EZEKIEL 37 COMMENTARYEDITED BY GLENN PEASE

The Valley of Dry Bones

1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.

BARNES, "The valley - The same word as “the plain” Eze_3:22; Eze_8:4. The “dry bones” represented the Israelites dispersed abroad, destitute of life national and spiritual.

CLARKE, "The hand of the Lord was upon me - The prophetic influence was communicated.

And carried me out in the spirit - Or, And the Lord brought me out in the spirit; that is, a spiritual vision, in which all these things were doubtless transacted.The valley which was full of bones - This vision of the dry bones was designed, first, as an emblem of the then wretched state of the Jews; secondly, of the general resurrection of the body.

GILL, "The hand of the Lord was upon me,.... The Spirit of the Lord, a powerful impulse of his upon the prophet; the Targum interprets it a spirit of prophecy; See Gill on Eze_1:3, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord: out of the place where he was to another; not really, but visionally, as things appeared to him, and as they were represented to his mind by the Spirit of God:

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and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones: of men, as the Targum adds: this valley, Kimchi thinks, was the same by the river Chebar, where the prophet had his visions at first. R. Jochanan says it was the valley of Dura, and these the bones of them that were slain by Nebuchadnezzar there, Dan_3:1. Rab says these were the children of Ephraim, slain by the men of Gath, 1Ch_7:20. Some of the Jewish Rabbins think there was a real resurrection at this time. R. Eliezer says, the dead Ezekiel quickened stood upon their feet, sung a song, and died. R. Eliezer, the son of R. Jose the Galilean, says, they went up into the land of Israel, married wives, and begat sons and daughters. R. Judah ben Bethira stood upon his feet, and said, I am of their children's children, and these are the "tephillim" my father's father left me (r); but these are all fabulous and romantic: others of them understand the whole in a parabolical way: these bones, and the quickening of them, were an emblem of the restoration of the Jews from their captivity, who were in a helpless and hopeless condition, as appears from Eze_37:11, and of the conversion of that people in the latter day, which will be as life from the dead; and of the revival of the interest and church of Christ, when the slain witnesses shall rise, and ascend to heaven; and of the resurrection of the dead at the last day; and may be applied unto and be used to illustrate the quickening of dead sinners, by the efficacious grace of the Spirit of God.

HENRY 1-3, "Here is, I. The vision of a resurrection from death to life, and it is a glorious resurrection. This is a thing so utterly unknown to nature, and so contrary to its principles (a privatione ad habitum non datur regressus - from privation to possession there is no return), that we could have no thought of it but by the word of the Lord; and that it is certain by that word that there shall be a general resurrection of the dead some have urged from this vision, “For” (say they) “otherwise it would not properly be made a sign for the confirming of their faith in the promise of their deliverance out of Babylon, as the coming of the Messiah is mentioned for the confirming of their faith touching a former deliverance,” Isa_7:14. But,

1. Whether it be a confirmation or no, it is without doubt a most lively representation of a threefold resurrection, besides that which it is primarily intended to be the sign of. (1.) The resurrection of souls from the death of sin to the life or righteousness, to a holy, heavenly, spiritual, and divine life, by the power of divine grace going along with the word of Christ, Joh_5:24, Joh_5:25. (2.) The resurrection of the gospel church, or any part of it, from an afflicted persecuted state, especially under the yoke of the New Testament Babylon, to liberty and peace. (3.) The resurrection of the body at the great day, especially the bodies of believers that shall rise to life eternal.2. Let us observe the particulars of this vision.(1.) The deplorable condition of these dead bones. The prophet was made, [1.] to take an exact view of them. By a prophetic impulse and a divine power he was, in vision, carried out and set in the midst of a valley, probably that plain spoken of Eze_3:22, where God then talked with him; and it was full of bones, of dead men's bones, not piled up on a heap, as in a charnel-house, but scattered upon the face of the ground, as if some bloody battle had been fought here, and the slain left unburied till all the flesh was devoured or putrefied, and nothing left but the bones, and those disjointed from one another and dispersed. He passed by them round about, and he observed not only that they were very many (for there are multitudes gone to the congregation of the dead), but that, lo, they were very dry, having been long exposed to the sun and wind. The bones that have been moistened with marrow (Job_21:24), when they have been any while

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dead, lose all their moisture, and are dry as dust. The body is now fenced with bones (Job_10:11), but then they will themselves be defenceless. The Jews in Babylon were like those dead and dry bones, unlikely ever to come together, to be so much as a skeleton, less likely to be formed into a body, and least of all to be a living body. However, they lay unburied in the open valley, which encouraged the hopes of their resurrection, as of the two witnesses, Rev_11:8, Rev_11:9. The bones of Gog and Magog shall be buried (Eze_39:12, Eze_39:15), for their destruction is final; but the bones of Israel are in the open valley, under the eye of Heaven, for there is hope in their end. [2.] He was made to own their case deplorable, and not to be helped by any power less than that of God himself (Eze_37:3): “Son of man, can these bones live? Is it a thing likely? Cast thou devise how it should be done? Can thy philosophy reach to put life into dry bones, or thy politics to restore a captive nation?” “No,” says the prophet, “I know not how it should be done, but thou knowest.” He does not say, “They cannot live,” lest he should seem to limit the Holy One of Israel; but, “Lord, thou knowest whether they can and whether they shall; if thou dost not put life into them, it is certain that they cannot life.” Note, God is perfectly acquainted with his own power and his own purposes, and will have us to refer all to them, and to see and own that his wondrous works are such as could not be effected by any counsel or power but his own.

JAMISON, "Eze_37:1-28. The vision of dry bones revivified, symbolizing Israel’s death and resurrection.

Three stages in Israel’s revival present themselves to the prophet’s eye.(1) The new awakening of the people, the resurrection of the dead (Eze_37:1-14).(2) The reunion of the formerly hostile members of the community, whose contentions had affected the whole (Eze_37:15-28).(3) The community thus restored is strong enough to withstand the assault of Gog, etc. (Ezekiel 38:1-39:29) [Ewald].

carried ... in the spirit — The matters transacted, therefore, were not literal, but in vision.the valley — probably that by the Chebar (Eze_3:22). The valley represents Mesopotamia, the scene of Israel’s sojourn in her state of national deadness.

K&D 1-3, "Eze_37:1. There came upon me the hand of Jehovah, and Jehovah led me out in the spirit, and set me down in the midst of the valley; this was full of bones. Eze_37:2. And He led me past them round about; and, behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and, behold, they were very dry. Eze_37:3. And He said to me, Son of man, will these bones come to life? and I said, Lord, Jehovah, thou knowest. Eze_37:4. Then He said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, Ye dry bones, hear ye the word of Jehovah. Eze_37:5. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to these bones, Behold, I bring breath into you, that ye may come to life. Eze_37:6. I will create sinews upon you, and cause flesh to grow upon you, and cover you with skin, and bring breath into you, so that ye shall live and know that I am Jehovah. Eze_37:7. And I prophesied as I was commanded; and there was a noise as I prophesied, and behold a rumbling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. Eze_37:8. And I saw, and behold

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sinews came over them, and flesh grew, and skin drew over it above; but there was no breath in them. Eze_37:9. Then He said to me, Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Come from the four winds, thou breath, and blow upon these slain, that they may come to life. Eze_37:10. And I prophesied as I was commanded; then the breath came into them, and they came to life, and stood upon their feet, a very, very great army. Eze_37:11. And He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, our bones are dried, and our hope has perished; we are destroyed! Eze_37:12. Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will open you graves, and cause you to come out of your graves, my people, and bring you into the land of Israel. Eze_37:13. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I open your graves, and cause you to come out of your graves, my people. Eze_37:14. And I will put my Spirit into you, and will place you in your land, and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken and do it, is the saying of Jehovah. - This revelation divides itself into two sections. Eze_37:1-10 contain the vision, and Eze_37:11-14 give the interpretation. There are no particular difficulties in the description of the vision, so far as the meaning of the words is concerned. By a supernatural intervention on the part of God, Ezekiel is taken from his own home in a state of spiritual ecstasy into a valley which was full of dead men's bones. For the expression 'היתה עלי יד see the comm. on Eze_1:3. In the second clause of ,ייEze_37:1 ה יה is the subject, and is not to be taken as a genitive in connection with ברוח .as it has been by the Vulgate and Hitzig in opposition to the accents ,ברוח stands for ברוח הים א (Eze_11:24), and הים א is omitted simply because ה יה follows immediately afterwards. הניח, to set down, here and Eze_40:2; whereas in other cases the form הניח is usually employed in this sense. The article prefixed to הבקעה appears to point back to Eze_3:22, to the valley where Ezekiel received the first revelation concerning the fate of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. That עצמים are dead men's bones is evident from what follows. העבירני ”,not “He led me over them round about ,עליהםbut past them, in order that Ezekiel might have a clear view of them, and see whether it were possible for them to come to life again. They were lying upon the surface of the valley, i.e., not under, but upon the ground, and not piled up in a heap, but scattered over the valley, and they were very dry. The question asked by God, whether these bones could live, or come to life again, prepares the way for the miracle; and Ezekiel's answer, “Lord, Thou knowest” (cf. Rev_7:14), implies that, according to human judgment, it was inconceivable that they could come to life any more, and nothing but the omnipotence of God could effect this.

COFFMAN, "Verse 1

THE VALLEY OF DRY BONES;

THE RESTORATION AND REUNION OF JUDAH AND EPHRAIM UNDER 4

MESSIAH

Here is a remarkable prophecy of the ingathering of scattered, discouraged, and disillusioned Israel from the nations to which they had been dispersed, the repatriation of them in their homeland, and also of the unification of Ephraim and Joseph under the benign government of the Lord Jesus Christ. "This is a plain forecast of the conversion of the Jews to Christ."[1]

The first part of the chapter (Ezekiel 37:1-14) employs the vision of the valley of dry bones to teach the return of captive Israel to Palestine, an event which is appropriately illustrated here as a whole army which had been slain with their bones left to bleach in the sun, being suddenly raised to full life and strength! The return of any ethnic people from the borders of any conqueror who had captured and deported the whole people would have been viewed throughout the world of that era as a totally unimaginable and impossible happening. Under the will of God, however, it occurred; and nothing could have any more appropriately symbolized such a development than does this vision of the resurrection of a valley of dry bones.

The remainder of the chapter is devoted to a prophecy of the reunion of Judah and Ephraim under one king, called here "God's servant David," the scriptural name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Ezekiel 37:1-6

"The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. And he caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, io, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah 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;

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and ye shall know that I am Jehovah."

THE VISION OF THE VALLEY OF DRY BONES (Ezekiel 37:1-6)

As we understand this, it was an experience that came to Ezekiel in an inspired vision. It is not necessary to suppose that there was actually a whole valley of bleaching, unburied bones. It was the picture that came to Ezekiel in this vision. As we learn from the divine interpretation given a little later, "This prophecy does not refer to a literal resurrection of dead Israelites, but to a revival of the dead nation."[2]

"It almost surpassed conception in those days that a restoration of Israel was even possible."[3] Their state had been destroyed; their king had been captured, blinded and carried away to Babylon to die; countless thousands of the people had been slaughtered; the heart of the nation had been carried to captivity in Babylon; their beloved Jerusalem was destroyed; even the Holy Temple of God had been plundered and burned. No language could adequately describe how dead and hopeless were the peoples' dreams and ambitions.

The people themselves expressed this hopelessness, saying, "Our bones are dried; our hope is lost; we feel ourselves cut off." (Ezekiel 37:11). Skinner believed that this expression by the people might have suggested the figure of the valley of the dry bones.[4] Our own opinion is that God needed no help from the people in his choice of a metaphor.

Scholars are divided over the question of whether or not there are eschatological overtones here relating to the general resurrection at the end of time. Some believe that the meaning is limited to the resurrection and reconstituting of Israel as a unified and visible people.

It appears to this writer that the primary thrust of the passage regards the bringing

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of new hope and life to the discouraged and defeated Israel.

However, we strongly agree with Plumptre who stated that, "Even if the doctrine of a general resurrection had not been current in Ezekiel's times, this vision was enough to have called it into existence and to have lent strong probability to its truth."[5]

It has seemed very strange to us that several scholars have gone out of their way to affirm that Ezekiel had no knowledge or conviction with reference to life after death. Daniel believed in a general resurrection, and he was contemporary with Ezekiel (Daniel 12:2-4). The ante-Nicene fathers, Tertullian particularly referred this passage to the final resurrection, as did also Jerome.

It has been affirmed, and we believe it, that no orthodox Hebrew ever lived who did not believe that God was able to raise the dead. Certainly Abraham believed it, as it is dogmatically declared in Hebrews 11:19; and it appears to us extremely unlikely that the prophets of God would not also have believed it. In fact Isaiah eloquently confirmed faith in the resurrection of the dead in his great prophecy of Isaiah 25:6-8. (See my comments on this in Vol. 1 of the Major Prophets, pp. 230,231.) Also, Hosea 13:14 speaks of victory over death and the grave, a passage quoted by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:55.

It would therefore be an incredible mystery if Ezekiel had been ignorant of the writings of the other prophets, and of the conviction of his illustrious ancestor Abraham, and was himself without conviction regarding the resurrection. We cannot accept such a notion.

"Son of man, can these bones live ..." (Ezekiel 37:3)? "This indicates that Ezekiel had learned a lesson which few learn. Situations such as this are better left to Yahweh's providence and knowledge."[6] "This answer by Ezekiel implies that, according to human judgment, it was inconceivable that the dry bones could come to life again."[7] It is noteworthy that the apostle John when confronted with a question regarding his inspired vision in the Apocalypse responded in these same

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words (Revelation 7:14).

COKE, "Verse 1

Ezekiel 37:1. The hand of the Lord was upon me— It is the general opinion of the best commentators, that all this passed in vision. The first and great object of this prophesy seems evidently to be, the restoration of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity. Bishop Warburton observes, that the messengers of God prophesying for the people's consolation in disastrous times, frequently promise a restoration to the former days of felicity; and, to obviate all distrust from unpromising appearances, they put the case even at the worst, and assure the people in metaphorical expressions, that though the community were as intirely dissolved as a dead body reduced to dust, yet God would raise up that community again to life. Though the generality of commentators, says Mr. Peters, regard this vision and prophesy as no other than a figurative representation and prediction of a return of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, or some other of their captivities and dispersions; yet, perhaps, we shall find upon a more attentive consideration, that whatever hopes it might give them of a temporal and national deliverance or prosperity, yet there was evidently something farther designed; and that to comfort them in their distressed situation, with the prospect of a future resurrection in a proper sense, was at least as much intended by the Spirit of God, or rather more so than the other. See on Ezekiel 37:10.

ELLICOTT, "This chapter consists of two distinct communications. In the first (Ezekiel 37:1-14) the prophet sees a vision, and is directed in consequence to utter a prophecy; in the second (Ezekiel 37:15-28) he is told to perform a symbolical act, and explain its meaning to the people. There is a close connection between the two, and also between the latter and the two following chapters. In Ezekiel 37:1-10, Ezekiel, in a vision, sees a plain full of bones and is directed to prophecy to them; in consequence of which they come together, are clothed with flesh, and become alive. In Ezekiel 37:11-14, the vision is expressly explained to mean that the children of Israel, in their scattered and apparently hopeless condition, shall yet be brought together again and restored to national life. The vision is not at all concerned with the future resurrection; and yet it may well be thought that the idea of this was familiar to the mind of the people, as otherwise the prophet would hardly have

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chosen such a simile.

The course of thought in the later prophecy and its connection with what follows will be explained in its place.

EXCURSUS F: ON CHAPTER 37.

So much has been said in the interpretation of this chapter of the high spiritual view which can alone explain these prophecies consistently with themselves, that it may be unnecessary to add anything further; yet as correct views upon this point are absolutely essential to the right understanding of the remaining parts of this book, and as much misapprehension exists in regard to them, it may be well very briefly to mention some of the reasons why it is impossible to understand the language of Ezekiel in regard to the future as referring only to the Israelites after the flesh, and to the land in which they once lived.

Every one who compares the general scope and purpose of the two dispensations must see that they are essentially one, that the end was foreseen from the beginning, and that the earlier was distinctly preparatory for the later. The “Gospel was preached before unto Abraham,” and then “the law was added because of transgressions, until the promised seed should come” (Galatians 3:8; Galatians 3:19); and this preparatory character of the old dispensation, recognised even by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-18, &c.), was more and more insisted upon by the prophets (e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34; Haggai 2:6-9, &c.). At the same time, they describe the future continually by means of already familiar events in their history (see Isaiah 40-66 throughout, especially Isaiah 62, 63), even going to the extent of promising again the reign of David (Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 34:23-24; Ezekiel 37:24-25; Hosea 3:5), and the coming in the last days of the prophet Elijah (Malachi 4:5). These prophecies are repeatedly and expressly interpreted of Christ and His forerunner, while the promised “new covenant” is explained of the Christian dispensation; and the description of the wonders accompanying its introduction (Joel 2:28-32, &c.) is applied to the circumstances connected with the first promulgation of the Gospel (Acts 2:16, &c.). Moreover, it was from the first expected that the “seed of Abraham” should embrace far more than his descendants

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after the flesh, and the promise that he should be “the father of many nations” is shown by St. Paul to mean that all who embraced his faith should be recognised as his children (Romans 4:16); while the correlated promise, “To thy seed will I give this land,” is extended in the same connection (Romans 4:13) to a promise “that he should be the heir of the world.” When these facts are joined (1) with our Lord’s teaching that the types and shadows of the old economy were fulfilled in Himself; that the time had come when Jerusalem should no longer be the place where the Father should be worshipped (John 4:21); and (2) with the apostle’s declaration that all earthly distinctions between Jew and Greek, or of whatever other kind, are passed away: that “if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed” (Galatians 3:28-29); and also (3) with the whole argument in the Epistle to the Hebrews that the Aaronic priesthood culminated and was absorbed in the higher priesthood of Christ, and that the whole sacrificial and Temple arrangements of old were typical and temporary, and were superseded by the realities of the Christian dispensation—there seems no longer room for doubt that the Jewish Church and nationality are things of the past, and have been merged for ever in the Church of Christ. At the same time, it is never to be forgotten that the prophets foretold, and history has fulfilled, that “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22), and that the law should “go forth from Sion,” and the “new covenant” be made with God’s chosen people; for it is abundantly evident that our Lord, after the flesh, was a Jew, and all His immediate followers were Jews. His Church was cradled among them, and it was not until some years after it had entered upon its career for the salvation of the world that its doors were thrown open to the Gentiles.

If, however, it were still urged that, all this being admitted, many prophecies, and notably those of Ezekiel, still seem, over and above these things, to look forward to a future restoration of the Jews to their own land, in a condition of great prosperity and power, it must be replied that the above considerations of the absolute removal in Christ of all distinctions among those who believe in Him are inconsistent with the future revival of these distinction in His Church; and that even such an explicit prophecy of the restoration of the fallen “tabernacle of David” as is contained in Amos 9:11-12 is expressly applied by the apostles (Acts 15:16) to the union of Gentiles and Jews in the Christian Church.

Besides all this, in predicting the future under the figures of what has gone before, the prophets frequently foretell what would be contradictory if it were to be understood literally. Thus Zechariah (Zechariah 14:16-19) declares that all nations

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shall come up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles: an evident physical impossibility. So also there is continual mention of the restoration of animal sacrifices with acceptance to God, which is inconceivable in the light in which those sacrifices are viewed in the New Testament. The offering of the “one sacrifice for sins for ever” (Hebrews 10:12) by Him who was the Antitype of all sacrifice necessarily brought to an end the whole typical system.

Finally, it is to be considered that the very representations of the old prophets are sometimes repeated in the New Testament as a means of describing a state of things which no one would dream of interpreting literally. This is particularly noticeable in the present passage. Ezekiel has been describing a spiritual resurrection of the people (comp. John 5:21), and then goes on to foretell an assault by their enemies which shall be frustrated by the power of God (Ezekiel 38, 39). The same thing is foretold in Revelation 20: the power of evil is restrained for a time, and there is a resurrection of the believers in Christ, with a period of blessing and prosperity; then the enemies of God (under the very same names of Gog and Magog) are gathered to battle, and destroyed by the power of God; and finally, the Church of the future, the heavenly Jerusalem, is revealed in its power and glory, in much the same way as in this passage of Ezekiel.

It can scarcely be necessary to add that the figurative interpretation of these prophecies does not affect the important question in regard to the purpose of Divine Providence in the continued preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, and the intimations in regard to their future, given in the Epistle to the Romans and elsewhere. Whatever may be the future designed for Israel, the question here is simply, What was the instruction intended to be conveyed in this chapter? And the reasons above given seem sufficiently to indicate the interpretation adopted.

Verse 1

(1) In the midst of the valley.—The word is the same as in Ezekiel 3:22; Ezekiel 8:4, and having the definite article prefixed, is very probably the same plain, now seen in spirit, in which Ezekiel had seen his former visions.

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Which was full of bones.—It is better, with the Hebrew, to put a stop after “plain” (valley), and then read, this was full of bones. The bones, as the subsequent verses show, were not heaped together, but thickly strewn upon the face of the plain. After the prophet’s mind had so long dwelt upon the desolating campaigns of Nebuchadnezzar, these ghastly reminders of the loss of human life might naturally enter into his thoughts.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:1 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,

Ver. 1. The hand of the Lord,] i.e., The force and impulse of the Holy Spirit, fitly called "the hand of the Lord"; (a) because holy men of old spake and acted as they were moved or carried out by the Holy Ghost. [2 Peter 2:22]

In the spirit,] i.e., In a spiritual rapture.

And set me down.] Not really, but visionally.

In the midst of the valley.] That same valley, some think, where [Ezekiel 1:3] he saw that glorious vision. Prophecies were often received, and prayers are best made, in one and the same place.

Which was full of bones.] So it appeared to him in his ecstasy.

POOLE, "By the resurrection of dry bones the revival of the lost hope of Israel is prefigured, Ezekiel 37:1-14. By the uniting of two sticks is showed the incorporation of Israel with Judah, Ezekiel 37:15-19. Their blessings in union under Christ their

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king, Ezekiel 37:20-28.

The hand; either the prophetic Spirit, as Ezekiel 1:3 8:1, moving him to prophesy by this emblem; or else the Spirit of God carrying him visionally, not corporeally, as in Eze 8, into such a prospect or landscape.

In the spirit; either in the power of the Spirit of God, or it may refer to the prophet’s own spirit, he was in his spirit, or mind and apprehension.

Set me down; so it seemed to me in the vision, that I was set gently down.

In the valley; it is vain to inquire what valley this should be, which was visional, not corporeal or real.

Full of bones: it is as vain to inquire whose bones these were, they are visional, and hieroglyphics of Israel’s present condition.

MACLAREN, "THE DRY BONES AND THE SPIRIT OF LIFE

Ezekiel 37:1 - Ezekiel 37:14.

This great vision apparently took its form from a despairing saying, which had become a proverb among the exiles, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost: we are clean cut off’ [Ezekiel 37:11]. Ezekiel lays hold of the metaphor, which had been taken to express the hopeless destruction of Israel’s national existence, and even from it wrings a message of hope. Faith has the prerogative of seeing possibilities of life in what looks to sense hopeless death. We may look at the vision

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from three points of view, considering its bearing on Israel, on the world, and on the resurrection of the body.

I. The saying, already referred to, puts the hopelessness of the mass of the exiles in a forcible fashion. The only sense in which living men could say that their bones were dried up, and they cut off, is a figurative one, and obviously it is the national existence which they regarded as irretrievably ended. The saying gives us a glimpse into the despair which had settled down on the exiles, and against which Ezekiel had to contend, as he had also to contend against its apparently opposite and yet kindred feeling of presumptuous, misplaced hope. We observe that he begins by accepting fully the facts which bred despair, and even accentuating them. The true prophet never makes light of the miseries of which he knows the cure, and does not try to comfort by minimising the gravity of the evil. The bones are very many, and they are very dry. As far as outward resources are concerned, despair was rational, and hope as absurd as it would have been to expect that men, dead so long that their bones had been bleached by years of exposure to the weather, should live again.

But while Ezekiel saw the facts of Israel’s powerlessness as plainly as the most despondent, he did not therefore despair. The question which rose in his mind was God’s question, and the very raising it let a gleam of hope in. So he answered with that noble utterance of faith and submission, ‘O Lord God, Thou knowest.’ ‘With God all things are possible.’ Presumption would have said ‘Yes’; Unbelief would have said ‘No’; Faith says, ‘Thou knowest.’

The grand description of the process of resurrection follows the analogy of the order in the creation of man, giving, first, the shaping of the body, and afterwards the breathing into it of the breath which is life. Both stages are wholly God’s work. The prophet’s part was to prophesy to the bones first; and his word, in a sense, brought about the effect which it foretold, since his ministry was the most potent means of rekindling dying hopes, and bringing the disjecta membra of the nation together again. The vivid and gigantic imagination of the prophet gives a picture of the rushing together of the bones, which has no superior in any literature. He hears a noise, and sees a ‘shaking’ {by which is meant the motion of the bones to each other, rather than an ‘earthquake,’ as the Revised Version has it, which inserts a quite irrelevant detail}, and the result of all is that the skeletons are complete. Then

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follows the gradual clothing with flesh. There they lie, a host of corpses.

The second stage is the quickening of these bodies with life, and here again Ezekiel, as God’s messenger, has power to bring about what he announces; for, at his command, the breath, or wind, or spirit, comes, and the stiff corpses spring to their feet, a mighty army. The explanation in the last verses of the text somewhat departs from the tenor of the vision by speaking of Israel as buried, but keeps to its substance, and point the despairing exiles to God as the source of national resurrection. But we must not force deeper meaning on Ezekiel’s words than they properly bear. The spirit promised in them is simply the source of life,-literally, of physical life; metaphorically, of national life. However that national restoration was connected with holiness, that does not enter into the prophet’s vision. Israel’s restoration to its land is all that Ezekiel meant by it. True, that restoration was to lead to clearer recognition by Israel of the name of Jehovah, and of all that it implied in him and demanded from them. But the proper scope of the vision is to assure despairing Israelites that God would quicken the apparently slain national life, and replace them in the land.

II. We may extend the application of the vision to the condition of humanity and the divine intervention which communicates life to a dead world, but must remember that no such meaning was in Ezekiel’s thoughts. The valley full of dry bones is but too correct a description of the aspect which a world ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ bears, when seen from the mountain-top by pure and heavenly eyes. The activities of godless lives mask the real spiritual death, which is the condition of every soul that is separate from God. Galvanised corpses may have muscular movements, but they are dead, notwithstanding their twitching. They that live without God are dead while they live.

Again, we may learn from the vision the preparation needful for the prophet, who is to be the instrument of imparting divine life to a dead world. The sorrowful sense of the widespread deadness must enter into a man’s spirit, and be ever present to him, in order to fit him for his work. A dead world is not to be quickened on easy terms. We must see mankind in some measure as God sees them if we are to do God’s work among them. So-called Christian teachers, who do not believe that the race is dead in sin, or who, believing it, do not feel the tragedy of the fact, and the power lodged in their hands to bring the true life, may prophesy to the dry bones for ever, and

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there will be no shaking among them.

The great work of the gospel is to communicate divine life. The details of the process in the vision are not applicable in this respect. As we have pointed out, they are shaped after the pattern of the creation of Adam, but the essential point is that what the world needs is the impartation from God of His Spirit. We know more than Ezekiel did as to the way by which that Spirit is given to men, and as to the kind of life which it imparts, and as to the connection between that life and holiness. It is a diviner voice than Ezekiel’s which speaks to us in the name of God, and says to us with deeper meaning than the prophet of the Exile dreamed of, ‘I will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live.’

But we may note that it is possible to have the outward form of a living body, and yet to have no life. Churches and individuals may be perfectly organised and perfectly dead. Creeds may be articulated most correctly, every bone in its place, and yet have no vitality in them. Forms of worship may be punctiliously proper, and have no breath of life in them. Religion must have a body, but often the body is not so much the organ as the sepulchre of the spirit. We have to take heed that the externals do not kill the inward life.

Again, we note that this great act of life-giving is God’s revelation of His name,-that is, of His character so far as men can know it. ‘Ye shall know that I am the Lord’ [Ezekiel 37:13 - Ezekiel 37:14]. God makes Himself known in His divinest glory when He quickens dead souls. The world may learn what He is therefrom, but they who have experienced the change, and have, as it were, been raised from the grave to new life, have personal experience of His power and faithfulness so sure and sweet that henceforward they cannot doubt Him nor forget His grace.

III. As to the bearing of the vision on the doctrine of the resurrection little need be said. It does not necessarily presuppose the people’s acquaintance with that doctrine, for it would be quite conceivable that the vision had revealed to the prophet the thought of a resurrection, which had not been in his beliefs before. The vision is so entirely figurative, that it cannot be employed as evidence that the idea of the resurrection of the dead was part of the Jewish beliefs at this date. It does,

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however, seem most natural to suppose that the exiles were familiar with the idea, though the vision cannot be taken as a revelation of a literal resurrection of dead men. For clear expectations of such a resurrection we must turn to such scriptures as Daniel 12:2, Daniel 12:13.

SIMEON, "UNIVERSAL RESTORATION OF THE JEWS

Ezekiel 37:1-6. 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 teas full of bones, and caused vie 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 knottiest. 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.

WHILST the Jews at large, and the generality of Christians also, believe that the dispersed of Israel will one day be restored to their own land, there is an assured expectation, both amongst the one and the other, that the Messiah will in due time reign over the face of the whole earth. But, whilst this blessed event is expected by all, there lurks in the minds of the generality a persuasion, that in the present state of the Jews their conversion to Christ is impracticable; and that, whenever it shall be effected, it will be by some miraculous interposition, like that which took place at their deliverance from Egypt: and hence all attempts to convert them to Christianity are thought nugatory at least, if not presumptuous. In opposition to these discouraging apprehensions, which would paralyze all exertions in their behalf, I have selected this portion of Holy Writ, which meets the objections in the fullest possible manner, and shews, beyond all doubt, that we are bound to use the means which God has appointed for their conversion, and that in the diligent use of those means we may reasonably hope for God’s blessing on our labours.

In the preceding chapter are plain and express promises relative to the restoration

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and conversion of the Jews. In the chapter before us, the same subject is continued in an emblematic form. The Jews in Babylon despaired of ever being restored to their native land. To counteract these desponding fears, there was given to the Prophet Ezekiel a vision, in which the extreme improbability of such an event is acknowledged, whilst the certainty of it is expressly declared. And, lest the import of the vision should be mistaken, it is explained by God himself, and the event predicted in it is foretold in plain and direct terms: “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 [Note: ver. 11–14.].”

We cannot but admire the goodness and condescension of God, in so accommodating himself to the weaknesses and wants of men. His people were slow of heart to understand his word; and therefore he “gave them line upon line, and precept upon precept,” and exhibited truth to them under every form, if so be they might be able to receive it at last, and to obtain the blessings which he held forth to them in his Gospel.

The restoration promised in the chapter before us does not merely relate to the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon. To that indeed is its primary reference; but it manifestly has respect to a recovery from their present state of dispersion, and to a spiritual deliverance from their bondage to sin and Satan: for, not only are the expressions too strong to be confined to a mere temporal deliverance, but the emblem mentioned in the subsequent part of this chapter, of uniting two sticks in the prophet’s hand, shews that the whole is to be accomplished, when all the tribes of Israel, as well those which were carried captive to Assyria as those of Judah and Benjamin, shall be reunited under one head, the Lord Jesus Christ.

That this period is yet future, you cannot doubt, when you hear the words of God to the prophet: “Son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions. Then take another stick, and write upon it,

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For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I 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. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one 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 ……And David my servant shall be king over them; and they shall have one Shepherd [Note: ver. 16–25.].” These things have never yet been fulfilled; but they shall be fulfilled in their season. What though the Jews be like dry bones scattered over the face of the whole earth? Shall any word that God has spoken respecting them fall to the ground? No: the scattered bones shall be reunited, each to its kindred bone, and they shall rise up an exceeding great array, as the Lord has said.

In explanation of this vision, I will endeavour to set before you,

I. The present state of the Jews;

II. Our duty towards them; and

III. Our encouragement to perform it.

Let us consider, First, The present state of the Jews—

Certainly nothing can be well conceived more unpromising than this. The obstacles to their conversion do indeed appear almost insurmountable. One most formidable barrier in their way is, the extraordinary blindness and hardness of their hearts. From the very beginning they were, as Moses himself tells them, a stiff-necked people: and their whole history is one continued confirmation of the truth of Ins assertion; insomuch that any one who is conversant with the sacred records, but

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unacquainted with the plague of his own heart, would be ready to imagine, that their very blood had received a deeper taint than that of others. Certainly we should have scarcely supposed it possible that human nature should be so corrupt, as they have shewn it to be. We should never have conceived that persons who had witnessed all the wonders which were wrought in their behalf in Egypt, and at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness, should be so murmuring, so rebellious, so atheistical as they were during their forty years’ continuance in the wilderness; and indeed, with the exception of some occasional and partial reformations, even till their final dispersion by the Romans. It really appears incredible, that, with the Holy Scriptures in their hands, and with the life and miracles of our blessed Lord exhibited before their eyes, they could evince such malignant dispositions towards him, and with such deliberate cruelty imbrue their hands in his blood. Yet such is their state at this hour, that I can have no doubt but that they would reject him again with all the same virulence as before, if he were again to descend from heaven, and to place himself within the reach of their power. His meek and holy conduct would not be sufficient to disarm their malice; nor could all his benevolent miracles conciliate their regard: they would still, as before, cry, “Away with him! crucify him! crucify him!” The same veil is upon their hearts at this day as there was then: and, as far as they can, they actually repeat all the iniquities of their fathers, sanctioning and approving all which they did towards him, and in their hearts transacting it afresh. Such being almost universally the predominant features of their minds, we must acknowledge, that their restoration to life is as improbable as any event that can be contemplated. But whilst I say this, let it not be thought that I mean to cast any uncharitable reflections upon them, or needlessly to asperse their character: for I well know that by nature they are no worse than others. They labour under peculiar disadvantages. From their earliest infancy they are filled with prejudice against the religion of Jesus: they hear him designated by the most opprobrious titles; and are taught to regard him as a vile impostor. This constitutes the chief difference between them, and multitudes who bear the Christian name: ungodly Christians are as averse to real piety as they; but having been taught to reverence the name of Christ, they can hear of it without disgust; whilst the Jews, who have been educated in the most envenomed hatred of it, spurn at it with indignation and abhorrence; and consequently, are proportionably hardened against all his overtures of love and mercy.

Another obstacle in their way is the contempt in which they are held. It had been foretold by Moses concerning them, that they should “become an astonishment and a proverb, and a bye-word among all nations [Note: Deuteronomy 28:37.];” and

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such they have been ever since their dispersion by the Romans. There is not a quarter of the globe where this prediction is not verified. Mahometans and Heathens of every description pour contempt upon them, and load them with all manner of indignities. Nor have Christians been at all more kindly disposed towards them: on the contrary, we have been foremost in executing upon them the Divine vengeance, just as if our religion, instead of prescribing acts of mercy and love, had dictated nothing but cruelty and oppression. To this hour, the very name of a Jew is amongst us a term of reproach, a symbol of every thing that is odious and contemptible. And what is the natural effect of this? Can we wonder that it should excite resentment in their breasts? Has it not a necessary tendency to embitter them against us, and to make them detest the principles we profess? What can they think of Christianity, when they see such conduct universally practised by its professors? We complain of their blindness and obduracy; but can we wonder at their state, when we ourselves have done, and are yet continually doing, so much to produce it? And what effect has it on ourselves, but to weaken any kind dispositions which may be cherished in the hearts of a few towards them, and to make us despair of ever effecting any thing in their behalf? This effect, I say, it does produce: for, whilst we make extensive efforts for the conversion and salvation of the Heathen, we pass by the Jew with utter disdain, and deride as visionary all endeavours for his welfare. If we saw but a beast fallen into a pit, our bowels of compassion would move towards him, and we should make some efforts for his deliverance: but we behold millions of Jews perishing in their sins, and we never sigh over their lamentable condition, nor use any means for the salvation of their souls. They are not allowed even the contingent benefits of social intercourse with us: the wall of partition which God has broken down in his Gospel, is built up by us; as if by general consent they were proscribed, and debarred all access to the light that we enjoy. Their fathers, in the apostolic age, laboured and died for us, when we were sunk in the depths of sin and misery: but we will not stretch out a hand for them, or point them to the rock, on which they may be saved from the overwhelming surge. Thus they are left to famish, whilst the heavenly manna lies around our tents; and they are immured in darkness, whilst we are enjoying all the blessings of the noon-day sun. Say, then, whether this be not a formidable barrier in their way, so as to render their access to the true Messiah beyond measure difficult?

But a yet further obstacle to their conversion arises from the efforts which they themselves use to prevent the introduction of Christianity among them. The Rulers of their Church exercise authority over them with a strong hand: and the first appearance among them of an inclination to embrace the Gospel of Christ is

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checked with great severity. Every species of threatening is used to intimidate those who have begun to ask the way to Zion, and to deter them from prosecuting their inquiries: and, if a person yield to his convictions, and embrace the Gospel, he is instantly loaded with all the odium that can be heaped upon him: every kind of employment is withheld from him; and he would be left to perish with hunger, if he were not aided by those whose principles he has embraced. An apprehension of those evils deters vast multitudes from free inquiry; and constrains not a few to stifle their convictions, because they cannot prevail on themselves to sacrifice their all for Christ.

Such being the present state of the Jews, it may well be asked, “Can these bones live?” Can it be hoped that the feeble efforts which we are using should succeed? If, when in Babylon, they despaired, saying, “Our bones are dried; our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts:” may they not with far greater propriety adopt the same language now? and may not we regard all attempts for their conversion as altogether hopeless, even as hopeless as the resuscitation of dry bones, that have been for ages crumbled into dust?

Yet hopeless as their state appears, we should not be discouraged from performing,

II. Our duty towards them—

The command which God gave to the prophet in my text was not personal to him, but general to all who are partakers of superior light and liberty. The whole was not a real transaction, but a vision, intended for the instruction of the Church of God in all ages, and especially for those who should be alive at the period destined for the accomplishment of the prophecy. We may consider therefore the directions here given as applicable to ourselves, and as comprising our duty towards the house of Israel. It consists in these two things, The communicating of instruction to them, and The praying unto God for them.

We should, as far as lies in our power, communicate instruction to them. The word “prophecy” does not necessarily import an utterance of predictions; it is often used

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for the conveying of instruction in the name of God: and this is what we are bound to do to the Jewish people, each of us according to the abilities we possess, and the opportunities that are afforded us. We are not all called to exercise the ministerial office; but we are to impart in conversation the knowledge we have received. No Christian whatever is to put his light under a bushel or a bed, but on a candlestick, that it may give light to those who are within the sphere of its influence. If we have but one talent, we are to use it for the honour of our God, and the benefit of our fellow-creatures.

But here it is to be regretted, that the generality of Christians are themselves destitute of the information which they are called upon to communicate. Nor is this true of the laity only: even those who bear the ministerial office are by no means so well instructed in the points at issue between the Jews and us, as to be competent to the task of entering into controversy with the more learned Jews. Even those ministers who have somewhat of a deeper insight into the mysteries of the Gospel, are for the most part but ill furnished with that species of knowledge which qualifies them for instructing the Jews. They are not aware of the principal objections of the Jews to Christianity, nor of the answers which ought to be given to them. Even the peculiar excellencies of the Christian system, as contradistinguished from Judaism, are not so familiar to them as they ought to be. With Heathens they can argue, and with different sects of Christians they can maintain their stand: but so utterly have they disregarded and despised the Jew, that they have thought it not worth their while to furnish themselves with knowledge suited to his case. This is greatly to the shame of Christians in general, and of Christian Ministers in particular. Nor does it offer any just excuse for our continuing to neglect the Jews, since we ought instantly to make ourselves acquainted with all that is necessary for the conviction of our Jewish Brother; and in the mean time should procure for him, from others, the instruction which we ourselves are unable to impart. This is what we should do, if we saw a brother perishing of wounds that had been inflicted on him: we should not account our want of medical skill as any reason for neglecting his case; but we should endeavour to procure for him from others the aid he stood in need of. And this is what we should do for his soul, procuring for him such books as are suited to his capacity, and bringing him into contact with such persons as are better qualified than ourselves to enlighten and instruct his soul.

To withhold these efforts under an idea that God will convert them without the instrumentality of man, is to belie our consciences, and to deceive our own souls.

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Such an excuse is nothing but a veil to cover our own supineness. Where has God told us that he will convert them without means? He did not do so even on the day of Pentecost. He has commanded that “his Gospel should be preached in all the world, to every creature.” Where has he made them an exception? This I say, then, that our duty towards them is, to use all possible means for the illumination of their minds, and for the conversion of their souls to the faith of Christ.

But it is our duty at the same time to pray for them. The prophet was not only to prophesy to the dry bones, but to “say, Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath! (O thou eternal Spirit!) and breathe upon these slain, that they may live [Note: ver. 9.].” Whoever may attempt to convey instruction, it will be attended with little benefit, if God do not accompany the word with power from on high. “Paul may plant, and Apollos may water; but it is God alone that can give the increase.” If we set about any thing in our own strength, and expect any thing from the means, without looking directly to God in and through the means, we shall be rebuked, and left without success; just as Elisha was, when he expected his staff to raise to life the widow’s child [Note: 2 Kings 4:29-31.]. Like the prophet in our text, we are to pray for the influences of the Holy Spirit to give efficacy to the word. To this effect we are taught by God himself; “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth [Note: Isaiah 62:6-7.].” If we conscientiously combine our personal exertions with fervent prayer, there is not any thing which we may not hope for. Wonderful is the efficacy of fervent and believing prayer: and, if we employ it diligently in behalf of the Jews, desperate as their condition to all appearance is, it shall prevail, to the bringing forth of their souls from the prison in which they are immured, and for the introducing of them into the light and liberty of God’s dear children.

True it is, we may without any saving influences of the Spirit effect a previous work, like that of bringing together the kindred bones, and causing the flesh and skin to come upon them: but God alone can breathe life into them. We may bring them possibly to “a form of godliness; but God alone can give the power:” and it is only when our “word comes to men in demonstration of the Spirit,” that it ever proves “the power of God to the salvation” of their souls.

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Such is our duty towards them: and that we may not draw back from it through despondency, let us consider,

III. Our encouragement to perform it—

We have the express promise of God to render it effectual. What can we want more? The promise is repeated again and again; “Ye shall live;” “Ye shall live;” “I will bring you up out of your graves, and ye shall live [Note: ver 5, 6, 12, 14.].” And is not God able to do it? Look at the heavens and the earth: Hath he created all these out of nothing? hath he spoken them into existence by the word of his mouth, and is he not able to effect the conversion of the Jews? Has he declared that he will raise the dead at the last day, and bring into judgment every child of man; and cannot he, who shall accomplish that in its season, effect this also at the appointed time? True, the bones are, as he has said, “dry, very dry” but they are not beyond the reach of his power. What if the resuscitation of them be “marvellous in our eyes, must it therefore be marvellous in God’s eyes?” (Zechariah 8:6.) His word in the mouth of Jews has been effectual for the conversion of the Gentiles; and that same word in the mouth of Gentiles shall be effectual for the conversion of the Jews: for “his hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” “Hath he said, and shall he not do it? hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Tell me, Did he not bring out his people from Egypt at the appointed time? Yes, “at the self-same hour did he bring them forth, with a mighty hand, and a stretched-out arm.” In like manner he delivered them also in due season from Babylon, according to his word: and these are sure pledges, that he will in due season fulfil all his promises towards them, and not suffer one jot or tittle of his word to fail.

In dependence on his promise, then, we should address ourselves to the work assigned us. We should go forth feeling the utter hopelessness of our task, and say, “O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!” The greater the difficulty appears, the more should we hold fast our confidence in God, with whom nothing is impossible. We should go, as it were, into the midst of that vast theatre, and lift up our voice with-out either distrust or fear. If the means already used have proved ineffectual, we should, like Elisha, exert ourselves with the more earnestness, and labour more fervently in prayer with God for his blessing on our endeavours. In order to raise the son of the Shunamite, he cried mightily to the Lord, and went in and stretched

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himself upon the child, applying his mouth, his eyes, his hands, to the mouth, the eyes, the hands of the child [Note: 2 Kings 4:33-35.]: and thus should we go in to our Jewish Brethren: we should address ourselves to the work in the length and breadth of all our powers, accommodating ourselves to the measure and capacity of every individual amongst them, and labouring in every possible way to inspire them with love to Christ: and, if we see as yet but little effect, (as was at first the case with that holy prophet,) let us “not despise the day of small things,” but let us look upon the smallest success as an earnest of greater things, as the first-fruits before the harvest, and as the drop before the shower. Two things in particular I wish you to notice in the text: the one is that God wrought nothing till the prophet used the appointed means; and the other is, that he wrought effectually as soon as the means were used. This is twice noticed by the prophet in the verses following my text: “So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, the bones came together:” and again, “So I prophesied as he commanded me; and the breath carne into them, and they lived [Note: ver. 7, 10.].” Let this, I pray you, sink down into your ears: only let this be understood and felt, and acted upon; and I shall have gained a point of the utmost importance to the Jewish cause: for, however inadequate to the end our efforts be, God requires us to put them forth; and when they are put forth in humility and faith, he will bless them to the desired end. To expect the blessing without using the means, or to despair of success in the use of them, is equally wrong. What he has commanded, we must do: and what he has promised, we must expect. Be the difficulties ever so great, we must not stagger at the promises through unbelief, but be strong in faith, giving glory to God. Our blessed Lord, when Mary imagined that her brother was gone beyond a possibility of recovery, said to her, “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” so to you I say, Be not discouraged by thinking how long our brother has been dead, or how corrupt he is; but expect assuredly, that at the sound of Jesus’ voice he shall rise out of his grave and come forth to life.

Permit me now to address myself to you in a more particular manner: and,

1. To those whose exertions are paralyzed by despondency.

I object not to a full consideration of all the difficulties that obstruct the conversion of the Jews. I wish them to be viewed in their utmost extent: but then they should be viewed, not as grounds for relaxing our efforts, but as motives to the most strenuous

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exertion. With the generality, these desponding fears are only excuses for their own supineness: they have no compassion for their perishing fellow-creatures, no zeal for the honour of their God, and therefore they cry, “A lion is in the way.” But this is a very unworthy recompence for all the exertions which the Jews of former ages made for us. What if they had said respecting the Gentiles, “They are bowing down to stocks and stones, and it is in vain to attempt their conversion?” we should have continued in our ignorance and guilt to the present hour. It was by their unremitting labours that the Gospel was spread; and to them we owe all the light and peace that we at this moment enjoy. Let us then imitate them: let us employ our talents and our influence in their service: let us combine together for the purpose of promoting their welfare more extensively than we could do by individual exertion: and whilst we go forward in dependence on the promises of our God, let us remember, that “what he has promised, he is able also to perform.”

