them in the land of Israel. That fits a nation restored, not bodies raised.
- Knowledge. Every stage aims at one end, stated in the verse: they will know the LORD. Using the picture to preach the gospel is a fair application, not the interpretation.