The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel
Ezekiel 37
Chapter XXXVII · Vol. III, pp. 1366–1367
1 By the resurrection of dry bones, 11 the dead hope of Israel is revived. 15 By the uniting of two sticks, 18 is showed the incorporation of Israel with Judah. 21 The promises of Christ's kingdom.
1 The handa of the LORD was upon me, and carriedb me out1 in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
a ch.1.3;3.22;33.22. Re.1.10.
b ch.13.14;8.3;11.24. 1 Ki.18.12. Ac.8.39. Lu.4.1.
1 Carried me out—either in the body—in the spirit out of the body—or merely in vision—'God knoweth.' See 2 Co.12.3.—C.
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley;2 and, lo, they were very cdry.
2 Or, champaign, Zec.1.8. De.11.30.
c ver.1,11. Is.26.14,19. Ge.23.4. Ps.141.7.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can thesed bones live? And I answered, O eLord GOD, thou knowest.3
d Jn.6.4,5.
e De.32.39. 1 Sa.2.6. Jn.5.21;11.25,26. Ro.4.17. 2 Co.1.9,10. 1 Co.15.22.
3 Humanly speaking they could not live. No power on earth can give life to the dead. God alone, the giver of life and the author of life, can renew it. As it is with natural so is it with spiritual life. A dead world, a dead nation, a dead soul can only have spiritual life infused into it by the Spirit of God.—P.
4 Again he said unto me, gProphesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O hye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.4
g Je.1.10. Ro.10.17. Is.55.11. Mar.16.15.
h De.32.1. Is.42.18;1.2. Je.22.29. ch.36.1. Mi.6.1,2. Jn.5.25,28,29;6.63. Ec.8.4.
4 To speak to the dead seemed folly. In the light of mere human wisdom it was so. Yet God commanded it, and God's servant obeyed in faith, and with that exercise of faith and obedience God gave a power omnipotent and effectual.—P.
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones, Behold, iI will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
i ver.7-10. Ge.2.7. Ps.104.30. De.32.39. 1 Sa.2.6. Jn.5.21,25-29;6.63. Is.26.19. Ep.2.1,5,6.
6 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 jye shall know that I am the LORD.
7 Sok I prophesied as I was commanded:5 and as I prophesied lthere was a noise, and, behold, a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
k Ac.5.29;4.19;11.17. 1 Co.1.18,21,25.
5 See note * below.
* I prophesied as I was commanded. This is one among the many instances that serve to establish not merely the ideal but the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. See also ver.9,10.—C.
8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above; but there was no nbreath in them.
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind,6 prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD, Come from the fouro winds, O breath,7 and pbreathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, andq the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the rwhole house of Israel: behold they say, sOur bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts.
12 Therefore tprophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, O my people, uI will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves,8 and vbring you into the land of Israel.
t Job 35.14,15.
A.M. cir. 3417. B.C. cir. 587.
u ver.21. Is.26.19. Ho.13.14. 1 Th.4.16. Ezr.i.ii. Ne.vii. Je.31.8-12. Is.66.14. Jn.5.25,28. Ro.11.15. Re.11.11,15;20.4,13.
8 This cannot be understood of a literal resurrection; for then must the other emblems of the vision be likewise understood literally. In modern language, the West Indies have often been called 'the grave of Europeans,' and so, the inhospitable climates and countries into which Israel were carried are called their 'graves,' from which God promises to bring his people up.—C.
v Je.3.18. Am.9.14,15. ch.28.25.
13 And xye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
x ch.16.62;34.30. Ps.126.2,3. Joel 2.27;3.17.
14 And shall put ymy Spirit in you, and ye shall live; and I shall place you in your own land: zthen shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, atake thee one stick, and write9 upon it, bFor Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For cJoseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
a Nu.17.2.