As for the idea that the Lord’s time is not come, who is authorized to declare that? The great events that are going forward in the world give us reason to think that the time is come, or at least is very near at hand. The prophecies themselves, in the judgment of many wise and sober interpreters, appear to point to the present times, as the season for their approaching accomplishment. And certainly the attention now paid to the subject by the Christian world, and the success that has hitherto attended their efforts, are encouraging circumstances to confirm our hopes, and stimulate our exertions. We may add too, that the zeal that has been manifested of late for the universal diffusion of the Holy Scriptures, and for the conversion of the heathen, is a call from God to the Christian world, to consider the wants of his ancient people: and the general expectation of the Jews at this time, that their Messiah will soon appear, is a still further call to us to point out the Saviour to them. Nor can I pass by without notice two most astonishing events; one of which has lately occurred in a foreign country, and the other is at this moment arising in our own. In Russia, God has raised up a friend for his people, another Cyrus, in the head of that vast empire; who has assigned one, if not more places in his dominions, where the Jews who shall embrace Christianity may find a safe asylum, and enjoy all necessary means of providing for themselves, agreeably to their former habits. In our own land, an unprecedented concern begins to manifest itself in behalf of all the nations of the earth who are lying in darkness and the shadow of death. The duty of sending forth missionaries to instruct them, is now publicly acknowledged by all our governors in Church and State; and in a short time will the whole community, from the highest to the lowest, be invited to unite in this blessed work [Note: In the Prince Regent’s Letter, read in all the Churches through the kingdom, in 1815.]. And in

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this ebullition of religious zeal, can we suppose that the Jew shall be forgotten? Shall those to whom we ourselves are indebted for all the light that we enjoy, be overlooked? Will it not be remembered, that our blessed Lord and Saviour was a Jew; and that it is a Jew who is at this moment interceding for us at the right hand of God? Shall not our obligations to him and his Apostles be requited by a due attention to those who were the first in his estimation, and are yet “beloved by him for their fathers’sakes?” We must on no account overlook them: we must consider them as comprehended in the general commission: and let us hope that there will be a simultaneous effort through the land, to carry into effect the pious and benevolent designs of our governors.

An erroneous idea has obtained, that because it is said by St. Paul, “that blindness in part is happened unto Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in [Note: Romans 11:25.],” the great harvest of the Gentiles must be reaped before the sickle is put to the Jewish field. But this is directly contrary to what the same Apostle says in the very same chapter, where he represents “the fulness of the Jews as being the riches of the Gentiles [Note: Romans 11:12.].” It is the commencement, and not the completion, of the in-gathering of the Gentiles, that marks the season for the conversion of the Jews: and therefore the stir which there is at this moment amongst the Gentile world, is, amongst other signs of the times, a proof, that the time for the conversion of the Jews is near at hand. Away then with all desponding fears; and to every obstruction that presents itself in your way, say, “Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain [Note: Zechariah 4:6-7.].”

Let me next address myself,

2. To those who desire to be accomplishing this great work.

You will reasonably ask, What shall we do in order to advance this blessed cause? To this I answer, Be much in prayer to God for them. Were the Christian world more earnest in prayer to God for the restoration and salvation of his people, I feel no doubt but that God would arise and have mercy upon Zion, and that a great work would speedily be wrought among them. When the angel interceded for Jerusalem, saying, “O Lord God, how long wilt thou not have mercy on

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Jerusalem?” Jehovah, we are told, answered him with good and comfortable words [Note: Zechariah 1:12-13.]. And, if a spirit of intercession for them prevailed amongst us, God would answer, not by good and comfortable words only, but by great and powerful acts, even by the displays of his pardoning grace, and the manifestations of his long-suspended love. United prayer brought Peter out of his prison: and united prayer would bring the Jews also out of their graves; and they should arise before us “an exceeding great army.”

Still however, as human means also are to be used, I would say, Form yourselves into societies and associations for the advancement of this work. Much may be done by united and systematic exertion, which cannot possibly be done without it: funds will be raised; and many will be stirred up to join with you, who would neither have inclination nor ability to do much in a way of solitary effort: and, if God has given to any one a talent of wealth or influence, let him improve it to the uttermost. It is scarcely to be conceived how much a single individual may effect, provided he set himself diligently to the work. God has said he will “bring his people one of a city and two of a family,” yea, that “he will bring them to Zion one by one.” And if only one be brought from darkness unto light, and from death to life, it is worth all our efforts: for one single soul is of greater value than the whole world. Let us up then, and be doing; for the Lord is with us: and if we see not immediately all the effect we could wish, we have the satisfaction of knowing that God approves of the desire, and that, like David, we are gathering stones which our successors shall erect into a temple of the Lord.

But let it not content us to proselyte the Jews to mere nominal Christianity. It is to no purpose to bring their bones together, and cover them with flesh, unless their souls be made alive to God, and they become living members of Christ’s mystical body. In the close of the chapter from whence our text is taken, God informs us what is to characterize the conversion of the Jews to Christ: “David, my servant, (that is, the Lord Jesus Christ,) shall be King over them; and they shall all have one Shepherd: my servant David shall be their Prince for ever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and my tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [Note: ver. 24–27.]” Yes, this is vital Christianity; this is the only true religion that can benefit us; and therefore it is that to which we must endeavour to convert them. I ask of you, my Brethren, What is it that comforts you, but a view of the everlasting covenant, “ordered in all things and sure?” What is it that enables

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you to live above the things of time and sense, and to look forward with joy to the eternal world; what is it, I say, but a hope, that you stand in this near relation to a reconciled God, and a persuasion, that that Saviour, whose you are and whom you serve, will bruise Satan under your feet, and make you more than conquerors over all your enemies? Bear this in mind then, I pray you, in all your conversations with Jews, and in all your efforts for their good. Aim at nothing short of this. To convince them by argument is nothing, unless you bring them to a life of faith upon the Son of God, and to a life of entire devotedness to his service. This you must first experience in your own souls, else you can never hope to effect it in theirs. Let them see in you how truly blessed a life of faith is; and what a sanctifying efficacy it has on your hearts and lives. Let them see, that it is not a merely speculative opinion about the Lord Jesus Christ, to which you would convert them, but to the enjoyment of his love, to a participation of his image, and to a possession of his glory. In a word, be yourselves among them as living epistles of Christ, that in you they may read the excellency of his salvation: then may you hope to prevail with them; and that they will gladly unite themselves to you, when they shall see that God is with you of a truth.

PETT, "Introduction

Chapter 37 The Valley of Dry Bones and The Uniting of Israel/Judah Under The Coming David.

The first part of the chapter (1-14) is a vivid description of the restoration of God’s people by the activity of His Spirit, as previously described in Ezekiel 36:26-27. The second part (15-28) is a promise of the restoration of God’s people under their Davidic king.

Verse 1-2

‘The hand of Yahweh was on me, and he carried me out in the Spirit of Yahweh and set me down in the midst of a valley (or ‘plain’), and it was full of bones. And he made me pass by around them and behold there were a great many in the open

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valley, and behold they were very dry.’

Once again Ezekiel experienced a remarkable vision, resulting from ‘the hand of Yahweh’ being on him, connected with the Spirit (compare Ezekiel 3:22-23; Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 8:3). He was borne to a battlefield. We can possibly presume that it was one where many Israelites had died, although it may have been simply a visionary battlefield. The valley or plain was full of the remains of skeletons. And the bones were very dry. They represented a totally dead and desolate Israel, without a shred of life in it. It was a valley of hopelessness.

Verses 1-14

The Vision of The Valley Of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14).

This vision is not directly an illustration or promise of physical resurrection. Ezekiel nowhere gives any indication of expecting a resurrection of the dead. It is a pictorial representation of the coming spiritual revival of Israel, given to spur on the doubting, fearful and disillusioned people to whom Ezekiel was ministering..

EBC, "LIFE FROM THE DEAD

Ezekiel 37:1-28

The most formidable obstacle to faith on the part of the exiles in the possibility of a national redemption was the complete disintegration of the ancient people of Israel. Hard as it was to realise that Jehovah still lived and reigned in spite of the cessation of His worship, and hard to hope for a recovery of the land of Canaan from the dominion of the heathen, these things were still conceivable. What almost surpassed conception was the restoration of national life to the feeble and demoralised remnant who had survived the fall of the state. It was no mere figure of speech that these exiles employed when they thought of their nation as dead. Cast off by its God,

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driven from its land, dismembered and deprived of its political organisation, Israel as a people had ceased to exist. Not only were the outward symbols of national unity destroyed, but the national spirit was extinct. Just as the destruction of the bodily organism implies the death of each separate member and organ and cell, so the individual Israelites felt themselves to be as dead men, dragging out an aimless existence without hope in the world. While Israel was alive they had lived in her and for her; all the best part of their life, religion, duty, liberty, and loyalty had been bound up with the consciousness of belonging to a nation with a proud history behind them and a brilliant future for their posterity. Now that Israel had perished all spiritual and ideal significance had gone out of their lives; there remained but a selfish and sordid struggle for existence, and this they felt was not life, but death in life. And thus a promise of deliverance which appealed to them as members of a nation seemed to them a mockery, because they felt in themselves that the bond of national life was irrevocably broken.

The hardest part of Ezekiel’s task at this time was therefore to revive the national sentiment, so as to meet the obvious objection that even if Jehovah were able to drive the heathen from His land there was still no people of Israel to whom He could give it. If only the exiles could be brought to believe that Israel had a future, that although now dead it could be raised from the dead, the spiritual meaning of their life would be given back to them in the form of hope, and faith in God would be possible. Accordingly the prophet’s thoughts are now directed to the idea of the nation as the third factor of the Messianic hope. He has spoken of the kingdom and the land, and each of these ideas has led him on to the contemplation of the final condition of the world, in which Jehovah’s purpose is fully manifested. So in this chapter he finds in the idea of the nation a new point of departure, from which he proceeds to delineate once more the Messianic salvation in its completeness.

The vision of the valley of dry bones described in the first part of the chapter contains the answer to the desponding thoughts of the exiles, and seems indeed to be directly suggested by the figure in which the popular feeling was currently expressed: "Our bones are dried; our hope is lost: we feel ourselves cut off" (Ezekiel 37:11). The fact that the answer came to the prophet in a state of trance may perhaps indicate that his mind had brooded over these words of the people for some time before the moment of inspiration. Recognising how faithfully they represented the actual situation, he was yet unable to suggest an adequate solution of the difficulty by means of the prophetic conceptions hitherto revealed to him. Such a

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vision as this seems to presuppose a period of intense mental activity on the part of Ezekiel, during which the despairing utterance of his compatriots sounded in his ears; and the image of the dried bones of the house of Israel so fixed itself in his mind that he could not escape its gloomy associations except by a direct communication from above. When at last the hand of the Lord came upon him, the revelation clothed itself in a form corresponding to his previous meditations; the emblem of death and despair is transformed into a symbol of assured hope through the astounding vision which unfolds itself before his inner eye.

In the ecstasy he feels himself led out in spirit to the plain which had been the scene of former appearances of God to His prophet. But on this occasion he sees it covered with bones-"very many on the surface of the valley, and very dry." He is made to pass round about them, in order that the full impression of this spectacle of desolation might sink into his mind. His attention is engrossed by two facts-their exceeding great number, and their parched appearance, as if they had lain there long. In other circumstances the question might have suggested itself, How came these bones there? What countless host has perished here, leaving its unburied bones to bleach and wither on the open plain? But the prophet has no need to think of this. They are the bones which had been familiar to his waking thoughts, the dry bones of the house of Israel. The question he hears addressed to him is not, Whence are these bones? but, Can these bones live? It is the problem which had exercised his faith in thinking of a national restoration which thus comes back to him in vision, to receive its final solution from Him who alone can give it.

The prophet’s hesitating answer probably reveals the struggle between faith and sight, between hope and fear, which was latent in his mind. He dare not say no, for that would be to limit the power of Him whom he knows to be omnipotent, and also to shut out the last gleam of hope from his own mind. Yet in presence of that appalling scene of hopeless decay and death he cannot of his own initiative assert the possibility of resurrection. In the abstract all things are possible with God; but whether this particular thing, so inconceivable to men, is within the active purpose of God, is a question which none can answer save God Himself. Ezekiel does what man must always do in such a case-he throws himself back on God, and reverently awaits the disclosure of His will, saying, "O Jehovah God, Thou Knowest."

It is instructive to notice that the divine answer comes through the consciousness of 33

a duty. Ezekiel is commanded first of all to prophesy over these dry bones; and in the words given him to utter the solution of his own inward perplexity is wrapped up. "Say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live" (Ezekiel 37:4-5). In this way he is not only taught that the agency by which Jehovah will effect His purpose is the prophetic word, but he is also reminded that the truth now revealed to him is to be the guide of his practical ministry, and that only in the steadfast discharge of his prophetic duty can he hold fast the hope of Israel’s resurrection. The problem that has exercised him is not one that can be settled in retirement and inaction. What he receives is not a mere answer, but a message, and the delivery of the message is the only way in which he can realise the truth of it: his activity as a prophet being indeed a necessary element in the fulfilment of his words. Let him preach the word of God to these dry bones, and he will know that they can live; but if he fails to do this, he will sink back into the unbelief to which all things are impossible. Faith comes in the act of prophesying.

Ezekiel did as he was commanded; he prophesied over the dry bones, and immediately he was sensible of the effect of his words. He heard a rustling, and looking he saw that the bones were coming together, bone to his bone. He does not need to tell us how his heart rejoiced at this first sign of life returning to these dead bones, and as he watched the whole process by which they were built up into the semblance of men. It is described in minute detail, so that no feature of the impression produced by the stupendous miracle may be lost. It is divided into two stages, the restoration of the bodily frame and the imparting of the principle of life.

This division cannot have any special significance when applied to the actual nation, such as that the outward order of the state must be first established, and then the national consciousness renewed. It belongs to the imagery of the vision and follows the order observed in the original creation of man as described in the second chapter of Genesis. God first formed man of the dust of the ground, and afterwards breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living soul. So here we have first a description of the process by which the bodies were built up, the skeletons being formed from the scattered bones, and then clothed successively with sinews and flesh and skin. The reanimation of these still lifeless bodies is a separate act of creative energy, in which, however, the agency is still the word of God in the mouth of the prophet. He is bidden call for the breath to "come from the four winds of heaven, and breathe upon these slain that they may live." In Hebrew the words

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for wind, breath, and spirit are identical; and thus the wind becomes a symbol of the universal divine Spirit which is the source of all life, while the breath is a symbol of that Spirit as, so to speak, specialised in the individual man, or in other words of his personal life. In the case of the first man Jehovah breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the idea here is precisely the same. The wind from the four quarters of heaven which becomes the breath of this vast assemblage of men is conceived as the breath of God, and symbolises the life-giving Spirit which makes each of them a living person. The resurrection is complete. The men live, and stand up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

This is the simplest, as well as the most suggestive, of Ezekiel’s visions, and carries its interpretation on the face of it. The single idea which it expresses is the restoration of the Hebrew nationality through the quickening influence of the Spirit of Jehovah on the surviving members of the old house of Israel. It is not a prophecy of the resurrection of individual Israelites who have perished. The bones are "the whole house of Israel" now in exile; they are alive as individuals, but as members of a nation they are dead and hopeless of revival. This is made clear by the explanation of the vision given in Ezekiel 37:11-14. It is addressed to those who think of themselves as cut off from the higher interests and activities of the national life. By a slight change of figure they are conceived as dead and buried; and the resurrection is represented as an opening of their graves. But the grave is no more to be understood literally than the dry bones of the vision itself; both are symbols of the gloomy and despairing view which the exiles take of their own condition. The substance of the prophet’s message is that the God who raises the dead and calls the things that are not as though they were is able to bring together the scattered members of the house of Israel and form them into a new people through the operation of His life-giving Spirit.

It has often been supposed that, although the passage may not directly teach the resurrection of the body, it nevertheless implies a certain familiarity with that doctrine on the part of Ezekiel, if not of his hearers likewise. If the raising of dead men to life could be used as an analogy of a national restoration, the former conception must have been at least more obvious than the latter, otherwise the prophet would be explaining obscurum per obscurius. This argument, however, has only a superficial plausibility. It confounds two things which are distinct-the mere conception of resurrection, which is all that was necessary to make the vision intelligible, and settled faith in it as an element of the Messianic expectation. That

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God by a miracle could restore the dead to life no devout Israelite ever doubted. (Cf. 1 Kings 17:1-24; 2 Kings 4:13 ff; 2 Kings 13:21.) But it is to be noted that the recorded instances of such miracles are all of those recently dead; and there is no evidence of a general belief in the possibility of resurrection for those whose bones were scattered and dry. It is this very impossibility, indeed, that gives point to the metaphor under which the people here express their sense of hopelessness. Moreover, if the prophet had presupposed the doctrine of individual resurrection, he could hardly have used it as an illustration in the way he does. The mere prospect of a resuscitation of the multitudes of Israelites who had perished would of itself have been a sufficient answer to the despondency of the exiles; and it would have been an anti-climax to use it as an argument for something much less wonderful. We must also bear in mind that while the resurrection of a nation may be to us little more than a figure of speech, to the Hebrew mind it was an object of thought more real and tangible than the idea of personal immortality.

It would appear therefore that in the order of revelation the hope of the resurrection is first presented in the promise of a resurrection of the dead nation of Israel, and only in the second instance as the resurrection of individual Israelites who should have passed away without sharing in the glory of the latter days. Like the early converts to Christianity, the Old Testament believers sorrowed for those who fell asleep when the Messiah’s kingdom was supposed to be just at hand, until they found consolation in the blessed hope of a resurrection with which Paul comforted the Church at Thessalonica. [1 Thessalonians 4:13 ff} In Ezekiel we find that doctrine as yet only in its more general form of a national resurrection; but it can hardly be doubted that the form in which he expressed it prepared the way for the fuller revelation of a resurrection of the individual. In two later passages of the prophetic Scriptures we seem to find clear indications of progress in this direction. One is a difficult verse in the twenty-sixth chapter of Isaiah-part of a prophecy usually assigned to a period later than Ezekiel-where the writer, after a lamentation over the disappointments and wasted efforts of the present, suddenly breaks into a rapture of hope as he thinks of a time when departed Israelites shall be restored to life to join the ranks of the ransomed people of God: "Let thy dead live again! Let my dead bodies arise! Awake and rejoice, ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is a dew of light, and the earth shall yield up [her] shades." {Isaiah 26:19] There does not seem to be any doubt that what is here predicted is the actual resurrection of individual members of the people of Israel to share in the blessings of the kingdom of God. The other passage referred to is in the book of Daniel, where we have the first explicit prediction of a resurrection both of the just and the unjust. In the time

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of trouble, when the people is delivered "many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." [Daniel 12:2]

These remarks are made merely to show in what sense Ezekiel’s vision may be regarded as a contribution to the Old Testament doctrine of personal immortality. It is so not by its direct teaching, nor yet by its presuppositions, but by the suggestiveness of its imagery; opening out a line of thought which under the guidance of the Spirit of truth led to a fuller disclosure of the care of God for the individual life, and His purpose to redeem from the power of the grave those who had departed this life in His faith and fear.

But this line of inquiry lies somewhat apart from the main teaching of the passage before us as a message for the Church in all ages. The passage teaches with striking clearness the continuity of God’s redeeming work in the world, in spite of hindrances which to human eyes seem insurmountable. The gravest hindrance, both in appearance and in reality, is the decay of faith and vital religion in the Church itself. There are times when earnest men are tempted to say that the Church’s hope is lost and her bones are dried-when laxity of life and lukewarmness in devotion pervade all her members, and she ceases to influence the world for good. And yet when we consider that the whole history of God’s cause is one long process of raising dead souls to spiritual life and building up a kingdom of God out of fallen humanity, we see that the true hope of the Church can never be lost. It lies in the life-giving, regenerating power of the divine Spirit, and the promise that the word of God does not return to Him void but prospers in the thing whereto He sends it. That is the great lesson of Ezekiel’s vision, and although its immediate application may be limited to the occasion that called it forth, yet the analogy on which it is founded is taken up by our Lord Himself and extended to the proclamation of His truth to the world at large: "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." (John 25; Cf. John 20:28-29). We perhaps too readily empty these strong terms of their meaning. The Spirit of God is apt to become a mere expression for the religious and moral influences lodged in a Christian society, and we come to rely on these agencies for the dissemination of Christian principles and the formation of Christian character. We forget that behind all this there is something which is compared to the imparting of life where there was none, something which is the work of the Spirit of which we cannot tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. But in times of low spirituality, when the

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love of many waxes cold, and there are few signs of zeal and activity in the service of Christ, men learn to fall back in faith on the invisible power of God to make His word effectual for the revival of His cause among men. And this happens constantly in narrow spheres which may never attract the notice of the world. There are positions in the Church still where Christ’s servants are called to labour in the faith of Ezekiel, with appearances all against them, and nothing to inspire them but the conviction that the word they preach is the power of God and able even to bring life to the dead.

II.

The second half of the chapter speaks of a special feature of the national restoration, the reunion of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel under one sceptre. This is represented first of all by a symbolic action. The prophet is directed to take two pieces of wood, apparently in the form of sceptres, and to write upon them inscriptions dedicating them respectively to Judah and Joseph, the heads of the two confederacies out of which the rival monarchies were formed. The "companions" (Ezekiel 37:16)-i.e., allies-of Judah are the two tribes of Benjamin and Simeon; those of Joseph are all the other tribes, who stood under the hegemony of Ephraim. If the second inscription is rather more complicated than the first, it is because of the fact that there was no actual tribe of Joseph. It therefore runs thus: "For Joseph, the staff of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel his confederates." These two staves then he is to put together so that they become one sceptre in his hand. It is a little difficult to decide whether this was a sign that was actually performed before the people, or one that is only imagined. It depends partly on what we take to be meant by the joining of the two pieces. If Ezekiel merely took two sticks, put them end to end, and made them look like one, then no doubt he did this in public, for otherwise there would be no use in mentioning the circumstance at all. But if the meaning is, as seems more probable, that when the rods are put together they miraculously grow into one, then we see that such a sign has a value for the prophet’s own mind as a symbol of the truth revealed to him, and it is no longer necessary to assume that the action was really performed. The purpose of the sign is not merely to suggest the idea of political unity, which is too simple to require any such illustration, but rather to indicate the completeness of the union and the divine force needed to bring it about. The difficulty of conceiving a perfect fusion of the two parts of the nation was really very great, the cleavage between Judah and the North being much older than the monarchy, and having been accentuated by centuries of political separation

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and rivalry.

To us the most noteworthy fact is the steadfastness with which the prophets of this period cling to the hope of a restoration of the northern tribes, although nearly a century and a half had now elapsed since "Ephraim was broken from being a people." [Isaiah 7:8] Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, is unable to think of an Israel which does not include the representatives of the ten northern tribes. Whether any communication was kept up with the colonies of Israelites that had been transported from Samaria to Assyria we do not know, but they are regarded as still existing, and still remembered by Jehovah. The resurrection of the nation which Ezekiel has just predicted is expressly said to apply to the whole house of Israel, and now he goes on to announce that this "exceeding great army" shall march to its land not under two banners, but under one.

We have touched already, in speaking of the Messianic idea, on the reasons which led the prophets to put so much emphasis on this union. They felt as strongly on the point as a High Churchman does about the sin of schism, and it would not be difficult for the latter to show that his point of view and his ideals closely resemble those of the prophets. The rending of the body of Christ which is supposed to be involved in a breach of external unity is paralleled by the disruption of the Hebrew state, which violates the unity of the one people of Jehovah. The idea of the Church as the bride of Christ is the same idea under which Hosea expresses the relations between Jehovah and Israel, and it necessarily carries with it the unity of the people of Israel in the one case and of the Church in the other. It must be admitted also that the evils resulting from the division between Judah and Israel have been reproduced, with consequences a thousand times more disastrous to religion, in the strife and uncharitableness, the party spirit and jealousies and animosities, which different denominations of Christians have invariably exhibited towards each other when they were close enough for mutual interest. But granting all this, and granting that what is called schism is essentially the same thing that the prophets desired to see removed, it does not at once follow that dissent is in itself sinful, and still less that the sin is necessarily on the side of the Dissenter. The question is whether the national standpoint of the prophets is altogether applicable to the communion of saints in Christ, whether the body of Christ is really torn asunder by differences in organisation and opinion, whether, in short, anything is necessary to avoid the guilt of schism beyond keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The Old Testament dealt with men in the mass, as members of a nation, and its standards

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can hardly be adequate to the polity of a religion which has to provide for the freedom of the individual conscience before God. At the worst the Dissenter may point out that the Old Testament schism was necessary as a protest against tyranny and despotism, that in this aspect it was sanctioned by the inspired prophets of the age, that its undoubted evils were partly compensated by a freer expansion of religious life, and finally that even the prophets did not expect it to be healed before the millennium.

From the idea of the reunited nation Ezekiel returns easily to the promise of the Davidic king and the blessings of the Messianic dispensation. The one people implies one shepherd, and also one land, and one spirit to walk in Jehovah’s judgments and to observe His statutes to do them. The various elements which enter into the conception of national salvation are thus gathered up and combined in one picture of the people’s everlasting felicity. And the whole is crowned by the promise of Jehovah’s presence with the people, sanctifying and protecting them from His sanctuary. This final condition of things is permanent and eternal. The sources of internal dispeace are removed by the washing away of Israel’s iniquities, and the impossibility of any disturbance from without is illustrated by the onslaught of the heathen nations described in the following chapters.

PARKER, " Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37

All this is seen, not in literal reality, but in spiritual dream and vision. Again we ask the question, What is reality? It may be that the things which we call real are not things at all; they may be but transient and misleading shadows. Let us be careful how we talk about reality. Vision is the larger life. A man is still a man in his dreams. He may not be able to put them together well, or to read their enigmas fluently and precisely; but they are still efforts of the mind, hints of sublime possibility, indications that we are not walled in with stones, but limited by skies. Let us, therefore, once more remind ourselves that reality is a term which has not yet been exhaustively defined.

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When Ezekiel saw the bones, and knew that "there were very many in the open valley," and that "they were very dry,"—a circumstance put in to indicate that if there were a miracle at all it would be a supreme effort of divine power,—the Lord said unto Ezekiel , "Adam [the Hebrew of son of man], can these bones live?" There was a time when Ezekiel might have answered, No, certainly not; there can be no doubt about that; the bones are so dry that live they never can. Men are not so fluent in their older age as in their youth. Ezekiel had been educated by visions,—not educated into frivolity, but educated into adoration, reverence, wonder, expectation. So this most dazzling of the prophets answered, "O Lord God, thou knowest" A finer answer than the rattle and gabble of fluent youth. We are made to see that there are possibilities which did not enter into our earlier calculations in life. Men are gradually trained to see the eloquence of hesitation. Youth is impatient with all things that stop; the great conception of youth is to go on, to quicken, to hasten, to fly, never to stand still. It is of no use endeavouring to exhort youth to take another view; only time can work that miracle. By-and-by older men begin to see that the speaker who halts may be the prophet; the man who never stopped for a word was but a reciter of his own nothings. May Ezekiel typify us in this present attitude and in this eloquent hesitation! Ezekiel the Prayer of Manasseh , looking upon the bones, would say, No, they can never live, for they are very dry: I could stake a universe on that declaration. But Ezekiel the prophet says, I must speak whisperingly, reverently; no one can tell what God can do: I will therefore reply, O Lord God, thou knowest.

This is an answer which becomes a world educated as ours has been. We should be very careful now how we say that we have reached the limit of things. Rather have we been educated to say that in things there is no limit; in other words, we never can overtake the omnipotence of God, or forecast Omniscience, or tell what the Eternal will do. God is never short of resources. We have misspent our time and lost the very bloom and perfectness of our education if we do not now hesitate before denying anything that is grand, sublime, beneficent, wonderful in majesty and tender in goodness. After all our tragedy and sorrow and stress we ought to be able at this moment to say regarding any grand proposition, however unlikely it appears on the surface, Yet even this thing of wonder may become one of the commonplaces of life. Education tends to larger faith, or it is a false education. The liberalisation of the mind means larger imagination, larger trust in the Infinite: deep, complete spiritual education, when told that mountains may be carried into the midst of the sea, says, Yes, it may be so; only ignorance flatly denies. Obstinate, self-worshipping

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minds draw boundaries and live within geometric lines and limits; but the imagination that has been schooled in the divine sanctuary, the faith that has been trained through the wilderness, the trust that has seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living,—all these combine to say, We have seen nothing yet compared with the glory that is to be revealed.

Ezekiel at this moment is not on his wings of fire. He often flies away from us, and we cannot overtake him in all his airy course; but at this moment he stands with bent head, and with voice subdued he answers God, saying, "O Lord God, thou knowest." Let us keep by that answer. That fits all the great situations of life; within the sanctuary of that reply we may enjoy a sense of security, in other words, a sense of ineffable peace. God is always addressing great questions to us either audibly or typically or inferentially. But for these great questions the world would stagnate: along all the winds there come, whirling, thundering, the great inquiries that keep the world fresh, pure, masculine, hopeful. Can dead men live? What is the answer?—"O Lord God, thou knowest" Once we should have said, No; they are dead and buried; their native earth has devoured them, and there is no deliverance from the grasp and the greed of the grave: but now, having seen such wonders in other directions, we hesitate and say, "O Lord God, thou knowest." Are not God"s questions God"s answers? Does God mock the universe by interrogation? Does he not rather by interrogation suggest that other miracles are coming? Interrogations are alarum-bells rung in the sleeping chambers of the race to rouse us to gaze upon the morning of undreamed beauty. Is there an unseen world? is a question that rings in the audience-chamber of every soul. What is the answer? We know what it would have been once. Men mock the unseen, men taunt the invisible; that Isaiah , when they are fat and prosperous and full of gain—many of whom dare not go up a green lane alone at midnight: these be thy gods, O unbeliever! Now we say, in reply to the inquiry, "O Lord God, thou knowest." There may be a world unseen; we begin to believe there is; we ourselves are unseen; no man has seen himself; we have not seen our selves, there may therefore be a world unseen: O Lord God, thou knowest. Then we ask ourselves questions. Taught by the great interrogations of the divine, we have learned to put deep inquiries to ourselves and about ourselves, and sometimes we say, Do the dead visit the living? do they take no notice of us? are they clean gone for ever? are we not mentally touched by their influence? how otherwise do we account for sudden thought, startling inspiration, the upsetting of plans well calculated and exquisitely moulded? Why that flashing thought? whence that new impulse? Do the dead come to us in unseen whiteness, in ineffable silence? "O Lord God, thou knowest." Hear our little prayer, and send them to us more and more.

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We are not afraid of the sainted dead.

How is this great miracle to be wrought out? As usual, by human instrumentality. The Lord employed the prophet:—"Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones." Why did not the Lord himself order the bones to live? Because we live under a mediatorial economy. It hath pleased God so to construct all the kingdoms we know about that one thing is done through another: instrumentality is the key of progress: we live for God and for one another. There is no lone soul; there is no isolated life: every touch sends a thrill through the universe. We were not asked how kingdoms were to be builded and related; we find this great mediatorial economy prevailing everywhere: God seems to do nothing now directly. He came into direct service, so to say, in the first chapter of Genesis; then he hurled his fiat from his burning throne, and all things addressed answered him. Since then he has controlled one thing by another; he has made large use of man. What does the word "Prophesy" here mean? It does not mean predict. The word "prophesy" is too often limited to mere foretelling; here "prophesy" may mean, Speak on my behalf: represent me: be God"s vicar. What was the prophet to say?

"Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live" ( Ezekiel 37:5).

The great prophet always brings life. The true preacher is never associated with mere death, which is negation, which is darkness, which is night without a star or a hope. The prophets have kept the world young. The poets keep us young in heart, yet men in understanding and dreamers in hope. Herein the Bible takes the supreme position in literature: it is the leading book. The Bible never ends; when it says Amen, it is only that we may take breath before beginning again. It is the book of prophecy, it is the book of prediction; the book of transfiguration, the book of divine emphasis and representation. Take the Bible in this sense, and it enlarges with every reading, and glorifies with every new experience. The Church therefore ought to be the leading institution in the world. All music ought to be there, all beauty ought to find its housing in the sanctuary; all nobleness of life, all sweetness of charity, all greatness of view and effort and enterprise for the good of man should originate at the altar. There is but one tree the healing of which is for the healing of the nations, and the name of that tree is the Cross; it is rooted in Calvary.

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What did Ezekiel do when called upon to utter words that were unlikely ever to be fulfilled? He gives the answer in Ezekiel 37:7 : "So I prophesied as I was commanded." That is the right spirit, and that is the right method. This is all we have to do. Ministers do not make their own sermons; if they do, the people never hear them, or at once forget them. They do not get down to the heart"s great needs; they have no sphere in the valley of dry bones. Such sermons have no music for shattered lives, and broken fortunes, and dead souls. Poets do not make their own poems. The poet does not know what he has written: he reads his own lines with wonder. The great intercessor does not know what he is praying. He is carried away by prayer; he is taken, as it were, by invisible hands and lifted into unmeasured altitudes, and there he talks with God; and if some hand has caught the words and fastened them to the steadfast page the suppliant reads these words as if he had never spoken them. The prophet does not invent his own prophecy. He is entranced, filled with enthusiasm, divinely infatuated, mad; and when he reads he wonders, and often weeps. Only Materialists know what they are doing as to beginnings and endings.

Sometimes men have to prophesy under distressing circumstances—the valley was "full of bones," and the bones "were very dry," and Ezekiel prophesied as he was "commanded." We are not to be disheartened; we are to speak to the deadest men as if they could hear us; we are to address bones as if they could reply; in the churchyard we are to find an audience; among the dead we are to constitute an assembly of eager listeners. It is not for us to control the circumstances, and to say, Give me a fit audience, give me a kingdom for a stage. It is for us to prophesy according to the bidding of God,—in the village, full of dull heads and lifeless eyes, and weary, dispirited hearts; in the city, mammon-driven and mammon-cursed; among the ignorant, who have no sublime ambitions; among the rich, who are trusting to uncertain riches; among the atheists, who have said, There is no God: wherever our field is appointed, there we are to prophesy in gladness of heart. God will do the rest. "My word shall not return unto me void" is an assurance that goes ringingly through all the winds that circulate round the globe, breathing their blessed inspiration upon every sick-visitor, every Sunday-school teacher, every missionary toiling under difficult circumstances, every pastor and preacher and prophet. If it were man"s word it would go forth void and come back void; it is God"s word, and therefore it cannot fail.

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While Ezekiel prophesied, what happened?

"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" ( Ezekiel 37:7-8).

That is the first miracle. Here is a miracle by instalments. When we come to the New Testament the work is done at once; Christ commands, and the work is done. Some of us are in this department of God"s miracle: we are mere outlines, we are not yet men; we stand, articulately we are right, joint is attached to joint, and the figure is complete; but we are mere spectres, skeletons, anatomically perfect. How many persons of this kind we meet! We say, The figure is good, the stature is right, the anatomy is perfect; but there is no breath in them. Afterwards another prophecy was delivered, and the wind was bidden to come, and to breathe into the standing bones; and it came, "and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army." Some of us have not got into that second department of the miracle, do not let us therefore be discouraged; some of us are in that second department of the miracle, let us not therefore be boastful, let us abstain from contemning those who are not so far advanced as we are. The miracle is one, and God is one.

"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" ( Ezekiel 37:11-14).

Here we have the literal explanation of the miracle, the literal boundary of God"s thought in this vision. But who is to limit the spiritual? The material is only given to

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us as a suggestion; what we have is to lead us on to what we have not; the known is to point with steady index-finger to the unknown. We may have the literal interpretation given, but that does not bar the action of the great sublime and tender and reverent imagination. Here we have all the kingdom of miracles in one act. Resurrection—why, that is almost declared in the text. We sometimes say the doctrine of resurrection is not to be found in the Old Testament: here in this very chapter we have God promising to open graves; in this vision we have the resurrection prefigured. If God could do this miracle, what miracle is there that lies beyond his omnipotence? We take the act of eating food: does it end in itself? then it were a beast"s act. When the poet eats bread he eats poetry; when the prophet nourishes himself at the common table he performs a sacramental act; every draught of water drunk by the true man acts upon his soul like the wine of God. Do not be imprisoned by the material and the literal and the geometrical. Your home is meant to signify heaven; every height points to some sublimer altitude. Who can fix the issues of any one action? What then is our hope amid the dry bones, the shattered fortunes, the fatal diseases, the moral pestilence of the world? What is our hope? Our hope is the hope of Ezekiel. That God who has brought him to see the reality of the desolation will make him the instrument through which shall come the rush, the surging life, the resurrection—immortality

PULPIT, This chapter embraces, in its earlier section (Ezekiel 37:1-14), the concluding portion of the "word of God" begun at Ezekiel 36:16; in its later section (Ezekiel 36:15-28), an additional "word," to which the former naturally leads. The earlier, under the figure of a resurrection of dry bones, beheld by the prophet in vision, describes the political and religious reawakening of Israel; in the later is depicted, by means of a symbolic action, the reunion of its two branches. The first divides itself into two parts—the vision (Ezekiel 36:1-10) and its interpretation (Ezekiel 36:11-14). The vision was to all appearance designed to meet the objections the preceding picture of Israel's future glory might naturally be expected to call forth. It was true that in the past Israel had often suffered a decline in her national life, and as often experienced a revival. But with the fall of her capital, the burning of her temple, the slaughter of her people, and the expatriation of her nobles, her life was henceforth extinct; and to speak of returning prosperity to her in such a condition was like talking of the restoration of vitality to withered bones. Besides, the exiles were, comparatively speaking, only a handful, and to picture Judah's waste cities as being filled with flocks of men was like mocking the dejected with hopes certain to be dashed to the ground. The Exposition will show how the vision was fitted to dispel such despondent reflections. Yet diversity of sentiment prevails

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as to whether the vision was intended to predict an actual resurrection of the physically dead at the end of time, or merely to symbolize an ideal resurrection of Israel, then nationally dead.

1. The view, that what the prophet beheld in vision was the final resurrection of mankind, though favored by Jerome, Calovius, and Kliefoth, must be abandoned, not because the doctrine of a general resurrection would not have been a powerful consolation to the pious-hearted in Israel, or because that doctrine was not then known, but because, in the prophet's own explanation, the bones are declared to be those, not of the whole family of man, but merely of the house of Israel. At the same time, those interpreters are right who, like Hengstenberg, Keil, and Plumptre, hold that, even if the doctrine of a general resurrection had not been current in Ezekiel's time, this vision was enough to call it into existence, and even to lend strong probability to its truth.

2. Accordingly, the view is commonly preferred that, while an objective reality to the prophet's mind, and by no means a mere rhetorical garb for its conceptions, the vision was designed as a symbolic representation of Israel's resuscitation; though here again opinions diverge both as to what formed the mental background for the prophet's use of such a symbol, and as to how it served to suggest the thought of Israel's revival. While some, like Jerome and Hengstenberg, as above indicated, regard "the doctrine of the proper resurrection" as "the presupposition of the expanded figurative representation," others, with Havernick, find its historical basis in such instances of raising from the dead as were performed by Elijah and Elisha, and perhaps also in such passages as Isaiah 26:19. If Smend thinks the vision was intended to assist Israel merely by suggesting that "the unbelievable might happen," and Havernick that it was designed to inspire hope by presenting to the mind a lively picture of the creative, life-giving power of God, "which can raise even dead bones to life again," Ewald finds its chief power to console in the thought "that the nation or individual which does not despair of the Divine Spirit will not be forsaken of this Spirit in any situation, but will always be borne on by it to new life."

Ezekiel 37:1

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The hand of the Lord was upon me. The absence of the customary "and" (comp. Ezekiel 1:1, Ezekiel 1:3; Ezekiel 3:14, Ezekiel 3:22), wanting only once again (Ezekiel 40:1), appears to indicate something extraordinary and unusual in the prophet's experience. In the words of Ewald, such a never-beheld sight one sees freely (by itself) in a moment of higher inspiration or never;" and that in this whole vision the prophet was the subject of a special and intensified inspiration is evident, not alone from the contents of the vision, but also from the language in which it is recorded. And carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord. So the Vulgate and Hitzig—a translation which Smend thinks might be justified by an appeal to Ezekiel 11:24, in which the similar phrase, "Spirit of God (Elohim)," occurs; though, with Grotius, Havernick, Keil, and others, he prefers the rendering of the LXX; "And Jehovah carried me out in the Spirit." The Revised Version combines the two thus: "And he carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord." Keil suggests that the words, "of God," in Ezekiel 11:24, were omitted here because of the word "Jehovah" immediately following. And set me down in the midst of the valley. As the article indicates, the valley in the neighborhood of Tel-Abib, where the prophet received his first instructions concerning his mission (Ezekiel 3:22); although Hengstenberg holds, wrongly we think, that "the valley here has nothing to do with the valley in Ezekiel 3:22." Which (literally, and it) was full of bones; i.e. of men who had been slaughtered there (Ezekiel 3:9; comp. Ezekiel 39:11), and whose corpses had been left unburied upon the face of the plain (Ezekiel 3:3), so that they were seen by the prophet. Whether these bones were actually in the valley, or merely formed part of the vision, can only be conjectured, though the latter opinion seems the more probable. At the same time, such a plain as is here depicted may well have been a battle-ground on which Assyrian and Chaldean armies had often met.

Ezekiel 37:2

And he caused me to pass by them round about. Not over, as Keil, Klie-foth, and Plumptre translate, but round about them, so as to view them from every side. The result of the prophet's inspection of the bones was to excite within him a feeling of surprise which expressed itself in a twofold behold; the first occasioned by a contemplation of their number, very many, and their situation, in the open valley, literally, upon the face of the valley; i.e. not underground, where they could not have been seen, but upon the surface of the soil, and not piled up in heaps, but scattered over the ground; and the second by a discernment of their condition as very dry, so bleached and withered as to foreclose, not the possibility alone, but also

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the thought of their resuscitation.

PULPIT, "The valley of dry bones.

I. A VISION OF RESTORATION. Undoubtedly, the restoration of Israel is the immediate thought in the mind of Ezekiel. He sees his people stricken to death. The nation is virtually dead. The exiled citizens of Jerusalem have lost all spirit and energy. But with the restoration will come a restored energy to the people. The nation also will once more rise up as from the dead. These resurrections of communities have been seen more than once in history; e.g. when papal Rome rose on the ashes of imperial Rome, when Germany was reunited under the Emperor William, when France astonished the world by her renewed strength and prosperity after the terrible invasion of 1870. But while this material form of national resurrection is not infrequent, a moral resurrection is more rare. Byron was enthusiastic for the liberation of Greece, and our age has witnessed the establishment of a free Greek kingdom at Athens. But it remains to be seen whether the genius of ancient Greece will ever return to its old seat. Athens may be rebuilt, and yet Athene (the goddess of intellect) may still slumber in the grave. A true national restoration is only possible as a work of God. Degenerate nations need more than liberation from external tyranny—they need national regeneration.

II. A VISION OF REDEMPTION. The people could not be truly restored unless they were reformed and renewed in heart and character. Hence the strange and striking form in which the promise of restoration is given. It appears as a resurrection. What happened to ancient Israel happens to all the people of God. They are restored to true life and prosperity by means of a spiritual resurrection. Souls are dead in sin. The world is like a valley of dry bones—ugly in its wickedness, helpless in its confusion, utterly unable to save itself. But Christ has come to give new life to the souls of men. His resurrection is a type of the soul's resurrection. St. Paul assumes that Christians are "risen with Christ" (Colossians 3:1). The gospel is thus supremely a message of life. It comes to us in our most degraded, desolate, despairing condition. It brings life and incorruptibility to light.

III. A VISION OF THE RESURRECTION. A fair reading of this passage will not

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permit us to take it as a promise of an individual resurrection after natural death. It is a parable of the restoration of Israel. The notion that the very bones of the dead are to be pieced together and clothed with flesh, that the scattered dust of corpses is to be gathered from the four quarters of the earth, that the very same animal organism that once lived and died and decayed or was devoured by worms shall be built up again, is a coarse, degrading idea. It gives no suggestion of a future exalted, spiritual life. It is beset with monstrous difficulties when we look at it in the light or' the facts of nature. If this old conception of the resurrection be set forth as the only Christian idea, men will not accept it, and the glorious hope of any resurrection or future life at all will be endangered. But this idea is quite contrary to the profound teaching of St. Paul, who says expressly, "Thou sowest not that body that shall be," and "Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven" (1 Corinthians 15:50). The Bible teaches the resurrection of the dead, but not the resurrection of flesh. The old, coarse, impossible notion has no support in the passage before us. We have here a symbolical vision, and it is no more to be taken literally than the illustration of the two sticks that follows (verse 16). Still, as a figure and an image it is strikingly suggestive of the future resurrection. He who restores nations and souls by quickening grace will also awaken them that sleep in Jesus, and raise them up, a glorious army redeemed from death.

Ezekiel 37:4, Ezekiel 37:9

Prophesying to the dry bones and to the wind.

I. PROPHESYING TO THE DRY BONES. Ezekiel beholds the dismal sight of a valley of dry bones. It is a scene of silent desolation. No picture of death could be more complete. The human remains are not even covered with flesh. He sees bones, not corpses. The bones are dry—the vultures have picked them clean, and they have been left to bleach in the sun. They are not even lying in their natural order as ranks of complete skeletons. They are scattered about. The unclean scavengers that have been at work among them have ruthlessly torn them joint from joint, and mixed them up in apparently hopeless confusion. Was there ever a scene of more perfect and utter deadness? Yet the prophet is required to preach to these dry bones! St. Peter preaching to the fishes and St. Francis preaching to the birds had at least living audiences, though soulless ones. But here we have a preacher to dry bones. What is most remarkable is that the preaching is effective. An awful scene is

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witnessed—the bones shake and move and fit themselves together, and flesh, sinews, and skin cover them. All this is illustrative of much preaching to men, and it contains a great encouragement for the preacher. Some audiences are almost like Ezekiel's valley. They are cold, dead, utterly indifferent. These people are, indeed, as so many dry bones. The preacher despairs of doing any good to them. So long as he despairs he will do no good. If Ezekiel had not had obedience, faith, and energy, he would not have taken the trouble to preach to the bones; and then the great resurrection would not have taken place. It is our duty to preach to aft, despairing of no one. We are to sow beside all waters. God can quicken the dead. Note that Ezekiel's preaching was prophesying, i.e; it was speaking as God's messenger and in his power. This is the only preaching that will succeed with the indifferent. The preacher to the godless must be a prophet. He must speak God's truth in God's strength. Mere reasoning or persuading is not sufficient. But prophesying does succeed again and again with the most obdurate. It stirs dry bones.

II. PROPHESYING TO THE WIND. Ezekiel had a measure of success—a wonderful success it appeared to be. The bones fitted themselves together and were clothed with flesh. Still they were not alive. All the result attained hitherto is that the scattered skeletons have become compact corpses. But this is but a valley of death. Now, the first preaching has done its work. It is useless merely to repeat it. A new thing must be tried. Ezekiel must prophesy to the wind to breathe on the slain, and make them live. When he does this the wind comes, and there stands up an exceeding great army of living men. The wind is here regarded as the power of life. It is typical of the Spirit of God (John 3:8). Life can only come from God's Spirit. The most stirring preaching will not create it. We may preach God's truth in God's strength, and good results may follow, but not the new birth of the Divine life unless the Spirit of God comes and produces it. Preaching does not regenerate. After prophesying to the bones Ezekiel must prophesy to the wind. Preaching must be followed by prayer. The preacher must call down the power of God to his aid if his work is to issue in living results. We need more prophesying to the wind. If life is to take possession of dead souls, we must pray more for the coming of the quickening Spirit. He does come in response to prayer. If the first kind of prophesying is not barren, assuredly the second will not be. When God's Spirit is invoked in the preaching of God's Word, exceeding great armies of souls may rise from the death of sin.

