Ezekiel · chapter 37 of 48
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Ezekiel 37 tells the vision of the valley of dry bones. God asks whether these bones can live, Ezekiel prophesies, and the bones are covered with flesh and receive breath until they form a great army. The bones are the house of Israel, which says its hope is lost, and God promises to bring it out of its graves and put his Spirit in it. Then two sticks joined together picture the reunion of Judah and Joseph under one king.
This is one of the best-known passages of the Bible. It follows the promise of a new heart and Spirit in chapter 36 and answers a people in exile who felt dead, with no hope or future. The chapter joins two visions, the dry bones and the two sticks, to show that God gives life and also reunites his divided people.
The hand of the Lord is on Ezekiel, and the Spirit brings him out and sets him down in the middle of a valley full of bones. He leads him around among them, and Ezekiel sees that there are very many and that they are very dry. God asks him whether these bones can live, and Ezekiel answers that only the Lord knows. God tells him to prophesy over the bones so that they hear the word of the Lord and live, for he will put breath in them.
As Ezekiel prophesies, there is a sound, a rattling, and the bones come together, bone to bone. Sinews, flesh and skin appear, but there is no breath in them. God tells him to prophesy to the breath, to come from the four winds and breathe on the slain. Ezekiel does so and the breath enters them, and they live and stand on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
The Lord explains the vision: the bones are the whole house of Israel, which says its bones are dried up, its hope is lost and it is cut off completely. God promises to open their graves, bring them up from them, bring them into the land of Israel and put his Spirit in them so that they live. Then Ezekiel takes two sticks, one for Judah and one for Joseph, and joins them in his hand as one. God will gather Israel from among the nations, make them one nation with one king, his servant David will be their prince forever, and he will make an everlasting covenant of peace with them and set his sanctuary among them forever.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God asks Ezekiel whether these bones can live, and the prophet answers that only the Lord knows. It is the honest answer of someone who recognizes that hope depends not on what is seen but on what God can do.
Breath enters the dead, and they live and stand on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Life comes through the prophetic word and God's breath, not by human effort.
The bones are the whole house of Israel, which feels dried up, hopeless and cut off. The Lord acknowledges his people's discouragement and answers it without scolding.
God promises to put his Spirit in them so that they live and know that he is the Lord. Israel's renewal is credited to the Spirit, who does what the people could not do for themselves.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Very many bones, very dry. — Ezekiel 37:1-2
Answer: That only the Lord knows. — Ezekiel 37:3
Answer: Breath, the spirit of life. — Ezekiel 37:8
Answer: The whole house of Israel. — Ezekiel 37:11
Answer: Judah and Israel, the two kingdoms that will become one nation. — Ezekiel 37:16-17
Answer: My servant David, prince forever. — Ezekiel 37:24-25
The valley of dry bones speaks to anyone who feels their situation is dead: a broken marriage, a divided church, a lost calling or grief that will not pass. God is not shocked by the dryness of the bones. In a small group each person can name a valley where they need hope, and the group can pray, remembering that life comes from God's word and Spirit.
The chapter also calls us to speak. Ezekiel prophesies, and in the Christian life declaring God's word over situations that seem closed is part of the Spirit's work. And the two sticks remind us that God wants to unite what is divided.
Ezekiel 37 promises life for a dead people and unity for a divided one. Chapter 38 introduces a new section, with the attack of Gog, of the land of Magog, against the restored people.
The passage is first interpreted as Israel's national restoration after the exile, and the text itself explains it so in verses 11 to 14. Many Christians also see a foretaste of resurrection, because it uses images of opened graves and life restored by the Spirit. Both readings agree that God gives life where there seemed to be none.
One bears the name of Judah, representing the southern kingdom, and the other that of Joseph, representing the northern kingdom, also called Ephraim. By joining them in his hand, Ezekiel shows that God will reunite his people, divided since the days of Rehoboam. Christians see that unity fulfilled in the reign of Christ, the descendant of David.