9 This emblematic order alludes to Nu.17.2, where Moses wrote, upon twelve rods. The laws of Solon were preserved in Athens upon pieces of wood called axones. Poetry was written upon wood planed square or triangularly, each piece movable round in a frame for convenience of reading. Whence, it appears, is derived the word stave, applied to poetry and music. There are still two specimens of this mode of writing remaining in England—the Rieve Pole in the island of Portland, by which the rents still continue to be collected; and the tallies, or billets of wood, by which the accounts of the exchequer are noted, and by burning which, the two houses of parliament were lately destroyed in London.—C.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt ethou not show us what thou meanest by these?
e ch.12.9;17.12;20.49;24.19;34.30.
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, gI 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 hone stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
g ver.21,22,24. 1 Ch.9.3, with Mat.28.19. Ro.11.15,26. Ep.2.13,20;3.6;4.4-6. Zec.10.6.
h See ver.22.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, jI will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 Andk I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and lone 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:
k Is.11.12,13. Je.3.18;32.39;50.4. Ho.1.11. ver.24. Ep.2.19-22;4.4-6,12,13.
23 Neithern shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but oI will save them out of all their dwelling-places wherein they have sinned, and will pcleanse them: qso shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
n ch.36.25,29. Is.2.18. Ho.14.8. Zec.13.2;12.10. ch.20.38,43.
o ver.6,12; ch.36.24,25. Le.20.7,8. Mi.7.19.
p Ep.5.26,27. He.9.13,14. 1 Jn.1.7,9.
q See ver.27. Re.21.3,4.
24 And rDavid my servant1 shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: sthey shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
r Is.40.11;9.6,7;55.3,4. Je.23.5;30.9;33.15. ch.34.23,24. Ho.1.11;3.5. Zec.6.12,13;9.9. Lu.1.32,33. Mat.28.18. Phi.2.9-11. Ac.2.36. Jn.10.16;5.31. Ep.4.4-6. ver.22. Col.1.18;2.19.
1 Not David the son of Jesse, who is dead; but David the Beloved, the Son of God, who liveth and reigneth for ever. See ver.25.—C.
s See ch.36.27. 1 Jn.2.6. 1 Co.11.2. Zec.10.12. 2 Th.3.5. Phi.2.12,13;4.13. Is.26.12. Ga.2.20.
25 Andt 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 ufor ever.
26 Moreover, vI will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiplyx them, and ywill set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
Notes
Ver. 10. The breath came into them, and they lived. Though it is not necessary, nor perhaps right, to assert with Hutchinson that the Scriptures contain a system of philosophy; yet, most certain it is, that they are found not merely free from anything contrary to philosophical discovery, but the germ of natural truth is often found in them completely developed, though unobserved for ages by the eyes of theorizing philosophers. Examples of this fact may be found in the vitality and circulation of the blood, which, when adduced as modern discoveries, were clearly seen to have already existed in the writings of Moses and Solomon. And when the intimate connection between breath and life, Ge. 2. 7, is considered, it may not be presumptuous to conclude, without vainly speculating on the nature of life itself, that its sustaining energy is derived from the air, and carried on by the action of breathing, and that philosophy will yet discover what Scripture has already revealed. The Christian, however, is mainly concerned with considering the breath as an emblem of the Holy Spirit, and his indwelling as necessary to the life of the soul as the breathing of the air is to the life of the body. C.
Reflections.—In what a forlorn and apparently hopeless state are the vessels of mercy by nature, and sometimes the visible church of Christ! Dead, withered, and buried in graves of misery and wickedness! But God himself knows how to revive and quicken them by his word, Spirit, and providence, though none beside can effect it. Now can any obstructions except man withstand his infinite power and grace. Happy is the church when cordially united under Christ, effectually reformed from heathen and popish idolatry, and every temptation thereto, when fixed in the new kingdom, and enjoying therein the most blessed peace, safety, familiarity, and fellowship with God and his saints. In the worst of cases let me supplicate his Spirit, and depend on his promises, in hopes of that everlasting blessedness in which there shall be no death, no discord, no wars, no want, no distance from God.