BI 1-14, "Son of man, can these bones live?51

The vision of a true revivalI. Such a revival often seems utterly hopeless. The condition of a nation in some of its eras of misfortune; the condition of the human race in their graves; the condition of men who have lapsed into low spiritual life;—are all conditions whose striking emblem would be a valley full of dry bones. There seems nothing to promise better things. There is no effort, no struggle upwards. Hope is lost.II. Such a revival is deeply interesting to good men. By a dialogue Ezekiel is interested in the present condition, the possible future, of these “bones,” is taught his own weakness, and has revealed to him the source of strength and the methods of renewal. So always some Divine influence comes to interest good men in the recovery to higher life of those with whom He has to do. By His Spirit too, and by the, discipline of life, and by the Scriptures, God, as in a dialogue with such a man’s soul, teaches him all he needs to know about such a renewal as He sees is deeply needed.III. Such a revival is partly wrought by creature agency. For political regeneration there are appointed heroes of the State; for the resurrection of the body there is appointed the angel with the trumpet, that shall sound when the dead are to be raised; for revival of the Church of God, earnest-souled men are appointed.IV. Such a revival is gradual in its progress. There were several stages in the accomplishment of the revival in this valley of vision. So in every revival. First, “a noise.” This is the least important of all, yet often seems to be a needful accompaniment, an indication of awakening life. Then “a shaking.” This politically finds its fulfilment in revolution, and often in war. In spiritual things it finds its fulfilment in throes of spirit, sometimes the agonies of doubt. Then “the bones came together, bone to his bone.” This surely points to right organisation and consolidation, whether of the nation or of the individual character. Then “the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them from above.” Here is the accomplishing of all that can be accomplished of merely external order and beauty. But how poor are all! For “there was no breath in them.”V. Such a revival requires God’s special operation. From the four winds the breath came, that is the symbol of the Divine Spirit. So only “righteousness exalts a nation,” and without the Spirit of God there will not be righteousness: so the dead at the last day will be raised by God.VI. Such a revival produces sublime results. Instead of a valley of dry bones, there is an army, living, united, loyal, mighty. So, by their true regeneration, nations rise from being abject, poor, immoral, to kingdoms of liberty, prosperity, virtue. So human characters shall be elevated: the man no longer “dead in sin,” shall have a heart united to fear God, a nature that reveals the Divine in spiritual harmony, strength, and glory. (Urijah R. Thomas.)

Can these bones liveEzekiel differs from the other prophets in this: that he stands before us as half prophet and half priest. He has been described by a great authority as a priest in a prophet’s mantle. In him the two streams met and parted. In this passage, however, Ezekiel is not a priest, but a pure prophet, and he is in the direct prophetic line. We are perhaps in a position to trace the growth of this famous allegory and to reconstruct the process by

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which it took shape in the prophet’s thought. It had taken fire from a spark, and that spark was a phrase he had heard from his fellow exiles in Babylon—“Our bones are dried and our hope is lost.” The metaphor swelled in his imagination to a vision and became one of the great dreams of the world—so much more a dream because its explanation is the sleepless purpose of Almighty God with man. Ezekiel stands up among the prevailing lassitude and indifference, and he is a prophet because he is a man of hope, because he has faith in God. What we have here is an allegory; it is an allegory of resurrection, but not the resurrection of the body, nor perhaps of the dead as individuals, but of the nation. The resurrection of the individual dead was perhaps no part as yet of the Hebrew faith.I. As to the scene, it was the scene of so many visions—the valley by the river Chebar. Now it wore a hideous aspect, and to the prophet its face was a scene of desolation; it was ghastly with dry ruin, with the chronic leprosy of death. And it was death grown grey and sere, death that was hopeless of any life to come; death settled down into possession; death that was privileged, enthroned and secure. That was Israel—defeated, destroyed, and dismembered, crumbling into paganism, some not hoping, not wishing to revive. The bones were many and they were very dry. Death always has the majority on its side. The dryness and death of a dead multitude is something more than the death of the same number scattered up and down the community. The dead city is always worse than so many dead people scattered about the country; therefore pull down the infested places; erase the slums, destroy the hotbeds of vice, however difficult, and get rid of the ferment of corruption.II. As to the prophet’s acting. He “passed by them round about”; he did not tread upon them as the lout upon the cemetery graves. The Spirit moving among them was God; He is God of these bones also, and, therefore, Ezekiel is reverent to them. May the Spirit of God make us reverent towards all human wrecks—whether black or white. The Christian preacher has no right to be anything else. Can he be otherwise than respectful towards those whose hope and joy are gone? Who acts otherwise does it from a low heart. Can these dry bones live? Well, they are relics, things with memories, things once wedded to life although now in such tragic divorce from it. A mere mummy of a man, living under the wrath and curse of God, may not be the object of God’s neglect. God’s anger is not out of all relation to His love; not beyond His pity; not foreign to His grace. To have the anger of God, I venture to say, is at least some melancholy dignity. “Son of man, can these bones live?” This question is put every time we review the past. Is there not often in the dead past life for the present? “Can these bones live?” It is the question God is asking us by the mouth of history today. Why, these Gospels which have done so much are comparatively meagre—they are His bones—when you compare them with the fulness of the whole historic Christ, who takes ever a saving relation to Him as a historic revelation of God. The faith of Pentecost makes a great difference in the meaning of the historical creed. Then the Christ within us can take full measure of the Christ without. His evidence is Himself, and the history of the Risen One, with the experience of the Church during these two thousand years, must interpret and supplement the historic evidence of His Resurrection. Experience verifies the Gospels. The living evidence is not confined to the first, second, and third centuries. It is vital and mighty in every century, and not least in the century in which we live. The Spirit which quickens is as essential as the vision which sees. The faith which felt what these bones could be was as real as the eyesight which saw them on the plain. There can be, indeed, no new revelation of the Father: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.” But the future may reveal more of the revelation which is fixed in the history of the past, and elicit its infinite

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resources. By way of history will come the extraction of the resources of that revelation. The circumstances of history must work ever with the relics of history—personal history and public history—that is the way of God’s Spirit. And the coming revival which is to move no mere sect or coterie, which is to change the whole of our national life—that revival will show its genius also in this: it may recast here and there the history of the Church, but it will enlarge by new races the Christianity of the future. From age to age God confounds the pessimists. He takes the man of little faith, carries him back through history to the dark ages and asks him, “Can these bones live?” God puts you into the valley of the fifteenth century when paganism was even settling in the Church itself, when the faithful had almost ceased to believe. “Could these bones live?” You see not how, but God’s answer was the wonderful sixteenth century with the rediscovery of Paul and the coronation of faith, with all that followed. Once more He plants you in the Church early in the eighteenth century. Can that thing live? God’s answer is Wesley, the Oxford Club, and the Evangelical Revival. Do you doubt if any such answer can be given to the question now? We have the answer before our eyes, and the world has it, and it is often like smoke in the world’s eyes. But the men who first faced the missionary problem had it not before their eyes, they had it before their faith only. They were prophets, truly, and they had the answer more surely by faith than many of us have it even by sight. They saw men trooping from their living graves, they saw the races around them rescued and civilised by the Gospel. They saw the Church reconverted because they had within them the spirit that makes it to be so and they felt the first flutterings of its breath. What preacher does not sometimes despair when he looks at the spiritual skeletons around him? Or, perhaps, the preacher himself preaches only because it is a duty and prophesies in obedience rather than in belief. What of these? Well, preach hope until you have it, and then preach it because you have it—you have heard something of that sort before. Today the preacher is a man of parts and affairs. Often the congregation looks well and comfortable, but there is something lacking. It lacks life. It is a congregation and not a church. It may be cultured, but it is not kindled. There is more religion than regeneration. It has been clothed but not quickened. It knows about sacred things but little about the Holy Ghost. Oh, prophesy once more, prophesy till the Spirit of life comes. Preach, but still more pray. And how can you do that if your appeal to man be not inspired by your residing with God? Pray to the Spirit of God and preach to the spirit in men. Never mind current literature, but preach the deep things of God and remember that it is possible to lose your souls by mistaken efforts to gain others. Preach character by all means—more than has been done—but preach it through the Gospel that makes it. It is the demands of life that make men of us. Ask of them great sacrifices. Leave them not at ease. There are those who have not got beyond,, human, nature and its kindnesses, who care more for culture and to have something going on than for the Gospel. Rouse them to conflict, call on the Spirit to seize them and do with them what you never could do. Does not the Spirit do for us what no man can ever do?III. As to the result. “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.” The true insight and knowledge comes by way of resurrection. We know what must rule others by knowing what has changed and ruled us. This is the source of true conquest and dominion in the world. The power of the final lordship is one of which we know nothing until we have saved men. And we cannot use the power until we ourselves have experienced it. The world is to be ruled at last only by those men and that society that knows the laws and powers of the new soul. We cannot know God’s way with the mighty world unless we give our own manhood as the pledge and lay ourselves down before Him. Spiritual power makes its

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own procedure, and human society must finally take its shape from the light of the redeemed soul. I suppose there never was a time when—for good or ill—organisation meant so much as today. It has been called into being until it threatens to oust the home and submerge the Church. But is there no danger in this passionate desire for an organised state of existence? As we perfect the form, what is to become of the spirit? Can we organise ourselves into eternal life? Where are we to find that life which is to save our organisation from becoming our grave? “Ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have brought you out of your graves.” The efficiency of the world can only be secured by the sufficiency of the Spirit. It is Christ’s power and courage and resource we need to face the perils around us, and the trouble is that these do not occur to our common thoughts, our common Press, and our common Parliament. What we need is to know ourselves for what we are, for the moral laggards and traitors and rebels we are. We want a power that will enable us to go on when robust assurance fails and disillusionment comes and we find ourselves out. If we have no such discovery, no Redeemer, no Quickener, then there is no God, no future. It is in His redemption we must find our power and our methods to rule the world. The life of a people depends not merely on magnanimity or devotion, but on the righteousness whose source is Christ. Our ethics are suffering today because we think of love and sacrifice for their own sake. We hear so much about them that they have become self-conscious. They fancy themselves, as we say, and dress themselves for the public gaze. They should be lost in moral inspiration. Before I admire any sacrifice or ardour I wish to know how it has been inspired. It is not idealism but sanctity that saves a nation. The greatest power we know is holiness. It was the first care of Christ not to sacrifice Himself for an ideal; it was that He might glorify the holiness of God. He died to bless man, but still more to glorify God. The first charge on us must be not the happiness of men, but the holiness of God. Then people will be “called from their graves.” There is no future for Godless commerce or Godless ardour of any sort. The missionary spirit is the spirit that brings nations out of their graves and resurrects them to Godliness. If you ask me whether all the human wrecks of this world can live, I am sure of it; first, because God has made something out of my shipwreck, and secondly, because I know that when He died He died for the whole world. And God knows, if I do not know, the world’s future and the world’s possibilities; it is He who still commands and has told me to act and pray till every man is saved, and therefore every man shall be saved. It would not be so hard to believe in the black races if we were sound in our belief about the white races. We are straitened within ourselves, and when there is lack of power what can we do but pray? We are bound in our passions and our sins: our bones are dried up, we are weary and too easily weighted down. These things lie upon us like the weight of earth. We can live only in Thee, O Lord of life. Clothe our bones, quicken our flesh, and the valley of Death shall be one of hope, because though we have fallen we rise to holier love and a nobler life. (T. P. Forsyth, D. D.)

Lessons from the valley of visionThe primary object of this chapter was to encourage the Jews to expect their restoration from the Babylonish captivity. At the time of the utterance of this prophecy they were scattered among the cities of the Babylonish dominions without any existence as an independent nation. But as the bones in the valley of Ezekiel’s vision only needed the quickening process described in the narrative to become a living army, so the Jews only needed the interposition of God on their behalf to become again an independent nation. The meaning of the vision is explained in verses 11 to 14. But there are three other

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meanings that it is regarded as conveying. Applying the vision to the nominal Christian Church, it teaches that if any of God’s people have lost their spiritual life, and so their capacity for usefulness, the Holy Spirit can quicken them, and so restore to them their power for efficiency, making them an army for Immanuel. Applying the vision to the human race, it shows us God’s method of awakening into spiritual life the dead in trespasses and sins. A third view looks upon the vision as teaching the resurrection of the body at the last day, especial reference being had to the bodies of believers.I. The text presents us with a picture of the spiritual state of our race; “dead in trespasses and sins.” The scene presented to Ezekiel’s sight in vision was a valley full of bones. They were “very dry.” For a long time they had lain under the scorching heat of an eastern sun, until they were ready to crumble into dust. Here we have symbolised the condition of our race. Men are “dead in trespasses and sins.” Spiritual life is departed. Sad as the picture may appear, it is not overdrawn. Scripture testimony is true. All flesh is corrupt, Man is born in sin and shapen in iniquity. “There is none righteous,” naturally, “no, not one.” It is all-important for us to maintain this doctrine now. For there are those who would persuade us that man is not wholly corrupt; that the race is improving; that there are germs of good in us; that by the cultivation of his faculties, a man may subdue vicious propensities and become virtuous and holy. Why did Christ come to this world? Not simply to leave us an example of perfect holiness, but to atone for sin. He died to save us from a death from which we could not save ourselves. But take away any necessity for the atonement of Christ, and the love of God does not appear so great as the doctrine of man’s depravity makes it appear. This doctrine of original sin is one too humbling to man’s pride to be received without remonstrance, and the deep-rooted opposition to it is one proof of its truth. Who likes to be told that by nature he is wholly corrupt, and void of spiritual life? Christianity is the great civilising power in the world today, but in the most Christianised countries there is ample evidence of the universal prevalence of sin. There is no hope for the world from itself. As Ezekiel looked forth upon the valley of desolation, God said to him, “Son of man, can these bones live?” and he answered, “O Lord God, Thou knowest.” We ask, “Is it possible for the millions of our race now in ignorance of the Gospel, in darkness about a future state, never having heard of the only way of salvation, to be enlightened and all brought at last to worship the same Lord and trust in the same Saviour as ourselves?” We look around us: we see that in a Christian land, like our own, the masses of our fellow creatures, with all the spiritual advantages they possess, are careless about salvation and treat the Gospel as if it were some cunningly devised fable. “Can these dry bones live?” They cannot save themselves; they are powerless to procure themselves spiritual life. Looked at from a human standpoint, the work is an impossibility. To Him who created a world out of nothing, there is no impossibility in restoring to life, whether the dead in sins or the dead in body. Be it ours to follow the directions of Divine Providence, and patiently to wait for the exertion of God’s almighty power.II. The text presents us with an illustration of the human instrumentality God generally employs in the work of quickening the dead in sins; the preaching of the Gospel. Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy unto the bones, and say, “O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” Thus it appears that the dry bones were fit subjects for prophecy. They could hear the Word of God and understand it. Remembering that the dry bones primarily represented the Jewish nation, we see the propriety of the command. And taking the dry bones as representing the human family, we see an equal propriety in the vision. Our business is with the command, not the results. We are to use the means, and leave it to God to prosper them. Ezekiel’s was a message of life (verses 5, 6). The Gospel is a

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message of life. We are told to go and preach to every creature. This preaching has been the human instrumentality chiefly employed. Yet Christianity triumphed over the religions of heathen Greece and Rome; it superseded the subtle philosophies and hoary idolatries of the East; it destroyed the worship of the barbarous Gauls and Germans, and rough savages of Northern and Eastern Europe, and has ever since maintained its hold. Yet the world still speaks of the foolishness of preaching, and wonders that such simple means should accomplish such great results. Let people say what they will, the power of the pulpit is the greatest of human instrumentalities employed to bring about the conversion of the world. The press cannot supersede it, and never will; for in the living voice of a man in sympathy with his mission and burning to save souls, there is a power that the lifeless page can never exercise. It is a divinely appointed institution. God honours it. In this valley of vision, there was one prophet commissioned to declare God’s will. Now it is different. One was enough then for the work to be done. But the command to preach Christ’s Gospel was given to all His disciples. Ezekiel was prepared to deliver his message, and it would have been grievous sin in him to refuse to do so. So now the disciples of Christ, who are called to preach His Gospel, are prepared for their work. God gives physical, mental, and spiritual gifts to His servants. Ezekiel had the message which he was to deliver, given him, and he dared not announce any other. Had he done so, punishment from God would have been richly deserved, and speedily inflicted, and there would have been no resurrection of the army. And if a preacher preaches any other Gospel than that of “Christ crucified,” not only does he expose himself to the punishment of unfaithfulness in a matter of such transcendent importance, but also he will be of no use in saving souls. Many are the ways in which God’s servants, divinely commissioned to preach the Gospel, perform their task. Each man for himself must give up his account to God of the way in which he has fulfilled his commission, and ought to do his duty unmoved by the frowns or favour of men. All are not learned as Apollos, or zealous as Paul, or loving and persuasive as John in later life. Like the diversity in the plumage of the feathered tribes; like the variety in the hues of flowers; like the perpetual variation in the shapes of the fleeting clouds, so is the variety endless in the gifts and manner of the divinely commissioned preachers of the Gospel. So long as God owns His servants’ labours, let us stand by, and murmur not against His ambassadors.III. The text presents us with a view of the Divine agency employed in the work of quickening the dead in trespasses and sins: the power of the Holy Spirit. What was the result of Ezekiel’s prophecy (verses 7, 8)? Ezekiel might prophesy, but all his prophesying could not give them life. The change which had been accomplished was not done by Ezekiel’s prophesying, but by the power of God. Thus it was the Holy Spirit’s power that made that army of slain men to live. Similarly, when God’s servants preach the Gospel message to the spiritually dead around them, they feel their utter helplessness to quicken them into spiritual life. As the bodies of Ezekiel’s vision had the form of living beings before the breath entered into them, so men may be like Christians in their outward behaviour, but lack their spiritual life. To give this is the work of the Spirit. Oh, recognise the power of the Spirit, Third Person in the ever-blessed Trinity. All the preaching in the world will he useless to give spiritual life to a single soul unless He put forth His power. Trust not in the preacher whoever he may be, but in the Spirit. Already in answer to faithful prayer the Spirit has descended, and dead souls have been quickened, and are an army for Christ doing His work For the vision of Ezekiel showed that the dead when raised became a living army. Their life was given them that they might fight against and subdue God’s enemies: they were not simply to enjoy life themselves. And when by the Holy Spirit’s working, sinners are led to trust in Jesus and

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gain spiritual life; they are at once effective soldiers for Christ, and able to lead others to serve under the same gracious King. (T. D. Anderson, B. A.)

The valley of dry bonesIn the galleries of Versailles the history of France is written in colour. Passing from corridor to corridor, the observer reads from those pictured pages of the centuries, the fortune of ideas, institutions, and dynasties. It is an impressive method of teaching. Many passages of Scripture are marvellous specimens of colour writing. The truth is not taught in dry formulas, but is flashed upon the mind, from parable or symbol or picture. Inspiration is the highest art. Who paints truth like God? Burning bush, pillar of fire and cloud, visions of patriarchs and prophets, splendours of the Transfiguration mount, flaming canvas of the Apocalypse,—what is there that equals these limnings of the Divine pencil? The passage before us is one of these colour sketches of inspiration. It is clear that God designed to teach desolate Israel, by this vision, three things.

1. That there was hope for them. In the judgment of men, they were past help. They were utterly destroyed, their land ravaged, their capital overthrown, themselves captives in Babylonia. Where on the horizon was there a morning ray of promise? God still lived. God had not been carried away into captivity, and “in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength.”2. The lesson of self-distrust. They could not deliver themselves. The wisest heads among them might scheme, the boldest conspirators might plot, but it would avail nothing. Those bleaching bones in the valley were the symbol of utter impotence.3. Entire dependence upon God. It was the Word of the Lord, at whose utterance bones knit themselves to bones, and covered themselves with flesh. It was the Word of the Lord, at whose bidding the inspiration of life came into the motionless bodies, and transformed the valley of sepulture into an amphitheatre crowded with a host of stalwart men. Israel’s hope was Israel’s God. The history of Israel was a microcosm, the world’s history in type and miniature. The principles on which God governed that people, are the principles on which He governs the race. His arguments and appeals and instructions to them are for all men and all time. This is a lost world. By many that statement is branded as unwarrantable. How wonderful is the march of our modern civilisation! How it hunts out and subsidises the hidden forces of earth and sea and sky, how it annihilates distance, and accelerates the transit of human thought! What beneficent changes it has wrought in ideas and institutions! But there is another side to the matter. It is a universally confessed fact that there is a vast amount of moral and spiritual inertia, which the so-called progress of the race does not overcome, nor sensibly abate. Humanity grows bigger, rather than better. There is not a well-balanced correspondence between the growing intelligence, and the increasing righteousness, of the race. The intellectual outstrips the moral advance. The discoveries of curiosity outnumber and outweigh the accretions of character.1. That human expedients will prove ineffectual. There has been no stinting of effort to reclaim the world, on the part of good men. The utmost that human effort can compass in this matter is reform, and what a lost world needs is a remaking. Reform alters the shape, but not the nature of things. Man’s wisdom has as yet found no way of renewing mankind.

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2. The instrumentality to be used is the preaching of the Gospel. As a matter of history, the preaching of the Gospel has proved the most efficient method of reaching a lost world. The little company of the apostles, by the simple proclamation of Christ and the resurrection, dealt the deathblow to Greek and Roman superstition, entrenched in the stronghold of centuries. Cyril and Chrysostom moved two continents with their message. The earth shakes with the tread of the millions who are mustering at the Gospel call. In the jungles of India, under the shadow of the great wall of China, in thronged and eager Japan.3. The efficient agent is the Spirit of God. The bleaching relics became the bodies of men, but “there was no breath in them.” There is a certain measure of influence in the simple utterance and acknowledgment of the claims of Divine truth. Christian governments, Christian institutions, Christian ethics are the result of the confessed sovereignty of the Gospel teachings. But this is not the last power of the Gospel of Christ. It is only when, and only as, the Spirit of God “takes of the things of God, and shows them unto men,” that wonderful transformations are wrought in nature, and character. No masterly eloquence, no exhaustive learning, can supply His place. “Paul may plant and Apollos water, but God giveth the increase.” The consolidation of all human agencies is comparatively inoperative in the work of man’s renewal, and uplift to spiritual life. It is “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.” We are to concern ourselves less about our intellectual greatness, and more about our fitness to be instruments, through which and with which the Divine power can work.

Certain inferential teachings of this passage are worth noting.1. Some of the methods by which churches and Sabbath schools endeavour to enlarge their influence are weak and wicked. Eternal well-being is at stake, and the fair, the sociable, the concert, the drama cannot lift men “dead in trespasses and sin,” into “newness of life in Christ Jesus.”2. The passage is full of encouragement to Christian workers. The spiritually dead are not beyond their reach. The same power that peopled that silent valley with hosts of stalwart men, that transformed blaspheming Saul into fervent Paul, is at their command.3. The general and concentrated outcome of this portion of Scripture is to urge all who work for God to rely entirely upon God. The invincible Spirit, if He be for us, who can be against us? (Sermons by the Monday Club.)

Ezekiel’s visionI. A striking description of the religious state of the heathen world.

1. The persons made the subject of this prophetic vision are represented as dead. To be dead is to be in a state which excites reset and sympathy. To lose the image of God is to die; because as death destroys the human form, sin destroys truth, holiness, and love, in which the image of God in man consists. This is the unhappy case of the heathen. The heathen world is judicially dead, under the wrath and curse of Almighty God. To counteract generous feelings, and to stop the stream of pity in its very fountain, we are aware that the doctrine of the safety of the heathen has been confidently affirmed. The true question is among such persons often mistaken. It is 59

not, whether it is possible for heathens to be saved,—that we grant: but that circumstance proves the actual state of the heathen world to be more dangerous than if no such possibility could be proved; for the possibility of their salvation indisputably shows them to be the subjects of moral government, and therefore liable to an aggravated punishment in case of disobedience. The true question is, Are the heathens, immoral and idolatrous as they are, actually safe?2. The number of the dead forms another part of the picture,—“the valley was full of bones.” The slain of sin are innumerable. The valley as we trace it seems to sweep to an unlimited extent, and yet everywhere it is full! The whole earth is that valley. Where is the country where transgression stalks not with daring and destructive activity? where it has not covered and polluted the soil with its victims? If we turn to the east, there the peopled valleys of Asia stretch before us; but peopled with whom? With the dead! That quarter of the earth alone presents five hundred millions of souls, with but few exceptions, without a God, save gods that sanction vice; without a sacrifice, save sacrifices of folly and blood.3. To the number of the dead the prophet adds another circumstance,—“they were unburied”: the destructive effects of sin, the sad ravages of death, lay exposed and open to the sun. So open and exposed have been the unbelief and blasphemies of the Jews, and the idolatry and vices of the Gentiles.4. The prophet closes his description by adding, that “the bones were very dry.” Under this strong figure the hopelessness of their condition is represented. Thus the Jews, introduced in verse II, are made to say, “Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost”; and the state of the heathen must, at least, be equally hopeless. As far as mere human means and human probabilities go, “there is no hope.” From themselves it is certain there is none.

II. The means by which its mystical resurrection is to be effected: “Prophesy upon these bones,” etc.1. This direction intimates that the ministry of the Word is the grand means appointed by God for the salvation of the world. Others have looked for the amelioration of the human race from the progress of science. Another class of speculatists would wait until wars and revolutions have broken up old systems of despotism, and introduced political liberty, before any means are taken to spread the Gospel. Here is another attempt to build the pyramid upon its point. In vain do men expect liberty without virtue.2. The words may be considered as an injunction on the ministers of the Gospel. But to whom is the message directed? To missionaries only? Nay; but to all who are called “to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”3. The injunction, “Prophesy,” respects not only ministers, but you also who have a private station in the Church. In the society of Christians the particular work of every member is his own salvation; but he owes a duty to the whole body, which is to promote, by all the means in his power, the common end of the association. That common object is to bring “the wickedness of the wicked to an end, and to establish the just.”

III. The prophecy expresses the certain success which should follow the application of the appointed means. We are engaged in no doubtful cause: the kingdom of Christ must prevail; and the Word which has given Him the heathen for His inheritance is “forever 60

settled in heaven.” Our confidence rests—1. On the power of the Gospel. We are not to consider the Gospel as a mere system of doctrines, and duties, and hopes, offered coldly to the reason of mankind. It is this system, but it is more; it is the source of a Divine influence which exerts itself upon the faculties of those who hear it. The Word is never sent without its Author. “Go, and preach My Gospel, and lo, I am with you.” The same union subsists between the Spirit and the Word.2. Our confidence in the certain success of the Gospel rests also upon experience. Christianity is not a novelty; and its efficacy is not now to be put, for the first time, to the test of experiment. It is that powerful and Divine instrument which has for ages been wielded with glorious success in the cause of God and truth.3. Prophecy confirms the certainty of success. (R. Watson.)

The valley of dry bones and the true preacherI. This preacher had a fine church to preach in. It is in “the midst of the valley.” The true preacher of Christ has open nature for his temple. He need not be confined to the buildings of man’s hands, or tied to the conventionalities of society. Wherever men are, on the valley, the hilltops, the seashore, the high road, or in the market place, he can open his mission, he can deliver his message. Thus Christ and His Apostles preached.II. This preacher had an affecting congregation to address. The valley was full of bones, “very many and very dry.” Unregenerate souls are like dead bodies in many respects.

1. They are the creatures of the outward. While there is life in the human body it has a power to appropriate the external to its own use; but when life has departed, the external elements make it their sport. It is so with unregenerate souls. They are the creatures of circumstances.2. They are loathsome to the eye. The human frame that is beautiful in life becomes so offensive in death, that love seeks a place to bury it out of sight. Unregenerate souls are loathsome to the eyes of all who are truly and spiritually alive.

III. This preacher had a Divine sermon to deliver.1. He appealed to his dead auditory. This showed his strong faith in God. His own reason would suggest to him the absurdity of his work, but he trusted God.2. He appealed to Heaven. “Come from the four winds, O breath,” etc. From Heaven the power came, and that power he invoked with all the earnestness of his nature. Thus with the true preacher of Christ. His words will be powerless unless made powerful by the mighty Spirit.

IV. This preacher had marvellous results to witness.1. The results were what he worked for. The efforts he exerted were for resuscitation, and resuscitation came. Every true preacher will get, to some extent, that for which he earnestly labours.2. The results were gradually developed. Here is—

(1) Motion—bones moving.61

(2) Organisation—bones knitted together and covered with flesh.(3) Vitality—the organisation animated.(4) Exertion—stood on their feet “a great army.”

Under every true preacher the work in a congregation goes on something in this way. (Homilist.)

The vision of dry bonesI. The representation given us in this vision of the moral condition of our world. Bones—dry bones—unburied bones—very many of them—what a crowd of suggestive thoughts seem to be called up by this picture! A bone—who likes to look on this dishonoured relic of life? What a recoil do youth and beauty feel at being told that “to this complexion they must come at last”! But the bones the prophet saw were, on our spiritual interpretation, yet more painful to contemplate; they represented the bones, not of a dead body, but, so to speak, of a dead soul, scattered members of the immortal part—God’s image defaced, corrupted, broken into dust and fragments. Furthermore, to complete the picture of death and desolateness, the prophet adds, “and they were very dry.” They had not only remained a long time in this state, they were bleached and crumbled in the sun, and all vestige of the human thing was gone. The application of this lies upon the surface. God made us men, but sin has changed us into skeletons. Observe, further, the vision seems to point to the utter shamelessness of the unconverted state. The bones were in an open valley, or champaign. There may be those who sin in secret, those who defraud and plunder by means of locked up and secret ledgers, who concoct their mendacious schemes in chambers dark as the unsunned and unfrequented sepulchre; but the many hardly care to hide their iniquity, they leave the pestiferous breath of corruption to go up from the valley, and seem to glory in their shame. And how unblushingly does vice walk our streets, and lying enter into our commerce, and sinful and foolish jesting dishonour our entertainments, and the offer of cheap excursions affront the sanctities of God’s holy day! And whey justify themselves who do such things. Even concealment—that homage which bad men pay to the divinity of virtue—is deemed uncalled for. “They are dead in trespasses and sins,” and desire that none should bury them out of our sight. Another mournful spectacle which the vision exhibits of spiritual death reigning around us is its universality. It is not in the midst of the valley only, in the crowd of cities, and in the feverish stir of courts, the haunts of dissipation, or amidst the thickly nestling families of the outcasts that we meet with these relics of spiritual corruption. Wherever we pass, with the prophet, round about, in the retirement of the village, in the seclusion of the cloister, in the calm privacies of family and domestic intercourse—sweet Auburn, mighty London—it is all one—there is not a house in which there is not one dead.II. The means to be employed for the recovery of the world from its spiritually dead condition. “Can these dry bones live? Can your faith grasp the great fact of these bones becoming men?” And the answer which the downcast man of God would return, would be in substance Ezekiel’s answer—“O Lord God, Thou knowest.” “Judging by past results, judging by present evidences, judging by any standards of human likelihood, I should say these bones will continue bones. I see not hope or sign of life among them. Every form of moral inducement fails. Mark here, the ministry of the Word is God’s great agency for the world’s conversion. The days we live in are fertile of expedient and project and bold thought. Every sun that rises finds a thousand busy minds planning and

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devising something for the good of mankind, The philanthropist’s calling is absolutely overdone; and by education, by cultivation of e taste for the arts, by shortened labours for the sons of toil, and open doors for the repentant criminal, by reformatories, dormitories, penitentiaries, and industrial schools, everybody has his scheme for mending the world’s present condition. Amidst this multitudinous assemblage of human remedies, all good in their way however, it is a great repose to the mind just to see what is God’s remedy. He interferes not with our social machinery, our commerce, our science, our philanthropy, or our laws—these may all go on as before; but He has His own cure for the moral disorders of mankind; and where that cure is left out of sight, God will bless no other. And that is, to prophesy upon these bones and say unto them, “O ye dry bones, hear ye the word of the Lord!” And at this part of the vision the minister of God finds his lesson, He has a pardonable preference for the great promising fields of labour. True, he must go where he is sent, but he would not choose a valley of bones if he could get an auditory of living things. But the tenor of his commission runs—“Preach to the most ignorant, and dark, and hopeless; speak to the dead; even in the place of tombs and at the very mouth of graves; prophesy upon these bones.” Neither are we to be tellers of smooth things when we prophesy, to shrink from calling people by their right names and addressing many among them as spiritually dead; for you see there God’s own instructions to the preacher—“Say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear ye the word of the Lord.” And this is our confidence when we speak—that it is the word of the Lord.III. The success which shall attend the use of all heavenly-appointed means for the conversion of souls. We may not omit to observe here, how, under every dispensation the dead and the hopeless are the objects of the Almighty’s care. They are the tempted among disciples, the heavy laden among sinners, the weeping among the prodigals; it is among the reeds the sorest bruised, and among bones the “very dry,” that mercy finds occasion for its most tender and bright displays. Let us see this principle acted out in the vision. There was a noise and a shaking. To two out of the three proposed interpretations of the vision suggested at the outset these effects seem applicable enough. Thus we can have no difficulty in imagining that a great political commotion should be stirred up on the first proclamation of Cyrus for the return of the Jews to their own land; whilst for the other interpretation, or that which applies the vision to the resurrection of the body, we have the later New Testament confirmation, that the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. But what fitness have these terms for our spiritual rendering? Much every way. There is no resurrection to spiritual life, whether in a nation, in a family, or in an individual soul, without both a noise and a shaking. Yes, the chariots of the Redeemer never have been noiseless chariots. There was a noise in Judea when John preached the baptism of repentance; there was a noise at Athens when Paul preached the doctrines of the resurrection; there was a noise at Ephesus when the craftsmen saw the danger which threatened their silver shrines. And is there not often a noise in families when the prophesying is just beginning to take effect, when some solitary member of a household comes out from the rest, and with a lofty disregard of the results, resolves to cast in his lot with the people of God? Ask yourselves, have you ever been shaken from these sandy and unstable foundations on which so many are building their immortal house? Have you over been shaken from those unscriptural and hollow creeds which are the only answer many have to make to the fears of death, the terrors of the grave, and the heavy indictment to be preferred against them at the last day? Or, lastly, have you ever felt a shaking in yourselves? Have you ever known what it is to have the heart to sink, and the knees to smite, and the tongue to falter through an oppressive sense of your soul’s danger and urgent need? If

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so, be of good cheer; at this time there was a shaking in you, the bones were beginning to move, and flesh was beginning to come up, and over the face of your regenerate soul the Spirit of God was moving and imparting to you the first breathings of spiritual life.IV. The last scene of this imposing spectacle. See in this feature of the prophet’s vision, a type of that halting stage in the Christian life, in which all external forms of godliness are kept up without any growing experience of its power; living, indeed, in shape, but having no breath in them. Seeing there was no breath in these risen forms, the voice said unto Ezekiel, “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 stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” We want more breath in our body, more of that which distinguishes the skeleton from the man and the religious automaton from the thing of life—and this is to be obtained only by our prophesying to the wind; by one and all in the church and in their closet offering that fervent petition, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” (D. Moore, M. A.)

The vision of the dry bonesLike many other visions before and since, it is partly shaped by the circumstances of the times. The horrors of the Chaldean invasion, which had resulted, in carrying away the Jewish people into Babylon, were still fresh in the memories of men. In many a valley, on many a hillside in Southern Palestine, the track of the invading army as it advanced and retired would have been marked by the bones of the unoffending but slaughtered peasantry. In a work written some years ago, Mr. Layard has described such a scene in Armenia, an upland valley, covered by the bones of the Christian population who had been plundered and murdered by Kurds. Ezekiel, wrapt in a spiritual ecstasy, was set down in a valley that was full of bones. But what are we to understand by the dry bones of the vision of Ezekiel? This is plainly a picture of a resurrection, not, indeed, of the general resurrection, because what Ezekiel saw was clearly limited and local, but at the same time it is a sample of what will occur at the general resurrection. It may be urged that this representation is presently explained to refer to something quite distinct—namely, the restoration of the Jewish people from Babylon, and therefore that what passed before the prophet’s eye need not have been regarded by him as more than an imaginary or even impossible occurrence intended to symbolise a coming event. But if this were the case, the vision, it must be said, was very ill adapted for its proposed purpose. The fact is that the form of Ezekiel’s vision, and the popular use which Ezekiel made of it, shows that at this date the idea of the resurrection of the body could not have been a strange one to religious views. Had it been so Ezekiel’s vision would have been turned against him. The restoration from the captivity would have been thought more improbable than ever if the measure of its improbability was to be found in a doctrine unbelieved in as yet by the people of revelation. We know, in fact, from their own scriptures, that the Jews had had for many a century glimpses more or less distinct of this truth. Long ago the mother of Samuel could sing that the Lord bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up, and Job could be sure that though worms destroy his body yet in his flesh he would see God; and David, speaking for a Higher Being than himself, yet knows that God will not leave His soul in hell nor suffer His Holy One to see corruption; and Daniel, Ezekiel’s contemporary or nearly so, foresees that many who “sleep in the

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dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt,” and later on the courageous mother of the seven Maccabean Martyrs cries to her dying sons that “the Creator of the world, who formed the generations of men, and thought out the beginning of all things, will also of His mercy give you life and breath again if you regard not yourselves for His sake.” Undoubtedly there was among the Jews a certain belief in the resurrection of the body, a belief which this very vision must have at once represented and confirmed. Ezekiel’s vision, then, may remind us of what Christ our Lord has taught us again and again in His own words of the resurrection of the body. But its teaching by no means ends with this. For the dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision may well represent the conditions of societies of men at particular times in their history, the condition of nations, of Churches, of less important institutions. Indeed, Ezekiel was left in no kind of doubt about the Divinely intended meaning of his vision. The dry bones were pictures of what the Jewish nation believed itself to be, as a consequence of the captivity in Babylon. All that was left of it could be best compared to the bones of the Jews which had been massacred by the Chaldean invader, and which bleached the hillsides of Palestine. “He said unto me, These bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off.” Certainly in the captivity little was left of Israel beyond the skeleton of its former self. There were the sacred books, there were Royal descendants of the race of Jacob, there were priests, there were prophets, there was the old Hebrew and sacred language not yet wholly corrupted into Chaldean, there were precious traditions of the past days of Jerusalem, these were the dry bones of what had been earlier. There was nothing to animate them, they lay on the soil of heathenism, they lay apart from each other as if quite unconnected. To the captive people Babylon was not merely a valley of dry bones, but socially and politically it was fatal to the corporate life of Israel, “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O My people, I will open your graves.” And this is what actually did happen at the restoration of the Jews from Babylon. Each of the promises in Ezekiel’s vision was fulfilled. The remains of the past history, its sacred books, its priests, its prophets, its laws, its great traditions, its splendid hopes, these once more moved in the soul of the nation as if with the motion of reviving life. It was a wonderful restoration, almost if not altogether unique in history. We see it in progress in the 119th Psalm, which doubtless belongs to this period, which exhibits the upward struggle of a sincere and beautiful soul at the first dawn of the national resurrection, and we read of its completion in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah; it was completed when the Temple, the centre of the spiritual and national life, was fully rebuilt, and when the whole life of the people in its completeness was thus renewed in the spot which had been the home of their fathers from generation to generation. And something of the same kind had been seen in portions of the Christian Church. As a whole, we know the Church of Christ cannot fail, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; but particular Churches may fail in their different degrees,—national churches, provincial churches, local churches. These, like the seven churches in Asia, which stand as a warning for all the ages of Christendom, these may experience their varying degrees of corruption and ruin and the moral insensibility which precedes death. And some of us may have noted a like resurrection in some institution, neither as defined as a church nor yet so broad or inclusive as a nation, in a school, a college, a hospital, a charitable building, a company. It is the creation, it is the relic of a distant age, it is magnificent in its picturesqueness, it lacks alone nothing but life. It persists in statutes that are no longer observed, it observes ceremonies and customs which have lost their meaning, it constantly holds to a phraseology which tells of a past time and of which the object has been forgotten. But 65

certain it is in each year its members meet, they go through the accustomed usages, they signalise their meeting, it may be by splendid banquets, by commanding oratory, but in their heart of hearts they know they are meeting in a valley of dry bones. The old rules, usages, phrases, dresses, these are scattered around them like the bones of Ezekiel’s vision, a life which once animated and clothed has long since perished away. Lastly, the dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision may be discovered, and that not seldom, within the human soul. When the soul has lost its hold of truth or grace, when it has ceased to believe or ceased to love all the traces of what it once has been, do not forthwith despair. There are survivals of the old believing life, fragments and skeletons of the old affection, bits of stray logic which once created phrases which express the feeling which once won to prayers, there may remain amid the arid desolation of every valley full of dry bones the aspirations which have no goal, the actions which have no real basis, no practical consequences, the friendships which we feel to be holy and which are still kept up, the habits which have lost all meaning, we meet with writers, with talkers, with historians, with poets whose language shows that they have once known what it is to believe, but for whom all living faith has perished utterly and left behind it only these dried-up relics of its former life. “Can these bones live?” Can these phrases, these forms, these habits, and these associations which once were part of the spirit life, can they ever again become what they were? A man may have ceased to mean his prayers, his prayers may now be but the dry bones of that warm and loving communion which he once held with his God, but do not let him on that account give them up, do not let him break with the little that remains of what once was life. It is easy enough to decry habit, but habit may be the scaffolding which saves us from a great fall, habit may be the arch which bridges over a chasm which yawns between one height and another on our upward road; habit without motive is sufficiently unsatisfactory, but habit is better, better far, than nothing. Some of us it may be surveying the shrivelled elements of our religious life cannot avoid the question which comes in upon us from heaven, “Can these bones live?” They seem to us, even in our best moments, so hopelessly dislocated, so dry, so dead, but to this question the answer always must be, “O Lord God, Thou knowest.” Yes, He does know; He sees, as He saw of old into the grave of Lazarus; He sees as He saw into the tomb of the Lord Jesus, so He sees into the crypt of a soul of whose faith and love only these dry bones remain, and He knows that life is again possible. (Canon Liddon.)

The restoration and conversion of the JewsI. There is to be a political restoration of the Jews. Israel is now blotted out from the map of nations; her sons are scattered far and wide; her daughters mourn beside all the rivers of the earth. But she is to be restored; she is to be restored “as from the dead.” She is to be reorganised; her scattered bones are to be brought together. There will be a native government again; there will again be the form of a body politic; a state shall be incorporated, and a king shall reign. “I will place you in your own land,” is God’s promise to them, They shall again walk upon her mountains, shall once more sit under her vines and rejoice under her fig trees. And they are also to be reunited. There shall not be two, nor ten, nor twelve, but one—one Israel praising one God, serving one king, and that one king the Son of David, the descended Messiah. They are to have a national prosperity which shall make them famous; nay, so glorious shall they be that Egypt, and Tyre, and Greece, and Rome shall all forget their glory in the greater splendour of the throne of David.

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II. Israel is to have a spiritual restoration or a conversion. Both the text and the context teach this. The promise is that they shall renounce their idols, and, behold, they have already done so. Weaned forever from the worship of all images, of whatever sort, the Jewish nation has now become infatuated with traditions or duped by philosophy. She is to have, however, instead of these delusions, a spiritual religion: she is to love her God. “They shall be My people, and I will be their God.” The unseen but omnipotent Jehovah is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth by His ancient people; they are to come before Him in His own appointed way, accepting the Mediator whom their sires rejected; coming into covenant relation with God, for so our text tells us, “I will make a covenant of peace with them,” and Jesus is our peace, therefore we gather that Jehovah shall enter into the covenant of grace with them, that covenant of which Christ is the federal head, the substance, and the surety. They are to walk in God’s ordinances and statutes, and so exhibit the practical effects of being united to Christ who hath given them peace.III. The means of that restoration. Observe that there are two kinds of prophesying spoken of here. First, the prophet prophesies to the bones—here is preaching; and next, he prophesies to the four winds—here is praying.

1. It is the duty and the privilege of the Christian Church to preach the Gospel to the Jew, and to every creature, and in so doing she may safely take the vision before us as her guide.(1) She may take it as her guide, first, as to matter. What are we to preach? The text says we are to prophesy, and assuredly every missionary to the Jews should especially keep God’s prophecies very prominently before the public eye. Every man has a tender side and a warm heart towards his own nation, and if you tell him that in your standard book there is a revelation made that that nation is to act a grand part in human history, and is, indeed, to take the very highest place in the parliament of nations, then the man’s prejudice is on your side, and he listens to you with the greater attention. But still the main thing which we have to preach about is Christ. Preach His hallowed life, the righteousness of His people; declare His painful death, the putting away of all their sins. Vindicate His glorious resurrection, the justification of His people; tell of His ascent on high, their triumph over the world and sin; declare His second advent, His glorious coming, to make His people glorious in the glory which He hath won for them, and Christ Jesus, as He is thus preached, shall surely be the means of making these bones live. Let this preaching resound with sovereign mercy; let it always have in it the clear and distinct ring of free grace. Man has a will, and God never ignores that will, but by His almighty grace He blessedly leads it in silken fetters. Preach, preach, preach, then, but let it be the preaching of Christ, and the proclamation of free grace. The Church, I say, has a model here as to the matter of preaching.(2) And I am certain that she has also a model here as to her manner of preaching. The manner of our preaching is to be by way of command, as well as by way of teaching. Repent and be converted, every one of you. Lay hold on eternal life. “Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”(3) We have a model here, moreover, as to our audience. We are not to select our congregation, but we are to go where God sends us; and if He should send us into the open valley, where the bones are Very dry, we are to preach there. Do not say,

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“Such-and-such a man is too bigoted”; the case rests not with him, nor with his bigotry, but with God. These bones were very dry, but yet they lived. Let not, therefore, the greater viciousness of a people, or their greater hardness of heart, ever stand in our way, but let us say to them, dry as they are, “Ye dry bones, live.”(4) And here, again, we have another lesson as to the preacher’s authority. If you will observe, you will see the prophet says, “Hear the Word of the Lord.” Always put to your fellowman the truth which you hold dear, not as a thing which he may play with or may do what he likes with, which is at his option to choose or to neglect as he sees fit; but put it to him as it is in truth, the Word of God; and be not satisfied unless you warn him that it is at his own peril that he rejects the invitation, and that on his own head must be his blood if he turns aside from the good word of the command of God.(5) I cannot leave this point without noticing how the prophet describes the effect of his preaching—there was a voice, and there was a noise. Is this stir, then, the stir of opposition, or is it the stir of inquiry? Anything is better than stagnation: of a persecutor I have quite as much hope as of a quiet despiser.

