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” (verses 4-6). What a strange audience before which to prophesy! But Ezekiel obeyed God; and as he did so, a miracle was wrought. 4. “And the Bones Came Together.” The prophet continued: “ 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” (verses 7, 8). And the prophet looked out upon a valley full of the dead bodies of human beings. 5. “ And Breath Came into Them.” Told to “ prophesy unto the wind,” Ezekiel said: “Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, 0 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 stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army” (verses 9, 10). What a sight to behold! And how the prophet must have wondered at the meaning of so strange a miracle! But God did not leave him in doubt, for He gave to Ezekiel also the interpretation of the vision as we read it in verses 11-14. 6. The Vision—A Picture o f Israel’s National Res urrection. God’s explanation is unmistakable: “ These bones are the whole house of Israel” (verse 11 ); the “ graves” are the nations of the world, in which Israel has been buried nationally for centuries; but the day will come when God will restore all of His ancient peo ple to their own land. For a long weary period of the world’s history the oppressed Jew has said, “ Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts” (verse 11). But the Lord has a message for His people: “ Behold, 0 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 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 12-14). This vision of the restoration of the nation of Israel does not represent, as some think, a physical resurrection to a second chance. This would be con trary to all the positive teaching of the Word of God. What a man does with the Lord Jesus in this life determines forever the destiny of his never-dying soul. Moreover, as we have often said before, every indi vidual, whether Jew or Gentile, must accept Christ as his own personal Saviour if he would spend eternity with Him. What we see in this thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel is God’s prophecy of Israel’s national resur rection. Let us keep this clearly in mind. For many dreary centuries the Jew has been buried in the cemetery of the Gentile nations. But the day has come; God has opened the “ graves,” so to speak, and He is leading His people back to their own home land. National Israel for centuries was dead in the
The future glory of Israel is depicted on the face of this young Jewish woman. Moving events transpire daily be fore our eyes in the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Photo courtesy of World Wide Pictures. must have made an indelible impression upon the proph et’s mind as he gazed upon it. Listen to the story: “ The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midsj; 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” (verses 1, 2). As Ezekiel looked upon this valley, filled with the bones of human skeletons, bleached and dry, the hor rible desolation of the scene must have caused him to wonder what message God had for him in the strange sight. Then it was God who spoke to His prophet in the question which follows: 2. “Can These Bones L ive?” Possibly Ezekiel had never been more at a loss to know what to answer than he was when God asked him this question. Hu manly speaking, there was not the slightest possibility of bringing life to this dismal scene. His answer was a wise one, “ 0 Lord God, thou knowest.” God knew; Ezekiel did not know what God intended to do. 3. “ Ye Shall Live.” Again God spoke to Ezekiel, saying: “ 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
"Scripture reveals Israel’s national rebirth’’
JUNE, 1964
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