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. And caused me to pass by them round about: and,
behold, _there were_ very many in the open valley; and, lo, _they
were_ very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones
live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. 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. So I prophesied as I was
commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a
shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I
beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin
covered them above: but _there was_ no breath in them. 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. So I
prophesied, as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and
they lived; and 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 (verses 1-14).
Once more the hand of the Lord is upon the prophet, and he is carried
out in the Spirit of the Lord and is set down in the midst of a valley.
The valley was full of bones and they were very dry. These dry bones,
disjointed and bleached, picture in the vision the national and
spiritual condition of the whole house of Israel. There was no life in
these bones and all is hopeless as they themselves are concerned. Then
the Lord spoke to His prophet, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And
the prophet answered, "O Lord God, Thou knowest!" Ezekiel knowing the
impossibility that these bones could ever live, puts the question of
their living upon the Lord. With Him nothing is impossible. He then is
commanded to prophesy: "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 there is to be a complete
reconstruction of these dry bones. Sinews and flesh is to cover them and
the breath of life is to return. And the prophet speaks the word and
there was a noise (literal: voice) and a commotion, bone came to bone,
sinews and flesh came into view and skin covered them; but they were
still dead, as no breath was in them. Again the prophet is commanded to
prophecy, to utter the word: "Thus saith the Lord God: Come from the
four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live."
No sooner had the prophet spoken the word as commanded, when suddenly
the breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, an
exceeding great army. Then the Lord explains the vision, so that we are
not left in doubt of what is meant by it. The dry bones are typical of
the whole house of Israel; they themselves confess "our bones are dried,
and our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts." Thus saith the Lord
in answer to their despairing confession, what the vision so strikingly
foreshadows, "I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of
your graves and bring you into the land of Israel, ... and shall put my
Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own
land."
The national resuscitation of the whole house of Israel, the restoration
to their own land and the accompanying spiritual revival (though the
latter does not fully come into view here) is the meaning of the vision.
It may be used in application[30] in different ways, to illustrate
certain truths, but the true and only interpretation is the one which is
given by the Lord in verses 11-14. But there is an erroneous
interpretation of a serious nature which is widely taught and believed
among many Christians. Because "graves" are mentioned, besides the dry
bones and their resurrection, it is being taught that the vision means
physical resurrection. Systems, like Millennial Dawnism _alias_
International Bible Student Association and others, which teach the
so-called larger hope, a second chance for the impenitent dead, the
restitution of the lost, teach that all the Israelites who have died in
their sins will be brought out of their graves and then be saved. They
use this vision to confirm this invention. An advocate of this theory
declared that all the Christ-hating Pharisees and Sadducees who lived
when our Lord was on earth would be raised up when He comes and then
believe on Him. Matthew xxiii:39 was used by him as an argument. These
restitution teachers also teach that inasmuch as Israel will have a
second chance when they are raised from the dead, the Gentile dead will
share also in the same. It needs no argument to refute this. The Word of
God teaches a twofold resurrection: a first resurrection and a second
resurrection, a resurrection of the just and a resurrection of the
unjust (John v:28-29). According to the above theory there would have to
be a third resurrection, a resurrection for a second chance and ultimate
salvation of those who died in their sins. Of such a resurrection the
Bible knows nothing.
[30] We heard once a Baptist preacher speak on this vision, and he used
the dry bones as a picture of the dead members of his own denomination,
and spoke of them as "the dry bones." A Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.,
might do the same.
In this vision of the dry bones physical resurrection is used as a type
of the national restoration of Israel. It is used in the same way in
Daniel xii:2. In that passage the sleep in the dust of the earth is
symbolical of their national condition. And when their national sleep
ends there will be an awakening.[31] When we read here in Ezekiel of
graves it must not be taken to mean literal graves, but the graves are
symbolical of the nation as being buried among the Gentiles. If these
dry bones meant the physical dead of the nation, how could it be
explained that they speak and say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope
is lost?" The same figure of speech is used in the New Testament. Of the
prodigal it is said, "For this my son was dead, and is alive again"
(Luke xv:24). Yet he was not physically dead, nor was he made alive
physically. Therefore, this vision has nothing whatever to do with a
physical resurrection. The late Dr. Bullinger, whose erroneous
suggestions have led astray some, also taught that the vision of the dry
bones includes resurrection as well as restoration.
[31] See "Exposition of Daniel," by A. C. G., page 200.
Equally bad is that spiritualizing method which takes a vision like
this, as well as the hundreds of promises of a coming restoration, and
applies it all to the church, ignoring totally the claims of Israel and
their promised future of glory. This is the general trend of
commentators.
They say that all these visions and promises were exhausted in the
return of the remnant from Babylon (less than 43,000 souls) and the
spiritual and larger fulfilment is now going on in the church. This
method is evil, for it robs the Christian of the true key which unlocks
the prophetic Word.
"Their interpretation of prophecy in particular is vitiated by this
fatal mistake, which practically razes the hopes of Israel from the
Bible and lowers ours to a mere succession to their hope and inheritance
with somewhat better light and privilege. It is a part of the first and
widest and most tenacious corruption of Christianity against which the
apostle fought so valiantly. And it comes in the more insidiously,
because it seems to those under its influence that they are of all men
the most distant from the false brethren Paul denounced. To their minds
the truest guard against Judaizing is to deny that the Jews will ever be
reinstated as a people, or be restored consequently to their own land.
All the predictions of future blessedness and glory to Israel they turn
over to Christendom now or to the church in glory. Most pernicious
error! For this is exactly to Judaize the Christian and the church by
making them simply follow and inherit from Israel. The truth is thus
swamped; Israel's bright prospects are denied; Gentile conceit is
engendered; and the Christian is rendered worldly, instead of being
taught his place of blessing on high in contrast with Israel's on the
earth."[32]
[32] Wm. Kelly.