2. After the prophet had prophesied to the bones, he was to prophesy to the winds. He was to say to the blessed Spirit, the Life-giver, the God of all grace, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” Preaching alone doth little; it may make the stir, it may bring the people together, but there is no life-giving power in the Gospel of itself apart from the Holy Spirit. The “breath” must first blow, and then these bones shall live. Let us betake ourselves much to this form of prophesying. Observe that this second prophesying of Ezekiel is just as bold and as full of faith as the first. He seems to have no doubt, but speaks as though he could command the wind. “Come,” saith he, and the wind cometh. Little faith, Mender harvests; much faith, plenteous sheaves. Let your prayer, then, be with a sense of how much you need it, but yet with a firm conviction that the Holy Spirit will most surely come in answer to your prayers. And then let it be earnest prayer. That “Come from the four winds, O breath,” reads to me like the cry, not of One in despair, but of one who is full of a vehement desire, gratified with what he sees, since the bones have come together, and have been mysteriously clothed with flesh, but now crying passionately for the Immediate completion of the miracle—“Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The prospects of Christianity when brought to bear on the lower racesI propose to concentrate our attention on the prospects of Christianity when brought to bear on the lower races and more grovelling religions that form so large a section of our Empire, and to endeavour to answer the commonly alleged objection to missionary effort, namely, that the dry bones cannot live. It is a waste of power, they say, alike in money and in men; a waste of power which might be so much more usefully employed in elevating and Christianising our virtual heathen at home. Those who assert this maintain

(1) on a priori grounds, that ethnological inferiority makes them unreceptive of the highest civilisation, and incapable of appreciating Christian truth or 68

recognising Christian obligation; and(2) a posteriori, they assert that missionary effort among them has, as a matter of fact, proved a failure. Let us consider first whether the a priori argument is conclusive. We may frankly in the outset recognise the reality of race differences; we are fully alive to all that is denoted by the expression, national idiosyncrasy; nor can we question the relative inferiority of race as compared with race. “God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.” That is to say, that all who bear on them the stamp of man—all who, by that unaccountable intuition which leads the mastiff, the greyhound, the terrier, the Newfoundland, despite their utter dissimilarity of contour, pursuits, and habits, to recognise each other as alike dogs, feel and cannot divest themselves of the feeling that they have a common humanity—do, as a matter of fact, and in right of that feeling, stand in a fraternal relation one to the other. Once recognise this common humanity, and the Christian, who believes in the Incarnation, must also recognise that every human unit is potentially redeemed in Christ, whose glorious title is not the King of the Jews but the Son of Man; so that according to the Christian idea race distinctions, however characteristic, fade away, and are merged in the glorified humanity of the second Adam, “in whom there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all and in all.” And on this hypothesis there is nothing to startle us in Christ’s words taken in their literal significance, “make disciples of all nations”; “preach the Gospel to every creature.” I say in their literal significance, though we well know that to do this often sacrifices the spirit to the letter. But once concede the postulate of universal redemption, once accept the truth, “Christ tasted death for every man,” and the systematic evangelisation of all men becomes a necessary corollary. We pass on to the a posteriori argument that missionary work among the heathen is a recognised failure. Is it so? This is a question of evidence. Whom shall we first summon into the witness box? We will cite our own selves. We English people of today are a standing reply to the supposed uselessness of missionary effort. It is true our Christianity is of long standing; but let our minds dart back to the origines of Christianity in these islands. What manner of persons were they to whom the first Christian missionaries came? Were they, think you, a promising field for Gospel labour? Were our skin-clad and tatooed Keltic predecessors hopeful material for the first mission priests from Gaul to work on; or, a few centuries later on, were our rude Saxon forefathers, debased in drunkenness and gluttony, patently and obviously receptive of a religion which inculcated righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come? But the Kelt and Saxon, it is replied, in spite of their savagery and rudeness, belonged to better breeds; were they not members of the great Aryan family? Granted, yet have we any right to assert that when they first passed under the mild yoke of Christianity they were on any higher level, morally or spiritually, than the New Zealand Maori or the West Indian Charaib? And may we not with justice assume that hereditary, i.e. transmitted Christianity, has been a perceptible factor in their moral and spiritual elevation? At least, is it possible so to eliminate this factor as to be safe in pronouncing that they were originally better breeds, and naturally more receptive of Christian influences? But we may go a step further, and boldly assert that it has not been a failure even with the savage, that is to say with races of a confessedly low organisation, given two necessary conditions,—sufficient time and favourable surroundings. If you wish

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to know what the Gospel can do for the savage pure and simple, study the Moravian mission records. The darkest and dreariest corners of heathendom are the field of labour of their choice. Thibet, Greenland, the Mosquito Coast, Surinam, Aboriginal Australia—these are their principal mission stations. Their records and reports are worth reading; they have in them the ring of veracity; they faithfully chronicle ill-success and disappointment; but they can point to tangible results of all this patient effort; they have confessedly achieved what had been deemed impossible—the elevation of the Australian native, where they have been able to bring him within the range of continuous Christian influence, from his depth of degradation, through the power of the Gospel, and through the magic which resides unimpaired in that name which is above every name, the saving name of Jesus Christ our Lord, and in the power of His Cross. Or read the life and letters of John Coleridge Patteson, first missionary Bishop of Melanesia. In his first cruise among those islands, which were destined afterwards to be his scattered diocese, and subsequently the scene of his martyrdom, he thus describes his visit to Bauro: “The house of Iri was long, low, and open at the ends; along the ridge pole were ranged twenty-seven skulls not yet blackened with smoke; and bones were scattered outside, for a fight had recently taken place near at hand.” Yet, later on, he writes thus of his youngsters that he had gathered round him from this very Golgotha: “I have quite learned to believe that there are no ‘savages’ anywhere, at least among black or coloured people; I’d like to see anyone call my Bauro boys savages.” From the savage pure and simple we pass to those races which are admittedly inferior to the higher types of humanity, but which, either through contact more or less continuous with those higher races, or because they do not naturally fall very low in the scale, have manifested some receptivity of Christian teaching and Christian influences. Of these the West Indian negro furnishes a good example; an example, too, the more instructive, because it is possible to compare the negro who has lived thus under Christianity with his heathen congener in Africa. It so chances that this comparison can be made in more places than one; and the juxtaposition is startling from the force of contrast. On the West Coast of Africa, about a hundred miles from Sierra Leone, is a little missionary settlement near the mouth of the river Pongas. It was started mainly through the zeal and energy of Bishop Rowle, of Trinidad, while principal of Codrington College, in Barbadoes, with the object of repaying spiritually the vast debt of material wrong inflicted mainly on that portion of the Dark Continent by the West Indian slave trade. It is a mission mainly supported by the West Indian Church, with the assistance of a committee in England, and manned now for some time exclusively by West Indians of colour trained at Codrington, or by native West Africans from Sierra Leone. It is, indeed, a striking contrast between the degraded Susus, grovelling in abject superstition, and these patient, loving, self-denying priests—men of their own race and complexion—who have come to live among them, and to elevate them, not merely by Christian teaching, but by Christian example. Just such another negro mission exists and flourishes under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society in the Niger Valley, governed and directed by the saintly Bishop Crowther, himself a negro of pure African descent, born and bred on the soil whereon he now labours. Well might he exclaim, as on a memorable occasion he did, with proud humility, to the Church Missionary Society gathered together in Exeter Hall, “I am your result; you are asked what comes of all your expenditure 70

and all your effort; I am your result.” And he was right. But what has been the effect of Christianity upon the rank and file of the negro population? for we have confessedly been dealing hitherto with only its best representatives. We must in all frankness reply very great, and yet very little. If we were asked what has been the practical result of Christianity upon the civilised European nations, we should have, I fear, to make a similar reply, “Watchman, what of the night? The morning cometh, the night cometh also.” But in the case of negro Christianity, at least of West India negro Christianity, the uneradicated faults and vices are much more palpable and apparent, and perhaps more generally diffused than those of European Christianity. They are the vices that either have come down to them from the days of their African heathenism or were incident to their condition in the West Indies previous to emancipation and Christianity. Besides being enslaved by iniquitous superstitions, the negro Christian has too often a very limited practical belief in the sanctity of truth and honesty; many a habitual church-goer is prone to lying, cheating, and petty pilfering. He fails too often to bridle his tongue, and to the sins of evil-speaking and lying many and many a one adds slandering. And yet, while he allows himself in this unlovely catalogue of unchristian sin, the Christianised negro values his religion. In the West Indies religious services, when hearty, and accompanied by plain outspoken preaching from a man who is patiently trying to live up to what he preaches, are always thronged. The ordinances of religion are eagerly sought. They read and know and love their Bibles. Above all, they give the best test of sincerity; they are willing to deny themselves considerably to secure to themselves the means of grace. Out of their deep poverty they contribute freely to Church support. If we would learn the cause of the imperfection of negro Christianity in the isles of the West, let us remind ourselves of the two necessary conditions for Christianity to take effect, sufficient time and favourable surroundings. I doubt whether those who deny or question the reality or possibility of mission work among inferior races have ever reflected how much of their own Christianity, or at least their receptivity of Christian principles, is an inherited peculiarity, a transmitted idiosyncrasy, as entirely as many of those other moral qualities on which as a race we pride ourselves; and whether they realise how much of it is due to the presence everywhere among us of patterns, imperfect it may be, but none the less valuable, of a high ideal of Christian conduct, and to the restraining force from childhood upwards of a generally sound public opinion in respect of Christian obligation. “Can these dry bones then live?” The answer still must be, “O Lord God, Thou knowest.” The bones are exceeding many and very dry; centuries of superstition and oppression and degradation have driven all the vital moisture from them. They must reform themselves gradually. Gradually each bone must adjust itself to his bone; gradually the flesh must clothe them and the skin cover them above. Gradually (that is to say) must the outward decencies and proprieties of Christianity be developed among them. And even then till the wind of God has been wafted to them, and in His capacity as the Life-giver has inspired the as yet inanimate forms, there can be no vital religion; there can be no general bringing forth of the fruits of the spirit, which are “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” (Bp. Mitchinson.)

The valley of the dead71

I. The natural deadness of humanity. It goes without saying that there are some people in the world whom you would describe as morally and spiritually dead. If you go down, for example, men and women so lost to all to the lowest dregs of society, you will always find nobleness, and purity, and goodness that they are “dead”—dead to God, dead to humanity, dead even to their own better self. Now, if the Gospel of Christ confined this word “dead” to such wrecks of humanity, I suppose no one would be surprised; certainly no one would have a word to say in objection to the term. But here is the remarkable thing; this Book steadily refuses to limit this term “dead” to these moral outcasts; it takes it in all its dark and terrible meaning, and it declares it is true of all men without exception, and that whatever else conversion may be, before all things else it is this—“passing from death unto life.” Take, for example, one illustrated fact. It was not without the profoundest significance that the one man selected by Christ to hear the discourse on the supreme necessity of the new birth was not an abandoned profligate, nor the publican smiting on his breast and crying, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” but Nicodemus, the respectable and apparently blameless Pharisee. There is a tendency in some of the theological thinking to paint a picture of human nature with the darkest lines all left out. Do you tell me that the kindlier view of human nature which is taken today is not only in itself a truer view, but is a healthy reaction from the exaggerated statements of the Calvinistic theology of a past age? I am not careful to deny there is some truth in what you say. Be it so; but do not forget the pendulum of human thought is always swinging from one extreme to the other, and if there was once danger from an unscriptural severity, there may be equal danger today from an unscriptural charity of statement. Too little shadow will spoil a picture quite as much as too little light. Or do you again remind me that there is something good to be found even in the worst of men; that the hardest heart has a tender spot somewhere if only we knew where to find it; that, in a word, there are some movements of moral life in all men, and that so far they are certainly not “dead,” I will not dispute the fact. If there was no conscience in man, there would be nothing left to which Christ could appeal; but do not forget the occasional movements of this conscience towards virtue may be associated with the profoundest indifference to God. Beneath the muttering of the lips of the sleeper the soul may lie in the sleep of death. It is not immorality that is the universal sin, it is a deeper, darker, deadlier sin—it is ungodliness! You may be alive to man, but dead to God. Just as the moon has that part of her surface which is turned to the earth all radiant with light, whilst the opposite hemisphere turned towards the distant heavens is dark as midnight, and is wrapped in the silence of eternal death, so the heart of man is lighted up with gleams of human goodness, whilst it is utterly dark and dead to God. At the surface of the sea there may be some dim, imperfect light penetrating the water; but as you go deeper down the light grows fainter and fainter, until in the depths it is quenched in the darkness of an everlasting night. It is a great, it is a fatal mistake to imagine you will commend the Gospel by concealing any part of its message. Speak, I say, all you find in your heart to say of the honour and glory of man, but when you have said all do not end there. Add another word. Say—say it with tears in your eyes: “This glorious temple is all in ruins. This child of the Eternal is a lost child, a dead son.”II. The process of quickening. The prophet is commanded by God to “prophesy unto these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord,” and then follows that word. The first act—that is, of any prophet—in the quickening of the dead is the utterance of a Divine message that is intrusted to him. The Gospel is called in the New Testament “the Message,” and a message only asks to be delivered. We are not discoverers of truth, we are only witnesses to a truth given to us to declare. It is “the

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Word of the Lord,” not the word of the man, which we have to speak. And on this fact depend two things—first, the authority of the messenger, and next the power of his message. You are an “ambassador for Christ,” with all the responsibility, but with all the authority of an ambassador. And as this truth confers authority on the messenger of Christ, so it creates all the power of His message. “For some thirty years,” wrote the late Dr. Pusey in the preface to his learned and laborious work on Daniel, “this has been a deep conviction of my soul, that no book can be written on behalf of the Bible like the Bible itself”; and what Pusey said of the Book we may say of the message the Book contains, and which is given us to speak. The power of the Word is more in the message than in the messenger who delivers it. I do not forget because I say this how much, how very much, depends on the man; how just as an instrument out of tune may mar the noblest music, so an unworthy or unfit messenger may spoil all the sweetness of the message. But for all this, the message is the first thing, the great thing, and the messenger is only of value as he speaks the message. “Who then is Paul, or who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed?” Here, then, I repeat, is the secret of our power so far as our word to man is concerned—we have to speak “the Word of the Lord.” There is nothing else to speak. You may, if you please, try to substitute other things for it; you may give to your people ingenious speculations on science, lectures on art. There is no power in them to reach the deepest needs of the sin and sorrow of the world. There is only one theme for the Christian preacher, but it is an infinite theme; it is Christ Himself—Christ, Son of God and Son of man, Christ in all the immeasurable meaning of that glorious Name—Well worth all languages on earth or heaven.

Christ crucified, Christ risen, Christ ascended to the eternal throne, Christ Friend, Brother, Saviour, Lord, Judge of men, and only as that mighty Name is on our lips will the music, of the message touch the heart of man.III. Fruitless preaching. The prophet has prophesied “over the bones,” and now mark the result: “Them was a noise, and behold an earthquake, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And I beheld, and lo! there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above, but”—“but there was no breath in them.” How often is this experience repeated in our own work. We preach “the Word of the Lord”—preach it, perhaps, fervently and earnestly—and then what follows? There is some excitement in the congregation, there is movement, there is interest; some eyes am filled with tears; here and there there are impressions created—there is what looks like the first stirrings of the Divine life. Alas! alas! it is not so. The congregation disperses, the eyes are soon dry again, the heart has not been touched, the depths have never been moved, God has not yet come to those dead souls, “there is no breath in them.” It was the semblance—not the reality of life we had produced. It takes some of us a long time to learn this humbling, but most salutary lesson. We can do so much, or what seems so much; we have “the Word of God” on our lips, we can preach it faithfully, we can toil hard, very hard, all the night, and it seems impossible all this toil should end in nothing. Yet it does. When we have done all, we have failed, utterly failed, to quicken the dead. It is only when He comes who is the Lord and Giver of Life that in a moment our unfruitful toil is crowned with abundant and overflowing success. Do you ask me how we are to gain this power? how this Divine breath may come breathing on the slam? I answer in the words of the vision, “Prophesy unto the wind,” and prophecy, which spoken to man is preaching, uttered to God is prayer. It is prayer, only prayer, that holds in its upstretched hands the secret of the power of God. (G. S. Barrett, B. A.)

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A moral resurrectionI. The multitude of its dead.II. The apparent hopelessness of the dead.III. A startling command.

1. It is the Lord who speaks.2. In His words, are—

(1) Life.(2) Power.

IV. A glorious promise.V. The resurrection.

1. A noise.2. A reunion.3. Harmony in this reunion.4. Elastic strength for action.5. A human form.6. Life.

(1) God, the Source.(2) The Spirit, the Agent.(3) His Word, the instrument.(4) Man, the medium. (J. Gill.)

Faith refers all possibility to GodThen comes the Divine challenge to the man who is willing honestly, and without any disguise, to contemplate the facts: “And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live?” God will have the sympathy and the hope and the eager anticipation of His servant for His enterprise before He will openly pledge Himself to it. Ponder the situation—God and His servant all alone, and together gazing at that valley very full of very dry bones! Thus do begin the things which thrill earth and heaven! No life, no promise, no hope, anywhere but in Him who searches us with His challenge. There can be no mighty commerce between earth and heaven except through the faith which believeth Him “who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” It is a chief peril of our creaturehood to make ourselves—not the living God—the law and measure and explanation of all things. “We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight”—wailed the unbelieving spies! And what could grasshoppers achieve against giants? Yet the Word of Jehovah had pledged victory. Two dominions are ever open to us—self or God, our creature thoughts or our Creator’s Word. In that

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momentous testing hour it was not in self and its thinkings that Ezekiel took his stand, but in God and His greatness: “O Lord God, Thou!” Let us follow his example, and so become “men of God” the highest dignity open to us—men who ever account the living God the first and chief factor in every problem of thought and conduct. The miserable alternative is the grasshopper manner—grasshopper fears, grasshopper thinkings, grasshopper doings! And of what avail is a grasshopper in a valley of dry bones? (C. G. Macgregor.)

2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.

GILL, "And caused me to pass by them round about,.... Round, round (s); several times round, that he might take exact notice of them, of their number, situation, and condition: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; as the Jews were in captivity; and as they will be when they shall be converted; and as the number of Christians will be in the spiritual reign of Christ; and as the dead will be at the time of their resurrection, both of the just and unjust: and, lo, they were very dry; through length of time they had lain there, exposed to wind and weather; the flesh being wholly consumed from off of them, and the marrow within quite dried up; so that there was no probability or hope, humanly speaking, of their being quickened: these are a fit emblem of men in a state of nature and unregeneracy, who have no spiritual life, but are dead in trespasses and sins; have no sense of sin or danger; no strength to redeem and regenerate themselves, or do anything that is spiritually good; have no spiritual motion; no inward desires after God, or affection to him; no lifting up of the heart to him, or going out of the soul in faith and love to Christ; but in themselves entirely lifeless, helpless, and hopeless.

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JAMISON, "dry — bleached by long exposure to the atmosphere.

3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

CLARKE, "Can these bones live? - Is it possible that the persons whose bones these are can return to life?

GILL, "And he said unto me, son of man, can these bones live?.... Is there any probability of it? is there any reason to believe they shall live? can any ways and means be devised, or any methods taken, to cause them to live? and I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest; the prophet does not pronounce at once that it was improbable and impossible; he knew indeed it was not probable, or possible, that these bones should revive of themselves; and he knew that neither he nor any creature could quicken them; but he wisely refers it to an omniscient and omnipotent God, who knew what he could and what he would do: the conversion of sinners is not of themselves, nor of ministers, but of God; it is wholly owing to his will and power, Joh_1:13 nothing else can make it probable, or possible.

JAMISON, "can these bones live? ... thou knowest — implying that, humanly speaking, they could not; but faith leaves the question of possibility to rest with God, with whom nothing is impossible (Deu_32:39). An image of Christian faith which believes in the coming general resurrection of the dead, in spite of all appearances against it, because God has said it (Joh_5:21; Rom_4:17; 2Co_1:9).

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COKE, "Verse 3Ezekiel 37:3. Can these bones live?— Shall these bones revive? Houbigant, who observes very justly, that the question is not concerning the possibility of the fact; for the prophet well knew that God could do all things. But the Lord, introductory to what follows, asks him whether these bones should now revive, or not. And though this be the right interpretation of the place, yet a resurrection from the dead is very justly collected from it: for, "A simile of the resurrection (says St. Jerome) would never have been used to signify the restoration of the people of Israel, unless such a future resurrection had been believed and known; because nobody ever confirms uncertain things by things which have no existence." See Houbigant's note.

ELLICOTT, " (3) Can these bones live?—The question is put to the prophet in order to emphasise the human impossibility of that which is immediately brought about by the Divine omnipotence. (Comp. Matthew 9:5-6.) It was precisely this teaching which the people needed. As they had formerly refused to believe his announcements of impending judgment, so now that this had come, they were utterly incredulous in regard to his declarations of future blessing. It seemed to them impossible, and what they needed to be taught was that “what is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Thou knowest.—The prophet sees the natural impossibility, yet perceives that there must be some deeper reason for the question, and therefore replies in these words. It may be, too, that the question thus asked, before its object is suggested, connected itself in his mind with the thought of the literal resurrection of the dead and the difficulties it suggests.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

Ver. 3. Can these bones live?] In the resurrection at the last day he knew they should, for among the Jews that was generally believed; [John 11:24] but whether in this world, and at this time, that was the question. The Jewish doctors boldly, but groundlessly, answer that these dead bones and bodies did then revive, and that many of them did return into the land of Israel, and married wives and begat

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children. But this is as true as that other dotage of theirs, that the dead bodies of Jews, in what country soever buried, do by certain underground passages travel into Judea, and there rest until the general resurrection.

O Lord God, thou knowest.] And he to whom thou art pleased to reveal it. Eπεχω. The Russians in a difficult question use to answer, God and our great duke know all this.

POOLE, " He said; the Lord, who brought Ezekiel hither, asks him what he thought.

Can these bones live? either, is it likely they should? or, is it a future thing that shall be, or possible, that they may live?

Thou knowest: the prophet’s answer refers all to God, to whom all things are possible which argue power in doing, and who knows all he will do in time to come. The prophet’s answer seems to own the possibility, and refers the futurity to the will of God.

PETT, "Verse 3

‘And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord Yahweh, you know.”

Then God questioned Ezekiel as to whether he thought that anything could bring the skeletons to life. The reply would have seemed obvious. But Ezekiel had seen many wonders and was cautious. So he gave a humble and evasive reply. It was solely in the Lord Yahweh’s hands. (His guarded reply helps to demonstrate that he had no belief in a resurrection, otherwise he would have mentioned it).

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PULPIT, "Ezekiel 37:3

Son of man, can these bones live? Whether or not this question was directed, as Plumptre surmises, to meet despairing thoughts which had arisen in the prophet's own mind, it seems reasonable to hold, with Havernick, that the question was addressed to him as representing "ever against God the people, and certainly as to this point the natural and purely human consciousness of the same," to which Israel's restoration appeared as unlikely an occurrence as the reanimation of the withered bones that lay around. The extreme improbability, if not absolute impossibility, of the occurrence, at least to human reason and power, is perhaps pointed at in the designation "Son of man" here given to the prophet. The prophet's answer, O Lord God, thou knowest, is not to be interpreted as proving that to the prophet hitherto the thought of a resurrection had been unfamiliar, if not completely absent, or as giving a direct reply either affirmative or negative to the question proposed to him, but merely as expressing the prophet's sense of the greatness of the wonder suggested to his mind, with perhaps a latent acknowledgment that God alone had the power by which such a wonder could, and therefore alone also the knowledge whether it would, be accomplished (comp. Revelation 7:14).

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

BARNES, "Prophesy - Not in the sense of predicting what was to come to pass, but simply in that of speaking under the inspiration of God. In Eze_37:5, not “I will cause,” but I cause or am causing.

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CLARKE, "Prophesy upon these bones - Declare to your miserable countrymen the gracious designs of the Lord; show them that their state, however deplorable, is not hopeless.

GILL, "Again he said unto me, prophesy upon these bones,.... Or, "over these bones" (t); or, "concerning these bones" (u); foretell that they shall live; tell others of it, and them also: and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord; the word of prophecy concerning you, as the Jews did in Babylon: so unconverted sinners may be preached unto, and their lost and miserable estate in which they are, like dry bones, may be set before them: they may be called upon to attend the external ministry of the word; and they are capable of hearing it with their bodily ears; though it is not profitable to them, for want of faith, yet faith comes hereby; and therefore it is right to attend upon the means, and hear the word.

HENRY 4-10, "The means used for the bringing of these dispersed bones together and these dead and dry bones to life. It must be done by prophecy. Ezekiel is ordered to prophesy upon these bones (Eze_37:4 and again Eze_37:9), to prophesy to the wind. So he prophesied as he was commanded, Eze_37:7, Eze_37:10. [1.] He must preach, and he did so; and the dead bones lived by a power that went along with the word of God which he preached. [2.] He must pray, and he did so; and the dead bones were made to live in answer to prayer; for a spirit of life entered into them. See the efficacy of the word and prayer, and the necessity of both, for the raising of dead souls. God bids his ministers prophesy upon the dry bones. Say unto them, Live; yea, say unto them, Live; and they do as they are commanded, calling to them again and again, O you dry bones! hear the word of the Lord. But we call in vain, still they are dead, still they are very dry; we must therefore be earnest with God in prayer for the working of the Spirit with the word: Come, O breath! and breathe upon them. God's grace can save souls without our preaching, but our preaching cannot save them without God's grace, and that grace must be sought by prayer. Note, Ministers must faithfully and diligently use the means of grace, even with those that there seems little probability of gaining upon. To prophesy upon dry bones seems as great a penance as to water a dry stick; and yet, whether they will hear or forbear, we must discharge our trust, must prophesy as we are commanded,in the name of him who raises the dead and is the fountain of life.

(3.) The wonderful effect of these means. Those that do as they are commanded, as they are commissioned, in the face of the greatest discouragements, need not doubt of success, for God will own and enrich his own appointments. [1.] Ezekiel looked down and prophesied upon the bones in the valley, and they became human bodies. First, That which he had to say to them was that God would infallibly raise them to life: Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, You shall live, Eze_37:5 and again Eze_37:6. And he that speaks the word will thereby do the work; he that says, They shall live, will make 80

them alive: He will clothe them with skin and flesh (Eze_37:6), as he did at first, Job_10:11. He that made us so fearfully and wonderfully, and curiously wrought us, can in like manner new-make us, for his arm is not shortened. Secondly, That which was immediately done for them was that they were moulded anew into shape. We may well suppose it was with great liveliness and vigour that the prophet prophesied, especially when he found what he said begin to take effect. Note, The opening, sealing, and applying of the promises, are the ordinary means of our participation of a new and divine nature. As Ezekiel prophesied in this vision there was a noise, a word of command, from heaven, seconding what he said; or it signified the motion of the angels that were to be employed as the ministers of the divine Providence in the deliverance of the Jews, and we read of the noise of their wings (Eze_1:24) and the sound of their going, 2Sa_5:24. And, behold, a shaking, or commotion, among the bones. Even dead and dry bones begin to move when they are called to hear the word of the Lord. This was fulfilled when, upon Cyrus's proclamation of liberty, those whose spirits God had stirred up began to think of making use of that liberty, and getting ready to be gone. When there was a noise, behold, a shaking; when David heard the sound of the going on the tops of the mulberry-trees then he bestirred himself; then there was a shaking. When Paul heard the voice saying, Why persecutest thou me? behold, a shaking of the dry bones; he trembled and was astonished. But this was not all: The bones came together bone to his bone, under a divine direction; and, though there is in man a multitude of bones, yet of all the bones of those numerous slain not one was missing, not one missed its way, not one missed its place, but, as it were by instinct, each knew and found its fellow. The dispersed bones came together and the displaced bones were knit together, the divine power supplying that to these dry bones which in a living body every joint supplies. Thus shall it be in the resurrection of the dead; the scattered atoms shall be ranged and marshalled in their proper place and order, and every bone come to his bone, by the same wisdom and power by which the bones were first formed in the womb of her that is with child. Thus it was in the return of the Jews; those that were scattered in several parts of the province of Babylon came to their respective families, and all as it were by consent to the general rendezvous, in order to their return. By degrees sinews and fleshcame upon these bones, and the skin covered them, Eze_37:8. This was fulfilled when the captives got their effects about them, and the men of their place helped them with silver, and gold, and whatever they needed for their remove, Ezr_1:4. But still there was no breath in them; they wanted spirit and courage for such a difficult and hazardous enterprise as this was of returning to their own land. [2.] Ezekiel then looked up and prophesied to the wind, or breath, or spirit, and said, Come, O breath! and breathe upon these slain. As good have been still dry bones as dead bodies: but as for God his work is perfect; he is not the God of the dead, but of the living; therefore breathe upon them that they may live. In answer to this request, the breath immediately came into them, Eze_37:10. Note, the spirit of life is from God; he at first in the creation breathed into man the breath of life, and so he will at last in the resurrection. The dispirited despairing captives were wonderfully animated with resolution to break through all the discouragements that lay in the way of their return and applied themselves to it with all imaginable vigour. And then they stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army; not only living men, but effective men, fit for service in the wars and formidable to all that gave them any opposition. Note, With God nothing is impossible. He can out of stones raise up children unto Abraham and out of dead and dry bones levy an exceedingly great army to fight his battles and plead his cause.

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JAMISON, "Prophesy — Proclaim God’s quickening word to them. On account of this innate power of the divine word to effect its end, prophets are said to do that which they prophesy as about to be done (Jer_1:10).

K&D 4-7, "After this introduction there follows in Eze_37:4. the miracle of the raising to life of these very dry bones, accomplished through the medium of the word of God, which the prophet addresses to them, to show to the people that the power to realize itself is inherent in the word of Jehovah proclaimed by Ezekiel; in other words, that Jehovah possesses the power to accomplish whatever He promises to His people. The word in Eze_37:5, “Behold, I bring breath into you, that ye may come to life,” announces in general terms the raising of them to life, whilst the process itself is more minutely described in Eze_37:6. God will put on them (clothe them with) sinews, flesh, and skin, and then put רוח in them. רוח is the animating spirit or breath = רוח היים(Gen_6:17; Gen_7:17). ,קרםἁπ. λεγ. in Syriac incrustare, obducere. When Ezekiel prophesied there arose or followed a sound (ל and the ,(רעש) and then a shaking ,(קbones approached one another, every bone to its own bone. Different explanations have been given of the words ל ק and ל .רעש ק signifies a sound or voice, and רעש a trembling, and earthquake, and also a rumbling or a loud noise (compare Eze_3:12 and Isa_9:4). The relation between the two words as they stand here is certainly not that the sound (ל רעש passes at once into a loud noise, or is continued in that form; whilst (קdenotes the rattling or rustling of bones in motion. The fact that the moving of the bones toward one another is represented by ותקרבו (with Vav consec.), as the sequel to רעש, is decisive against this. Yet we cannot agree with Kliefoth, that by ל ק we are to understand the trumpet-blast, or voice of God, that wakes the dead from their graves, according to those passages of the New Testament which treat of the resurrection, and by רעש the earthquake which opens the graves. This explanation is precluded, not only by the philological difficulty that ל ק without any further definition does not signify either the blast of a trumpet or the voice of God, but also by the circumstance that the ל ק is the result of the prophesying of Ezekiel; and we cannot suppose that God would make His almighty call dependent upon a prophet's prophesying. And even in the case of רעש, the reference to Eze_38:19 does not prove that the word must mean earthquake in this passage also, since Ezekiel uses the word in a different sense in Eze_12:18 and Eze_3:12. We therefore take ל ק in the general sense of a loud noise, and רעש in the sense of shaking (sc., of the bones), which was occasioned by the loud noise, and produced, or was followed by, the movement of the bones to approach one another.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

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Ver. 4. Prophesy upon these bones.] Be thou the interpreter of my will, who by mine all-powerful word do quicken the dead, and call things that are not as if they were. [Romans 4:17]

And say unto them, O ye dry bones.] Together with God’s word many times there goeth forth a power; [Luke 5:17] as when he said, Lazarus, come forth. [John 11:43] So it is in the first resurrection, and so it shall be at the last. {John 5:25; John 5:28-29 {See Trapp on "John 5:25"} {See Trapp on "John 5:28"} {See Trapp on "John 5:29"}

POOLE, " The prophet had spoken often to things that could as little hear as these bones could, yet when they are deaf to a prophet, they will hear the prophet’s God.

Ye dry bones, hear: alas, what, dry bones hear! no, not a syllable of this word.

The word of the Lord; but this they will hear, observe, and obey it; his voice who calls things that are not, and makes them to be gives being by his word.

PETT, "Verses 4-6

‘Again he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, O you dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones, Behold I will cause spirit (or ‘breath’) to enter into you and you will live. And I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put spirit (or ‘breath’) in you, and you will live, and you will know that I am Yahweh.” ’

Ezekiel was then told to prophesy over the bones. God was telling him that this was his mission, to prophesy to the dried out house of Israel in exile. They were like these bones, dry and lifeless. And he had to proclaim to them that God was going to

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do all that was necessary to enable them to again enter the land, and that He would revive them spiritually.

We may well parallel this with Genesis 2 and see in this a new beginning, almost a new creation. But the parallel is not quite as clear as it seems, for different Hebrew words are used for ‘breath’ and the first man was made of dust of the ground.

‘And you will know that I am Yahweh.’ This may have been directed at Ezekiel, but more probably it was directed at the people Through what would happen they would recognise the living power of Yahweh.

PULPIT, "Prophesy upon (or, over) then bones. This instruction—which shows Jehovah regarded the prophet's answer as equivalent to an admission that the revivification of the bones lay within his (Jehovah's) power—was not a mere command to predict, as in Ezekiel 6:2 and Ezekiel 11:4, but an injunction to utter the Divine word through which the miracle (of creation, as it really was) should be performed. "The significance of the command lies in the fact that it taught the prophet that he was himself to be instrumental in the great work of resuscitation. He who had been so often troubled with the sense of impotence and failure, who had heard the people say of him, 'Both he not speak parables?' who had been to them as the lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and nothing more than that, was at last to learn that the word of the Lord,' spoken by his lips, was mighty, and would not return to him void" (Plumptre).

5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life.

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CLARKE, "Behold, I will cause breath - ruach רוח signifies both soul, breath, and wind; and sometimes the Spirit of God. Soul is its proper meaning in this vision, where it refers to the bones: “I will cause the Soul to enter into you.”

GILL, "Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones,.... By the prophet, who was sent to prophesy over them: behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live; and none could do this but the living God, who breathed the breath of life into Adam at first, and he became a living soul; to which there seems to be an allusion here; and when the Lord puts his Spirit into men, or bestows his grace on them, then they shall live, and not till then.

JAMISON, "I ... cause breath to enter into you — So Isa_26:19, containing the same vision, refers primarily to Israel’s restoration. Compare as to God’s renovation of the earth and all its creatures hereafter by His breath, Psa_104:30.

ye shall live — come to life again.

ELLICOTT, " (5) Breath.—The three words,” breath,” “wind,” and “spirit,” are represented in the Hebrew by the same word, and the context must determine which sense is intended. Similarly in Greek there is the same word for the last two of these. (Comp. John 3:5-8.)

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

Ver. 5. Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you,] i.e., Into each number of you that belong to each body. Neither need the resurrection of the dead be held a thing incredible, [Acts 26:8] considering God’s power and truth. The keeping green of Noah’s olive tree in the time of the flood, the blossoming of Aaron’s dry rod, the flesh and sinews coming to these dry bones, and the breath entering into them, what were they all but so many lively emblems of the resurrection?

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POOLE, "My prophet prophesied and spake, but I, saith the Lord, only can and I will surely give life to them. When God had formed Adam’s body, as lifeless as these bones, he created him a living soul, by breathing into his face the breath of life; by a creating power he brings breath into these bones too. The effect shall be sure and speedy, when God brings his power to work it.

PULPIT, "I will cause breath to eater into you; literally, I am causing breath (or, spirit) to enter into you. The real agent, therefore, in the resuscitation of the bones was to be, not the prophet or the word, but Jehovah himself; and that the end aimed at by the Divine activity was "life" shows the breath spoken of (ruach) was not to be the wind, as in Ezekiel 37:9, or the Spirit, but the breath of life, as in Genesis 6:17 and Genesis 7:22 (comp. Genesis 2:7; Psalms 104:30; Isaiah 26:19).

6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

CLARKE, "I will lay sinews upon you - Observe the progress:1. Here are the bones.2. The ligaments, called here sinews, are to be added in order to unite the bones, that the skeleton might be complete.3. The flesh (the whole muscular system, the subjacent and superjacent muscles, including the arterial and venous system) clothes this skeleton.4. The skin (the dermis and epidermis, or cutis and cuticle) envelopes the whole of these muscles or flesh; and now these bodies are in the state that the body of Adam

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was before it received the animal and intellectual principle from God.5. There was no breath in them - they had not yet received their souls.6. The wind, רוח ruach, the soul, came into them. They were endued with animal and

intellectual life; and they arose and evidenced a complete restoration to life, and began to perform its functions, Eze_37:10.

GILL, "And I will lay sinews upon you, and I will bring up flesh upon you,.... That is, before he should cause breath to enter into them; for though it is first mentioned, it is the last done: this is the orderly process; first sinews are laid to join the bones together; then flesh is laid to cover them, and fill up all vacancies, and form muscles to make the bones capable of motion: and cover you with skin; both bones, sinews, and flesh; for this is uppermost of all, and which makes the whole smooth and beautiful. Job expresses his formation in much such language, "thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews", Job_10:11, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; which is repeated for the confirmation of it: and ye shall know that I am the Lord; the Lord God omnipotent, the Lord gracious and merciful, and your Lord and God: so men, when they are called by grace, know the Lord, they did not before; having an experience of his powerful and efficacious grace upon their hearts, they know him to be theirs and own and acknowledge him, and profess him before men.

JAMISON, "ye shall know that I am the Lord — by the actual proof of My divinity which I will give in reviving Israel.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:6 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 ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.

Ver. 6. And cover you with skin.] Superindam; that the flesh may not look ghastly. The word rendered cover is Chaldee, and found only here and Ezekiel 37:8.

And put breath in you, and ye shall live.] As when man was first created. [Genesis 87

2:7] And cannot God as easily remake us of something as at first he made us of nothing?

POOLE, " Sinews tie the bones together.

Flesh fills up the hollownesses, and being full of muscles helps motion.

Skin, as the upper silken garment, covers all with a clear and blushing colour.

Breath lastly must be added. All this God declares he will do, and I suppose these promises are what the prophet is to declare to these bones that they may revive., "

PULPIT, "The process of revivification is now divided into two stages—a preliminary stage which should effect the reconstruction of the external skeleton, by bringing together its different parts and clothing them with sinews, flesh, and skin (comp. Job 10:11); and a finishing stage, which should consist in animating, or "putting breath in" the reconstructed skeleton; corresponding so the two stages into which the process of man's original creation was divided (Genesis 2:7). The result would be that the resurrected and reanimated bones, like newly made man, would know the Lord.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.

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BARNES, "Bone to his bone - i. e., to its proper place in the frame.

GILL, "So I prophesied as I was commanded,.... The prophet was not disobedient to the heavenly vision; he was right to observe the orders and instructions given, whatever were the issue and success of them; that he was to leave with the Lord, and did. So Gospel ministers prophesy or preach according to the commission given them, and leave their work with the Lord: this was the first prophesying; for there is another after mentioned: these two are carefully to be observed and distinguished, different effects following the one and the other: this was a prophesying to the dry bones, upon them, over them, and concerning them; and what is next related was the consequence of it; and as I prophesied, there was a noise; or, "a voice" (w); this, in the literal sense, was the proclamation by Cyrus, giving the Jews leave to return to their own land, Ezr_1:1, at the revival of the interest of Christ, a great voice will be heard from heaven, saying to the witnesses, come up hither, Rev_11:12, and at the descent of Christ to raise his dead first, there will be the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, 1Th_4:16, and, as while the prophet was prophesying, there was not only his voice heard, but the voice of God, perhaps a thunder clap: so in the ministry of the Gospel there is a voice heard, which, at first, is only externally heard; men hear a noise, a voice, but it is a confused one; they do not know what to make of it, and yet it has some effect upon them; it causes a noise in them, an outcry about sin, and hell, and damnation; and yet, at present, no spiritual life or breath is in them: and behold a shaking; of the bones; a rattling among them, as may be conceived must be where there is, as here, a tumbling of dry bones one over another, to get to their proper bone: so in the first effect of the word upon the conscience of a sinner, which works wrath there, there is a shaking and trembling through fear of damnation; which in some issues in real conversion, as in Saul and the jailer, Act_9:6, but in others it goes off again, and comes to nothing, as in Felix, Act_24:25, and the bones came together, bone to his bone: so the Jews scattered up and down in the provinces of Babylon gathered together upon the proclamation of Cyrus, and went up in a body to their own land; as they will do also at the time of their conversion, Hos_1:11, thus, when persons are only under slight convictions, they may gather together, and have their religious meetings and societies, and yet be only a parcel of dry bones, without any spiritual life and breath in them.

JAMISON, "noise — of the bones when coming in mutual collision. Perhaps referring to the decree of Cyrus, or the noise of the Jews’ exultation at their deliverance and return.

bones came together — literally, “ye bones came together”; as in Jer_49:11(Hebrew), “ye widows of thine shall trust in Me.” The second person puts the scene vividly before one’s eyes, for the whole resurrection scene is a prophecy in action to render more palpably to the people the prophecy in word (Eze_37:21).89

COFFMAN, "VERSE 7"So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied there was a noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 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 stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army."

EZEKIEL PROPHESIES AS COMMANDED

"There was no breath in them ..." (Ezekiel 37:8). Like the great miracle in God's creation of Adam (Genesis 2:7), this one also was in two phases; the breathing of the "breath of life" appears as a separate action in both instances.

"Prophesy unto the wind ..." (Ezekiel 37:9). "The Hebrew word [~ruwach] is translated `wind' (KJV), `spirit,' (Revised Standard Version margin), and `breath' (American Standard Version)."[8]

"Come from the four winds, O breath ..." (Ezekiel 37:9). "This expression goes back to an Akkadian idiom, also as `four wings of the earth,' standing also for the `four corners of the earth.'"[9]

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:7 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.

Ver. 7. So I prophesied.] He might have said, Why should I speak to these bones? will it be to any purpose? But God’s commands are not to be disputed, but

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despatched without sciscitation.

And there was a noise.] A rattle, perhaps a thunderclap.

And behold a shaking.] Perhaps an earthquake, as was at Christ’s resurrection. God will one day shake both the heavens and the earth. "The heavens shall pass away with a great noise; the earth also and the works therein shall be burned, and fall with a great crack." [2 Peter 3:10] Then "the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout," &c. [1 Thessalonians 4:16] - such as is that of mariners in a storm, or of soldiers when to join battle with the enemy.

POOLE, " I prophesied; declared or pronounced these promises or gracious purposes of God concerning them.

As I was commanded: whether it was thus or some other way, the prophet was commanded it, and so he did it; he spake to them which could not but be deaf to him, and which could not but hear when God speaks.

As I prophesied; either according to the purport of my prophecy, or rather during the time, or while I was prophesying, or so soon as I prophesied.

A noise; thunder, say some; others, more likely, the noise was the rattling of the bones in their motion; such noise they could not but make, where multitudes of them heaped or laid together disperse, and roll themselves from one to other, till they meet their fellow bones.

A shaking; there was a trembling or commotion among these bones, enough to make this noise, and to manifest a Divine presence and word from God working among them.

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Came together; crept, or with this shaking motion glided, nearer and nearer, till each bone met the bone to which it was to be tied.

PETT, "Verse 7-8

‘So I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied there was a great noise, and behold an earthquake (or ‘shaking’ or ‘rattling’), and the bones came together, bone to his bone, and I beheld and lo, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above. But there was no breath in them.’

Ezekiel did as he was bid and prophesied to the bones. The vision is vivid. There was an earthquake and the bones began to move as the earth moved, and each sought its companion forming a skeleton, and then sinews and flesh came on them, followed by the covering of skin. But they were still lifeless.

The message must have been somewhat discouraging to him. It was saying that although his preaching could lay a foundation ready for life, it would not give life. More would be needed.

PULPIT, "Ezekiel 37:7, Ezekiel 37:8

So I prophesied as I was commanded. The words uttered were without doubt those of Ezekiel 37:4-6. The effect produced is depicted in its various steps. First, there resulted a noise—literally, a voice—which the Revisers take to have been "a thundering;" and Havernick, Keil, Smend, and others, "a sound" in general; but which Ewald, Hengstenberg, and Schroder, with more propriety, regard as having been an audible voice, if not, as Kliefoth supposes, the trumpet-blast or "voice of God," which, according to certain New Testament passages, shall precede the resurrection and awaken the dead (John 5:25, John 5:28; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16); perhaps, as Plumptre suggests, the "counterpart" thereof.

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Next, a shaking, σεισμὸς (LXX.); which the Revisers, following Kliefoth, understand to have been an earthquake, as in 1 Kings 19:11; Amos 1:1; Zechariah 1:1; Zechariah 14:5 (comp. Matthew 27:51), and Ewald explains as "a peal of thunder running through the entire announcement," as in Ezekiel 3:12, Ezekiel 3:13 and Ezekiel 38:19, Ezekiel 38:20; but which is better interpreted by Keil, Smend, and others as a rustling proceeding from a movement among the bones. Thirdly, the bones came together in the body as a whole, and in particular bone to his bone; i.e. each bone to the bone with which it was designed to be united, as e.g. "the upper to the lower part of the arm" (Schroder). Lastly, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above; or, as in the Revised Version, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up and skin covered them above; precisely as Jehovah had announced to the prophet would take place (Ezekiel 38:6). Yet, though the external framework of the bodies was finished, there was no breath in them—ruach having still the same import as in Ezekiel 38:5. With this the preliminary stage in the reanimating process terminated.

8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

GILL, "And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them,.... And they began to look like men, in the shape of men, and were a body of them, as the Jews did when gathered together: and the skin covered them above; and so looked comely and beautiful, as in the proper form of men; as did the Jews enriched and protected by Cyrus: and this may be an image of such persons so far wrought upon under the word as to look like Christians; to have the form of godliness, and appear outwardly righteous before men, submitting to ordinances, and performing the duties of religion; and yet no principle of spiritual life in them; but, like Adam's body, of the earth, earthly, and breathless, before the breath of life was breathed into it; so here, but there was no breath in them; no spirit in the Jews

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to return to their land, though they had liberty, till the Lord stirred up their spirits, Ezr_1:5, all this, in a spiritual sense, shows how far persons may go under temporary convictions by the word, and yet not be living Christians.

JAMISON, "So far, they were only cohering in order as unsightly skeletons. The next step, that of covering them successively with sinews, skin, and flesh, gives them beauty; but still “no breath” of life in them. This may imply that Israel hereafter, as at the restoration from Babylon was the case in part, shall return to Judea unconverted at first (Zec_13:8, Zec_13:9). Spiritually: a man may assume all the semblances of spiritual life, yet have none, and so be dead before God.

K&D 8-11, "The coming together of the bones was followed by their being clothed with sinews, flesh, and skin; but there was not yet any breath in them (Eze_37:8). To give them this the prophet is to prophesy again, and that to the breath, that it come from the four winds or quarters of the world and breathe into these slain (Eze_37:9). Then, when he prophesied, the breath came into them, so that they received life, and stood upright upon their feet. In Eze_37:9 and Eze_37:10 רוח is rendered by some “wind,” by others “spirit;” but neither of these is in conformity with what precedes it. רוח does not mean anything else than the breath of life, which has indeed a substratum in the wind, perceptible to the senses, but it not identical with it. The wind itself brings no life into dead bodies. If, therefore, the dead bodies become living, receive life through the blowing of the רוח into them, what enters into them by the blowing cannot be a symbol of the breath of life, but must be the breath of life itself - namely, that divine breath of life which pervades all nature, giving and sustaining the life of all creatures (cf. Psa_104:29-30). The expression פחי בהרוגים points back to Gen_2:7. The representation of the bringing of the dead bones to life in two acts may also be explained from the fact that it is based upon the history of the creation of man in Gen 2, as Theodoret

(Note: “For as the body of our forefather Adam was first moulded, and then the soul was thus breathed into it; so here also both combined in fitting harmony.” -Theodoret.)has observed, and serves plainly to depict the creative revivification here, like the first creation there, as a work of the almighty God. For a correct understanding of the vision, it is also necessary to observe that in Eze_37:9 the dead bones, clothed with sinews, flesh, and skin, are called הרוגים, slain, killed, and not merely dead. It is apparent at once from this that our vision is not intended to symbolize the resurrection of all the dead, but simply the raising up of the nation of Israel, which has been slain. This is borne out by the explanation of the vision which God gives to the prophet in Eze_37:1-14, and directs him to repeat to the people. The dead bones are the “whole house of Israel” that has been given up to death; in other words, Judah and Ephraim. “These bones” in Eze_37:11 are the same as in Eze_37:3 and Eze_37:5, and not the bodies brought to life in Eze_37:10; though Hitzig maintains that they are the latter, and then draws the erroneous conclusion that Eze_37:11-14 do not interpret the vision of the first ten verses, but that the bones in the valley are simply explained in these verses as signifying the dead of Israel. It is true that the further explanation in Eze_37:12. of what

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is described in Eze_37:5-10 as happening to the dead bones is not given in the form of an exposition of the separate details of that occurrence, but is summed up in the announcement that God will open their graves, bring them out of their graves, and transport them to their own land. But it does not follow from this that the announcement is merely an application of the vision to the restoration of Israel to new life, and therefore that something different is represented from what is announced in Eze_37:12-14. Such a view is at variance with the words, “these bones are the whole house of Israel.” Even if these words are not to be taken so literally as that we are to understand that the prophet was shown in the vision of the bones of the slain and deceased Israelites, but simply mean: these dead bones represent the house of Israel, depict the nation of Israel in its state of death, - they express so much in the clearest terms concerning the relation in which the explanation in Eze_37:12-14 stands to the visionary occurrence in Eze_37:4-10, namely, that God has shown to Ezekiel in the vision what He commands him to announce concerning Israel in Eze_37:12-14; in other words, that the bringing of the dead bones to life shown to him in the vision was intended to place visibly before him the raising of the whole nation of Israel to new life out of the death into which it had fallen. This is obvious enough from the words: these bones are the whole house of Israel. כל־בית ישראל points forward to the reunion of the tribes of Israel that are severed into two nations, as foretold in Eze_37:15. It is they who speak in Eze_37:11. The subject to אמרים is neither the bones nor the dead of Israel (Hitzig), but the כל־בית ישראל already named, which is also addressed in Eze_37:12. All Israel says: our bones are dried, i.e., our vital force is gone. The bones are the seat of the vital force, as in Psa_32:3; and יבש, to dry up, applied to the marrow, or vital sap of the bones, is substantially the same as בלה in the psalm (l.c.). Our hope has perished (cf. Eze_19:5). תקוה is here the hope of rising into a nation once more. . נגזרנו לנו: literally, we are cut off for ourselves, sc. from the sphere of the living (cf. Lam_3:54; Isa_53:8), equivalent to “it is all over with us.”

