Commentary - Ezekiel 37:1-14

Bird's-eye view

Ezekiel 37 is one of the high water marks of Old Testament prophecy, a vivid and unforgettable picture of God's sovereign power to bring life out of death. The prophet is transported by the Spirit into a valley filled with dry bones, a stark symbol of the state of Israel in exile. They are not just dead; they are long dead, their bones scattered and bleached, their situation utterly hopeless from a human perspective. God then commands the prophet to do a seemingly absurd thing: preach to the bones. As the Word of God is proclaimed, a rattling begins, and the bones reassemble into skeletons, which are then covered with sinews, flesh, and skin. But they are still lifeless corpses until a second command is given, this time to prophesy to the breath, the Spirit, who enters them and raises them up as a vast army. God Himself provides the interpretation: the bones represent the whole house of Israel, dead in their despair and exile. The vision is a promise of both national restoration to their land and, more profoundly, spiritual regeneration through the gift of His Spirit. This is a foundational text for understanding the biblical doctrine of regeneration, the power of the preached Word, and the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

This vision is strategically placed within the book of Ezekiel. The first 32 chapters are largely dominated by prophecies of judgment against Judah and the surrounding nations. The fall of Jerusalem is announced in chapter 33, marking a turning point. From that point on, the theme shifts from judgment to restoration and future hope. Chapter 34 condemns the false shepherds of Israel and promises the coming of the true Shepherd, David. Chapter 36 contains the glorious promise of the New Covenant, where God will give His people a new heart and put His Spirit within them. Chapter 37, with its vision of the dry bones, serves as the dramatic illustration of that promise. It answers the question: how can a people so thoroughly dead because of their sin ever experience this promised renewal? The answer is that God alone can do it, by the power of His Word and Spirit. This chapter is the engine of the restoration, providing the spiritual power that makes the subsequent visions of a restored temple and land (chapters 40-48) possible.

Key Issues

The Rattle of Sovereign Grace

We live in a pragmatic age, an age of technique. When we see a problem, our first impulse is to ask, "What can we do?" We want a five-step plan, a new program, a clever strategy. But when God confronts Ezekiel with a valley of bones, He is confronting him, and us, with a problem that lies far beyond the reach of any human strategy. The bones are not just sick or wounded; they are dead. And they are not just dead; they are very dry, meaning they have been dead for a long, long time. All hope is gone. This is the biblical diagnosis of humanity apart from Christ. This is the state of a dead church. This is the state of a pagan culture. It is a valley of very dry bones. And the only solution, the only hope, is a word from outside, a power from above. The story of this valley is the story of sovereign grace making a glorious rattling sound in the graveyards of this world. It is the story of how our God brings life where there is only death.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1-2 The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of Yahweh and caused me to rest in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them all around, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and behold, they were very dry.

The vision begins with God taking the initiative. Ezekiel is passive; the hand of Yahweh is upon him. He is brought out by the Spirit. This is a divine revelation, not a human discovery. God wants to show His prophet the true state of affairs. And what He shows him is a scene of total devastation. A valley full of bones. God makes him walk through it, to get a full 360-degree view of the problem. He has to see the extent of the death. The text emphasizes three things: there were very many bones, they were scattered on the surface, and they were very dry. This is not a recent battlefield; this is an ancient graveyard. The death is total, it is extensive, and it is old. There is no human hope here. This is God rubbing our noses in the impossibility of the situation before He acts.

3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord Yahweh, You know.”

God then asks the central question. From a human standpoint, the answer is obviously no. Of course they cannot live. It is a ridiculous question. But Ezekiel has been learning to see things from God's standpoint. He does not answer with the cynicism of unbelief ("Of course not") or the foolish presumption of a positive-thinking guru ("Yes, they can!"). He answers with the humble submission of faith. "O Lord Yahweh, You know." This is the wisest answer anyone can give when faced with an impossible situation. It is an acknowledgment that the answer lies entirely within the sovereign will and power of God. It is the creature deferring to the Creator. It is the confession that must precede any great work of God.