ELLICOTT, " (8) No breath in them.—The restoration of the dry bones to life is described as taking place in two stages, with evident reference to the record of the creation of man in Genesis 2:7. In the first, they are restored to perfect form, but yet without life; in the second, they receive breath and become “living creatures,” as in Genesis 1:20-21; Genesis 1:24; Genesis 2:7, in all which the same expression is used.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but [there was] no breath in them.

Ver. 8. Lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them.] The body is the soul’s sheath, [Daniel 7:15] the soul’s suit. The upper garment is the skin, the inner the

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flesh; the inmost of all, bones and sinews.

POOLE, " The noise he heard would certainly make any one look, and consider what it was.

I beheld; looked carefully, and heedfully observed.

Came up upon them; came gradually, spreading itself, as what grows wider and longer.

Above; uppermost the skin covered them. So here were men in skin, with flesh, sinews, bones; but, like Adam before inspired with the breath of life, the spirit of life was yet wanting.

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’”

BARNES, "The wind - Rather, as in the margin and as in Eze_37:5. The bones are 96

the bones of the “slain,” because the scene was one which was likely to occur in the time of the Chaldaean invasion, and the fact of violent death reminded the prophet of the miserable condition of the people.

CLARKE, "Prophesy unto the wind - ruach. Address thyself to the soul, and רוחcommand it to enter into these well-organized bodies, that they may live.

Come from the four winds - Souls, come frown all parts where ye are scattered; and reanimate these bodies from; which ye have been so long separated. The four winds signify all parts - in every direction. Literally it is, “Souls, come from the four souls;” “Breath, come from the four breaths;” or, “Wind, come from the four winds.” But here רוח ruach has both of its most general meanings, wind or breath, and soul.

GILL, "Then said he unto me, prophesy unto the wind,.... Before he had been prophesying to the bones, and over them; and something was done, but not to purpose, breath being wanting; wherefore he is bid to prophesy a second time, and that not to bones, but to the "wind", afterwards rendered "breath"; and may allude to the soul or breath of man reentering the body, as at a resurrection, which causes it to live: it signifies the "spirit" (x), for the same word is used for the wind, for breath, and for the spirit; and in the mystical sense may be applied to the Spirit of God: and if ever ministers prophesy or preach to purpose, it must be with a view to the Spirit of God, both to assist them in their work, and to make their ministrations effectual; without which, how many formal professors soever may be made, not one dead sinner will be quickened. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it, "concerning the Spirit": and to discourse concerning the person, operations, and grace of the Spirit, is one part of the Gospel ministry, and a means of the conversion of sinners. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind; ministers must not only preach, but they must pray for the Spirit to accompany the word with his power, and make it the savour of life unto life: thus saith the Lord, come from the four winds, O breath; or "spirit": because the Jews were to be brought from each of the parts where they were, as they will be at their conversion in the latter day; and so the Lord has a people in each of the parts of the world, that lie dead in sin, and must be quickened by the Spirit: and breathe upon these slain, that they may live; though not slain with the sword, yet being as dead men, who are slain by death, are so called: so in a spiritual sense men are slain by sin, and are slain by the words of the Lord's mouth; killed with the law, the killing letter; and it is only the Spirit of God that can give them life; and the breath or spirit here is applied to the Spirit of the Messiah by the ancient Jews (y).

JAMISON, "wind — rather, the spirit of life or life-breath (Margin). For it is distinct 97

from “the four winds” from which it is summoned.from the four winds — implying that Israel is to be gathered from the four quarters of the earth (Isa_43:5, Isa_43:6; Jer_31:8), even as they were “scattered into all the winds” (Eze_5:10; Eze_12:14; Eze_17:21; compare Rev_7:1, Rev_7:4).

COKE, "Ezekiel 37:9. Prophesy unto the wind, &c.— It is very remarkable, that our Saviour not only appeals to Moses and the prophets, in attestation of his own divine mission and character; but where he treats of the resurrection and a general judgment, so evidently alludes to the words of the prophets, which were read in their synagogues every sabbath-day, that his audience could not but perceive it, and make suitable reflections on it. Compare Luke 21:27 and John 5:27 with Daniel 7:13-14 and John 5:28 with Daniel 7:2. So here the prophet is bid to prophesy unto the wind, or spirit; and accordingly, at the voice of the prophet, here called Son of man, as a type of another and greater person so called, the dry bones came together, and at length the breath or spirit came into them. Conformably with which, our Saviour tells us, that the hour is coming, in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice, &c. See John 5:28-29. Matthew 24:31 and Peters.

ELLICOTT, "(9) Upon these slain.—The word is used designedly. The bones which Ezekiel had seen were those not merely of dead, but of slain men; and in this was their likeness to Israel: as desolated, and their nationality for the time destroyed by their enemies.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:9 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.

Ver. 9. And say to the wind.] To the reasonable soul, that "breath of God"; [Genesis 2:7] divinae particula aurae, as one calleth it. In this better part of man he is not absolutely perfect till after the resurrection; for though the soul do in heaven enjoy an estate free from sin, pain, or misery, yet two of the faculties or operations of the soul, viz., that of vegetation and of sense, are without exercise till it be reunited to the body. Here we have a representation at least of the resurrection, which the Hebrews call Gilgul, the revolution.

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Come from the four winds, O breath,] i.e., From God that gave you, return again at his command to your own numerical bodies wherever they lie. And to this text our Saviour seemeth to allude, Matthew 24:31.

POOLE, " Then said he; the Lord God.

Unto me; to Ezekiel, viewing, and no doubt wondering at the sight.

Prophesy; declare to that what my will is.

Unto the wind, Heb. spirit; and it might be so rendered, but our version hath it wind, while the French hath it spirit, i.e. the soul, whose emblem here is wind; which, as it did gently blow upon these lifeless creatures, they received, each inspired with its own soul and spirit.

Come from the four winds; gather yourselves from all quarters of the earth under heaven, unite to your own bodies, inspire them.once more.

Slain by the sword of an enemy long since, some of them these seventy years.

May live; revive and rise.

PETT, "Verse 9

‘Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the spirit (wind, breath), prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit (wind), Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Come from the four winds,

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O spirit, and breathe on these dead men that they may live.” ’

But then he was to call on the spirit/breath/wind calling it to breathe on the dead that they might live. There is a strong play on the different meanings of ruach, which can mean spirit, breath or wind. The winds are seen as providing lifegiving breath so that the corpses might live, but we must remember that Yahweh comes on the wings of the wind (Ezekiel 1:4; 2 Samuel 22:11; Psalms 18:10; Psalms 104:3). And the wind is elsewhere closely connected with the activity of the Spirit of God (2 Samuel 5:24; Acts 2:2), and thus it is clear that what happens here is the result of the work of God’s Spirit. It is like a new creation (Psalms 33:6).

So Ezekiel learned the important lesson that we must all learn, that His work manward must be paralleled by his looking Godward, and that without the latter the former will be useless.

PULPIT, "The finishing stage began by the prophet receiving a command to prophesy unto the wind (better, breath, or spirit), and to summon it from the four "breaths," or "winds" (in this case the preferable rendering), that it might breathe upon the slain. "Four winds" are mentioned, as in Ezekiel 40:20, to indicate the four quarters of heaven (comp. Ezekiel 5:10, Ezekiel 5:12; Ezekiel 12:14; Ezekiel 17:21), and perhaps also to suggest the immense quantity of vitalizing force demanded by the multitude of the dead (Smend), "the fullness and force of the Spirit's operations" (Hengstenberg), or the notion that the Spirit, in resuscitating Israel, would make use of all the varied forces that were then working in the world (Plumptre). The designation of the dead as slain reveals that the resurrection intended was not that of men in general, but of the nation of Israel.

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood

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up on their feet—a vast army.

GILL, "So I prophesied as he commanded me,.... The second time he prophesied to the wind, as he had done to the bones, as he was ordered: and the issue of it was, and breath came into them; or, "the spirit"; a spirit of courage in the Jews, to go up to their own land; the Spirit of life from Christ, which will enter into the witnesses slain, and revive them; and into the Jews in the latter day, and convert them; and which enters into dead sinners, and quickens them; and this he does while ministers are preaching the Gospel to them; see Rev_11:11, and then lived; as men do spiritually, when the Spirit of God has produced a principle of spiritual life in them; they live by faith on Christ, in union and fellowship with him; they live in newness of life, and a holy life and conversation; and shall live and reign with Christ upon the first resurrection, and for evermore: and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army; as the Jews did when they returned from the Babylonish captivity; they were many, and in a posture of defence; and as they will be in the latter day, when converted, Hos_1:10, and as the number of the saints will be upon the first resurrection, Rev_7:9, so when men are quickened by the Spirit of God, "they stand upon their feet"; they stand in the grace of God, and on the foundation Christ; they stand by faith in him, and in the doctrine of faith, and in the house of God; and they stand firm against all their enemies: they are an "army"; they are in a military state; fighting against sin, Satan, and the world; and though few in comparison of others, yet considered by themselves are very numerous; and as they will appear when the Jews will be converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; and especially when they will be all gathered together at the coming of Christ.

JAMISON, "Such honor God gives to the divine word, even in the mouth of a man. How much more when in the mouth of the Son of God! (Joh_5:25-29). Though this chapter does not directly prove the resurrection of the dead, it does so indirectly; for it takes for granted the future fact as one recognized by believing Jews, and so made the image of their national restoration (so Isa_25:8; Isa_26:19; Dan_12:2; Hos_6:2; Hos_13:14; compare Note, see on Eze_37:12).

COKE, "Verse 10-11Ezekiel 37:10-11. An exceeding great army— This vision itself, in the first place, affords a very lively image of the resurrection; next, they who are raised to life again, are said to be an exceeding great army; the Hebrew is still more emphatical,

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and even labours for expression: מאד מאד meod meod, A very very great army; like that of all nations and kindreds and people, which no man could number, Revelation 7:9. It is yet farther observable, that these dry bones, so miraculously raised to life, are called, Ezekiel 37:11. The whole house of Israel; an expression to which the return from the captivity of Babylon can never wholly answer; for it is most certain, that the whole house of Israel did not return: no, nor yet the whole house of Judah, but only a small remnant of them. If some more glorious return of that people, and their conversion to the Christian faith, is still to be expected, (Romans 26-11:25 .) yet it may be questioned whether even this will fully answer the intent of the prophesy: for, to have a right notion of this matter, it may behove us to consider carefully the complaint of the captive Jews, to which this prophetic message is applied as a remedy. The complaint we have in these words; Behold, say they, our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: We are cut off for our parts; that is to say, as to ourselves. Hebrew לנו lanu. Certainly there must be something meant by this expression; and if there be, let any one judge whether a deliverance of their sons and grandsons from the Babylonish captivity (for none can say that they were promised it before the end of seventy years, of which the far greater part was still behind,) could any way answer the complaint here made, of a lost hope, or a despair, as to themselves; much less a promise of a deliverance to their late posterity, at the distance of some hundreds or thousands of years, though we conceive it to be never so great and glorious. Take the words that follow, then, in their obvious sense, and as a promise of some personal happiness to those who faithfully adhere to God in all their straits and difficulties, and it affords a consolation highly worthy of the divine omnipotence and greatness to reach out to his creatures; and though we suppose them before acquainted with the doctrine of the resurrection, yet there is something in this plain and circumstantial account of it, delivered with such high authority, which could not but renew upon their minds a pleasing hope and expectation of it, sufficient to silence all complaints.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:10 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.

Ver. 10. And the breath came into them.] De foras, from without: as at first they were infused by God, so they are still. This Augustine sometime and for some length of time doubted about, and was therefore censured boldly, but unadvisedly, by one Vincentius Victor, as Chemnitius relateth it.

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And they lived, and stood up upon their feet.] As life will show itself by sense and motion. Live things will be stirring. Arida etiam peccatorum cords Deus gratis vitali vegetabit.

POOLE, " I prophesied: see Ezekiel 37:7.

The breath, Heb. the spirit; the spirit of life, or the soul, Genesis 2:7.

Came; entered, took up its abode. They lived; presently discovered that they did live.

Stood up; rose with strength, able to support themselves.

Army; a power, so the Hebrew, or army of strong, courageous, and well-ordered soldiers. The phrase in the Hebrew is very full; a power, or great host, very, very great. Thus they rise, that the prophet and we might know how safe they would be in themselves, and how terrible to their enemies.

PETT, "Verse 10

‘So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet a huge army.’

Ezekiel fulfilled God’s commands. He prophesied to the spirit, and life came into that great army of men and they lived. Note the emphasis on the many, the ‘huge army’. It would be important in the interpretation to those who heard.

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PULPIT, "An exceeding great army. This harmonizes with the feature in the vision which describes the bones as those of slain men, while also it may be viewed as foreshadowing the future destiny of Israel. "The bones of the slain on the field of battle, having been brought together, clothed with flesh, and a new life breathed into them, now they stand up, not as 'a mixed multitude,' but as 'an exceeding great army' prepared to take their part in the wars of Jehovah under new and happier conditions" (Plumptre). (On the phrase, "to stand upon the feet," comp. Ezekiel 2:1; Zechariah 14:12; Revelation 11:11.)

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’

BARNES, "We are cut off for our parts - That is, “as for us, we are cut off.” The people had fallen into despair.

CLARKE, "These bones are the whole house of Israel - That is, their state is represented by these bones; and their restoration to their own land is represented by the revivification of these bones.

GILL, "Then he said unto me, son of man,.... Here follow the explication and application of the above vision: these bones are the whole house of Israel; an emblem of them, of their state and condition in the Babylonish captivity, and of them in their present state; and of the whole Israel of God, while in a state of unregeneracy: this phrase takes in the ten tribes,

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as well as the two tribes of Benjamin and Judah, which returned from Babylon; and shows that respect is had to something more than that restoration barely: behold, they say, our bones are dried; the house of Israel say we are like dry bones indeed; we have no spirit, nor strength, nor courage, nor life in us: and our hope is lost; of being delivered from the present captivity; or of the Messiah's coming; or of ever enjoying their own land, and of the promises of those things made unto them: we are cut off for our parts; from the land of Israel, and have no hope of possessing it again, whatever others have; indeed they are cut off from the olive tree, and are cut down like a tree, both as to their civil and church state. The Targum is, "and we are perished;'' it is all over with us; we are lost and undone; all the expressions show the desperate and despairing condition they were in.

HENRY 11-14, "The application of this vision to the present calamitous condition of the Jews in captivity: These bones are the whole house of Israel, both the ten tribes and the two. See in this what they are and what they shall be.

1. The depth of despair to which they are now reduced, Eze_37:11. They all give up themselves for lost and gone; they say, “Our bones are dried, our strength is exhausted, our spirits are gone, our hope is all lost; every thing we looked for succour and relief from fails us, and we are cut off for our parts. Let who will cherish some hope, we see no ground for any.” Note, When troubles continue long, hopes have been often frustrated, and all creature-confidences fail, it is not strange if the spirits sink; and nothing but an active faith in the power, promise, and providence of God will keep them from quite dying away. 2. The height of prosperity to which, notwithstanding this, they shall be advanced: “therefore, because things have come thus to the last extremity, prophesy to them, and tell them, now is God's time to appear for them. Jehovah-jireh - in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen, Eze_37:12-14. Tell them,” (1.) “That they shall be brought out of the land of their enemies, where they are as it were buried alive: I will open your graves.” Those shall be restored, not only whose bones are scattered at the grave's mouth (Psa_141:7), but who are buried in the grave; though the power of the enemy is like the bars of the pit, which one would think it impossible to break through, strong as death and cruel as the grave, yet it shall be conquered. God can bring his people up from the depths of the earth, Psa_71:20. (2.) “That they shall be brought into their own land, where they shall live in prosperity: I will bring you into the land of Israel (Eze_37:12) and place you there (Eze_37:14), and will put my spirit in you and then you shall live.” Note, Then God puts spirit in us to good purpose, and so that we shall indeed live, when he puts his Spirit in us. And (lastly) in all this God will be glorified: You shall know that I am the Lord (Eze_37:13), and that I have spoken it and performed it, Eze_37:14. Note, God's quickening the dead redounds more than any thing to his honour, and to the honour of his word, which he has magnified above all his name, and will magnify more and more by the punctual accomplishment of every tittle of it.

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JAMISON, "Our bones are dried — (Psa_141:7), explained by “our hope is lost” (Isa_49:14); our national state is as hopeless of resuscitation, as marrowless bones are of reanimation.

cut off for our parts — that is, so far as we are concerned. There is nothing in us to give hope, like a withered branch “cut off” from a tree, or a limb from the body.

COFFMAN, "Verse 11

"Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it, saith Jehovah."

GOD'S EXPLANATION OF THE VISION

Despite the powerful words here regarding "coming up out of graves," we must seek the meaning here as something that would result in people entering literal Canaan (Ezekiel 37:12,14). Long afterward Jesus Christ used almost the same words to speak of the general resurrection (John 5:27-29). However, almost in the same breath, and only a moment earlier, our Lord used nearly the same words to speak of the conversion of sinners through obedience to his word. As to the meaning here, Keil is correct in his declaration that, "All of this is nothing more than a pledge of the complete restoration of Israel"[10] as a viable people in Palestine.

The physical restoration that followed, however, was partial and incomplete due to the continued sins of Israel. True, a handful returned, and after many delays built a temple; but God's presence never entered it; they never regained their independence but remained subject to heathen powers, with by far the greater part of the nation

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remaining among the Gentiles where God had scattered them.

The true and complete restoration of Israel was scheduled for accomplishment in the First Advent of Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of the Messiah. God sent John the Baptist to announce the forthcoming kingdom of God and to identify the Messiah, which he effectively did; but by far the greater part of Israel rejected the message of the Great Herald, who was murdered; nor did they acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Messiah, but rejected him, clamored for his crucifixion, and professed that they had "No king but Caesar!"

In that circumstance, the Christ pronounced the final sentence upon the doomed and hardened race of Israel, a judgment executed upon them by Vespasian and Titus in 70 A.D.

But God had not been defeated. That "righteous remnant," prophesied by Isaiah especially, rallied in love to the standard of the Resurrected Saviour, forming the nucleus of the New Israel of God, which under the leadership of the apostles spread the kingdom of God all over the world. All of the marvelous promises of the restoration and glorification of Israel were fulfilled in that New Israel and are still being fulfilled.

The explanation of this vision (Ezekiel 37:11) "Makes it self-evident and without need for interpretation."[11]

"Graves ..." (Ezekiel 37:13). The appearance of this word tempts us to see some kind of a literal resurrection here, but as Dummelow said, "Still the reference is not to the graves of Israelites actually dead, but to the heathen world as the grave of God's scattered and discouraged people."[12]

SIMEON, "SOULS QUICKENED BY THE GOSPEL

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Ezekiel 37:11-13. 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.

THE writings both of the Old and New Testament abound with allegories; but the interpretation of them is generally given by the writers themselves. Many of our Lord’s discourses were of this nature: they are admirably calculated to convey instruction. We have a very remarkable allegory in this chapter. The prophet sees in a vision a valley of dry bones; he is interrogated with respect to the possibility of their living; he is commanded to bid them live in the name of the Lord. On issuing the proclamation he perceived a noise among the bones; the bones shook, and carne, each to its kindred bone; the sinews, flesh, and skin, then came upon them: lastly, in answer to his prayer, life was communicated to them. This allegory is then interpreted by God himself. It describes the state of the Jews in Babylon, and their unexpected deliverance from it. But it may be properly considered as relating to the deliverance of God’s people from the sorer bondage of sin.

We shall take occasion from the text to consider,

I. The state of unregenerate men—

The Jews in Babylon were as unlikely to return to a state of political existence, as dry bones are to the functions of animal life. They themselves despaired of such an event (ver. 11). Their condition fitly represents that of the unregenerate—

The unregenerate are dead, even as dry bones—

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[In this light they are represented by the Apostle [Note: Ephesians 2:1.];. They are destitute of all inclination or ability to serve God [Note: Philippians 2:13.]: they have not a sufficiency even for the smallest good [Note: 2 Corinthians 3:5.].”]

They not unfrequently despair of ever obtaining deliverance—

[Despondency is far more common than is generally supposed. Many imagine, like Job, that they are given over by God [Note: Compare Lamentations 3:18 and Job 19:10.]: hence they express themselves like the desponding Jews [Note: Jeremiah 2:25.]—.]

They are not, however, beyond the reach of mercy—

This will appear by considering,

II. The means by which God delivers them from it—

God can work by the meanest and most contemptible means—

[By the sound of rams’ horns he overthrew Jericho: by the stroke of Elijah’s mantle he parted the waters of Jordan: so, by the preaching of his Gospel he quickens the dead.]

He commands his power and grace to be proclaimed—

[He is an almighty, all-sufficient God. He promises pardon to all who seek it in his appointed way. He offers his Spirit to renew all who call upon him. He assures the

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believing soul that it shall never perish [Note: Isaiah 41:10.]. Thus he encourages the weakest and the vilest to look unto him [Note: Isaiah 45:22.].]

In this way he accomplishes the deliverance of his people—

[A gradual change is made in the most obdurate sinners. There is a “great army,” of whom it may be said as of the prodigal [Note: Luke 15:24.]—: they go forth immediately to “the promised land.”]

Nor does any one remain ignorant of his benefactor—

This leads us to consider,

III. The effects which this deliverance produces—

While dead in sin we imagine we must quicken ourselves—

[We know not the depth of misery into which we are fallen. We little think how great a change must take place upon us; nor are we aware how entirely destitute we are of strength.]

But when once we are quickened, we see whence our deliverance came—

[We feel by experience the truth of Jeremiah’s assertion [Note: Jeremiah 13:23.]—. We see that the Apostles themselves were only God’s instruments [Note: 1 Corinthians 3:6-7.]. Then we know God to be the Lord, the source of every good. We learn also to commit all our ways to him.]

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Infer—

1. How valuable are the ordinances of religion!

[God makes use of his ordinances for the most glorious purposes. He works principally in and by them [Note: Romans 10:17.]. They who neglect them are generally left in darkness; but sincere worshippers reap the greatest benefit from them. Let us never then grow weary of attending them: let us use them with a dependence on God for his blessing.]

2. What care has God taken to encourage desponding sinners!

[No state can be worse than this represented in the text [Note: ver. 2. “very dry.”]; yet God has shewn how he could overrule the heart of Cyrus to proclaim liberty, and of his own people to accept it. He displayed also his mighty power in re-establishing his people; what then can he not do for those who are dead in sin? Let none say, “My hope is lost, I am cut off.” Let it he remembered that the power and grace of Christ are sufficient [Note: John 11:25.]. Let every one hear in faith the Apostle’s exhortation [Note: Ephesians 5:14.]—.]

ELLICOTT, "(11) Are the whole house of Israel.—This Divine interpretation of the vision leaves no doubt of its meaning. Whatever other sense might possibly be attached to its language, there can be no uncertainty as to that which the Spirit intended. The last clause of the verse, “cut off for our parts,” is obscure in the English, but in the original is simply for us—i.e., “as for us, we are cut off.”

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:11 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.

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Ver. 11. These bones are.] That is, they signify and betoken. And here we have the accommodation or application of the preceding parable or type; where also we may soon see that this chapter is of the same subject and method with the former, only that which is there plainly is here more elegantly discoursed, viz., the deplorable condition of the Israelites in Babylon, together with their wonderful deliverance and restitution in this and the three next verses.

Our bones are dried.] We lie in Babylon as in a sepulchre; we are buried alive, as it were; we are "free among the dead," free of that company.

We are cut off for our parts,] q.d., Let them hope as hope can: we have hanged up all our hopes now that the city and temple are destroyed. Thus carnal confidence, as it riseth up into a corky, frothy hope, when it seeth sufficient help, so it sitteth down in a faithless, sullen discontent and despair, when it can see no second causes.

POOLE, " The whole house; the hieroglyphic or emblem of the house of Israel.

They say; think, discourse, and conclude.

Our bones are dried; their state as hopeless, as far from recovery, as dried bones scattered abroad, and, undistinguished, heaped up, are from life.

Our hope is lost; the hope, not that false prophets gave us, but that the true prophets proposed to us, is utterly lost, and we are out of all expectation of a recovery.

PETT, "Verses 11-14

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‘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 is lost. We are cut off for us (or ‘our thread of life has been cut off’).’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, thus says the Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people, and I will bring you into the land of Israel, and you will know that I am Yahweh when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O my people. And I will put my spirit within you, and you will live, and I will place you in your own land, and you will know that I Yahweh have spoken it and have performed it,’ says Yahweh.” ’

God explains the parable. The dry bones were the whole house of Israel, wherever they were. And they were in a state of despondency and hopelessness. They felt that they were like totally dried up skeletons. They had lost hope. They saw themselves as cut off from their land and cut off from God. They had lost any vision of life. They were in process of giving up. The destruction of Jerusalem had dashed their hopes completely.

But through Ezekiel God spoke to them and told them that they need not think like that, for it was as though He would raise their dead bodies from the grave. He would restore their spirits, and lift them out of the graves that they had dug for themselves in their minds, and give them life, and He would bring them back into their own land.

The context of these words and their connection with the prophesying of Ezekiel confirms that we are to see this picture as applying to the post-exilic people of God and not directly to some future age. It is they who would be restored and returned to their land, and would enjoy new life in the Spirit. And it was guaranteed by the word of Yahweh, and He would therefore certainly do it. They had His word for it. We must not underestimate the work of the Spirit in the people of God after the exile.

The picture can of course be applied spiritually to His people in every period. It is a picture of rebirth, of new life in the Spirit of God. But its essential message was to the people of Ezekiel’s day, and it reminds us that we do the words of Ezekiel an

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injustice when we do not recognise their application to his own day. It was, however, something that would in essence be repeated in the future, for God’s supposed people have often become like dry bones and spiritually dead, and have needed to be revived again.

‘We are cut off for us’ can be rendered ‘our thread of life has been cut off.’ The alternative rendering results from using the same Hebrew consonants but dividing them differently. (In ancient scripts there was no word division and almost no vowels).

The Uniting of the Nation and the Coming King (Ezekiel 37:15-28).

In this passage Ezekiel is shown that Judah and Joseph (Ephraim/Israel) will be made one and that David will arise to be their shepherd. This must be seen as confirming that Israelites will return from many lands, not only from Babylon, although not necessarily in large numbers, or else there would be no necessity for any mention of this. Those of Joseph who had lived in Jerusalem/Judah previously would probably already have been united. (However, it could be that strong feelings existed between different sections which were known to Ezekiel).

Israel had originally split into two in the days of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. That too was because of idolatry, and resulted in idolatry (1 Kings 11:30-39; 1 Kings 12:1-20; 1 Kings 12:28-31). Now this split was to be remedied.

The idea and emphasis is on the unity of God’s people. There is to be no distinction or separation, they are all to be one in the covenant. We can compare how this was Jesus’ emphasis for His people as well, that they might be one (John 17:20-23), and the emphasis of Paul that we might be one in Christ (Galatians 3:28). God’s constant purpose is oneness between His people.

PULPIT, "Ezekiel 37:11-14

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contain, according to most commentators, the Divine interpretation of the vision, Kliefoth alone contending that they furnish, not so much an exposition of the vision—which, he thinks, must be explained independently, and which he regards as teaching the future resurrection of God's people—as an application to Israel's ease of the doctrine contained in the vision.

Ezekiel 37:11

These bones are the whole house of Israel. On the principle that "God is his own best interpreter," it should not be difficult to see that, whatever foreshadowings of the final resurrection of the just may be contained in the vision, its primary intention was to depict the political and national restoration of Israel (Ephraim and Judah) whose condition at the time the field of withered bones appropriately represented. That Hitzig errs in supposing the "bones" alluded to in this verse symbolized the portions of Ephraim and Judah then dead, instead of the portions still living (in exile), who considered themselves as practically dead, is apparent from the words that follow. Behold, they say. The complaint was manifestly taken from the popular sayings current among the people of the exile. Broken up, dispersed, expatriated, and despairing, the members of what had once been "the whole house of Israel" felt there was no hope more of recovering national life and unity. The cheerless character of the outlook they expressed by saying, Our bones (not the bones of the dead, but of the living) are dried—meaning, "The vital force of our nation is gone" (the bones being regarded in Scripture as the seat of the vital force comp. Psalms 32:3)—our hope is lost—our hope, i.e; of ever again returning to our own land or regaining national existence—and we are out off for our parts; literally, we are cut off for ourselves; which Gesenius explains to mean, "We are lost," taking לנו as a dativus pleonastteus ; Hitzig, "We are reduced to ourselves;" Delitzsch and Keil, "We are cut off from the land of the living," i.e. it is all over with us; Hengstenberg, "We are cut off—a sad fact for us;" Revised Version, "We are clean cut off;" any one of which renders the force of the words (scrap. Lamentations 3:54).

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12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.

CLARKE, "I will open your graves - Here is a pointed allusion to the general resurrection; a doctrine properly credited and understood by the Jews, and to which our Lord refers, Joh_5:25, Joh_5:28, Joh_5:29 : “The hour is coming when they that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and come forth.”

And cause you to come up out of your graves - I am determined that ye shall be restored; so that were ye even in your graves, as mankind at the general resurrection, yet my all-powerful voice shall call you forth.

GILL, "Therefore prophesy, and say unto them,.... For their comfort, in order to revive their hope, and encourage their faith, in these distressed circumstances: thus saith the Lord, behold, O my people: they were his people still, and he had a covenant interest in them, and they in him, though in such a low estate; and which was the ground of his care of them, and concern for them, and or doing all the good things to them after mentioned; all proceeded from his covenant, and the grace of it, and their relation to him: I will open your graves, and cause you to come out of your graves; the cities and prisons in Chaldea and other places; where they were confined and held captives, and out of which they could no more deliver themselves than a dead man of himself can rise up out of his grave: this is both an emblem of the resurrection of the dead at the last day (z), when they shall come forth out of their graves at the voice of Christ, some to the resurrection of life, and others to the resurrection of damnation; and of dead sinners, raised out of the graves of sin by the power and efficacy of the grace of God; see Joh_5:25, and bring you into the land of Israel; to dwelt in it, and abide there, and be no more dispossessed of it; as they will not, any more, when once settled in it, upon their conversion in the latter day.

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JAMISON, "my people — in antithesis to “for our parts” (Eze_37:11). The hope that is utterly gone, if looking at themselves, is sure for them in God, because He regards them as His people. Their covenant relation to God ensures His not letting death permanently reign over them. Christ makes the same principle the ground on which the literal resurrection rests. God had said, “I am the God of Abraham,” etc.; God, by taking the patriarchs as His, undertook to do for them all that Omnipotence can perform: He, being the ever living God, is necessarily the God of, not dead, but living persons, that is, of those whose bodies His covenant love binds Him to raise again. He can - and because He can - He will - He must [Fairbairn]. He calls them “My people” when receiving them into favor; but “thy people,” in addressing His servant, as if He would put them away from Him (Eze_13:17; Eze_33:2; Exo_32:7).

out of your graves — out of your politically dead state, primarily in Babylon, finally hereafter in all lands (compare Eze_6:8; Hos_13:14). The Jews regarded the lands of their captivity and dispersion as their “graves”; their restoration was to be as “life from the dead” (Rom_11:15). Before, the bones were in the open plain (Eze_37:1, Eze_37:2); now, in the graves, that is, some of the Jews were in the graves of actual captivity, others at large but dispersed. Both alike were nationally dead.

K&D 12-14, "To the people speaking thus, Ezekiel is to announce that the Lord will open their graves, bring them out of them, put His breath of life into them, and lead them into their own land. If we observe the relation in which Eze_37:12 and Eze_37:13stand to Eze_37:14, namely, that the two halves of the 14th verse are parallel to the two Eze_37:12 and Eze_37:13, the clause 'וידאתם כי אני in Eze_37:14 to the similar clause in Eze_37:13, there can be no doubt that the contents of Eze_37:14 also correspond to those of Eze_37:12 - that is to say, that the words, “I put my breath (Spirit) into you, that ye may live, and place you in your own land” (bring you to rest therein), affirm essentially the same as the words, “I bring you out of your graves, and lead you into the land of Israel;” with this simple difference, that the bringing out of the graves is explained and rendered more emphatic by the more definite idea of causing them to live through the breath or Spirit of God put into them, and the הביא by הניח, the leading into the land by the transporting and bringing them to rest therein. Consequently we are not to understand by נתתי רוחי בכם either a divine act differing from the raising of the dead to life, or the communication of the Holy Spirit as distinguished from the imparting of the breath of life. רוחי, the Spirit of Jehovah, is identical with the רוח, which comes, according to Eze_37:9 and Eze_37:10, into the bones of the dead when clothed with sinews, flesh, and skin, i.e., is breathed into them. This spirit or breath of life is the creative principle both of the physical and of the ethical or spiritual life. Consequently there are not three things announced in these verses, but only two: (1) The raising to life from a state of death, by bringing out of the graves, and communicating the divine Spirit of life; (2) the leading back to their own land to rest quietly therein. When, therefore, Kliefoth explains these verses as signifying that for the consolation of Israel, which is mourning hopelessly in its existing state of death, “God directs the prophet to say - (1) That at some future time it will experience a resurrection in the literal sense, that its graves will be opened, and that all its dead, those deceased with those still alive, will be raised up out of their graves; (2) that God will place them in their own land; and (3) that

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when He has so placed them in their land, He will put His Spirit within them that they may live: in the first point the idea of the future resurrection, both of those deceased and of those still living, is interpolated into the text; and in the third point, placing them in their land before they are brought to life by the Spirit of God, would be at variance with the text, according to which the giving of the Spirit precedes the removal to their own land. The repetition of עמי in Eze_37:12 and Eze_37:13 is also worthy of notice: you who are my people, which bases the comforting promise upon the fact that Israel is the people of Jehovah.

If, therefore, our vision does not set forth the resurrection of the dead in general, but simply the raising to life of the nation of Israel which is given up to death, it is only right that, in order still further to establish this view, we should briefly examine the other explanations that have been given. - The Fathers and most of the orthodox commentators, both of ancient and modern times, have found in Eze_37:1-10 a locus classicus for the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and that quite correctly. But their views differ widely as to the strict meaning and design of the vision itself; inasmuch as some regard the vision as a direct and immediate prophecy of the general resurrection of the dead at the last day, whilst others take the raising of the dead to life shown to the prophet in the vision to be merely a figure or type of the waking up to new life of the Israel which is now dead in its captivity. The first view is mentioned by Jerome; but in later times it has been more especially defended by Calov, and last of all most decidedly by Kliefoth. Yet the supporters of this view acknowledge that Eze_37:11-14 predict the raising to life of the nation of Israel. The question arises, therefore, how this prediction is to be brought into harmony with such an explanation of the vision. The persons noticed by Jerome, who supported the view that in Eze_37:4-10 it is the general resurrection that is spoken of, sought to remove the difficulties to which this explanation is exposed, by taking the words, “these bones are the whole house of Israel,” as referring to the resurrection of the saints, and connecting them with the first resurrection in Rev_20:5, and by interpreting the leading of Israel back to their own land as equivalent to the inheriting of the earth mentioned in Mat_5:5. Calov, on the other hand, gives the following explanation of the relation in which Eze_37:11-14 stand to Eze_37:1-10 : “in this striking vision there was shown by the Lord to the prophet the resurrection of the dead; but the occasion, the cause, and the scope of this vision were the resurrection of the Israelitish people, not so much into its earlier political form, as for the restoration of the ecclesiastical hierarchy and the establishment of the worship of God, both of which were indeed restored in the time of Zerubbabel, but were first brought to perfection at the coming of Jesus Christ.” He also assumes that the raising of the dead is represented in the vision, “because God would have this representation exhibited for a figure and confirmation of the restitution of the people.” And lastly, according to Kliefoth, Eze_37:11-14 do not furnish a literal exposition of the vision, but simply make an application of it to the bringing of Israel to life. - We cannot regard either of these views as correct, because neither of them does justice to the words of the text. The idea of the Fathers, that Eze_37:11-14 treat of the resurrection of the saints (believers), cannot be reconciled either with the words or with the context of our prophecy, and has evidently originated in perplexity. And the assumption of Calov and Kliefoth, that Eze_37:11-14 contain simply an application of the general resurrection of the dead exhibited in Eze_37:1-10 to the resurrection of Israel, by no means exhausts the meaning of the words, “these bones are the whole house of Israel,” as we have already observed in our remarks on Eze_37:11. Moreover, in the vision itself there are certain features to be found which do not apply to the general resurrection of the dead. In proof of this, we will not lay any stress upon the 118

circumstance that Ezekiel sees the resurrection of the dead within certain limits; that it is only the dead men's bones lying about in one particular valley, and not the dead of the whole earth, though a very great army, that he sees come to life again; but, on the other hand, we must press the fact that in Eze_37:9 those who are to be raised to life are called הרוגים, a word which does not signify the dead of all kinds, but simply those who have been slain, or have perished by the sword, by famine, or by other violent deaths, and which indisputably proves that Ezekiel was not shown the resurrection of all the dead, but simply the raising to life of Israel, which had been swept away by a violent death. Kliefoth would account for this restriction from the purpose for which the vision was shown to the prophet. Because the design of the vision was to comfort Israel concerning the wretchedness of its existing condition, and that wretchedness consisted for the most part in the fact that the greater portion of Israel had perished by sword, famine, and pestilence, he was shown the resurrection of the dead generally and universally, as it would take place not in the case of the Israelites alone, but in that of all the dead, though here confined within the limits of one particular field of dead; and stress is laid upon the circumstance that the dead which Ezekiel saw raised to life instar omnium, were such as had met with a violent death. This explanation would be admissible, if only it had been indicated or expressed in any way whatever, that the bones of the dead which Ezekiel saw lying about in the בקעה represented all the dead of the whole earth. But we find no such indication; and because in the whole vision there is not a single feature contained which would warrant any such generalization of the field of the dead which Ezekiel saw, we are constrained to affirm that the dead men's bones seen by Ezekiel in the valley represent the whole house of Israel alone, and not the deceased and slain of all mankind; and that the vision does not set forth the resurrection of all the dead, but only the raising to life of the nation of Israel which had been given up to death.

Consequently we can only regard the figurative view of the vision as the correct one, though this also has been adopted in very different ways. When Jerome says that Ezekiel “is prophesying of the restoration of Israel through the parable of the resurrection,” and in order to defend himself from the charge of denying the dogma of the resurrection of the dead, adds that “the similitude of a resurrection would never have been employed to exhibit the restoration of the Israelitish people, if that resurrection had been a delusion, and it had not been believed that it would really take place; because no one confirms uncertain things by means of things which have no existence;” - Hävernick very justly replies, that the resurrection of the dead is not to be so absolutely regarded as a dogma already completed and defined, or as one universally known and having its roots in the national belief; though Hävernick is wrong in affirming in support of this that the despair of the people described in Eze_37:11 plainly shows that so general a belief cannot possibly be presupposed. For we find just the same despair at times when faith in the resurrection of the dead was a universally accepted dogma. The principal error connected with this view is the assumption that the vision was merely a parable formed by Ezekiel in accordance with the dogma of the resurrection of the dead. If, on the contrary, the vision was a spiritual intuition produced by God in the soul of the prophet, it might set forth the resurrection of the dead, even if the belief in this dogma had no existence as yet in the consciousness of the people, or at all events was not yet a living faith; and God might have shown to the prophet the raising of Israel to life under this figure, for the purpose of awakening this belief in Israel.(Note: No conclusive evidence can be adduced that the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was not only known to Ezekiel, but was regarded by the people as

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indisputably sure, as both Hengstenberg (Christology, vol. III p. 51, transl.) and Pareau (Comment. de immortal. p. 109) assume. Such passages as Isa_25:8 and Isa_26:19, even if Ezekiel referred to them, merely prove that the belief or hope of the resurrection of the dead could not be altogether unknown to the believers of Israel, because Isaiah had already declared it. But the obvious announcement of this dogma in Dan_12:2 belongs to a later period than our vision; and even Daniel does not speak of it as a belief that prevailed throughout the nation, but simply communicates it as a consolation offered by the angel of the Lord in anticipation of the times of severe calamity awaiting the people of God.)In that case, however, the vision was not merely a parable, but a symbolical representation of a real fact, which was to serve as a pledge to the nation of its restoration to life. Theodoret comes much nearer to the truth when he gives the following as his explanation of the vision: that “on account of the unbelief of the Jews in exile, who were despairing of their restoration, the almighty God makes known His might; and the resurrection of the dead bodies, which was much more difficult than their restoration, is shown to the prophet, in order that all the nation may be taught thereby that everything is easy to His will;”

(Note: His words are these: ἐπειδή γὰρ δι ἥν ἐνόσουν ἀπιστίαν τἀς χρηστοτέραςἀπηγόρευσαν ἐλπίδας οἱ ἐκ τῆς Ιουδαίας αἰχμάλωται γενόμενοι, τὴν οἰκείαν αὐτοῖς ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ἐπιδείκνυσι δύναμιν, καὶ τὴν πολλῷ τῆς ἀνακλήσεως ἐκείνηςδυσκολωτέραν τῶν νεκρῶν σωμάτων ἀνάστασιν ἐπιδείκνυσι τῷ προφήτῃ καὶ δι ἐκείνου πάντα διδάσκει τὸν λαὸν, ὡς πάντα αὐτῷ ῥᾴδια βουλομένῳ.)and when, accordingly, he calls what occurs in the vision “a type not of the calling to life of the Jews only, but also of the resurrection of all men.” The only defect in this is, that Theodoret regards the dead bones which are brought to life too much as a figurative representation of any dead whatever, and thereby does justice neither to the words, “these bones are the whole house of Israel,” which he paraphrases by τύπος τοῦ Ισραὴλταῦτα, nor to the designation applied to them as הרוגים, though it may fairly be pleaded as a valid excuse so far as הרוגים is concerned, that the force of this word has been completely neutralized in the Septuagint, upon which he was commenting, by the rendering τοὺς νεκροὺς τούτους. - Hävernick has interpreted the vision in a much more abstract manner, and evaporated it into the general idea of a symbolizing of the creative, life-giving power of God, which can raise even the bones of the dead to life again. His exposition is the following: “There is no express prediction of the resurrection in these words, whether of a general resurrection or of the particular resurrection of Israel; but this is only though of here, inasmuch as it rests upon the creative activity of God, to which even such a conquest of death as this is possible.”

(Note: The view expressed by Hofmann (Schriftbeweis, II 2, pp. 507ff.) is a kindred one, namely, that it is not the future resurrection of the dead, or the resurrection of the deceased Israelites, which is indicated in the vision, and that it does not even set forth to view the unconditioned power of God over death, or an idea which is intended as a pledge of the resurrection of the dead; but that by the revelation made manifest to the prophet in the state of ecstasy, the completeness of that state of death out of which Israel is to be restored is exhibited, and thus the truth is set before his eyes that the word of prophecy has the inherent power to ensure its own fulfilment, even when Israel is in a condition which bears precisely the same resemblance to a nation as the state of death to a human being.)

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The calling to life of the thoroughly dried dead bones shown to the prophet in the vision, is a figure or visible representation of that which the Lord announces to him in Eze_37:11-14, namely, that He will bring Israel out of its graves, give it life with His breath, and bring it into its own land; and consequently a figure of the raising of Israel to life from its existing state of death. The opening of the graves is also a figure; for those whom the Lord will bring out of their braves are they who say, “Our bones are dried,” etc. (Eze_37:11), and therefore not those who are deceased, nor even the spiritually dead, but those who have lost all hope of life. We are not, however, to understand by this merely mors civilis and vita civilis, as Grotius has done. For Israel was destroyed, not only politically as a nation, but spiritually as a church of the Lord, through the destruction of its two kingdoms and its dispersion among the heathen; and in a very large number of its members it had also been given up to the power of physical death and sunk into the grave. Even then, if we keep out of sight those who were deceased, Israel, as the people of God was slain (הרוג), without any hope of coming to life again, or a resurrection to new life. But the Lord now shows the prophet this resurrection under the figure of the raising to life of the very dry bones that lie scattered all around. This is fulfilled through the restoration of Israel as the people of Jehovah, to which the leading of the people back into the land of Israel essentially belongs. The way was opened and prepared for this fulfilment by the return of a portion of the people from the Babylonian captivity under Zerubbabel and Ezra, which was brought to pass by the Lord, by the rebuilding of the cities of Judah and the temple which had been destroyed, and by the restoration of political order. But all this was nothing more than a pledge of the future and complete restoration of Israel. For although the Lord still raised up prophets for those who had returned and furthered the building of His house, His glory did not enter the newly erected temple, and the people never attained to independence again, - that is to say, not to permanent independence, - but continued in subjection to the imperial power of the heathen. And even if, according to Ezra, very many more of the exiles may have returned to their native land, by whom, for example, Galilee was repopulated and brought into cultivation again, the greater portion of the nation remained dispersed among the heathen. The true restoration of Israel as the people of the Lord commenced with the founding of the new kingdom of God, the “kingdom of heaven,” through the appearing of Christ upon the earth. But inasmuch as the Jewish nation as such, or in its entirety, did not acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Messiah foretold by the prophets and sent by God, but rejected its Saviour, there burst afresh upon Jerusalem and the Jewish nation the judgment of dispersion among the heathen; whereas the kingdom of God founded by Christ spread over the earth, through the entrance of believers from among the Gentiles. This judgment upon the Jewish people, which is hardened in unbelief, still continues, and will continue until the time when the full number of the Gentiles has entered into the kingdom of God, and Israel as a people shall also be converted to Christ, acknowledge the crucified One as its Saviour, and bow the knee before Him (Rom_11:25-26). Then will “all Israel” be raised up out of its graves, the graves of its political and spiritual death, and brought back into its own land, which will extend as far as the Israel of God inhabits the earth. Then also will the hour come in which all the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and come forth out of their graves to the resurrection (Dan_12:2; Joh_5:25-29); when the Lord shall appear in His glory, and descend from heaven with the trump of God (1Th_4:16), to call all the dead to life, and through the judgment upon all the nations to perfect His kingdom in glory, and bring the righteous into the Canaan of the new earth, into the heavenly Jerusalem, to the imperishable life of everlasting blessedness.

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All these several factors in the restoration of Israel, which has been given up to the death of exile on account of its sins, though far removed from one another, so far as the time of their occurrence is concerned, are grouped together as one in the vision of the coming to life of the dead bones of the whole house of Israel. The two features which are kept distinct in the visionary description - namely, (1) the coming together of the dry bones, and their being clothed with sinews, flesh, and skin; and (2) the bringing to life of the bones, which have now the form of corpses, through the divine breath of life - are not to be distinguished in the manner proposed by Hengstenberg, namely, that the first may be taken as referring to the restoration of the civil condition - the external restitutio in integrum; the second, to the giving of new life through the outpouring of the Spirit of God. - Even according to our view, the vision contains a prophecy of the resurrection of the dead, only not in this sense, that the doctrine of the general resurrection of the dead is the premiss, or the design, or the direct meaning of the vision; but that the figurative meaning constitutes the foreground, and the full, literal meaning of the words the background of the prophetic vision, and that the fulfilment advances from the figurative to the literal meaning, - the raising up of the people of Israel out of the civil and spiritual death of exile being completed in the raising up of the dead out of their graves to everlasting life at the last day.