4-6 Then He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh.’ Thus says Lord Yahweh to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh come up upon you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

God's solution is, from a human standpoint, just as absurd as the problem is impossible. He tells Ezekiel to preach to the dead. "Prophesy over these bones." Notice the instrument God chooses to use: the proclaimed Word through a human messenger. He could have simply willed them to life, but He chooses to honor the means of preaching. The content of the sermon is a pure promise of sovereign grace. God does not say, "O dry bones, try really hard to pull yourselves together." He says, "Behold, I will cause breath to enter you... I will put sinews on you." This is all God's doing. And the ultimate purpose of this resurrection is theological. It is not ultimately for the comfort of the bones, but for the glory of God: "and you will know that I am Yahweh."

7-8 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rumbling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh came up upon them, and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

Ezekiel's obedience is immediate. "So I prophesied as I was commanded." And as he preaches, the impossible begins to happen. There is a noise, a rattling sound, as the Word of God begins to work. The bones find their proper place. The structure is restored. Then the bodies are re-formed with sinews and flesh and skin. This is a remarkable miracle. But the text adds a crucial detail: "but there was no breath in them." The preaching of the Word has produced a valley of perfectly formed corpses. It has brought external order, structure, and even a semblance of life. But it is not true life. This is a picture of reformation without regeneration. It is a church that has all the right programs and doctrines but no spiritual life. It is an individual who has cleaned up his act but has not been born again.

9-10 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these who were killed, that they may come to life.” ’ ” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great military force.

The work is incomplete, so a second command is given. This time, Ezekiel is to prophesy to the "breath." The Hebrew word is ruach, which can mean wind, breath, or Spirit. All three meanings are in play here. The prophet calls upon the Spirit of God to come and breathe life into these corpses. This is the essential, life-giving work that only God the Spirit can do. The Word can re-form, but only the Spirit can regenerate. And when the Spirit comes, the result is not just life, but life with a purpose. They stood on their feet, "an exceedingly great military force." They are not raised to be invalids or spectators. They are raised to be an army, to fight the Lord's battles. This is the Church militant, raised from the dead to advance the Kingdom of God in the world.

11 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 has perished. We are completely cut off.’

Lest we miss the point, God provides the divine commentary on the vision. He explicitly identifies the bones as "the whole house of Israel." And He quotes their own despairing words. In exile in Babylon, they saw themselves as politically and spiritually dead. Their nation was destroyed, their temple was in ruins, and they were scattered. From their perspective, their hope was gone. They were cut off from God and from their land. God heard their lament, and this vision is His answer to it.

12-14 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. And I will put My Spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken and done it,” declares Yahweh.’ ”

The application of the vision is a direct promise to the exiles. The language of resurrection continues: "I will open your graves." This has a double meaning. First, it is a promise of national restoration. God will bring them up out of their exilic "graves" and return them to the land of Israel. But the promise is deeper than that. It is a promise of spiritual resurrection. "I will put My Spirit within you, and you will come to life." This is the language of the New Covenant from the previous chapter. The restoration to the land is simply the stage upon which God will perform His greater work of giving them new hearts. And twice more, God states the ultimate purpose of it all: "Then you will know that I am Yahweh." God saves His people, He restores His people, He regenerates His people, so that His own name might be known and glorified.

Application

The message of the dry bones is a foundational truth for Christians in every situation. First, it is the story of our own salvation. Ephesians tells us that we were "dead in the trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1). We were not just sick or misguided; we were spiritually corpses, as dead as these bones. We had no ability to make ourselves live. But God, in His mercy, sent the proclamation of the gospel to us, and with that Word, His Spirit breathed life into us and raised us to new life in Christ. Every Christian is a walking, talking miracle of resurrection.

Second, this is the blueprint for the church's mission. We are sent into a world that is a valley of very dry bones. Our task is not to scold the bones or to try to arrange them in more pleasing patterns. Our task is to do what Ezekiel did: prophesy. We are to preach the Word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, to a dead world. We do this with confidence, not because we have faith in the bones, but because we have faith in the God who commanded us to speak. We preach the Word, and we pray for the Spirit to come from the four winds and breathe life. We are in the resurrection business.

Finally, this is the basis for our hope for our culture. When we look at the state of our nation, it is easy to despair. It often looks like a valley of very dry bones. But our hope is not in politics or education or any human effort. Our hope is in the God who raises the dead. Our job is to be faithful Ezekiels, to stand in the midst of the decay and prophesy as we have been commanded, trusting that the same God who raised a great army from that valley in Ezekiel's day can and will do it again.