COKE, "Verses 12-14Ezekiel 37:12-14. Behold, O my people— That is, you who are truly such: for this most gracious appellation seems evidently taken from the words of the covenant so often mentioned; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. There would be no difficulty in this passage, if we only take the land of Israel, Ezekiel 37:12 and your own land, Ezekiel 37:14 as meant of that land of promise, or that better country, which the faithful all along believed in, and hoped for, Hebrews 11:16 that land, in short, which the true Israel of God should inherit for ever, Isaiah 60:20-21. Such a prospect as this was exactly fitted to obviate their complaints, which I think no other sense of the words can do fully. I might add, that as the doctrines of the Messiah and the future state are constantly united in the views and declarations of the prophets, so this plain description of a resurrection is followed by as plain a prophesy of the Messiah in the latter part of the chapter; who, by the well-known appellation of David, from whom he was to descend, was to be the one shepherd, king, and prince, over Judah and Ephraim, or the converted Jews and Gentiles. See Ezekiel 37:24-25.

ELLICOTT, "(12) Open your graves.—In Ezekiel 37:2 it is said that the bones were “in the open valley,” literally, upon the face of the valley. This was a necessity of the vision, in order that they might be seen; now the people, whom the bones

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represented, are spoken of as in graves, since this was the normal and proper place for the dead.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:12 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.

Ver. 12. Behold, O my people.] God owneth them still, though they had little deserved it. "Shall men’s unbelief make the faith of God without effect?" [Romans 3:3] Tumulos desperationis aperit; he openeth the graves of desperation, and lets in a marvellous light. So the Lord did for his poor Church by this blessed Reformation begun by Luther, whose book, De Captivitate Babylonica, did abundance of good. As for that wrought here in England, a foreigner (a) saith of it, that it is such as the ages past had despaired about, the present worthily admireth, and future ages shall stand amazed at. O beatos qui Deum ducem e spirituali Babylonia eos educentem secuti sunt!

POOLE, " Prophesy; tell them their mistake, and revive their hope by a new promise and declaration of my purposes of mercy towards them.

Say unto them; these poor desponding, dejected Israelites.

Behold; consider what my prophet assures you he hath seen, dry bones miraculously revived, and standing up in power as a mighty host, so shall you.

I will open your graves; though your captivity be as death, your persons and confinements close as the grave, yet I will open those graves. I will lift you out, lend you a hand to bring you out with life and strength. And I will be your guide, that you may know the way; be your support, that you may be able to go; and your guard and defence against dangers of the way, that you may certainly come into your own land.

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PULPIT, "Ezekiel 37:12-14

I will open your graves. That this is not exact interpretation of the foregoing symbol may be argued from the fact that in the vision no mention is made of graves; yet the discrepancy to which it is supposed to point is more apparent than real. If the prophet was to see the bones, it was requisite that these should be above ground rather than beneath. On the other hand, when one speaks of a grave, it is not needful to always think of an underground tomb. To all intents and purposes a person is in his grave when, life being extinct, his body has returned to the dust. So, the opening of graves promised in Scripture is not so much, or always, the cleaving asunder of material sepulchers, as the bringing back to life of those whose bodies have returned to the dust. Hence the opening of Israel's graves could only signify the reawakening of the politically and religiously dead people to national and spiritual life. This was the first step in the restoration of the future held up before the minds of the despairing people. The second, indicated by the clause, and allah put my Spirit in you, pointed, as in Ezekiel 36:26, Ezekiel 36:27, to their future endowment with higher moral and spiritual life than they had previously possessed, and not merely, as in Ezekiel 36:5, Ezekiel 36:6, to their political and national resuscitation (Smend). The last step, the re-establishment of the reconstructed nation in Palestine, was guaranteed by the word, I will place you in your own land. The circumstance that this is twice repeated (Ezekiel 36:12, Ezekiel 36:14) shows that whatever view be entertained of the ultimate occupation of Canaan by Israel, this was the goal towards which the vision looked. That it received partial, limited, and temporary fulfillment of a literal kind in the restoration under Zerubbabel and Ezra, is undeniable; that it will ever obtain historical realization of a permanent sort is doubtful; that it will eventually find its highest significance when God's spiritual Israel, the Church of Christ, takes possession of the heavenly Canaan, is one of the clearest and surest announcements of Scripture.

NOTE.—On the above nine verses (6-14) Plumptre writes, "We can scarcely fail to find, in our Lord's words in John 5:1-47; something like an echo of Ezekiel's teaching. There also, though the truth of the general resurrection is declared more clearly, the primary thought is that of a spiritual resurrection. Further, we may note that the complement of Ezekiel's message is found in the language of Daniel 12:2. Taking the two together, we find both reproduced in the teaching of John 5:1-47."

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(manuscript notes).

13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.

CLARKE, "When I have opened your graves - When I shall have done for you what was beyond your hope, and deemed impossible, then shall ye know that I am Jehovah.

GILL, "And ye shall know that I am the Lord,.... See Gill on Eze_37:6, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves; which is doing that for them which none but the omnipotent God could do; and they seeing his hand and power, his grace and mercy in it, will know, own, and acknowledge him.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:13 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,

Ver. 13. And ye shall know that I am the Lord.] Ye shall experiment it. The Reformed Churches have done so abundantly. Gloria Deo in excelsis.

When I have opened your graves.] This is spoken over and over for their confirmation who were apt to think the news was too good to be true.

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POOLE, "When your restitution to your own land, and your prosperity in your land, when your growth to strength and power, shall be so miraculously effected, then you shall acknowledge and publish the glory of my power, faithfulness, goodness, and wisdom.

14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

CLARKE, "And shall put my Spirit - ruach רוח ruchi. Here רוחי is taken for the Holy Ghost. They were living souls, animal and intellectual beings, when they had received their souls, as mentioned above: but they could only become spiritual, holy, and obedient creatures by the Spirit of God actuating their spirits. See the notes on Eze_36:25-27 (note).

Three degrees or processes have been remarked in this mystic vision.When the prophet was commanded to prophesy - to foretell, on the authority of God, that there should be a restoration to their own land: -1. There was a noise, which was followed by a general shaking, during which the bones became arranged and united.2. The flesh and skin came upon them, so that the dry bones were no longer seen.3. The spirit or soul came into them, and they stood up perfectly vivified.Perhaps these might be illustrated by three periods of time, which marked the regeneration of the Jewish polity.1. The publication of the edict of Cyrus in behalf of the Jews, which caused a general

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shaking or stir among the people, so that the several families began to approach each other. and prepare for their return to Judea, Ezr_1:2, Ezr_1:3. But though partially restored, they were obliged to discontinue the rebuilding of their temple.2. The edict published by Darius in the second year of his reign, Ezr_4:23, Ezr_4:24, which removed the impediments thrown in the way of the Jews. Ezr_6:6, Ezr_6:7, etc.3. The mission of Nehemiah, with orders from Artaxerxes to complete the building of the temple and the city, Neh_2:7, etc. Then the Jews became a great army, and found themselves in sufficient force to defend themselves and city against all their enemies.As to the spiritual uses of this curious vision, I must leave them to preachers. I have given the literal meaning, and what the different parts refer to; and if they found their observations on these, they may profit their hearers.

GILL, "And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live,.... Not only a spirit of courage to go up into their own land, and live a civil and comfortable life there; but the Spirit of God, as a spirit of grace and supplication, of truth and holiness, of faith and adoption; and as a spirit of life, having produced a principle of life in them, and so should live spiritually and soberly, righteously and godly; see Eze_36:27, and I shall place you in your own land; settle them there in peace and quietness, in safety and security and in enjoyment of all mercies and privileges, temporal and spiritual: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord; that all this was a promise of his, foretold by him, notified to them by his prophets, and now fully accomplished exactly; which they would observe with wonder and thankfulness, and give him the glory of it.

ELLICOTT, " (14) Put my spirit in you.—Here, as throughout this series of prophecies, the moral resurrection of the people and their restoration to their own land are intimately associated together. The former was at once the necessary condition of the latter, and would also be its consequence in a still higher development. Compare a similar association of the spiritual with the literal resurrection in John 5:21-29.

Ezekiel 37:15-28 constitute another prophecy, which probably was given very soon after the former, since there is a close connection between the two. In the former, under the figure of the revival of the dry bones, God had set forth His power to accomplish the promise He made of the spiritual resurrection of Israel; in the latter.

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He adds to this the specific declaration of what had been before only implied, that the two long-severed nations of Israel shall be re-united and prosperous under the rule of the future David, while He Himself will dwell among them, and they shall be obedient to Him. These promises prepare the way for the prophecy of the great and final attack of the enemies of the Church (Ezekiel 38, 39) and their overthrow by the power of God. The promise of this prophecy is first set forth by a symbolic action (Ezekiel 37:15-17), which is then to be explained to the people (Ezekiel 37:18-20), as in the case of the vision (Ezekiel 37:11), and then the promises of blessing follow.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:14 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.

Ver. 14. And shall put my Spirit in you.] Even my "spirit of adoption," that soul of the soul: this was more than all the rest. Thrice happy are they that are thus spirited; they shall live, and live comfortably.

POOLE, " My spirit: see Ezekiel 11:19 36:27.

Ye shall live, joyful in, thankful for, and contented with the blessings I give.

I shall place you; quietly and in rest settle you in your own habitations, and in your ancient possessions.

I the Lord have spoken it: this shall demonstrate the truth of my promises. the fullness and punctualness of my performances.

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One Nation Under One King

15 The word of the Lord came to me:

GILL, "The word of the Lord came unto me again,.... Immediately or quickly after he had the above vision of the dry bones, and the explanation of it:

K&D 15-28, "Reunion of Israel as One Nation under the Future King DavidThis word of God directs the prophet to represent by a sign the reunion of the tribes of Israel, which have been divided into two kingdoms (Eze_37:15-17), and to explain this sign to the people (Eze_37:18-21), and predict its sanctification and blessedness under the reign of the future David (Eze_37:22-28). What is new in this word of God is the express prediction embodied in a symbolical action, of the reunion of the divided tribes of Israel into one single people of God, which has been already hinted at in the promise of the raising to life of “the whole house of Israel” (Eze_37:11). This brief indication is here plainly expressed and more fully developed.

Eze_37:15-28Eze_37:15. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze_37:16. And thou, son of man, take to thyself a piece of wood, and write upon it: Of Judah, and the sons of Israel, his associates; and take another piece of wood, and write upon it: Of Joseph, the wood of Ephraim, and the whole house of Israel, his associates; Eze_37:17. And put them together, one to the other, into one piece of wood to thee, that they may be united in thy hand. Eze_37:18. And when the sons of thy people say to thee, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by this? Eze_37:19. Say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will take the wood of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his associates, which I put thereon, with the wood of Judah, and will make them into one stick, that they may be one in my hand. Eze_37:20. And the pieces of wood upon which thou hast written shall be in thy hand before their eyes. Eze_37:21.And say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will take the sons of Israel out of the nations among whom they walk, and will gather them from round about, and lead them into their land. Eze_37:22. I will make them into one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all; and it shall not become two nations any more, and they shall not henceforth be divided into two kingdoms any more; Eze_37:23. And shall not defile themselves by their idols and their abominations, and by all their transgressions; but I will help them from all their dwelling-places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so that they shall be my people, and I will be their God. Eze_37:24. And my servant David will be king over

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them, and be a shepherd for them all; and they will walk in my rights, and keep my statutes and do them. Eze_37:25. And they will dwell in the land which I gave to my servant Jacob, in which their fathers dwelt; there will they dwell, and their children's children for ever; and my servant David will be a prince to them for ever. Eze_37:26.And I make a covenant of peace with them for ever, an everlasting covenant shall be with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and put my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever. Eze_37:27. And my dwelling will be over them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Eze_37:28. And the nation shall know that I am Jehovah, who sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever.The symbolical action commanded in Eze_37:16 and Eze_37:17, which the prophet no doubt performed in all its external reality (cf. Eze_37:19 and Eze_37:20), is easily understood, and expresses the thing to be represented in the the clearest manner. The writing of the names of the tribes composing the two kingdoms recalls to mind the similar act on the part of Moses (Num_17:1-13 :17ff.). But the act itself is a different one

here, and neither the passage referred to nor Eze_21:15 furnishes any proof that עץsignifies a staff or rod. Ezekiel would undoubtedly have used מטה for a staff. Nor have we even to think of flat boards, but simply of pieces of wood upon which a few words could be written, and which could be held in one hand. The ל before the names to be written upon each piece of wood is the sign of the genitive, indicating to whom it belongs, as in the case of the heading to David's psalms (לדוד). This is evident from the fact that in אץ אפרים the construct state is used instead. The name is to indicate that the piece of wood belongs to Judah or Ephraim, and represents it. The command to Ezekiel to write upon one piece of wood, not only Judah, but “the sons of Israel, his associates,” arose from the circumstance that the kingdom of Judah included, in addition to the tribe of Judah, the greater portion of Benjamin and Simeon, the tribe of Levi and those pious Israelites who emigrated at different times from the kingdom of the ten tribes into that of Judah, who either were or became associates of Judah (2Ch_11:12., 2Ch_15:9; 2Ch_30:11, 2Ch_30:18; 2Ch_31:1). In the writing upon the second piece of wood, אץ אפרים is an explanatory apposition to סף But the .כתב and an accusative governed by ,ליcommand is not to be understood as signifying that Ezekiel was to write the words עץאפרים upon the piece of wood; all that he was to write was, “Joseph and the whole house of Israel, his associates.” The name of Joseph is chosen, in all probability, not as the more honourable name, as Hävernick supposes, but because the house of Joseph, consisting of the two powerful tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, formed the trunk of the kingdom of the ten tribes (Kliefoth). The “whole house of Israel, his associates,” are the rest of the tribes belonging to that kingdom. The two pieces of wood, with these inscriptions upon them, Ezekiel is to put together, and hold in his hand bound together in one. מה־אלה what these (two pieces of wood) are to thee, is equivalent to, what ,לthou meanest to indicate by them. For the rest, compare Eze_24:19. In the word of God explaining the action (Eze_37:19), the wood of Joseph is not the piece of wood with Joseph's name written upon it, but the kingdom represented by this piece of wood which was in Ephraim's hand, inasmuch as the hegemony was with the tribe of Ephraim. Instead of the wood, therefore, the tribes (not staffs) of Israel, i.e., the Israelites who constituted these tribes, are mentioned as his associates. God will put these upon the wood of Joseph (עליו), i.e., will join them together, and then place them with the wood

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of Judah, i.e., the kingdom of Judah, and unite them into one wood (or nation). את־עץ , the construction of which has been misunderstood by Hitzig, is neither in apposition to עליו, nor governed by נתתי: “and will put them thereupon, upon the wood of Judah” (Hitzig and Kliefoth), or, “I add them to it, (namely) with the wood of Judah” (De Wette); but it is dependent upon קח , “I take the wood of Joseph...and the tribes of Israel, his associates, which I put thereon, along with the wood of Judah, and make them into one wood.” The construction is rendered obscure simply by the fact that the relative clause, “which I put thereon,” is attached to the principal clause 'אני קח וגו by Vav consec. In בידי, “they shall be one in my hand,” there is probably an antithesis to ביד those who have come into Ephraim's hand, the tribes severed by Ephraim from ,אפריםthe kingdom of God, will God once more bring together with Judah, and hold in His hand as an undivided nation. - In Eze_37:20 the description of the sign is completed by the additional statement, that the pieces of wood on which the prophet has written are to be in his hand before their eyes, and consequently that the prophet is to perform the act in such a way that his countrymen may see it; from which it follows that he performed it in its outward reality. The fulfilment of the instructions is not specially mentioned, as being self-evident; but in Eze_37:21-28 the further explanation of the symbolical action is given at once; and the interpretation goes beyond the symbol, inasmuch as it not only describes the manner in which God will effect the union of the divided tribes, but also what He will do for the preservation of the unity of the reunited people, and for the promotion of their blessedness. This explanation is arranged in two strophes through the repetition of the concluding thought: “they will be my people,” etc., in Eze_37:23 and Eze_37:27. Each of these strophes contains a twofold promise.

The first (Eze_37:21-23) promises (a) the gathering of the Israelites out of their dispersion, their restoration to their own land, and their union as one nation under the rule of David (Eze_37:21, Eze_37:22); (b) their purification from all sins, and sanctification as the true people of the Lord (Eze_37:23). The second strophe (Eze_37:24-27) promises (a) their undisturbed eternal abode in the land, under David their prince (Eze_37:25); (b) the blessedness conferred upon them through the conclusion of an everlasting covenant of peace (Eze_37:26 and Eze_37:27). This second promise, therefore, constitutes the completion of the first, securing to the nation of Israel its restoration and sanctification for all time. The whole promise, however, is merely a repetition of that contained in Ezekiel 34:11-31 and Eze_36:22-30. - The three factors -the gathering out of the nations, restoration to the land of Israel, and reunion as one people - form the first act of divine grace. The union of the Israelites, when brought back to their land, is accomplished by God giving them in David a king who will so rule the reunited people that they will not be divided any more into two peoples and two kingdoms. The Chetib יהיה is not to be altered into the plural יהיו, as in the Keri; but י גis to be supplied in thought, from the preceding clause, as the subject to the verb. The division of the nation into two kingdoms had its roots, no doubt, in the ancient jealousy existing between the two tribes Ephraim and Judah; but it was primarily brought to pass through the falling away of Solomon from the Lord. Consequently it could only be completely and for ever terminated through the righteous government of the second David, and the purification of the people from their sins. This is the way in which Eze_36:23 is attached to Eze_36:22. For Eze_36:23 compare Eze_14:11 and Eze_36:25. Different interpretations have been given of the words, “I help them from all their dwelling-places, in which they have sinned.” They recall to mind Eze_36:29, “I help

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them from all their uncleannesses.” As שע ה מן signifies, in that case, “to preserve therefrom,” so in the present instance the thought can only be, “God will preserve them from all the dwelling-places in which they have sinned.” Hengstenberg is of opinion that the redemption from the dwelling-places does not take place locally, but spiritually, through the cleansing away of all traces of sin, first from the hearts, and then, in consequence, from all around. In this way is the land changed, through the power of the Lord, into another land, from a sinful to a holy one; just as before it had been changed from a holy to a sinful one through the guilt of the people. But if this were the only thought which the words contained, Ezekiel would certainly have placed the וטהרתיתם א before 'שעתי וה As the words read, the deliverance of the people from their .וגוsinful dwelling-places is to precede their purification, to prepare the way for it and bring it to pass, and not to follow after it. The dwelling-places, at or in which they have sinned, cannot be the settlements in foreign lands, as Hitzig supposes, but only the dwelling-places in Canaan, to which the Lord would bring them after gathering them from their dispersion. שע ה does not signify, “leading out from these dwelling-places,” which is the explanation given by Kliefoth, who consequently thinks that we must understand the words as denoting the leading over of Israel from the present Canaan, or the Canaan of this life, to which its sins adhere, to the glorified, new, and eternal Canaan. This view is utterly irreconcilable both with the words themselves and also with the context. Even if שע ה meant to lead out, it would not be allowable to transform the “leading out” from the sinful Canaan into a “leading in” to the glorified and heavenly Canaan. Moreover, the further development of this promise in Eze_37:25 also shows that it is not in the glorified, eternal Canaan that Israel is to dwell, but in the earthly Canaan in which its fathers dwelt. It is obvious from this, that in all the promise here given there is no allusion to a transformation and glorification of Canaan itself. The helping or saving from all dwelling-places in which they have sinned would rather consist in the fact, therefore, that God would remove from their dwelling-places everything that could offer them an inducement to sin. For although sin has its seat, not in the things without us, but in the heart, the external circumstances of a man do offer various inducements to sin. Before the captivity, Canaan offered such an inducement to the Israelites through the idolatry and moral corruption of the Canaanites who were left in the land. And with reference to this the Lord promises that in future, when His people are brought back to Canaan, He will preserve them from the sinful influence of their dwelling-places. But this preservation will only be effected with complete success when God purifies Israel itself, and, by means of its renovation, eradicates all sinful desire from the heart (cf. Eze_36:26-27). In this way וטהרתי is appended in the most fitting way to 'שעתי וה . -Through the removal of all sinful influences from around them, and the purifying of the heart, Israel will then become in truth the people of God, and Jehovah the God of Israel (Eze_37:23).

Israel, when thus renewed, will walk in the rights of the Lord and fulfil His commandments, under the protection of its one shepherd David, i.e., of the Messiah (Eze_37:24, cf. Eze_36:27, and Eze_34:23); and its children and children's children will dwell for ever in its own land, David being its prince for ever (Eze_37:25, and cf. Eze_36:28 and Eze_34:24). What is new in this promise, which is repeated from Ezekiel 34 and 36, is contained in לם .which is to be taken in the strict sense of the word ,לעNeither the dwelling of Israel in Canaan, nor the government of the David-Messiah, will ever have an end. לם לע is therefore repeated in Eze_37:26 in the promise of the

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covenant which the Lord will make with His people. The thought itself has already been expressed in Eze_34:25, and ברית שלום is to be understood, both here and there, as comprehending all the saving good which the Lord will bestow upon all His sanctified people. There are only two factors of this salvation mentioned here in Eze_37:26 and Eze_37:27, namely, the multiplication of the people, as the earthly side of the divine blessing, and the establishing of His eternal sanctuary in the midst of them as the spiritual side. These two points refer back to the former acts of God, and hold up to view the certain and full realization in the future of what has hitherto been neither perfectly nor permanently accomplished on account of the sins of the people. ונתתים, in Eze_37:26, is not to be taken in connection with והרביתי תם so as to form one idea in the ,אsense of dabo eos multiplicatos (Venema and Hengstenberg), for we have no analogies of such a mode of combination; but נתתים, I make, or place them, is to be taken by itself, and completed from the context, “I make them into a nation, and I multiply them (cf. Eze_36:10-11, Eze_36:37). Ezekiel has here Lev_26:9 and Lev_26:11 in his mind, as we may see from the fact that the words, “I give my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever,” are obviously formed after Lev_26:11, “I give my dwelling in the midst of them;” in such a manner, however, that by the substitution of מקדשי for משכני, and the addition of לם משכני the promise is both deepened and strengthened. In the change of ,לע into he may indeed have had the words of Exo_25:8 ,מקדשי floating before his mind, “they shall make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them;” nevertheless he deliberately selected the expression “my sanctuary,” to indicate that the Lord would dwell in the midst of Israel as the Holy One, and the Sanctifier of His people. Moreover, the words are not, “my dwelling will be in the midst of them, or among them” (כם ,עליהם but ,(בתover them. This expression is transferred from the site of the temple, towering above the city (Psa_68:30), to the dwelling of God among His people, to give prominence to the protective power and saving grace of the God who rules in Israel (cf. Hengstenberg on Psa_68:30). The sanctuary which Jehovah will give in Israel for ever, i.e., will found and cause to endure, that He may dwelling the midst of it to shelter and bless, is the temple, but not the temple built by Zerubbabel. As an objection to this Jewish interpretation, Jerome has justly said: “but how could it be said to stand 'for ever,' when that temple which was built in the time of Zerubbabel, and afterwards restored by many others, was consumed by Roman fire? All these things are to be taken as referring to the church in the time of the Saviour, when His tabernacle was placed in the church.” There is no reference whatever here to the rebuilding of the temple by Zerubbabel; not because that temple did not stand for ever and was destroyed by the Romans, but chiefly because God did not make it His abode, or fill this temple with His gracious presence (Shechinah). The sanctuary which God will place for ever among His people is the sanctuary seen by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 40ff.; and this is merely a figurative representation of the “dwelling of God in the midst of His people through His Son and Holy Spirit” (cf. Vitringa, Observv. I. p. 161), which began to be realized in the incarnation of the Logos, who is set forth in Joh_1:14 as the true משכן, in the words ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, and is continued in the spiritual dwelling of God in the heart of believers (1Co_3:16; 1Co_6:19), and will be completed at the second coming of our Lord in the “tabernacle (σκηνή) of God with men” of the new Jerusalem, of which the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple, since Israel will then first have become in truth the people of God, and Jehovah (God with them) their God (Rev_21:3, Rev_21:22). - The promise concludes in Eze_37:28with an allusion to the impression which these acts of God in Israel will make upon the

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heathen (cf. Eze_36:36). From the fact that Jehovah erects His sanctuary in the midst of Israel for ever, they will learn that it is He who sanctifieth Israel. קדש, to sanctify, means, “to remove from all connection either with sin or with its consequences. Here the reference is to the latter, because these alone strike the eyes of the heathen; but the former is presupposed as the necessary foundation” (Hengstenberg). The words rest upon the promises of the Pentateuch, where God describes Himself as He who will and does sanctify Israel (compare Exo_31:13; Lev_22:31-33). This promise, which has hitherto been only imperfectly fulfilled on account of Israel's guilt, will be perfectly realized in the future, when Israel will walk in the ways of the Lord, renewed by the Spirit of God.

Thus does this prophecy of Ezekiel span the whole future of the people of God even to eternity. But the promise in which it culminates, namely, that the Lord will erect His sanctuary in the midst of His restored people, and there take up His abode above them for ever (Eze_37:26.), is of importance as helping to decide the question, how we are to understand the fulfilment of the restoration to Canaan into the land given to the fathers, which is promised to all Israel; whether, in a literal manner, by the restoration of the Israelites to Palestine; or spiritually, by the gathering together of the Israelites converted to the Lord their God and Saviour, and their introduction into the kingdom of God founded by Christ, in which case Canaan, as the site of the Old Testament kingdom of God, would be a symbolical or typical designation of the earthly soil of the heavenly kingdom, which has appeared in the Christian church. - These two different views have stood opposed to one another from time immemorial, inasmuch as the Jews expect from the Messiah, for whose advent they still hope, not only their restoration to Palestine, but the erection of the kingdom of David and the rebuilding of the temple upon Mount Zion, together with the sacrificial worship of the Levitical law; whereas in the Christian church, on the ground of the New Testament doctrine, that the old covenant has been abolished along with the Levitical temple-worship through the perfect fulfilment of the law by Christ and the perpetual efficacy of His atoning sacrifice, the view has prevailed that, with the abolition of the Old Testament form of the kingdom of God, even Palestine has ceased to be the chosen land of the revelation of the saving grace of God, and under the new covenant Canaan extends as far as the Israel of the new covenant, the church of Jesus Christ, is spread abroad over the earth, and that Zion or Jerusalem is to be sought wherever Christendom worships God in spirit and in truth, wherever Christ is with His people, and dwells in the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit. It was by J. A. Bengel and C. F. Oetinger that the so-called “realistic” interpretation of the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament - according to which, after the future conversion to Christ of the Jewish people who are hardened still, the establishment of the kingdom of God in Palestine and its capital Jerusalem is to be expected - has been revived and made into one of the leading articles of Christian hope. By means of this “realistic” exposition of the prophetic word the chiliastic dogma of the establishment of a kingdom of glory before the last judgment and the end of the world is then deduced from the twentieth chapter of the Apocalypse; and many of the theologians of our day regard this as the certain resultant of a deeper study of the Scriptures. In the more precise definition of the dogma itself, the several supporters diverge very widely from one another; but they all agree in this, that they base the doctrine chiefly upon the prophetic announcement of the eventual conversion and glorification of all Israel. - As Ezekiel then stands out among all the prophets as the one who gives the most elaborate prediction of the restoration of Israel under the government of the Messiah, and he not only draws in Ezekiel 40-48 a detailed picture of the new form of the kingdom of God, but also in Ezekiel 38 and 39, in 134

the prophecy concerning Gog and Magog, foretells an attack on the part of the heathen world upon the restored kingdom of God, which appears, according to Rev_20:7-9, to constitute the close of the thousand years' reign; we must look somewhat more closely at this view, and by examining the arguments pro and con, endeavour to decide the question as to the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the future of Israel. In doing this, however, we shall fix our attention exclusively upon the exegetical arguments adduced in support of the chiliastic view by its latest supporters.(Note: These are, C. A. Auberlen, “The Prophet Daniel and the Revelation of John;” also in a treastise on the Messianic Prophecies of the Mosaic times, in the Jahrbb.f. deutsche Theologie, IV pp. 778ff.; J. C. K. Hofmann, in his Weissagung und Erfüllung im A. u. N. Testamente, and in the Schriftbeweis, vol. II p. 2; Mich. Baumgarten, article “Ezekiel” in Herzog's Cyclopaedia, and here and there in his commentary on the Old Testament; C. E. Luthardt, The Doctrine of the Last Things in Treatises and Expositions of Scripture (1851); and Dr. Volck, in the Dorpater Zeitschfit für Theologie und Kirche, IX pp. 142ff.; and others.)

The prophetic announcement, that the Lord will one day gather together again the people of Israel, which has been thrust out among the heathen for its unfaithfulness, will bring it back into the land given to the fathers, and there bless and greatly multiply it, has its roots in the promises of the law. If the stiff-necked transgressors of the commandments of God - these are the words of Lev_26:40-45 - bear the punishment of their iniquity in the land of their enemies, and confess their sins, and their uncircumcised heart is humbled, then will the Lord remember His covenant with the patriarchs, and not cast them off even in the land of their enemies, to destroy them, and to break His covenant with them; but will remember the covenant which He made with their ancestors, when He brought them out of Egypt before the eyes of the nations to be their God. He will, as this is more precisely defined in Deu_30:3., gather them together again out of the heathen nations, lead them back into the land which their fathers possessed, and multiply Israel more than its fathers. On the ground of this promise, of which Moses gives a still further pledge to the people in his dying song (Deu_32:36-43), all the prophets announce the restoration and ultimate glorification of Israel. This song, which closes with the promise, “Rejoice, ye nations, over His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and repay vengeance to His adversaries, and expiate His land, His people,” continues to resound - to use the words of Hofmann (Schriftbeweis, II 2, pp. 89, 90) - ”through all the Old Testament prophecy. Not only when Obadiah (Oba_1:17) and Joel (Joe_3:5) promise good to their nation do they call Mount Zion and the city of Jerusalem the place where there is protection from the judgment upon the nations of the world; but Micah also, who foretells the destruction of the temple and the carrying away of his people to Babylon, beholds Mount Zion exalted at last above all the seats of worldly power, and his people brought back to the land of their fathers (Eze_4:1; Eze_7:14). The same Isaiah, who was sent to harden his people with the word of his prophecy, is nevertheless certain that at last a holy nation will dwell in Jerusalem, a remnant of Israel (Isa_4:3; Isa_10:21); and the holy mountain of Jehovah, to which His scattered people return from all the ends of the world, is that abode of peace where even wild beasts do no more harm under the rule of the second David (Isa_11:9, Isa_11:11). After all the calamities which it was the mournful lot of Jeremiah to foretell and also to witness, Jehovah showed this prophet the days when He would restore His people, and bring them back to the land which He gave to their fathers (Jer_30:3).... And the same promise is adhered to even after the return. In every way is the assurance given by Zechariah, that Judah shall be God's holy possession in God's holy land.”135

(Note: Compare with this the words of Auberlen (der Prophet Daniel, p. 399, ed. 2): “The doctrine of the glorious restoration of Israel to Canaan, after severe chastisement and humiliation, is so essential and fundamental a thought of all prophecy, that the difficulty is not so much to find passages to support it, as to make a selection from them. By way of example, let us notice Isa_2:2-4; Isa_4:2-6; Isa_9:1-6, Isa_9:11 and Isa_9:12; more especially Isa_11:11., 24ff., 60ff.; Jer 30-33; Eze_34:23-31, 36-37; Hos_2:16 -25; Hos_3:4-5; Hos_11:8-11; Hos_14:2.; Joe_3:1-5; 4:16-21; Amo_9:8-15; Oba_1:17; Mic_2:12-13; Mic_4:1-13; Mic_5:1-15; Mic_7:11-20); Zep_3:14-20; Zec_2:4., Zec_8:7., Zec_9:9., Zec_10:8-12; 12:2-13:6; Zec_14:8.” Auberlen (pp. 400f.) then gives the following as the substance of these prophetic descriptions: “Israel having been brought back to its own land, will be the people of God in a much higher and deeper sense than before; inasmuch as sin will be averted, the knowledge of God will fill the land, and the Lord will dwell again in the midst of His people at Jerusalem. A new period of revelation is thus commenced, the Spirit of God is richly poured out, and with this a plenitude of such gifts of grace as were possessed in a typical manner by the apostolic church. And this rich spiritual life has also its perfect external manifestation both in a priestly and a regal form. The priesthood of Israel was more especially seen by Ezekiel, the son of a priest, in his mysterious vision in ch. 40-48; the monarchy by Daniel, the statesman; while Jeremiah, for example, unites the two (Jer_33:17-22). What took place only in an outward way, i.e., in the letter, during the Old Testament times, and withdrew, on the other hand, into the inward and hidden spirit-life during the time of the Christian church, will then manifest itself outwardly also, and assume an external though pneumatic form. In the Old Testament the whole of the national life of Israel in its several forms of manifestation, domestic and political life, labour and art, literature and culture, was regulated by religion, though only at first in an outward and legal way. The church, on the other hand, has, above all, to urge a renewal of the heart, and must give freedom to the outward forms which life assumes, enjoining upon the conscience of individual men, in these also to glorify Christ. In the thousand years' reign all these departments of life will be truly Christianized, and that from within. Looked at in this light, there will be nothing left to give offence, if we bear in mind that the ceremonial law of Moses corresponds to the priesthood of Israel, and the civil law to the monarchy. The Gentile church has only been able to adopt the moral law, however certainly it has been directed merely to the inwardly working means of the word, or of the prophetic office. But when once the priesthood and the kingly office have been restored, then, without doing violence to the Epistle to the Hebrews, the ceremonial and civil law of Moses will unfold its spiritual depths in the worship and constitution of the thousand years' reign.”)Continued in next section

Ezekiel 37:15-28

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[continued from previous section]This restoration of Israel Ezekiel describes, in harmony with Jer 31, though in a much more detailed picture, in the following way: - ”The condition of things in the future will differ from that in the past, simply in the fact that Israel will then have a heart converted to fidelity and obedience by the Spirit of God (Eze_11:19; Eze_36:27), and will live in good peace and prosperity under the shelter of its God, who is known and acknowledged by all the world (Eze_36:23). The land to which it is restored, a land most decidedly represented by Ezekiel as the same as that in which its fathers lived (Eze_37:25), appears throughout merely as a happy earthly dwelling-place, and the promise of its possession as an assurance given to a nation continuing to propagate itself in peace” (Hofmann, p. 576). This manner of depicting the condition of the Israel restored and glorified by the Messiah, as a peaceful settlement and a happy life in the land of the fathers, a life rich in earthly possessions, is not confined, however, to Jeremiah and Ezekiel, but stands out more or less conspicuously in the Messianic pictures of all the prophets. What follows, then, from this in relation to the mode in which these prophecies are to be fulfilled? Is it that the form assumed by the life of the people of Israel when restored will be only a heightened repetition of the conditions of its former life in Palestine, undisturbed by sin? By no means. On the contrary, it follows from this that the prophets have depicted the glorious restoration of Israel by the Messiah by means of figures borrowed from the past and present of the national life of Israel, and therefore that their picture is not to be taken literally, but symbolically or typically, and that we are not to expect it to be literally fulfilled.We are forced to this conclusion by the fact that, through the coming of Christ, and the kingdom of heaven which began with Him, the idea of the people of God has been so expanded, that henceforth not the lineal descendants of Abraham, or the Jewish nation merely, but the church of confessors of Jesus Christ, gathered together out of Israel and the Gentiles, has become the people of God, and the economy of the Old Testament has ceased to constitute the divinely appointed from of the church of God. If, therefore, the Jewish people, who have rejected the Saviour, who appeared in Jesus Christ, and have hardened themselves against the grace and truth revealed in Him, are not cast off for ever, but, according to the promises of the Old Testament and the teaching of the Apostle Paul (Rom 11), will eventually repent, and as a people turn to the crucified One, and then also realize the fulfilment of the promises of God; there is still lacking, with the typical character of the prophetic announcement, any clear and unambiguous biblical evidence that all Israel, whose salvation is to be looked for in the future, will be brought back to Palestine, when eventually converted to Christ the crucified One, and continue there as a people separated from the rest of Christendom, and from the earthly centre of the church of the Lord gathered out of all nations and tongues. For, however well founded the remark of Hofmann (ut sup. p. 88) may be, that “holy people and holy land are demanded by one another;” this proves nothing more than that the holy people, gathered out of all the families of the earth through the believing reception of the gospel, will also have a holy land for its dwelling-place; in other words, that, with the spread of the church of the Lord over all the quarters of the globe, the earth will become holy land or Canaan, so far as it is inhabited by the followers of Christ. The Apostle Paul teaches this in the same Epistle in which he foretells to Israel, hardened in unbelief, its eventual restoration and blessedness; when he explains in Rom_4:9-13 that to Abraham or his seed the promise that he was to be the heir of the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness of the faith, which Abraham had when still

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uncircumcised, that he might become a father of all those who believe, though they be not circumcised, and a father of the circumcision, not merely of those who are of the circumcision, but of those also who walk in the footsteps of his faith. And the apostle, when developing this thought, interprets the promise given to the patriarch in Gen_12:7and Gen_15:18 : “to thy seed will I give this land” (i.e., the land of Canaan), by κληρονομεῖν κόσμον (inheriting the world), he regards Canaan as a type of the world or of the earth, which would be occupied by the children born of faith to the patriarch.

This typical interpretation of the promise, given in the Old Testament to the seed of Abraham, of the everlasting possession of the land of Canaan, which is thus taught by the Apostle Paul, and has been adopted by the church on his authority, corresponds also to the spirit and meaning of the Old Testament word of God. This is evident from Gen 17, where the Lord God, when instituting the covenant of circumcision, gives not to Abraham only, but expressly to Sarah also, the promise to make them into peoples ים) מלכי) that king of nations ,(לג shall come from them through the son, whom (עמיםthey are to receive (Gen_17:6 and Gen_17:16), and at the same time promises to give to the seed of Abraham, thus greatly to be multiplied, the land of his pilgrimage, the whole land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession (Gen_17:8). This promise the Lord, as the “almighty God,” has not carried into effect by making Abraham and Sarah into nations through the lineal posterity of Isaac, but only through the spiritual seed of Abraham, believers out of all nations, who have become, and still will become, children of Abraham in Christ. It was only through these that Abraham became the father of a multitude of nations (לאב ן Gen_17:5). For although two peoples sprang from Isaac, the ,המIsraelites through Jacob, and the Edomites through Esau, and Abraham also became the ancestor of several tribes through Ishmael and the sons of Keturah, the divine promise in question refers to the people of Israel alone, because Esau was separated from the seed of the promise by God Himself, and the other sons of Abraham were excluded by the fact that they were not born of Sarah. The twelve tribes, however, formed but one people; and although Ezekiel calls them two peoples (Eze_35:10 and Eze_37:22), having in view their division into two kingdoms, they are never designated or described in the Old or New Testament as ן המ ים To this one people God did indeed give the land of .גCanaan for a possession, according to the boundaries described in Num 34, so that it dwelt therein until it was driven out and scattered among the heathen for its persistent unfaithfulness. But inasmuch as that portion of the promise which referred to the multiplication of the seed of Abraham into peoples was only to receive its complete fulfilment in Christ, according to the counsel and will of God, through the grafting of the believing Gentile nations into the family of Abraham, and has so received it, we are not at liberty to restrict the other portion of this promise, relating to the possession of the land of Canaan, to the lineal posterity of the patriarch, or the people of Israel by lineal descent, but must assume that in the promise of the land to be given to the seed of Abraham God even then spoke of Canaan as a type of the land which was to be possessed by the posterity of Abraham multiplied into nations.

This typical phraseology runs through all the prophetical writings of the Old Testament, and that both with regard to the promised seed, which Abraham received through Isaac (Gen_21:12) in the people of Israel, and also with reference to the land promised to this seed for an inheritance, although, while the old covenant established at Sinai lasted, Israel according to the flesh was the people of God, and the earthly Canaan between the Euphrates and the river of Egypt was the dwelling-place of this people. For inasmuch as Abraham received the promise at the very time of his call, that in his seed 138

all the families of the earth should be blessed, and the germs of the universal destination of the people and kingdom of God were deposited, according to Gen 17, in the subsequent patriarchal promises, the prophets continued to employ the names of Israel and Canaan more and more in their Messianic prophecies as symbolical terms for the two ideas of the people and kingdom of God. And from the time when the fortress of Jerusalem upon Mount Zion was exalted by David into the capital of his kingdom and the seat of his government over Israel, and was also made the site of the dwelling of Jehovah in the midst of His people, by the removal of the ark of the covenant to Zion, and the building of the temple which was planned by David, though only carried into execution by Solomon his son, they employed Zion and Jerusalem in the same typical manner as the seat and centre of the kingdom of God; so that, in the Messianic psalms and the writings of the prophets, Zion or Jerusalem is generally mentioned as the place from which the king (David-Messiah), anointed by Jehovah as prince over His people, extends His dominion over all the earth, and whither the nations pour to hear the law of the Lord, and to be instructed as to His ways and their walking in His paths.Consequently neither the prominence expressly given to the land in the promises contained in Lev_26:42 and Deu_32:43, upon which such stress is laid by Auberlen (die messianische Weissagungen, pp. 827 and 833), nor the fact that Mount Zion or the city of Jerusalem is named as the place of judgment upon the world of nations and the completion of the kingdom of God, to which both Hofmann and Auberlen appeal in the passages already quoted, furnishes any valid evidence that the Jewish people, on its eventual conversion to Christ, will be brought back to Palestine, and that the Lord, at His second coming, will establish the millennial kingdom in the earthly Jerusalem, and take up His abode on the material Mount Zion, in a temple built by human hands.Even the supporters of the literal interpretation of the Messianic prophecies cannot deny the symbolico-typical character of the Old Testament revelation. Thus Auberlen, for example, observes (die mess. Weiss. p. 821) that, “in their typical character, the sacrifices furnish us with an example of the true signification of all the institutions of the Old Testament kingdom of God, while the latter exhibit to us in external symbol and type the truly holy people and the Messianic kingdom in its perfection, just as the former set forth the sacrifice of the Messiah.” But among these institutions the Israelitish sanctuary (tabernacle or temple) undoubtedly occupied a leading place as a symbolico-typical embodiment of the kingdom of God established in Israel, as is now acknowledged by nearly all the expositors of Scripture who have any belief in revelation. It is not merely the institutions of the old covenant, however, which have a symbolico-typical signification, but this is also the case with the history of the covenant nation of the Old Testament, and the soil in which this history developed itself. This is so obvious, that Auberlen himself (ut sup. p. 827) has said that “it is quite a common thing with the prophets to represent the approaching dispersion and enslaving of Israel among the heathen as a renewal of their condition in Egypt, and the eventual restoration of both the people and kingdom as a new exodus from Egypt and entrance into Canaan (Hos_2:1-2and Hos_2:16, Hos_2:17, Hos_9:3 and Hos_9:6, Hos_11:5, Hos_11:11; Mic_2:12-13; Mic_7:15-16; Isa_10:24, Isa_10:26; Isa_11:11; Jer_16:14-15, and other passages).” And even Hofmann, who sets aside this typical phraseology of the prophets in Isa_11:11-15, where the restoration of Israel from its dispersion throughout all the world is depicted as a repetition of its deliverance from Egypt through the miraculous division of the Red Sea, with the simple remark, “that the names of the peoples mentioned in the 14th as well as in the 11th verse, and the obstacles described in the 15th verse, merely serve to elaborate the thought” (Schriftbeweis, II 2, p. 548), cannot help admitting (at p. 561)

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“that in Isa_34:5 ם אד is not to be understood as a special prophecy against the Edomitish people, but as a symbolical designation of the world of mankind in its enmity against God.” But if Edom is a type of the human race in its hostility to God in this threatening of judgment, “the ransomed of Jehovah” mentioned in the corresponding announcement of salvation in Isa_35:1-10, who are to “return to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads,” cannot be the rescued remnant of the Jewish people, or the Israel of the twelve tribes who will ultimately attain to blessedness, nor can the Zion to which they return be the capital of Palestine. If Edom in this eschatological prophecy denotes the world in its enmity against God, the ransomed of Jehovah who return to Zion are the people of God gathered from both Gentiles and Jews, who enter into the blessedness of the heavenly Jerusalem. By adopting this view of Edom, Hofmann has admitted the typical use of the ideas, both of the people of Jehovah (Israel) and of Zion, by the prophets, and has thereby withdrawn all firm foundation from his explanation of similar Messianic prophecies when the Jewish nation is concerned. The same rule which applies to Edom and Zion in Isa 34 and Isa_35:1-10must also be applicable in Isa 40-56. The prophecy concerning Edom in Isa 34 has its side-piece in Isa_63:1-6; and, as Delitzsch has said, the announcement of the return of the ransomed of Jehovah to Zion in Ezekiel 36, “as a whole and in every particular, both in thought and language, is a prelude of this book of consolation for the exiles (i.e., the one which follows in Isa 40-66).” Ezekiel uses Edom in the same way, in the prediction of the everlasting devastation of Edom and the restoration of the devastated land of Israel, to be a lasting blessing for its inhabitants. As Edom in this case also represents the world in its hostility to God (see the comm. on Ezekiel 35:1-36:15), the land of Israel also is not Palestine, but the kingdom of the Messiah, the boundaries of which extend from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the world (Psa_73:8 and Zec_9:10). It is true that in the case of our prophet there is no express mention made of the spread of the kingdom of God over the lands, inasmuch as he is watchman over the house of Israel, and therefore, for the most part, principally speaks of the restoration of Israel; but it is also obvious that this prophetic truth was not unknown to him, from the fact that, according to Eze_47:22-23, in the fresh division of the land among the tribes by lot, the foreigners as well as the natives are to be reckoned among the children of Israel, and to receive their portion of the land as well, which plainly abolishes the difference in lineal descent existing under the old covenant. Still more clearly does he announce the reception of the heathen nations into the kingdom of God in Eze_16:53., where he predicts the eventual turning of the captivity, not of Jerusalem only, but also of Samaria and Sodom, as the goal of the ways of God with His people. If, therefore, in His pictures of the restoration and glorification of the kingdom of God, he speaks of the land of Israel alone, the reason for this mode of description is probably also to be sought in the fact that he goes back to the fundamental prophecies of the Pentateuch more than other prophets do; and as, on the one hand, he unfolds the fulfilment of the threats in Lev 26 and Deut 28-32 in his threatenings of judgments, so, on the other hand, does he display the fulfilment of the promises of the law in his predictions of salvation. If we bear this in mind, we must not take his prophecy of the very numerous multiplication of Israel and of the eternal possession of Canaan and its blessings in any other sense than in that of the divine promise in Gen 17; that is to say, we must not restrict the numerous multiplication of Israel to the literal multiplication of the remnant of the twelve tribes, but must also understand thereby the multiplication of the seed of Abraham into peoples in the manner explained above, and interpret in the same way the restoration of Israel to the land promised to the fathers.

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This view of the Old Testament prophecy concerning the eventual restoration of Israel on its conversion to Christ is confirmed as to its correctness by the New Testament also; if, for example, we consider the plain utterances of Christ and His apostles concerning the relation of the Israel according to the flesh, i.e., of the Jewish nation, to Christ and His kingdom, and do not adhere in a one-sided manner to the literal interpretation of the eschatological pictures contained in the language of the Old Testament prophecy. For since, as Hofmann has correctly observed in his Schriftbeweis (II 2, pp. 667, 668), “the apostolical doctrine of the end of the present condition of things, namely, of the reappearance of Christ, of the glorification of His church, and the resurrection of its dead, or even of the general resurrection of the dead, of the glorification of the material world, the destruction of the present and the creation of a new one, stands in this relation to the Old Testament prophecy of the end of things, that it is merely a repetition of it under the new point of view, which accompanied the appearing and glorification of Jesus and the establishment of His church of Jews and Gentiles;” these eschatological pictures are also clothed in the symbolico-typical form peculiar to the Old Testament prophecy, the doctrinal import of which can only be determined in accordance with the unambiguous doctrinal passages of the New Testament. Of these doctrinal passages the first which presents itself is Rom 11, where the Apostle Paul tells the Christians at Rome as a μυστήριον, that hardness in part has happened to Israel, till the pleroma of the Gentiles has entered into the kingdom of God, and so (i.e., after this has taken place) all Israel will be rescued or saved (Rom_11:25, Rom_11:26). He then supports this by a scriptural quotation formed from Isa_59:20 and Isa_27:9 (lxx), with an evident allusion to Jer_31:34 (?33) also: “there shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob,” etc.; whilst he has already shown how, as the fall of Israel, or its ἀποβολή, is the riches of the Gentiles and reconciliation of the world, the πρόσληψιςwill not nothing else than life from the dead (ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν, Rom_11:11-15). The apostle evidently teaches here that the partial hardening of Israel, in consequence of which the people rejected the Saviour, who appeared in Jesus, and were excluded from the salvation in Christ, is not an utter rejection of the old covenant nation; but that the hardening of Israel will cease after the entrance of the pleroma of the Gentiles into the kingdom of God, and so all Israel (πᾶς Ισραήλ in contrast with ἐκ μέρους, i.e., the people of Israel as a whole) will attain to salvation, although this does not teach the salvation of every individual Jew.

(Note: “All Israel,” says Philippi in the 3rd ed. of his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (p. 537), “as contrasted with ἐκ μέρους (in part) in Rom_11:25, and also in the connection in which it stands with the train of thought in Romans 9-11, which, as the chapter before us more especially shows, has only to do with the bringing of the nations as a whole to the Messianic salvation, cannot be understood in any other sense than as signifying the people of Israel as a whole (see also Rom_11:28-32). The explanation of the words as denoting the spiritual Israel, the 'Israel of God' (Gal_6:16), according to which all the true children of Abraham and of God are to be saved through the entrance of the chosen Gentiles, and at the same time also of the ἐκλογή of the Israel that has not been hardened, is just as arbitrary as it is to take 'all Israel' as referring merely to the believing portion of the Jews, the portion chosen by God, who have belonged in all ages to the λεῖμμα κατ ἐκλογὴν χάριτος.” But in the appendix to the third edition he has not only give full expression to the opposite view, which Besser in his Bibelstunden has supported in the most decided manner, after the example of Luther and many of the Lutheran expositors, but is inclined to give preference, even above the view which he preciously upheld, to the idea that “all

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Israel is the whole of the Israel intended by the prophetic word, and included in the divine word of promise, to which alone the name of Israel truly and justly belongs according to the correct understanding of the Old Testament word of God - that is to say, those lineal sons of Abraham who walk in the footsteps of his faith (Rom_4:12), those Jews who are so not merely outwardly in the flesh, but also inwardly in the spirit, through circumcision of heart (Rom_2:28-29);” and also to the following exposition which Calovius gives of the whole passage, namely, that “it does not relate to a simultaneous or universal conversion of the Israelites, or to the conversion of a great multitude, which is to take place at the last times of the world, and is to be looked forward to still, but rather to successive conversions continuing even to the end of the world.”)But Auberlen (die mess. Weissagungen, pp. 801ff.) puts too much into these words of the apostle when he combines them with Exo_19:5-6, and from the fact that Israel in the earlier ages of the Old Testament was once a people and kingdom, but not really a holy and priestly one, and that in the first ages of the New Testament it was once holy and priestly, though not as a people and kingdom, draws the conclusion, not only that the Jewish nation must once more become holy as a people and kingdom, but also that the apostle of the Gentiles here declares “that the promise given to the people of Israel, that it is to be a holy people, will still be fulfilled in its experience, and that in connection with this, after the present period of the kingdom of God, there is a new period in prospect, when the converted and sanctified Israel, being called once for all to be a priestly kingdom, will become the channel of the blessing of fellowship with God to the nations in a totally different and far more glorious manner than before.” For if the apostle had intended to teach the eventual accomplishment of this promise in the case of the Israel according to the flesh, he would certainly have quoted it, or at all events have plainly

hinted at it, and not merely have spoken of the σώζεσθαι of the Israel which was hardened then. There is nothing to show, even in the remotest way, that Israel will eventually be exalted into the holy and priestly people and kingdom for the nations, either in the assurance that “all Israel shall be saved,” or in the declaration that the “receiving” (πρόσληψις) of Israel will work, or be followed by, “life from the dead” (Rom_11:15); and the proposition from which Paul infers the future deliverance of the people of Israel - viz., “if the first-fruit be holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root be holy, so are the branches” (Rom_11:16) - shows plainly that it never entered the apostle's mind to predict for the branches that were broken off the olive tree for a time an exaltation to even greater holiness than that possessed by the root and beginning of Israel when they should be grafted in again.

There is also another way in which Hofmann (Schriftbeweis, II 2, pp. 96 and 668) makes insertions in the words of the apostle, - namely, when he draws the conclusion from the prophetic quotation in Rom_11:25, Rom_11:26, that the apostle takes the thought from the prophetic writings, that Zion and Israel are the place where the final revelation of salvation will be made, and then argues in support of this geographical exposition of the words, “shall come out of Zion,” on the ground that in these words we have not to think of the first coming of the Saviour alone, but the apostle extends to the second coming with perfect propriety what the Old Testament prophecy generally affirms with regard to the coming of Christ, and what had already been verified at His first coming. This argument is extremely weak. Even if one would or could insist upon the fact that, when rendering the words ובא (there will come for Zion a Redeemer), in Isa_59:20, by ἥξει ἐκ Σιὼν ὁ ῥυόμενος (the Redeemer will come out of Zion), the apostle designedly adopted the expression ἐκ Σιών, it would by no means follow “that he meant

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the material Zion or earthly Jerusalem to be regarded as the final site of the New Testament revelation.” For if the apostle used the expression “come out of Zion,” with reference to the second coming of the Lord, because it had been verified at the first coming of Jesus, although Jesus did not then come out of Zion, but out of Bethlehem, according to the prophecy of Mic_5:1 (cf. Mat_1:5-6), he cannot have meant the material Mount Zion by ἐκ Σιών, but must have taken Zion on the prophetico-typical sense of the central seat of the kingdom of God; a meaning which it also has in such passages in the Psalms as Psa_14:7; 53:7, and Psa_110:2, which he appears to have had floating before his mind. It was only by taking this view of Zion that Paul could use ἐκ Σιών for the ן לציof Isaiah, without altering the meaning of the prophecy, that the promised Redeemer would come for Zion, i.e., for the citizens of Zion, the Israelites. The apostle, when making this quotation from the prophets, had no more intention of giving any information concerning the place where Christ would appear to the now hardened Israel, and prove Himself to be the Redeemer, than concerning the land in which the Israel scattered among the nations would be found at the second coming of our Lord. And there is nothing whatever in the New Testament to the effect that “the Lord will not appear again till He has prepared both Israel and Zion for the scene of His reappearing” (Hofmann, p. 97). All that Christ says is, that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a witness concerning all nations, and then will the end come (Mat_24:14). And if, in addition to this, on His departing for ever from the temple, He exclaimed to the Jews who rejected Him, “Your house will be left unto you desolate; for I say unto you, Ye will not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat_23:38-39), all that He means is, that He will not appear to them or come to them before they receive Him with faith, “greet Him as the object of their longing expectation;” and by no means that He will not come till they have been brought back from their dispersion to Palestine and Jerusalem.

Even Mat_27:53 and Rev_11:2, where Jerusalem is called the holy city, do not furnish any tenable proof of this, because it is so called, not with regard to any glorification to be looked for in the future, but as the city in which the holiest events in the world's history had taken place; just as Peter (2Pe_1:18) designates the Mount of Transfiguration the holy mount, with reference to that event, and not with any anticipation of a future glorification of the mountain; and in 1Ki_19:8 Horeb is called the Mount of God, because in the olden time God revealed Himself there. “The old Jerusalem is even now the holy city still to those who have directed their hopeful eyes to the new Jerusalem alone” (Hengstenberg). This also applies to the designation of the temple as the “holy place” in Mat_24:15, by which Hofmann (p. 91) would also, though erroneously, understand Jerusalem.And the words of Christ in Luk_21:24, that Jerusalem will be trodden down by the

Gentiles, ἄχρι πληρωθῶσιν καιροὶ ἐθνῶν, cannot be used as furnishing a proof that the earthly Jerusalem will be occupied by the converted Jews before or at the second coming of the Lord. For if stress be laid upon the omission of the article, and the appointed period be understood in such a manner as to lead to the following rendering, viz.: “till Gentile periods shall be fulfilled,” i.e., “till certain periods which have been appointed to Gentile nations for the accomplishment of this judgment of wrath from God shall have elapsed” (Meyer), we may assume, with Hengstenberg (die Juden und die christl. Kirche, 3 art.), that these times come to an end when the overthrow of the might of the Gentiles is effected through the judgment of God, and the Christian church takes their place; and we may still further say with him, that “the treading down of Jerusalem by the heathen, among whom, according to the Christian view, the Mahometans also are to be reckoned,

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has ceased twice already, - namely, in the reign of Constantine, and in the time of the Crusades, when a Christian kingdom existed in Jerusalem. And what then happened, though only in a transient way, will eventually take place again, and that definitively, on the ground of this declaration of the Lord. Jerusalem will become the possession of the Israel of the Christian church.” If, on the other hand, we adopt Hofmann's view (pp. 642, 643), that by καιροὶ ἐθνῶν we are to understand the times of the nations, when the world belongs to them, in accordance with Dan_8:14, in support of which Rev_11:2 may also be adduced, these times “come to an end when the people of God obtain the supremacy;” and, according to this explanation, it is affirmed “that this treading down of the holy city will not come to an end till the filling up of the time, during which the world belongs to the nations, and therefore not till the end of the present course of this world.” But if the treading down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles lasts till then, even the converted Jews cannot recover possession of it at that time; for at the end of the present course of this world the new creation of the heaven and earth will take place, and the perfected church of Christ, gathered out of Israel and the Gentile nations, will dwell in the heavenly Jerusalem that has come down upon the new earth. - However, therefore, we may interpret these words of the Lord, we are not taught in Luk_21:24 any more than in Mat_24:15 and Mat_27:53, or Rom_11:26, that the earthly Jerusalem will come into the possession of the converted Jews after its liberation from the power of the Gentiles, that it will hold a central position in the world, or that the temple will be erected there again.

And lastly, a decisive objection to these Jewish, millenarian hopes, and at the same time to the literal interpretation of the prophetic announcements of the restoration of Israel, is to be found in the fact that the New Testament says nothing whatever concerning are building of the Jerusalem temple and a restoration of the Levitical worship; but that, on the contrary, it teaches in the most decided manner, that, with the completion of the reconciliation of men with God through the sacrifice of Christ upon Golgotha, the sacrificial and temple service of the Levitical law was fulfilled and abolished (Heb 7-10), on the ground of the declaration of Christ, that the hour cometh, and now is, when men shall worship neither upon Gerizim nor at Jerusalem; but the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth (Joh_4:21-24), in accordance with the direction given by the apostle in Rom_12:1. But the prophets of the Old Testament do not merely predict the return of the Israelites to their own land, and their everlasting abode in that land under the rule of the Messiah; but this prediction of theirs culminates in the promise that Jehovah will establish His sanctuary, i.e., His temple, in the midst of His redeemed people, and dwell there with them and above them for ever (Eze_37:27-28), and that all nations will come to this sanctuary of the Lord upon Zion year by year, to worship before the King Jehovah of hosts, and keep the Feast of tabernacles (Zec_14:16; cf. Isa_66:23). If, then, the Jewish people should receive Palestine again for its possession either at or after its conversion to Christ, in accordance with the promise of God, the temple with the Levitical sacrificial worship would of necessity be also restored in Jerusalem. But if such a supposition is at variance with the teaching of Christ and the apostles, so that this essential feature in the prophetic picture of the future of the kingdom of God is not to be understood literally, but spiritually or typically, it is an unjustifiable inconsistency to adhere to the literal interpretation of the prophecy concerning the return of Israel to Canaan, and to look for the return of the Jewish people to Palestine, when it has come to believe in Jesus Christ.BI 15-17, "Take thee one stick.

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Joining the sticksI. The sad condition of the people of Israel at the time the prophet wrote. It was that of separation and of estrangement. Such a condition was—

1. Contrary to nature.2. Displeasing to God.3. Disastrous to themselves.

That and other sin had reduced them to a condition of national bankruptcy, physical serfdom, social misery, and moral degradation.II. The happy condition to which the people of Israel were about to be restored. That of unity, harmony, and oneness. Union in a Christian Church is a condition greatly to be desiderated, and earnestly to be sought by all its members.

1. It is of great importance to the Church itself.2. It is an immense advantage to the surrounding community.3. It is well pleasing and highly honouring to God.

III. The agency by which this delightful change was to be effected.1. He breathed into them a principle of spiritual life.2. He sent them wise advisers and earnest intercessors.3. He visited them with a sore trial. The Babylonish captivity. Common suffering often awakens common sympathy, and common sorrow begets mutual interest.4. He appointed them a common work. The rebuilding of the city and temple of Jerusalem. A common service for Christ is still promotive of union among Christians.5. He makes His residence in their midst (Eze_37:27). Christ in the midst of a Church acts like a magnet in the midst of steel particles: He attracts all to Himself. As Christians are enabled to love Christ and approach Christ, so will they love one another and approach one another. (F. Morgan.)

PETT, "Verses 15-17

The Two Sticks and The Uniting Of Israel.

‘The word of Yahweh came again to me saying, “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel his companions’. Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions’. And join them for

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yourself, one to another, into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.” ’

The wording on the sticks would seem to confirm that Israelites associated with Judah were included in the first stick, and therefore that the second included people of the northern kingdom scattered throughout the known world. However in Ezekiel the term ‘Israel’ is very flexible and also includes Judah so that we cannot be sure. The reference may be to the combination of tribes that originally made up Judah. But whichever is so the emphasis is on the necessity for the people of God to be one in heart, mind and spirit.

The sticks were presumably ‘joined’ in prophetic mime by the bottom end of one and the top end of the other being pushed into the closed fist so as to look one, a stick coming out from each side.

SIMEON, "THE STICKS OF JUDAH AND OF EPHRAIM JOINED

Ezekiel 37:15-22. The word of the Lord carne again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I 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 one stick; and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I 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: and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountain of Israel; and one 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.

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THE restoration of the whole Jewish people, to their own land, and to the favour of their God, is a subject on which all the prophets dwell with great delight; and not with delight only, but with the strongest confidence and assurance. There were indeed then, and there are still, in that nation, circumstances which, if viewed only after the manner of men, render the accomplishment of these predictions highly improbable. For instance; the whole people of Israel, of the ten tribes which were carried captive to Assyria, and of the two tribes in their present dispersion, are scattered, like dry bones, over the face of the whole earth: and we might as well expect a restoration of such scattered bones to life, as the return of that people to their own land. Moreover, from the period of their separation in the time of Rehoboam, to the latest hour of their existence as different states, there existed between them such inveterate hatred, as precludes a hope that they can ever be united into one people again. But the Prophet Ezekiel was inspired to declare, that both these difficulties should be overcome. The resuscitation of the dry bones he has foretold in the preceding part of the chapter; and the reunion of the two nations he foretells in the words which we have just read. He was commanded to represent this to his hearers by a very appropriate sign. He was to take two sticks; and, writing on each of them the nation which it was intended to represent, he was to cause them to become one stick in his hand; and then to explain to them the figure, by a full declaration of God’s purpose relative to their reunion in the latter-day.

His words will lead us to contemplate,

I. The event predicted—

The sign itself, just like the blossoming of Aaron’s rod, whilst all the others retained their own proper form without any such alteration, was a convincing proof, that the prophet both spake and acted under a divine commission. The causing of two sticks, without any previous process, in an instant to become one in his hand, was a pledge to the spectators that the prediction, however improbable, should certainly be fulfilled. Accustomed to be taught by signs, the spectators desired an explanation of that which was now before their eyes. And the prophet informed them, that it imported and prefigured,

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1. The restoration of all the tribes to their own land—

[The names inscribed upon the two different sticks clearly shewed that the ten tribes which had been carried captive to Assyria, no less than the two who were then in Babylon, should at a future period be restored; and that all of them together should form one nation, as they had done in the days of David and of Solomon: and that they should never be divided into two nations again [Note: ver 22, 25.]. This has never yet been fulfilled; and therefore we know it shall receive its accomplishment at a period yet future. To confirm this from many passages of Scripture would be quite superfluous: for if the return of all the tribes to their own land at a future period be questioned, there is not any prediction of a future event that can be depended on. It is not necessary that the whole mass of the Jewish people should return: for there were but forty thousand that returned from Babylon; yet was that deemed a sufficient accomplishment of the prophecies relating to that event. So, if there be only a few millions that return to their own land in the latter-day, it will amply suffice to verify the predictions respecting it. But return they shall, as surely as ever the two sticks became one in the prophet’s hand. And to this effect speaks the Prophet Isaiah, whose words I record as illustrating and confirming, beyond a possibility of doubt, the declarations in my text: “It shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up his ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly, upon the shoulders of the Philistines, toward the west: they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry-shod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria; like as it was to Israel, in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt [Note: Isaiah 11:11-16.].”]

2. The union of them all under Christ as their common Head—

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[Never have they been all under the government of one king since the revolt of the ten tribes from Rehoboam: much less has there been any king of the name of David that could lay claim to this dominion. But, at the period referred to, they shall all, even the whole twelve tribes, become one nation again; and that too under the government of the Messiah, who is frequently foretold under the name of David, and who in the New Testament also is recognized as raised up of David’s house, and as sitting upon David’s throne [Note: Luke 1:31-33; Luke 1:69.]. They will all form one flock under him, as their “Shepherd,” as, both in a preceding chapter and in that before us, is fully declared [Note: ver. 22, 24, 25 and Ezekiel 34:23-24.]. They will be deeply sensible of their error, in having so long rejected him; and will then “look on Him whom they, no less than their fathers, have pierced, and mourn, and be in bitterness, even as one that mourneth for his first-born son.” And no longer will they cast off his light and easy yoke: yea rather, they will delight in him, and glory in him, as “all their salvation and all their desire.” To this effect the Prophet Hosea also most plainly speaks: “The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord, and his goodness, in the latter-days [Note: Hosea 3:4-5.].”]

3. Their enjoyment of God, as their covenant-God and portion—

[A new covenant will God make with them in that day, widely different from that which he made with their fathers, when he brought them forth out of Egypt [Note: Jeremiah 31:31-34.]. In the new covenant, provision shall be made for the remission of all their sins, for the mortification of all their lusts, and for their entire restoration both to the favour and to the image of their God [Note: ver. 23–26.]. In former days, God dwelt with them visibly, by the bright Shechinah, the symbol of his presence; and in his tabernacle he revealed himself in a way that he never had done to any people from the foundation of the world; avouching himself to be their God, and them to be his peculiar people [Note: ver. 27. with Revelation 21:2-3.]. And again, at the latter-day will his manifestations of himself to them be not a whit less bright and glorious, insomuch that all the nations of the world shall be constrained to acknowledge them as the people whom, above all others upon earth, Jehovah has been pleased to bless and honour [Note: ver. 28.]. Their holiness and happiness will

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far transcend any thing experienced by their forefathers; “the light of the moon will become as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound [Note: Isaiah 30:26.].”

Now, from these things will be seen what is the true character of the Millennium. It is not in their external state that the Jews will be changed, more than in the state of their souls before God. In truth, it is the spiritual change which will chiefly mark the glory of their latter-day: it will consist not so much in any political revolution, like that of the restoration of the Jews to their own land, as in the establishment of Christ’s kingdom upon earth, and the subjugation of the whole world to the obedience of Christ.]

The sign intimated by the prophet having been realized before the eyes of his people, having assured to us the accomplishment of his prophecy, we will proceed to contemplate,

II. The prediction verified—

Let us place ourselves on an eminence, and behold it, as st were, accomplishing before our eyes. Behold in it,

1. What a display of God’s power!

[The Scriptures speak highly of God’s power in raising up such an innumerable seed from Abraham and Sarah, at a time when, according to the course of nature, they could have no hope of any progeny. Greatly also is his power magnified in bringing out that nation from their bondage in Egypt. The deliverance also of the Jews from Babylon is marked, as illustrating in no ordinary degree the boundless power of Jehovah. But all of these together are nothing, in comparison of that power which he will display, when he shall, in every quarter of the globe, convert the souls of his ancient people, and restore them in safety to their former inheritance. We are

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particularly told, that the redemption from Egypt will then no longer be mentioned, by reason of the more glorious deliverance which will be vouchsafed unto them.]

2. What a proof of his veracity!

[God promised to Abraham and his descendants the full and entire possession of the land of Canaan: yet it was four hundred and thirty years, before either he or his posterity possessed, with the exception of a burial-place, so much ground as to set his foot upon. Their deliverance from Egypt had been predicted; but their deliverance was delayed so long, that if it had continued one day longer, God’s promise to Abraham would have been broken. But behold, on the self-same day he brought them forth; and thereby he shewed himself mindful of the promise which he had given above four hundred years before. At the expiration, too, of seventy years, the time fixed for their captivity in Babylon, God brought them forth from thence also. As to the time fixed for their return from their present dispersion, we are unable with certainty to declare precisely when it shall arrive: but, according to every calculation, we have reason to believe it fast approaching; and at the appointed period the event shall assuredly be accomplished. And how wonderfully will it attest the unchangeableness of God, “not one jot or tittle of whose word can ever fail!”]

3. What an exhibition of his grace!

[The sovereignty of God was clearly shewn, in his choice of Abraham from the midst of an idolatrous family and nation: nor less so in limiting his blessings to the lines of Isaac and Jacob, to the exclusion of the eider branches of Ishmael and Esau. Every part of the Divine administration towards the people of Israel gives, in like manner, ample demonstration of the sovereignty of his grace. The preservation, too, of that people, as distinct from all the nations of the earth, proves, that nothing shall, or ever can, defeat the purposes of his grace. Certainly, if any thing could prevail on God to annul his covenant, the conduct of that people must have done it. From the very beginning, they were a disobedient and stiff-necked people. In the wilderness itself, yea, and even at the Red Sea, where such a wonderful interposition had appeared in their favour, they rebelled against their God. At all times were they

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ready to cast off their allegiance to God, and to place their confidence on stocks and stones. And at last they filled up the measure of their iniquities, by rejecting their Messiah, and crucifying the Lord of glory. To all this we may add their long impenitence, during eighteen centuries, notwithstanding they know and acknowledge that they are cast off from God on account of their impieties. How astonishing, then, will the freeness and richness of God’s grace appear, when he shall take these persons from their dispersion, revealing himself to them, bringing them forth from every corner of the earth, manifesting the Saviour to them, and returning himself to them as their covenant God and portion! If, in the election of them at first, the grace of God was eminently displayed, much more will it be glorified in such mercies vouchsafed to them after such heinous and manifold transgressions.]

4. What a call to the whole world to serve and obey him!

[God has spoken in his works; but his voice is not heard. He has also spoken by his word; but that word is known to a very small part of mankind. But in that day he will speak to all the whole world at once; and in such terms, that it will be impossible for any to misapprehend his meaning. In the chapter before us he has said, “The heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore [Note: ver. 28.].” The Jews are spread in almost every part of the world. Their conversion to God being simultaneous in every country, it will attract the attention of all, and create a vast sensation through the whole world. The victories, too, which they will gain over all who shall oppose their establishment in their own land will yet further demonstrate, not only that God is with them, but that there is no other God but He. They will be struck, as Baal’s worshippers were by the fire which descended from heaven to consume Elijah’s sacrifice; and will exclaim, with wonder and amazement, “The Lord, he is the God! the Lord, he is the God!” Instantly will multitudes, in every place, “lay hold on the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we see that God is with you of a truth [Note: Zechariah 8:23.].” In truth, it will be a signal to all mankind to acknowledge Christ as their Lord and Saviour; and it will “be as life from the dead [Note: Romans 11:15.]” to the whole world.]

Address—

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[And now, brethren, be ye all as one stick in my hand: and let every one amongst you, whatever be the diversity of his age or station, submit to Christ as your King, and live in dependence on him as your Shepherd. Enter now into “God’s covenant of peace,” that you may be partakers of all its privileges and blessings. Let God himself dwell in you, as in his temple of old: be ye altogether a people unto him, and let him be your God and portion for ever. These blessings will characterize the Millennial age, and be vouchsafed in a more abundant measure to his people that shall hereafter return unto him: yet are they to be enjoyed at this present hour by all who truly believe in Christ. Why then should so much as one of you remain destitute of these blessings? May God of his infinite mercy make you all like-minded in relation to them! and may the time quickly arrive, when God’s ancient people shall experience them in their souls, and “all flesh shall see the salvation of God!”]

COFFMAN, "Verse 15

"The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, And thou, son of man, take the one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions; and join them for thee one to another into one stick, that they become one in thy hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show unto us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 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, even the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand."

ORACLE OF THE TWO JOINED STICKS

This was an enacted oracle, a kind of parable, in which the ultimate union of the two nations of ancient Israel was foretold. Ezekiel evidently prepared these two sticks and then united them in the presence of the people, who were of course accustomed to this type of symbolical behavior on the part of Ezekiel. This led to the question

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they immediately asked him.

We are not told how Ezekiel did this, whether by interlocking notches held together by cords, or by some kind of cement. No kind of miraculous joining of the sticks is indicated in the text.

The meaning of the oracle is clear enough. It foretold the eventual reunion of Ephraim and Judah, the Northern Israel and the Southern Israel, Samaria and Jerusalem under one king, thus healing the long breach that had begun in the days of Rehoboam who succeeded Solomon.

"Judah and the children of Israel his companions ... and Ephraim and the tribes of Israel his companions ..." (Ezekiel 37:16,19). It is significant here that God through Ezekiel did not recognize Ephraim as "the Israel of God," a title that Ephraim had arrogantly usurped for themselves. He appeared here in his true status as Ephraim with whom certain tribes of Israel were associated. Judah, through whom the great Davidic king would come, was always the true center of the ancient Israel, not Ephraim.

"Joseph cannot alone represent the Northern kingdom, so `the tribes associated with him' are also mentioned in the inscription on his stick, thus reserving the name `Israel' for the whole people of God."[13] It is also significant, in this connection, that, `In the hand of Ephraim,' (Ezekiel 37:19) indicates that certain tribes were controlled by Ephraim; but the oracle of the united two sticks points out that they shall not remain in the hand of Ephraim, because they are, "contrasted with `mine hand' (Ezekiel 37:19), that is, the hand of God."[14]

PULPIT, "Ezekiel 37:15-28

The "word" embodied in this section was probably communicated to the prophet at the close of the preceding vision. Its connection with this is apparent, treating as it does of the union of the then severed branches of the house of Israel, and of the

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subsequent prosperity which should attend united Israel under the rule of the Messianic King of the future. That this oracle, like the former, had only a temporary and partial accomplishment in the return from captivity is so obvious as to stand in no need of demonstration. Its true fulfillment must be sought in the future ingathering of Israel to the Christian Church.

16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’

BARNES, "A prophecy of the reunion of Israel and Judah, the incorporation of Israel under one Ruler, the kingdom of Messiah upon earth and in heaven.Eze_37:16

One stick - So in the marginal reference the names of the tribes had been written on rods or sticks.For Judah ... - To the house of David had remained faithful, not only Judah, but also Benjamin, Levi, and part of Simeon, and individual members of various tribes 2Ch_11:12-16. Compare the marginal references.Joseph ... Ephraim - Compare Psa_78:67; Hos_5:5 ff “Joseph” is the general name here for the ten tribes, including “Ephraim,” the chief tribe, and his companions. Omit “for” before “all.” “All the house of Israel” is here the ten tribes.

CLARKE, "Son of man, take thee one stick - The two sticks mentioned in this symbolical transaction represented, as the text declares the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, which were formed in the days of Rehoboam, and continued distinct till the time

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of the captivity. The kingdom of Judah was composed of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with the Levites; all the rest went off in the schism with Jeroboam, and formed the kingdom of Israel. Though some out of those tribes did rejoin themselves to Judah, yet no whole tribe ever returned to that kingdom. Common sufferings in their captivity became the means of reviving a kinder feeling; and to encourage this, God promises that he will reunite them, and restore them to their own land; and that there shall no more be any divisions or feuds among them. To represent this in such a way as would make it a subject of thought, reflection, and inquiry, the prophet is ordered to take the two sticks mentioned above, to write on them the distinguishing names of the divided kingdoms, and then by a notch, dovetail, glue, or some such method, to unite them both before the people. He did so, and on their inquiry, showed them the full meaning of this symbolical action.

GILL, "Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick,.... Or "wood" (a); a stick of wood; or table, as the Targum; a board or plank. The Septuagint version renders it a "rod"; and so the Arabic; an emblem of a kingdom or government, as this was: and write upon it; the following words: for Judah, and the children of Israel his companions; for the tribe of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, which adhered together, and as many of the other tribes which joined them; the godly and religious of the rest of the tribes, who could not give into the idolatry of Jeroboam: then take another stick; like the former: and write upon it; these words: for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions; for the tribe of Ephraim, and the other nine tribes, which together made up one kingdom. It should be observed, that in the times of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, there was a division in the kingdom of Israel; ten tribes revolted from him, and only the two whole tribes of Judah and Benjamin continued with him; and from that time to the captivity, and even during that, as it seems, there were continual animosities and bickerings between the two kingdoms, on account both of their political and religious affairs, especially the latter; and an union between them this emblem is designed to signify, as will hereafter appear. Jeroboam, the first king of the ten tribes, was of the tribe of Ephraim; and Samaria, the metropolis of the kingdom, was in that tribe; hence Ephraim often stands for all the ten tribes, for the kingdom of Israel, as distinct from that of Judah. Writing words on sticks or rods seems to be in allusion to what was done Num_17:2.

JAMISON, "stick — alluding to Num_17:2, the tribal rod. The union of the two rods was a prophecy in action of the brotherly union which is to reunite the ten tribes and Judah. As their severance under Jeroboam was fraught with the greatest evil to the covenant-people, so the first result of both being joined by the spirit of life to God is that

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they become joined to one another under the one covenant King, Messiah-David.Judah, and ... children of Israel his companions — that is, Judah and, besides Benjamin and Levi, those who had joined themselves to him of Ephraim, Manasseh, Simeon, Asher, Zebulun, Issachar, as having the temple and lawful priesthood in his borders (2Ch_11:12, 2Ch_11:13, 2Ch_11:16; 2Ch_15:9; 2Ch_30:11, 2Ch_30:18). The latter became identified with Judah after the carrying away of the ten tribes, and returned with Judah from Babylon, and so shall be associated with that tribe at the future restoration.For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim — Ephraim’s posterity took the lead, not only of the other descendants of Joseph (compare Eze_37:19), but of the ten tribes of Israel. For four hundred years, during the period of the judges, with Manasseh and Benjamin, its dependent tribes, it had formerly taken the lead: Shiloh was its religious capital; Shechem, its civil capital. God had transferred the birthright from Reuben (for dishonoring his father’s bed) to Joseph, whose representative, Ephraim, though the younger, was made (Gen_48:19; 1Ch_5:1). From its pre-eminence “Israel” is attached to it as “companions.” The “all” in this case, not in that of Judah, which has only attached as “companions” “the children of Israel” (that is, some of them, namely, those who followed the fortunes of Judah), implies that the bulk of the ten tribes did not return at the restoration from Babylon, but are distinct from Judah, until the coming union with it at the restoration.

COKE, "Ezekiel 37:16. Take thee one stick, &c.— Take—and write upon it, Judah, and the children of Israel, &c. Then—Joseph, the stick Ephraim, and of all the house, &c. The design of this metaphorical action was to mark out the reunion of the tribes, after the return from Babylon; but, in a more elevated sense, the assemblage, not only of the Jews of all the tribes, but also of the people of all nations, to the church of Jesus Christ. See Romans 11:17-18 the subsequent verses of this chapter, Numbers 17:2. 2 Chronicles 11:12; 2 Chronicles 13:16 and Calmet. " (16) One stick . . . another stick.—These are not rods, as in Numbers 17:6-9,

although Ezekiel may have had that event in mind; the word here is an entirely different one, and means simply a piece of wood. The two pieces were, no doubt, so shaped that being firmly held together they would appear as one.

For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions.—The object is to represent by the two pieces of wood the two kingdoms. It would be insufficient, therefore, to mention Judah only; for with him Benjamin had been always associated, and also considerable fragments of the other tribes (2 Chronicles 11:16; 2 Chronicles 15:9). After the fall of the northern kingdom, individual members of the ten tribes who had not been carried into captivity joined themselves more or less

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completely to the kingdom of Judah (2 Chronicles 30:11-18; 2 Chronicles 31:1).

For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim.—Joseph, as including the two great tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, is put for the whole of the ten tribes, and Ephraim is specified as being the leading tribe, and this makes necessary the addition, “and all the house of Israel his companions,” to show that the whole northern kingdom is included. The word for, in italics, should be omitted.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions:

Ver. 16. Take thee one stick.] A cleft stick, which is res vilis et exilis, a poor business in itself; but if God please to make use of so slender a thing, it may serve for very great purpose; as here by the uniting of two sorry sticks in the hand of the prophet is prefigured the uniting of Judah and Israel, yea, of Jews and Gentiles, "in the hand of the Lord," that is, in Christ Jesus, who is the hand, the right hand, and the arm of God the Father.

His companions,] i.e., Benjamin and Levi. [2 Chronicles 11:12-13]

POOLE, " One stick; tablet, i.e. a writing tablet or a tally, such as is fitted to be written upon, or a rod, or staff, on which thou mayst write; the Hebrew calls it wood, without describing its form and fashion; but whatever its fashion was, it must be but one.

Write upon it; the inscription is not only commanded, but the words also in which it is to be written.

For Judah; the tribe, or possibly the kingdom; if the latter, then the companions 158

mentioned will be such as in process of time fell off from the ten tribes, and united with the kingdom of the house of David; if the former, which is most likely, then

the children of Israel, his companions, are Benjamin and Levi in part, who kept, with the tribe of Judah, their obedience to David’s seed.

Then; when thou hast written on the first stick, then take

another stick; a second stick, such as the first was.

For Joseph; he was father of two tribes, one of which was chief of the ten tribes, and is therefore mentioned here.

The stick of Ephraim; Ephraim was the son of Joseph, whom his grandfather blessed, and by prophetic Spirit foretold and promised that he should be one of the chief of all the tribes; and Ephraim was most considerable in the kingdom of Israel when divided from the other two.

All the house of Israel; the other nine tribes.

His companions; who did at first side, and have continued still, with Ephraim. Some say Ephraim was the whole kingdom of the ten tribes, and that his companions were the Gentiles converted to the faith of Christ, which I wish were well proved.

PULPIT, "Take thee one stick, and write. The symbolic action thus prescribed to the prophet was manifestly based on the well-known historical fact that the tribes of Israel, in Mosaic times, had been represented by a rod, on which was inscribed the name of the tribe (Numbers 17:2); but whether the stick Ezekiel was instructed to take was a staff, ῥάβδος (LXX; Hirernick, Hitzig, Kliefoth, and Smend), or a block

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(Ewald), or simply a piece (Keil, Schroder) of wood on which a few words might be traced, cannot be decided. On the first stick the prophet was directed to write, For Judah, and the house of his companions; i.e. for the southern kingdom and those of the northern tribes who adhered to it, as e.g. Benjamin, Levi, and part of Simeon, with those devout Jehovah-worshippers who from time to time emigrated from other tribes and settled in the land of Judah (2 Chronicles 11:12-16; 2 Chronicles 15:9; 2 Chronicles 30:11, 2 Chronicles 30:18, 31; 2 Chronicles 31:1; though by Wellhausen, Smend, and others, such passages are pronounced unhistorical). On the second stick also the prophet was directed to write; but whether For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for (or, of) all the house of Israel his companions (Authorized and Revised Versions), or "For Joseph and the whole house of Israel" (Keil), or simply "For Joseph" (Ewald, Havernick, Smend), cannot be determined. Each interpretation can be supported by quite reasonable considerations. For the first may be pleaded that it best accords with the natural sense of the text; for the second, that the phrase, the stick of Ephraim, appears to be explanatory of and in opposition to "For Joseph;" for the third, that all the house of Israel stands, like "Ephraim," under the regimen of "stick." The introduction of Joseph as the representative of the northern kingdom rests, not on the fact that Joseph's was the most honorable name among the ten tribes (Havernick), but on the circumstance that the tribe of Joseph, as represented by Ephraim and Manasseh, constituted the main body of the northern kingdom. The addition of Ephraim's name is best accounted for by remembering that in his hand lay the hegemony of the kingdom. "All the house of Israel his companions" signified the rest of the ten tribes. That the two sticks, when joined together in the prophet's hand, were to become one cannot signify that they were then and there to be miraculously united.

17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.

GILL, "And join them one to another into one stick,.... Clap the sticks, planks, 160

boards, or tables, to one another; glue them together, or set them so close to one another, that they may seem as one stick, plank, board, or table: and they shall become one in thine hand; they shall look as if they were one. R. Joseph Kimchi, the father of David, thinks they really became one, by means of a miracle wrought; but there is no need to suppose this; it is enough that they appeared to be so.TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

Ver. 17. And join them one to another into one stick.] See on Ezekiel 37:16. Man and wife are as these two branches in the prophet’s hand, enclosed in one bark; and so closing together that they make but one branch.

POOLE, "Join them: some would have this done miraculously, but I do not think God bade the prophet work a miracle; were it so, God would rather have said, I will make them one, for he can do miracles. It was enough if glued together, or but held in his hand, so that in his hand they were one.

18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’

GILL, "And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying,.... The children of Israel and Judah in captivity, of which people Ezekiel was and to whom he was sent as a prophet; who seeing him take two sticks, and write on them, and then join them together, would naturally put such a question to him: wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these? for they concluded he had some meaning in it, and that it was not a mere childish diversion and amusement; and therefore would desire that he would let them know what it was: whether they would ask this seriously or in banter, out of curiosity or in contempt, as they sometimes did; it matters not, he was to give them an answer, as follows; though, by the manner of their

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putting the question, it looks as if they were doubtful whether he would or not; since they had treated him in a sneering way on such like occasions before.

JAMISON, "God does not explain the symbolical prophecy until the Jews have been stimulated by the type to consult the prophet.TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou [meanest] by these?

Ver. 18. Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?] People, though they should not be question sick, as some in St Paul’s time were, [1 Timothy 6:4] yet they should be inquisitive after truth according to godliness. [Titus 1:1]

POOLE, " When; so soon as.

The children of thy people; to whom thou art watchman by office, and near of kin by natural descent.

Wilt thou not? there was some reason why they might doubt whether he would, because they had carried it so, frowardly toward him; therefore they request it by an interrogatory, Wilt thou not? We shall never know the meaning unless thou unfold it; wilt thou not do it then?

PETT, "Verses 18-20

“And when the children of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not show what you mean by these?’, you say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh. 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, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand.’ And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.”

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The sight of the two sticks ‘made one’ in their eyes was to be a vivid message. Just as the sticks were ‘made one’ in Ezekiel’s hand so Yahweh intended both peoples to be taken into His hand and become one. Tribal jealousies were to become a thing of the past. We can compare the similar idea in Zechariah 11:7-14, which was probably based on this prophecy, where the unity was broken because of sin.

PULPIT, "Ezekiel 37:18-20

Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these? literally, what these (two pieces of wood) are to thee. The suggestion that such a request would be preferred to Ezekiel makes it clear he was meant to perform the symbolic action in public. That his countrymen should fail to understand this action accorded with their proverbial dullness of apprehension (comp. Ezekiel 12:9; Ezekiel 24:19). In explanation, the prophet was enjoined to say unto them, while holding the sticks in his hand, that just as he had made the sticks one in his hand, so would God make one in his hand the two kingdoms symbolized by the sticks. The union of the sticks was to be Ezekiel's work (verse 17, "in thy hand"); the union of the kingdoms should be Jehovah's (verse 19, "in my hand"). The separation of the kingdoms had been Ephraim's doing ("in the hand of Ephraim"); their combination should be God's ("in my hand"). Their severance had been effected, on the part of Ephraim, by an unlawful breaking off from the house of Judah, and the establishment of an independent kingdom; their unification should be brought about by the putting down of Ephraim, and the confirming of the crown rights of Judah. The translation, And will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, signifying "And will put the tribes of Israel with him." i.e. the tribe of Judah, supported by the LXX; and preferred by Ewald, Smend, and others, is superior to that of the Revised Version margin, "And will put them together with it, unto [or, ' to be'] the stick of Judah." Keil s rendering, "I will take the stick of Joseph … and the tribes of Israel his companions, which I put thereon [literally, 'and I put them,' viz. the tribes, 'upon it,' i.e. the stick of Joseph] with the stick of Judah," is too involved.

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19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’

BARNES, "Eze_37:19In the hand of Ephraim - Because Ephraim was the ruling tribe; the words are contrasted with “in mine hand.”

CLARKE, "The stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim -Jeroboam, the first king of the ten tribes, was an Ephraimite. Joseph represents the ten tribes in general; they were in the hand of Ephraim, that is, under the government of Jeroboam.

GILL, "Say unto them, thus saith the Lord God,.... Here follows the explanation of the sign or emblem: behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows: that is, the kingdom of Israel, consisting of the ten tribes, of which Ephraim was the chief: and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah; with the kingdom of Judah: and make them one stick; these two kingdoms one kingdom: and they shall be one in my hand: in Christ, the hand and arm of the Lord; one under his care, government, and protection, as after explained: this had in part, and as a shadow of what was to come, its fulfilment upon the Jews' return from Babylon; when many of the ten tribes, as well as the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, came from thence, and became one nation and kingdom under one prince, until the coming of

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Christ; and it had a further accomplishment in the union of converted Jews and Gentiles in one body: but this is chiefly designed as an emblem of the union of the Jews one to another, when they shall be converted in the latter day; when they shall join together in seeking the Lord, and David, their King, the Messiah; who shall be the one King over them, as is afterwards said; and when all animosities shall cease, both among them, and among all the spiritual Israel of God in general; see Isa_11:13

JAMISON, "The union effected at the restoration from Babylon embraced but comparatively few of Israel; a future complete fulfillment must therefore be looked for.

stick of Joseph ... in the hand of Ephraim — Ephraim, of the descendants of Joseph, had exercised the rule among the ten tribes: that rule, symbolized by the “stick,” was now to be withdrawn from him, and to be made one with the other, Judah’s rule, in God’s hand.them — the “stick of Joseph,” would strictly require “it”; but Ezekiel expresses the sense, namely, the ten tribes who were subject to it.with him — that is, Judah; or “it,” that is, the stick of Judah.

ELLICOTT, " (19) Which is in the hand of Ephraim.—Again Joseph is put for the whole ten tribes, and again it is indicated that the control of these was chiefly with Ephraim. The human power, which led to and perpetuated the division, is in contrast with the “mine hand,” where all shall be re-united under Divine rule.

Will put them.—Grammatically the plural pronoun “them” refers to the piece of wood, which is in the singular; but the construction is according to the sense, the wood representing the ten tribes.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD Behold, I 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 one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

Ver. 19. And make them one stick.] Taking away the deadly feud that hath so long time been between them, breaking down the partition wall, &c. I will once more bring them all under one king, and make them of one mind. Religion is the only best bond of affection. The very heathens honoured the primitive Christians for their unanimity. See Song of Solomon 6:9. {See Trapp on "Song of Solomon 6:9"}

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POOLE, " The stick of Joseph; on which Joseph’s name is written, and which represents Joseph.

Which is in the hand of Ephraim; which was under the government of Ephraim; or thus, which is the tribe of Ephraim, the latter explaining the former.

His fellows: Ezekiel 37:16.

Put them with him; Judah and his companions. One stick; one kingdom, one people, whereas these have been divided and enemies a great while.

They shall be one; real, cordial in their union.

In mine hand; under my government, care, and blessing. This is the meaning, God will make the two divided kingdoms one in his hand, as I make these two sticks one in my hand.

20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on

BARNES, "Eze_37:20This sign was literally enacted in the presence of the people, not, like some signs,

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merely in vision (see the Eze_3:1 note).

GILL, "And the sticks whereon thou writest,.... Or art about to write the above things, according to order and direction: shall be in thine hand before their eyes; shall be held up to them to look at for some time, and observe the cement of the two sticks; and learn and lay up in their minds what is meant by this emblem; and be assured that what is hereafter said as a further explication of it shall certainly be fulfilled.

COFFMAN, "Verse 20

"And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in try hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one 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; neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and, I will be their God."

GOD EXPLAINS THE MEANING

"And one king shall be king to them all ..." (Ezekiel 37:22). What can this mean? "The first phase of this was fulfilled when Israel came into Canaan as one people without distinction between Ephraim or Judah; and the final phase of it, their obedience to `one king,' is still future."[15] We can agree with Cook to the extent that the second phase has not been fulfilled in over two thousand years; but we cannot follow his additional comment that the complete fulfillment will come, "When all Israel shall acknowledge the rule of Christ."[16] Our position is that "All Israel" has already acknowledged Christ and serve him continually. There is no Israel (in the sense of the true Israel) who are not following the Saviour, who alone is the True Vine, the real Israel; and there is no other!

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Clarke has a wonderful comment on Ezekiel 37:22 -

"One king shall be king to them all. Politically speaking, they never had a king from that day to this; and that grand government spoken of here must refer to some other time - to that when they shall be brought into the Christian Church with the fullness of the Gentiles, when Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords shall rule over them."[17]

Like many other great students of God's Word, Clarke here overlooked the fact that Israel, as represented by the "righteous remnant,' the apostles of Jesus, the ingathering on Pentecost, etc. have already come into Christ who is now ruling over the true Israel of God, as seen in Matthew 19:28. Certainly that event must be associated with "the times of the regeneration," that is, the times of "the new birth," which by any logical interpretation must be identified with the current dispensation of the grace of God.

Some quote Paul from Romans 11:26, "So all Israel shall be saved," as if it said "Then all Israel shall be saved," which, of course, it does not say. What is meant is that "In this manner," that is, by accepting and obeying Christ, and in no other way, but in this way alone, SO all Israel shall be saved. ("See our elaboration of this in Vol. 6 of our New Testament Series, in loco.")

"One king shall be king to them all ..." (Ezekiel 37:22). "This was not Zerubbabel, who was never a king, either in fact or in name, and who ruled over a very few Jews for a very few years; whereas the king here reigns forever. Messiah is meant. The union of Judah and Ephraim alike under one king is actually a reference to the union of Jews and Gentiles (with whom Ephraim and his tribes were at that phase of history identified) under the Messiah."[18]

ELLICOTT, " (20) Before their eyes.—The symbolical action was not only to be performed before the people, but the united wood was to remain in the prophet’s hand, while he unfolded to them the Divine promise. That promise is essentially a

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repetition of Ezekiel 34:11-31; Ezekiel 36:22-30.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.

Ver. 20. Shall be in thine hand before their eyes.] That by this vision publicly acted they may be the better affected.

21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.

BARNES, "Eze_37:21The gathering together of the children of Israel was to take effect in the first place in the return from Babylon, when the distinction of Israel and Judah should cease. The full completion concerns times still future, when all Israel shall come in to acknowledge the rule of Christ.

GILL, "And say unto them, thus saith the Lord God,.... Or, as the Targum, "thou shalt prophesy to them;'' for what follows is a prophecy of what shall be in the latter day:

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behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the Heathen, whither they be gone, or, "from among the Gentiles" (b); not only the Chaldeans, where they were carried captives; but from among the nations where they are now dispersed, and among whom they go freely of their own accord from place to place, for the sake of traffic: and this phrase, "whither they be gone", or "are going" (c), travelling about from one country to another, better describes the present Jews, and their state, than those in the Babylonian captivity: and will gather them on every side, or, "round about" (d); from the several parts of the world where they are: and bring them into their own land; the land of Canaan, given by the Lord to their fathers, and to them their posterity, for an inheritance; though now in the possession of others, who, it seems, are not the right owners.

ELLICOTT, " (21) Will gather them.—The restoration of Israel from their captivity among the heathen here, as often elsewhere, is the first step in the fulfilment of the Divine promises. This, however, like the other Divine promises, was fulfilled only to a “remnant,” a course which, as St. Paul shows in Romans 9, had been foreseen and foretold from the first. A fulfilment on a larger scale was perpetually prevented by the sins of the people; God did for them all that their obdurate disobedience would allow Him to do. Yet He did not wholly reject them, but allowed a remnant to keep alive His Church, and become the channel of those richer blessings of the new covenant, in which all who will accept His salvation are united in a holier bond, and led to a land of higher promise than Israel after the flesh could ever know.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD Behold, I 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:

Ver. 21. Behold, I will take the children of Israel,] This was fulfilled when the Jews, and with them many of the ten tribes also, returned to their own country under Zerubbabel and Ezra. As for the rest of the ten tribes that returned not, they degenerated into Gentiles. The Jews say that they were shut up by Alexander the Great in the Caspian mountains, and shall therehence break forth when the Messiah appeareth. Of the Jews in general Tacitus hath observed, that they are very kind to their own countrymen, but to all others very cruel. This might haply move Alexander to serve them in that kind. There are those who understand that text, [Revelation 16:12] the kings of the East, concerning the ten tribes whom they place

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in China, which is called the "land of Sinim," as Junius conjectureth; [Isaiah 49:12] and who knows but that when all Israel shall be called, [Romans 11:26] raised from the dead, [Ezekiel 37:14] joined into one stick, as here, many of those poor heathens in Asia and America may have part in the same resurrection?

POOLE, " See this explained Ezekiel 36:24.

The children of Israel; the ten tribes, as well as Judah and Benjamin; at least, many of the ten tribes.

Whither they be gone: the expression seems to look to them that were gone among the heathen by a voluntary peregrination, whether before the captivity or after it I will not conjecture; but it is likely enough to me, that among the Jews carried away, and among their children, there were some that were uneasy where they were against their wills, who would ramble and range over countries, hoping to fare better; and perhaps these wanderers may be the persons meant by this gone, where they are who walked thither, as the Hebrew.

On every side; the wind was to come from the four coasts of heaven, Ezekiel 37:9, thereby telling us they should, as here, be gathered on every side.

PETT, "Verse 21-22

“And say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them to their own land, and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king to them all, and they will no more be two nations, nor will they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.”

The world had been divided at Babel (Babylon - Genesis 11:1-9). Then later God’s covenant people had been divided. Now the process of healing and restoration was

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to begin by their being restored to their land and cemented together as one nation in the land. Then they would come under one king, a son of David ruling over formerly divided Israel. Note the rare use of the word ‘king’ by Ezekiel in relation to the rulers of Israel. Elsewhere it is only used where captivity was in mind or where they are demeaned (Ezekiel 1:2; Ezekiel 7:27; Ezekiel 17:12-16; Ezekiel 43:7). For it was Yahweh and His chosen future representative who were truly king over Israel.

The fact that they were to be ‘gathered in from every side’ again confirms that Israelites were expected to return from many lands. And the purpose of this was that they may be made as one under one king. And when Jesus, the son of David, came, proclaiming the Kingly Rule of God this was His aim, ‘that they may be one even as we are’ (John 17:22).

PULPIT, "Ezekiel 37:21-28

explain how the unification of the two kingdoms should be brought about. The first step should be the bringing of the people home to their own land (Ezekiel 37:21, Ezekiel 37:22); the second, their purification from idolatry (Ezekiel 37:23); the third, the installation over them, thus united and purified, of one King, the ideal David of the future, or the Messiah (Ezekiel 37:24, Ezekiel 37:25); the fourth, the establishment with them of Jehovah's covenant of peace (Ezekiel 37:26), and the permanent erection amongst them of Jehovah's temple (Ezekiel 37:27, Ezekiel 37:28).

Ezekiel 37:21, Ezekiel 37:22

I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen. That tills promise was intended to find an initial and partial fulfillment in the return from Babylon is undoubted. That it was also designed to look across the centuries towards the final ingathering of God's spiritual Israel into their permanent inheritance, the heavenly Canaan, an examination of its terms shows. These clearly presuppose a wider dispersion of Israel than had then, i.e. in Ezekiel's day, taken place; and that Israel has never yet been made one nation upon the mountains of Israel, is incontestable.

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Nor is there ground for expecting she ever will be. Not even after the exile closed did all Israel return to Palestine. Nor did it ever come true in their experience that one king was king to them all, since, in point of fact, they never afterwards had an earthly sore-reign at all who was properly independent. If, therefore, the prince who in the future should shepherd them was not to be a temporal monarch, but the Messiah, the probability is that the Israel he should shepherd was designed to be, not Israel after the flesh, but Israel after the spirit, who should walk in his judgments and observe his statutes, and who, in the fullness of the times, should develop out into the Christian Church. Hence it seems reasonable to conclude that their own land, into which they should eventually be brought, would be not so much the veritable soil from which their ancestors had been expelled, as the country or region in which the new, rejuvenated, reunited, and reformed Israel should dwell, which, again, should be n territory cleansed from sin and idolatry, so as to render it a fit abode for a people devoted to righteousness. Viewed in this light, their own land was first Canaan, in so far as after the exile it was cleansed from idolatry; now it is those portions of the earth in which the Christian Church has been planted, so far as these are influenced by the holy principles of religion; finally, it will be the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness (scrap. Ezekiel 34:24; Ezekiel 36:24).

22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.

BARNES, "Eze_37:22173

One king - The restoration of Israel to their native soil will lead the way to the coming of the promised King, the Son of David, who will gather into His kingdom the true Israel, all who shall by faith be acknowledged as the Israel of God. The reign of the One King David is the reign of Christ in His kingdom, the Church.

CLARKE, "I will make them one nation - There was no distinction after the return from Babylon.

And one king shall be king to them all - Politically speaking they never had a king from that day to this; and the grand junction and government spoken of here must refer to another time - to that in which they shall be brought into the Christian Church with the fullness of the Gentiles; when Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, shall rule over all.

GILL, "And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, As they were in the times of David and Solomon, who were both types of the Messiah; and to whose times is referred this prophecy by the ancient Jews (e), as then to have its accomplishment: and one king shall be king to them all, not Zerubbabel, nor Nehemiah, nor Judas Maccabaeus; for these were neither of them kings; and much less such as reigned for ever, as it is said this king shall, Eze_37:25, besides, he is expressly said to be David, that is, the Messiah the son of David; and this clause is by a modern Jewish (f) writer applied to him: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all; which is the very thing the two sticks made one were an emblem of.

JAMISON, "one nation — (Isa_11:13; Jer_3:18; Hos_1:11).one king — not Zerubbabel, who was not a king either in fact or name, and who ruled over but a few Jews, and that only for a few years; whereas the King here reigns for ever. MESSIAH is meant (Eze_34:23, Eze_34:24). The union of Judah and Israel under King Messiah symbolizes the union of Jews and Gentiles under Him, partly now, perfectly hereafter (Eze_37:24; Joh_10:16).

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one 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:

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Ver. 22. And I will make them one nation.] Who were before at deadly feud, and fought many bloody battles. Solemur et nos hac promissione contra schismata, Let us also comfort ourselves with this promise against schisms, saith Oecolampadius. Christ will cause the false prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land; [Zechariah 13:2] he will also so work in the hearts of his people, that they shall, "with one mind and one mouth, glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." [Romans 15:6]

POOLE, " I will make them one nation: they were one in David’s time, who was type of the Messiah, and continued so to the end of Solomon’s time, whose name includes peace. So when the Beloved, the Peace-maker, the Messiah shall be King, and on his throne exercising his kingly power, they shall be once more one again.

In the land of Canaan, called here, as elsewhere,

the mountains of Israel. One king; Messiah; the most and best, if not the learnedest, interpreters understand not Zerubbabel, nor Nehemiah, nor Judas Maccabeus.

No more two nations; the union under the Messiah’s visible and actual exercise of his regal power shall be perpetual. From this place, so full and express for a firm, lasting union between the two nations Ephraim and Judah, and their being of two kingdoms made one in the land whence they were scattered, some take occasion to inquire whether it be fulfilled already, or remaineth yet to be accomplished; the discussion whereof, as it would be very alien to a literal paraphrase, and too prolix, I pass over, saying no more of it in the affirmative or negative.

23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses,

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for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,[b] and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

GILL, "Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols,.... With their dung, or dunghill gods (g); either with the idols of the Gentiles, or their own: after their return from the Babylonish captivity, the Jews were no more addicted to idolatry; and the image worship of the Papists is an abhorrence to them at this day, and a stumblingblock to them in their embracing Christianity: and when they are effectually called and converted to Christ; they will no more have respect to the idols, the works of their own hands; or to the idol of their own righteousness, which they have set up, and have gone about to establish, and to make to stand; they will then see it to be as filthy rags, defiling to them, instead of justifying of them; and therefore shall reject it, and no more defile themselves with it; but seek the righteousness of Christ, which justifies from all sin, and renders pure and spotless in the sight of God, nor with their detestable things; or "abominations" (h); the traditions of the elders, which they have preferred to the word of God, and made the rule of their faith, worship, and conversation; which has made them detestable unto God: nor with any of their transgressions; particularly their disbelief of Christ and their blasphemy against him; nor shall they indulge themselves in those sins which now prevail among them, as pride, covetousness, uncleanness, fraud, and tricking in their trade and commerce: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned; as wherever they dwell they do; they are notorious for their wickedness; but God will bring them out of all these places, where they have lived in sin, and been the occasion of it to some, as well as followed the example of others: and will cleanse them; by sprinkling clean water upon them; by applying the blood of Christ to them, which cleanses from all sin see Eze_36:25, so they shall be my people, and will be their God; the "loammi" will be taken off, and the covenant of grace shall be renewed with them, and made manifest to them; and the blessings and promises shall be applied to them, and particularly this; see Jer_31:1.

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JAMISON, "(Eze_36:25).out of ... their dwelling-places — (Eze_36:28, Eze_36:33). I will remove them from the scene of their idolatries to dwell in their own land, and to serve idols no more.

ELLICOTT, " (23) Out of all their dwellingplaces.—This expression can hardly refer to their places of exile and temporary sojourn among the heathen, since these were not especially the places where they had sinned. Their sins were rather committed in their own land; the “lands of their captivity” were the places where those sins were punished. “Their dwelling places” is then to be understood of their own land of Canaan, where they had been led into idolatry and all abominations by the heathen dwelling among them; and the promise is that this land shall be purged, that all evil shall be cast out from it, and the people delivered from the temptations by which they had hitherto been overcome.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

Ver. 23. Neither shall they defile.] After the captivity the Jews could never endure idolatry. The Popish image worship is at this day a very great stumblingblock to them.

Out of all their dwellingplaces.] Where, being mingled among the heathen, they learned their works. [Psalms 106:35]

POOLE, " Defile themselves: idolatry is a very defiling sin, and the Jews in both kingdoms were exceedingly addicted to it, pertinacious in it, to the utter ruin of both kingdoms; but after the return from Babylonish captivity, we find no where that they fell to idolatry.

Their idols: it may refer to the heathen, and then it means, they shall not defile themselves with the idols the heathen did worship; or to the idols of the Jews, their

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own idols, with which they shall no more be defiled.

Their detestable things; the same with idols, and added to set out the loathsomeness of the sin. Their transgressions; the former obstinate, bold, daring transgressors did that which these shall not defile themselves with: see Ezekiel 36:25,33 11:17,18. I will save them; whilst there I preserved them, and now I will bring them safe out of the places.

Wherein they have sinned; where out of a bad fear, or worse choice, they sinned, as did the heathen with whom they dwelt.

Will cleanse them; both sanctify and make them holy, and justify and give them pardon, Ezekiel 36:29. My people: see Ezekiel 11:20 36:28.

PETT, "Verse 23

“Nor will they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions, but I will save them out of all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. So will they be my people, and I will be their God.”

The verse has a twofold application. It firstly found fulfilment in the fact that when Israel came back to the land they were basically cured of idolatry. ‘Idols’, ‘detestable things’, ‘transgressions’ can all be taken as having idolatry, and what accompanied it, in mind, and their foreign dwelling places had witnessed their continued love of idols. Thus there was the promise that they would be fully cleansed from these and would worship God alone (this latter links back to Ezekiel 36:28).

It then found a second fulfilment at the coming of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, when men of all nations turned from idols to serve the living and true God

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and to wait for His Son from Heaven (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).

But it will find its greater fulfilment when all sin is done away and the greater Israel dwells in the presence of God and of the Lamb for ever (Revelation 21:3-4; Revelation 22:3-5). In the end Ezekiel was thinking of total purity.

PULPIT, "The dwelling-places wherein they have sinned, from which Jehovah premises to save them, are in accordance with the views expressed above, not, as Hengstenberg and Hitzig conjecture, the dwelling-places of the exile in which the people then were, but the dwelling-places in Canaan in which they had formerly transgressed, but would in future be preserved from transgressing. The idea is, as Schroder suggests, the localization of transgression which is viewed as proceeding from the dwelling-places in which it is committed; or, according to Plumptre, the conception is that, as their habitations had formerly been contaminated by their detestable things, "the worship of teraphim and such like, if not worse," so Jehovah would save them from that contamination. The proposal to alter the text by the transposition of a letter, converting moshbhothehem, "dwelling-places," into meshubhothehem," defections," as in Jeremiah 3:22 (comp. Ezekiel 36:29), though adopted by some ancient versions and favored by Ewald and Smend, is not necessary.

24 “‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.

CLARKE, "And David my servant shall be King - That this refers to Jesus Christ, see proved, Eze_34:23 (note).

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GILL, "And David my servant shall be king over them,.... The King Messiah, as Kimchi interprets it; and so Abarbinel (i) and others; being of the seed of David, and of whom David was an eminent type; and who, as Mediator, is the Lord's servant, and as man appeared in the form of one: this shows that this prophecy looks further than the times of deliverance from the Babylonish captivity: and they all shall have one shepherd: or king, the same as before: kings are called shepherds; see Eze_34:23, and they shall also walk in my judgments, and keep my statutes, and do them; not the statutes and ordinances of the ceremonial law, which are abolished; and which the Jews, when converted, shall have no regard unto; but rather the precepts of the moral law, and chiefly the evangelic ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper; which ordinances they shall walk in, and attend unto with constancy and pleasure; and which statutes they shall keep, as they have been delivered, impartially, without delay, in faith and love, and with a view to the glory of God; see Eze_36:27.

JAMISON, "David — Messiah (See on Eze_34:23, Eze_34:24).

COFFMAN, "Verse 24

"And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them: it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanc, tuary in the midst of them forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah that sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore."

"And my servant David shall be king over them ... forever ..." (Ezekiel 37:24,26). "This can be no other than Christ, of whom it was said when he was brought into the world, `He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever' (Luke 1:33)."[19]

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"The Messiah is here called `David,' because he shall be of the seed of David."[20] The first verse of the New Testament flatly declares that Jesus Christ is the seed of David and the seed of Abraham. "Son of David" was the universal title by which the Coming Messiah was identified in Israel in the times of Christ, not only among the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians (Matthew 22:42), but also by the blind men (Matthew 9:27), the common people (Matthew 12:23), and even the stranger from Tyre and Sidon, the Syro-Phoenician woman who came to Jesus on behalf of her daughter, even she addressed the Messiah as "Thou son of David" (Matthew 15:22). The whole world of that era knew this was the true title of the Coming Messiah of Israel. The problem was that the Jews of that generation did not want the kind of Messiah they knew Jesus to be; they rejected him and had him crucified. The Jewish leaders of that period in Jewish history passionately wanted, more than anything else in heaven or upon earth, a successful general, sitting on a white horse leading an army, who would chase the Romans out of their land and restore to them that dirty old Solomonic empire, which, when they had it, became the scandal of forty generations!

"And they shall dwell in the land ..." (Ezekiel 37:25) Any fair reading of these verses indicates that God's promise actually meant that they would continue to live in Palestine generation after generation, children and children's children forever and ever under that Messianic king, the Son of David. Is it still going to happen? Why should it? Read Jeremiah 18:7-10 for the correct answer.

"David shall be their prince forever ..." (Ezekiel 37:25). It should not be overlooked that, "'Prince' was Ezekiel's normal word for `King.'"[21]

"And I will make a covenant of peace ..." (Ezekiel 37:26). We have already noted in earlier chapters that this `covenant of peace,' "Is none other than the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-34; it will be an everlasting covenant as well."[22] It will not be founded on national or racial considerations of any kind whatever. The whole thesis of Ezekiel is that God holds men accountable, individually, and not as nations or races.

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"I will ... set my sanctuary in the midst of them. My tabernacle also shall be with them ..." (Ezekiel 37:26,27). Of course, such a thing as this never happened in post-exilic Israel; but the Lord did not intend this verse as a prophecy that it would happen. "The thing promised is nothing less than the kingdom of God to be set up among them."[23] Did it happen? Most certainly it did. In the midst of them? Yes, in Jerusalem itself. On the Day of Pentecost, the word of the Lord "went forth from Jerusalem," as the prophets had foretold.

It will shock some people that these marvelous prophecies are here presented as applicable solely to the reign of Jesus Christ the true Messiah and the kingdom which he established; but as Plumptre stated it: "The only feasible exegesis is that which understands Jehovah's servant David here to be the Messiah, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the writer of Hebrews said, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever (Hebrews 1:8)."[24]

"And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah ..." (Ezekiel 37:28). Although this came to pass in a very significant degree, it is regrettable that all nations did not become followers of Christ, a very regrettable fact, no doubt due in part, to the unwillingness of racial Israel to accept and fully discharge her mission of accepting the Dayspring when he entered our earth life and taking the lead in inviting all the world to worship and adore him. Contrary to this fundamental purpose in the very existence of Israel, they not only rejected him and shouted for his crucifixion, but they opposed the work of the apostles, threatened to exterminate all of them, and hounded the missionaries of Christ all over Europe, until God removed, absolutely, their ability to be any further hindrance. We pity the Bible students who suppose that God still owes racial Israel anything whatever, based solely upon their being the fleshly residue of the posterity of Abraham. Neither the Holy Scriptures nor the demands of eternal justice can be supposed to teach any such thing.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:24 And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

Ver. 24. And David my servant,] i.e., Christ, who came to do the will of his Father in

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the shape of a servant. [Philippians 2:7 Isaiah 42:1]

And they shall all have one shepherd.] Even David their king is for his clemency here called a shepherd, saith Jerome, tending and tendering his people. See Ezekiel 34:23-24

They shall also walk in my judgments.] All Christ’s subjects can say, as those primitive Christians did, Nos non eloquimur magna, sed vivimus. Athenagoras in his apology saith, No Christian is a bad man, ει μη υποκρινηται τον λογον, unless he be a counterfeit.

POOLE, " David: see Ezekiel 34:23,24. It is the Son of David, who was also his Lord, that is here intended. My servant: the Messiah, in his mediatory office, is God’s servant and our Saviour.

Over them; over their hearts, and rule there in spiritual manner.

One shepherd; this King shall be a Shepherd, that feeds, not fleeceth, the flock; there is but one chief Shepherd, others that feed and rule the flock are so by commission from him.

They shall also walk, & c.: it is both declaratory of duty, predictive of the event, and promissory of ability and assistance to keep the holy commandments of God. Christ’s kingdom is that which by law and precept commandeth righteousness, and which by grace and power strengthens its subjects to this, and so the event is sure, and freest grace makes holiest lives.

PETT, "Verse 24-25

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The Future, Both Temporal and Eternal.

“And my servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes, and do them. And they will dwell in the land which I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers dwelt. And they will dwell in it, they, and their children, and their children’s children, for ever. And David my servant will be their prince for ever.”

This verse is very important in determining our view of what exactly Ezekiel’s prophecy is all about and how to view it. It stresses that ‘they will dwell in the land which I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers dwelt’. This would seem to make crystal clear that it is speaking of the actual land of Israel. That was what was given to Jacob. Their fathers dwelt in it. So it might be asked, what could be clearer?

But then it goes on to say that they will dwell in it for ever, and that David will be their prince for ever. Now we can understand Ezekiel, with no concept of eternity, thinking in terms of everything going on without changing, into millennium after millenium, and never ceasing. (Although he certainly does not have in mind here a mere millennium). So we must either see this as teaching that this world will go on forever, unchanging, or we must recognise that there is here something here that goes beyond Ezekiel’s ability to conceive and which he can only express vaguely in idealistic terms. He knew that they would return to the land, and he knew that they would find everlasting rest. And he combined the two pictures together, because he had no other way of emphasising that God’s people would dwell in a place given to them by God for ever.

Thus from our viewpoint we must say that the first aspect will become literally true, they will return to the land, and the second aspect is his way of describing what is beyond his ability to conceive, the eternal future. He knows that God’s people will enjoy everlasting peace and rest, and that God will always have ‘a land’ available for His people.

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So we would argue that it is quite clear that the near partial fulfilment of this took place when Israel were again gathered in Jerusalem with a temporal Davidic king over them (Zerubbabel), who was called ‘My servant’ (Haggai 2:23), and rejoiced in the triumph of God, the ‘day of small things’ (Zechariah 4:6-14), and when (for a time) they turned back to His ways. That it went on when Jesus, the son of David, became Shepherd of His people and led them into the ways of truth and righteousness and began to establish the Kingly Rule of God. And that it finally goes on to reveal that this will in the end result in a perfect existence in an eternal land, where God’s will will always be done and an eternal king will rule over them

For in the end it is quite clear that the everlasting kingdom is in mind here, the everlasting kingdom ruled over by an everlasting king, and resulting in everlasting obedience. Living in ‘the land’ has been changed into something idealised, something far better for them to enjoy; and it is eternal, as is David their prince. It is Ezekiel’s way of portraying the glory of ‘the new earth’ in the only terms available to him. They would be given all that God had promised, and more, under an eternal ruler, (compare Daniel 7:14. No earthly millennium could fulfil this promise). This is thus clearly an ‘idealistic future’, expressed in the terminology of his day, but awaiting further revelation.

We can compare here the words of the writer to the Hebrews about Abraham. He tells us that Abraham dwelt ‘in the land of promise’, but that he ‘looked for a city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God’ (Hebrews 11:10). He is crystallising what was probably a vague thought in the mind of Abraham. There is the near view and the far view. It gives a more practical explanation of what Abraham vaguely looked for, a hope that he could not fully understand, and that he would have been totally unable to describe. On his part he just believed that God had a future for him, a future he could not put into words.

The portrayal of the coming eternal king as ‘my servant’ and ‘one shepherd’ portrayed the coming of God’s chosen one who was both faithful to God and would watch over His people.

‘My servant’ was a distinguished title and ever the description of the specially

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chosen of Yahweh. It was used:

· of Abraham in Genesis 26:24;

· of Moses in Numbers 12:7-8; Malachi 4:4; Joshua 1:2 and often as ‘the servant of Yahweh’ in Joshua, also in 2 Kings 18:12; 2 Chronicles 1:3; 2 Chronicles 24:6;

· of Caleb in Numbers 14:24;

· of Joshua (as ‘the servant of Yahweh’) in Joshua 24:29; Judges 2:8;

· of David in Ezekiel 34:23-24; 2 Samuel 3:18; 2 Samuel 7:5; 2 Samuel 7:8; 1 Kings 11:13; 1 Kings 11:32; 1 Kings 11:34; 1 Kings 11:36; 1 Kings 11:38; 1 Kings 14:8; Psalms 89:3; Psalms 89:20; Isaiah 37:5; Jeremiah 33:21; and often in Kings and Chronicles;

· of Job in Job 1:8; Job 2:3; Job 42:7-8;

· of Isaiah in Isaiah 20:3;

· of Eliakim the son of Hilkiah in Isaiah 22:20;

· of Israel as chosen witnesses in Isaiah 41:8-9; Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 42:19; Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 44:1-2; Isaiah 44:21; Isaiah 45:4; Isaiah 49:3; Isaiah 49:6; Jeremiah 30:10; and often;

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· of the Servant of Yahweh in Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 49:3; Isaiah 49:6; Isaiah 52:13;

· of ‘my servants the prophets’ in Jeremiah 7:25; Jeremiah 26:5; and often; Ezekiel 38:37; Zechariah 1:6;

· of Zerubbabel in Haggai 2:23, where he is specifically stated to be the chosen of Yahweh;

· of ‘the Branch’ in Zechariah 3:8; compare Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 33:15;

· and even (temporarily) of Nebuchadnezzar in Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 27:6 as the one chosen to bring His judgment on Jerusalem.

But only Moses and David were spoken of as ‘my servant’ after their deaths. They were seen as His servants par excellence, and they were the archetype of God’s perfect Servant (Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12). This ties in with the fact that another Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18) and another David (Ezekiel 34:23-24 compare 1 Kings 9:5; Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 11:1-5; Hosea 3:5; Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 30:9; Jeremiah 33:15; Jeremiah 33:17; Jeremiah 33:20-26; Zechariah 12:10 to Zechariah 13:1) were expected to come in the future, a new lawgiver and a new king, a promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The ‘one shepherd’ represents the new David (Ezekiel 34:23) acting in cooperation with Yahweh (Ezekiel 34:13-16; Psalms 23:1; Psalms 80:1; Isaiah 40:11). The idea of a shepherd was regularly applied to Near Eastern kings (compare 1 Kings 22:17) who liked to see themselves as benefactors to their people, even when they were far from being so, and Yahweh described Cyrus as His shepherd because he would perform His pleasure as regards Israel (Isaiah 34:28). But the son of David would be the true shepherd, Yahweh’s shepherd (even though he would be smitten while caring for the sheep (Zechariah 13:7) and would care for them for ever.

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25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.

BARNES, "Eze_37:25, Eze_37:26An enlargement of the promises. The kingdom is to be “forever,” the covenant “everlasting.” This looks forward to the consummation of all God’s promises 1Co_15:24, 1Co_15:28.

CLARKE, "The land that I have given unto Jacob my servant - Jacob means here the twelve tribes; and the land given to them was the whole land of Palestine; consequently, the promise states that, when they return, they are to possess the whole of the Promised Land.

GILL, "And they shall dwell in the land which I have given to Jacob my servant,.... Abraham and Isaac are not mentioned, as Kimchi observes, because they had other children, who did not inherit the land; only Jacob, because the land was given to him, and his seed alter him: wherein your fathers have dwelt; and so the more desirable to them; and whose inhabitation and possession of it were a pledge of theirs: and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and their children's children for ever; unto the end of the world, or personal coming of Christ: and so everything after promised them is said to be for ever: this shows that this prophecy had not its accomplishment in the return of the Jews from Babylon to their own land; since they have been dispossessed of that again, in which state they now are; but that it refers to time to come, when, being converted to Christ, they shall possess

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their land again, and dwell in it, as long as the sun and moon endure: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever; or their king, as the Targum; and which cannot be understood of any temporal prince, but of the King Messiah, whose throne is for ever and ever; whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; and who shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and ever, Psa_45:6 and to whom it is applied by several Jewish writers (k).

JAMISON, "for ever — (Isa_60:21; Joe_3:20; Amo_9:15).

ELLICOTT, "(25) For ever.—Strong emphasis is placed upon this declaration by its frequent repetition. In this verse, the occupancy of the land is to be for ever, and the kingship of David is to be for ever; and in Ezekiel 37:26; Ezekiel 37:28 the sanctuary is to be “in the midst of them for evermore,” and the covenant of peace is to be “an everlasting covenant.” Such promises are taken up continually in the New Testament, and explained of the everlasting reign of the King of kings, the Good Shepherd, over His people, and of the Temple of the Holy Ghost in the heart of the believer.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:25 And 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 for ever.

Ver. 25. And they shall dwell in the land.] So they did for six hundred years, or nearly so; and in heaven, whereof Canaan was a type, they shall live and reign for ever.

POOLE, " They; the ten tribes and the two tribes. That I have given: see Ezekiel 28:25.

Your fathers, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, whose memory you venerate, and greatly affect to be heirs more of their lands and houses than of their virtues and piety. Their children’s children for ever: if this prophecy or promise be to be understood with the precedent verses in the letter of it, and not mystically and only

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spiritually, I doubt not but to the end of the world, till Christ’s coming to judgment, the Jews converted to Christ, and professing the gospel, shall, they and their seed after them, inherit this land of Canaan in much peace and glory. But I speak on supposition, not asserting any thing herein.

My servant David; typically understood it asserts the everlasting kingdom of our Messiah, and the everlasting happiness of all the faithful subjects of this King: see Ezekiel 34:23,24.

PULPIT, "The phrase, my servant David (comp. Ezekiel 34:23, Ezekiel 34:24; Jeremiah 33:21, Jeremiah 33:22, Jeremiah 33:26; Psalms 78:70; Psalms 89:3, Psalms 89:20; Psalms 144:10), goes back to the Messianic promise of 2 Samuel 7:12-16, and cannot be satisfactorily explained as signifying the Davidic house (Smend), or as pointing to "a line of true rulers, each faithfully representing the ideal David as the faithful Ruler, the true Shepherd of his people" (Plumptre, on Ezekiel 34:23), inasmuch as Israel, after Ezekiel's day, never possessed any such line of rulers, and certainly no such line continued forever. The only feasible exegesis is that which understands Jehovah's servant David to be Messiah, or Jesus Christ, of whom the writer to the Hebrews (Ezekiel 1:8) says. "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever."

26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever.

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CLARKE, "Covenant of peace - See this explained Eze_34:25 (note).

GILL, "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them,.... So the covenant of grace is called, Isa_54:10, one principal article of which is peace and reconciliation made between God and his people by the blood of Christ, agreed on in that covenant, from whence it has its name: now here it signifies that this covenant should be made known to the converted Jews, and their interest in it; in virtue of which they shall see that peace is made for them by the blood of Christ; and shall have a true conscience peace in themselves, through that blood of the covenant being sprinkled on them; and be at peace with converted Gentiles, and even with their worst enemies, enjoying all kind of prosperity, temporal and spiritual: it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; it shall not wax old, and vanish away, as the former covenant did; under which they were before the coming of Christ, which was exhibited in types and shadows, legal sacrifices and carnal ordinances; and besides, God will always have a covenant people among them from this time to the end of the world; so that a "loammi" shall no more be written upon them: and I will place them, and multiply them; that is, place them in their own land, and increase their number there: or, "I will give them" (l); a place in their land, and every blessing temporal and spiritual: so the Targum, "I will bless them, and multiply them:'' and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore; not any material temple, but his word and ordinances; in which he will grant his spiritual presence with them, and which shall continue to the end of the world.

JAMISON, "covenant of peace — better than the old legal covenant, because an unchangeable covenant of grace (Eze_34:25; Isa_55:3; Jer_32:40).

I will place them — set them in an established position; no longer unsettled as heretofore.my sanctuary — the temple of God; spiritual in the heart of all true followers of Messiah (2Co_6:16); and, in some literal sense, in the restored Israel (Ezekiel 40:1-44:31).

COKE, "Ezekiel 37:26. A covenant of peace— Could this expression at all agree with the ancient covenant? When have we seen an age, half an age, of peace in Israel, except in the time of the Judges? The whole history of the Jewish nation is nothing more than a recital of wars and continual divisions; and if we understand it

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of peace between God and his people, where shall we find this people faithfully attached to the Lord during one century only? We have only to open the books of the prophets, and the other sacred records, to remark their infidelities and perpetual rebellions against God. This expression, therefore, can only respect the New Testament, whereof Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, is the Mediator, and who gives us that true peace which surpasses all conception. See Philippians 4:7 and Calmet. Instead of, I will place them, Houbigant reads, I will be their leader. The expression, my sanctuary or tabernacle, which refers to the tabernacle or temple placed among the Jews, is typical of Jesus Christ, who is the true tabernacle, pitched by God, and not man. See Psalms 89:3. Jeremiah 32:40. Ezekiel 34:25. 2 Corinthians 6:16. Revelation 21:3.

REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have here,

1. The vision. Under the powerful impulse of the Spirit, the prophet is carried into the valley full of dry bones, disjointed and scattered in confusion; an emblem of the Jewish people now captives in Babylon, so dispersed that, to human view, their recovery was as much despaired of as the restoration of dry bones to life. Therefore, when asked, Can these bones live? he replies, O Lord, thou knowest. Nothing short of Omnipotence can effect the amazing miracle.

2. The prophet is commanded to prophesy upon or over these dry bones, and to call on them to attend; O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. And since, without a divine energy accompanying his word, their restoration to life could not be accomplished, he is ordered to pray unto the Spirit for his quickening influences; Come, O Breath, or Spirit, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live: and, though the work might seem strange and fruitless, the prophet obeyed. Note; While the ministers of the Gospel are crying aloud to sinners, they must be looking up to God, and pouring out their souls in prayer to him who quickeneth the dead.

3. A wonderful effect followed his prophesying; for they who go forth in dependence on the divine power, shall see the wonders of God's grace. A noise and shaking ensued, each bone joined his fellow, and flesh and sinews grew upon them; and, at the prophet's invocation, life entered into them, according to the promise, and they

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stood up, an exceeding great army. Thus, by the proclamation of Cyrus, the captives were assembled; and, by the divine Spirit animated, they were enabled to overcome all the difficulties in their way. And we have here also a representation, [1.] Of our spiritual resurrection from the death of sin; by the preaching of the word a shaking is occasioned among the souls dead in trespasses and sins; deep convictions make them tremble; and to those souls which yield to those convictions, spiritual life is communicated by the power of the Holy Ghost through faith in Christ. [2.] Of the resurrection of the body in the last day, when all our scattered atoms shall be reunited, and the same body be raised by the power of God to life eternal.

4. The application of the whole to the house of Israel. They were these dry bones; reduced to the lowest state of abject misery, and abandoning themselves to despair. But in the time of our deeper distress God will make his power and grace more eminently known, if we turn to him; therefore the prophet is commanded to assure them, that God will deliver them from their captivity, which was like opening the graves to the dead, and give them life, in their restoration to the comfortable and peaceable possession of their own land. God hath spoken, and will perform it; they may confidently trust him. Note; (1.) In times of sore temptation, and long continued distress, our faith is too often ready to faint, and unbelief to prevail. (2.) Though we despair of ourselves, our state is not therefore desperate; God can do for us more than we can think.

2nd, For the encouragement of the faithful among the captives, great things are promised which God will do for them.

1. The two kingdoms of Judah and Israel, so long separated, and so often vexatious to each other, shall be reunited, and become one people; and this is represented by the joining of two sticks in the prophet's hand; on one of which was inscribed the name of Judah and his companions, the tribe of Benjamin and those of the other tribes who on the revolt cleaved to the house of David; on the other the name of Ephraim, and his companions the house of Israel, of which Samaria, that lay in the lot of Ephraim, was the capital. The people who saw the sign would naturally be inquisitive, and desire to know the meaning; and he must inform them, that as these sticks became one in his hand, so should they become one people in God's hand; no mutual jealousies, no jarring discord, shall remain; but, returning together from their captivity, they shall become one nation, under one king: which was primarily

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fulfilled on their return from Babylon; but seems principally to refer to Gospel times, when, under the king Messiah, Jews and Gentiles shall become one people, the partition wall being broken down, and they shall have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and be one fold under one Shepherd.

2. All their idolatries shall be for ever done away. After their return from Babylon they never more relapsed into idolatry: God, having saved them from the places of temptation, delivered them also from all inclination to their former idolatrous abominations. Note; (1.) It is a singular mercy when God saves us from the places and persons who have been a temptation to us, and by his gracious providence removes us from the evil. (2.) God will save all sincere believers from their sins; not only from their actual prevalence, but he will mortify also their desire after them; and indeed, unless the heart be cleansed, it would signify little to have the temptation merely removed.

3. They shall be taken into covenant with God: They shall be his people, his grace will cause the glorious change in their repentant souls; and he will be their God, to bless, preserve, and protect them. David, the Messiah, the Son of David, shall be their king and shepherd, to guard them from their enemies, to feed them under his care, making all his believing people obedient in all things to his blessed will, if they simply, fully, and constantly cleave to him.

4. They shall enjoy in peace the inheritance of their ancestors, transmitting it to children's children; and shall be safe and happy under the rule of their anointed king Messiah. And this seems to direct us, for the full accomplishment of the prophesy, to future times; when this unhappy people, now so dispersed, shall receive the Lord's Christ, and to the end of time enjoy the blessings of his government. Note; Christ's subjects, the children of Zion, may well be joyful in their king.

5. God himself will dwell in the midst of them in a glorious manner in those last days. They shall not only be increased and established, but enjoy the special tokens of his presence. His sanctuary and tabernacle, erected among them, shall never more be destroyed; Jesus, the true tabernacle, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the God-head bodily, shall be in the midst of them; and in his church they shall see his

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glory, and maintain communion with him in the ordinances of his service, and find, to their unspeakable comfort, God to be their god, while they share in all the blessings of his people.

6. God will be glorified among the heathen in such his dispensations of mercy toward his Israel; They shall know that he doth sanctify Israel, by such evident marks of his love, by such powerful operations of his grace upon them, and by the erection of his sanctuary among them. Note; They who enjoy the privileges of the sanctuary, must shew the influence it has upon them in the sanctification of their hearts and lives.

ELLICOTT, " (26) Multiply them.—In accordance with what has gone before, comes this promise of the great increase of the spiritual Israel. Even John the Baptist had said, “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham”; but our Lord more emphatically taught that the true children of Abraham were those who followed Him (John 8:39, &c.); while His Apostle St. Paul explains repeatedly, and at length, that Abraham was the father of all those who walk in his faith, whether they be of the circumcision or the uncircumcision (Romans 4:12, &c.); and again, “that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). Thus was fulfilled the promise that he should be “the father of many nations” (Genesis 17:5, interpreted in Romans 4:17), and in the same way also was to be fulfilled the present promise of the multiplication of the seed of Israel.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

Ver. 26. Moreover, &c.] See Ezekiel 34:25.

And it shall be an everlasting covenant with them.] With all the Israel of God.

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And I will place them,] sc., In the Holy Land, saith Piscator; or else I understand not what this word "place them," or give them, meaneth.

And will set my sanctuary in the midst of them,] i.e., I will indwell in them, and walk in them, &c. {as 2 Corinthians 6:16} The Jews pray earnestly for the rebuilding of their material temple. Pray we as hard for the building up of the mystical temple.

POOLE, " I will make; as it was my kindness to your fathers to give them, so shall it be to you to give you, my blessings on the sure and inviolable security of a covenant.

A covenant of peace; comprehending all blessings that may give a people content, and render them happy; peace with God in heaven? peace in your conscience with yourselves, with your brethren in the church, with the beasts of the field, and with your enemies, who shall for fear, though not of love, keep peace with you, while your ways please your God.

An everlasting covenant; the spiritual part is absolutely endless, the external part shall be for a long time, as it is always to be interpreted where temporals seem promised for ever.

My sanctuary; both temple and worship; not such as is typical of the Messiah to come, but such as may assert he is come, such as bring to the knowledge, love, and obedience of him. I will set up a spiritually glorious temple and worship amidst you. For evermore; never to be altered or abolished on earth, but to be consummated in heaven.

PETT, "Verses 26-28

“Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will give to them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also will be with them,

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and I will be their God, and they will be my people. And the nations will know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary will be in their midst for evermore.”

The vision of eternity continues. The setting up of the Sanctuary reminds us firstly that the Davidic king Zerubbabel did rebuild and establish the temple as God’s sanctuary, as a witness to the nations. But again that was but the earthly prototype of the heavenly reality. For what was to be finally established here is eternal, the sanctuary of God in Heaven (Revelation 8:3-5; Revelation 11:19; Revelation 14:17; Revelation 15:5; Revelation 15:8; Revelation 16:1). Indeed finally God Himself will be their sanctuary (Revelation 21:22).

The covenant of peace was brought by Jesus the Messiah, the new covenant, and God did indeed ‘give to them’ and ‘multiply them’ as the Gospel went out to the world and the new Israel grew strong and numerous. He established His sanctuary among them because His people were His sanctuary (Ephesians 2:20-22). And God was with them and they were His people (2 Corinthians 6:17). The nations also saw and were amazed, and recognised the power of a God that they did not know. And He established an everlasting covenant of peace (Ephesians 2:14; Ephesians 2:17).

The ‘covenant of peace’ mentioned here had already been mentioned in Ezekiel 34:25, which emphasises that what we saw there as referring to the eternal future is in fact the correct interpretation. For here the covenant is eternal against an eternal background, eternal peace between God and His own. The result will be that He will reveal Himself as a giving God, will make them abound and will establish His permanent sanctuary with them eternally. Indeed God Himself will dwell (tabernacle) with them and be their God and they will be His people. This is expanded on in Revelation 21:3, which may well be based on this verse, and Revelation 21:22-24; Revelation 22:3-5 which reveal the same ideas.

‘And the nations will know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary will be in their midst for evermore.’ Many from the nations will recognise in the new Israel the ones who are sanctified by God, and will themselves learn to honour their God, for many of them too, having recognised that the true Israel was

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set apart by Yahweh for His own, and having been made a part of that Israel by faith, will walk in the light of God in eternity (Revelation 21:24). Thus will Israel’s responsibility towards them have been fulfilled through the witness of the Servant, the new Israel (Acts 13:47). There may also be here the further suggestion that even the nations who come under judgment will also be made aware at that judgment of what God has done for His people in giving them everlasting life (Matthew 25:31-46). Thus the earthly blessing for the people of God continues into the heavenly.

PULPIT, "Ezekiel 37:26, Ezekiel 37:27

With the people thus gathered (Ezekiel 37:21), united (Ezekiel 37:22), purified (Ezekiel 37:23), and established under the rule of Messiah (Ezekiel 37:25), Jehovah makes a covenant of peace (see on Ezekiel 34:25; and comp. Psalms 89:3), further characterized as an everlasting covenant; or, covenant of eternity (see on Ezekiel 16:60; and comp. Genesis 17:7; Isaiah 55:3; Jeremiah 32:40); which guarantees the continuance between him and them of undying friendship, conjoined with the bestowment on his part and the enjoyment on theirs of the highest social and religious blessings. First, national existence and secure possession of the soil. I will place (literally, give) them, either to their land, as in Ezekiel 17:22 (Smend), or to be a nation (Keil), or perhaps both (Kliefoth). Next, steady increase of population—I will multiply them (comp. Ezekiel 36:37; Le Ezekiel 26:9). Thirdly, perpetual residence of Jehovah amongst them, I will set (or, give) my sanctuary (mikdashi, conveying the idea of sanctity) in the midst of them for evermore (comp. Le Ezekiel 26:11); my tabernacle (mishkani, the idea being that of residence or dwelling) also shall be with them; or, over them—the figure being derived from the elevated site of the temple, which overhung the city (Psalms 69:29), and intended to suggest the idea of Jehovah's protecting grace. That this promise was in part implemented by the erection of the second temple in the days of Zerubbabel may be conceded, and also that Ezekiel himself may have looked forward to a literal restoration of the sanctuary; but its highest realization must be sought for, first in the Incarnation (John 1:14), next in God's inhabitation of the Church through the Spirit (2 Corinthians 6:16), and finally in his tabernacling with redeemed men in the heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 21:3, Revelation 21:22). The last blessing specified is the intimate communion of God with his people, and of them with him—Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. This, which formed the kernel of the old covenant with Israel (Le Ezekiel 26:12), became the essence of the new covenant

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with the Israel of the restoration (Ezekiel 11:20; Ezekiel 36:28; Jeremiah 30:22; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:38; Zechariah 8:8; Zechariah 13:9), but only attained to complete realization in the relation of Christian believers to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 6:16).

27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.

BARNES, "Eze_37:27This gives a final blessing reserved for God’s accepted servants. The tabernacle and temple were outward symbols of His presence. The re-erection of the temple by Zerubbabel was the first step to a restoration of the presence of God. The second step was the presence of Christ, first in the flesh, then in His Church, and finally the eternal presence of God and of the Lamb in the New Jerusalem Rev. 21.

CLARKE, "By tabernacle - Jesus Christ, the true tabernacle, in whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

GILL, "My tabernacle also shall be with them,.... The symbol of his presence: the meaning is, that he shall dwell in them by his Spirit and grace; and everyone of them shall be the temple of the living God, in whom he will walk and dwell: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people; which is repeated for the confirmation of it; see Eze_37:23.

JAMISON, "My tabernacle ... with them — as foretold (Gen_9:27); Joh_1:14, “The Word ... dwelt among us” (literally, “tabernacled”); first, in humiliation; hereafter, in manifested glory (Rev_21:3).

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ELLICOTT, "(27) My tabernacle also.—Compare the whole promise of this verse with 2 Corinthians 6:16 : “Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” This promise of “a sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore” was in type and shadow set before the eyes of the people with the restoration of the Temple of Zerubbabel; but in its reality began to be fulfilled at the incarnation of the Son of God, of whom it is said by St. John (John 1:14) that “He dwelt (literally, tabernacled) among us,” and is continued by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19); while it is to receive its final consummation in that future when the tabernacle of God shall be with men, and “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple” of the heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 21:3-22). See Excursus F at end of this book.

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Ver. 27. My tabernacle also,] i.e., Mine ordinances, those testimonies of my spedal presence. See Revelation 21:3.

POOLE, " My tabernacle; the tabernacle of my presence, or wherein I will show my presence among them. Their fathers had a tabernacle of witness, so shall they; that was brought by Joshua into Canaan, but the Messiah shall bring with him a better, a spiritual and heavenly.

I will be their God: see Ezekiel 11:20 Revelation 21:1-3.

They shall be my people; by my grace I will make them holy, as the people of a holy God ought to be, and I will make them happy, as the people of the ever-blessed God expect and hope to be.

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28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”

GILL, "And the Heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel,.... Or the Gentiles, the converted Gentiles, shall observe and take notice of the gracious dealings of God with his people the Jews; that he calls them with an holy calling; implants principles of grace and holiness in them; separates and consecrates them for his service, and enables them to walk holily, soberly, and righteously: when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore; when his worship shall be set up among them; his Gospel shall be preached unto them, and received by them; and his ordinances administered unto them; and which shall continue till the second coming of Christ.

JAMISON, "(Eze_36:23).sanctify Israel — set it apart as holy unto Myself and inviolable (Exo_19:5, Exo_19:6).

TRAPP, "Ezekiel 37:28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Ver. 28. Do sanctify Israel,] i.e., Do set them apart for mine use, and will see to their safety.

When my sanctuary.] Wherehence they shall have continual both direction and protection.

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POOLE, "When Christ by his Spirit in gospel ordinances is among them, it shall appear they are a consecrated and a sanctified people.

PULPIT, "describes the effect which such a glorious transformation of Israel's character and condition, should produce upon the heathen world. They should recognize from his presence amongst his people, symbolized by the establishment in their midst of his sanctuary, that he had both the power and the will to sanctify them, by making them inwardly as well as outwardly holy; and, recognizing this, they would seek admittance to the congregation and fellowship of God's spiritual Israel.

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