Reflections on Ezekiel 37

Ezekiel 37 (Contemporary English Version)
1. Some time later, I felt the LORD's power take control of me, and his Spirit carried me to a valley full of bones.
   
2. The LORD showed me all around, and everywhere I looked I saw bones that were dried out.
   
3. He said, "Ezekiel, son of man, can these bones come back to life?" I replied, "LORD God, only you can answer that."
   
4. He then told me to say: Dry bones, listen to what the LORD is saying to you,
   
5. "I, the LORD God, will put breath in you, and once again you will live.
   
6. I will wrap you with muscles and skin and breathe life into you. Then you will know that I am the LORD."
   
7. I did what the LORD said, but before I finished speaking, I heard a rattling noise. The bones were coming together!
   
8. I saw muscles and skin cover the bones, but they had no life in them.
   
9. The LORD said: Ezekiel, now say to the wind, "The LORD God commands you to blow from every direction and to breathe life into these dead bodies, so they can live again."
   
10. As soon as I said this, the wind blew among the bodies, and they came back to life! They all stood up, and there were enough to make a large army.
    
11. The LORD said: Ezekiel, the people of Israel are like dead bones. They complain that they are dried up and that they have no hope for the future.
    
12. So tell them, "I, the LORD God, promise to open your graves and set you free. I will bring you back to Israel,
    
13. and when that happens, you will realize that I am the LORD.
    
14. My Spirit will give you breath, and you will live again. I will bring you home, and you will know that I have kept my promise. I, the LORD, have spoken."
    
15. The LORD said:
    
16. Ezekiel, son of man, get a stick and write on it, "The kingdom of Judah." Then get another stick and write on it, "The kingdom of Israel."
    
17. Hold these two sticks end to end, so they look like one stick.
    
18. And when your people ask you what this means,
    
19. tell them that I, the LORD, will join together the stick of Israel and the stick of Judah. I will hold them in my hand, and they will become one.
    
20. Hold these two sticks where they can be seen by everyone
    
21. and then say: I, the LORD God, will gather the people of Israel and bring them home from the foreign nations where they now live.
    
22. I will make them into one nation and let them once again live in the land of Israel. Only one king will rule them, and they will never again be divided into two nations.
    
23. They will no longer worship idols and do things that make them unacceptable to me. I will wash away their sin and make them clean, and I will protect them from everything that makes them unclean. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
    
24. Their king will always come from the family of my servant King David and will care for them like a shepherd. The people of Israel will faithfully obey my laws. They and their descendants will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, just as their ancestors did.
    
25. (SEE 37:24)
    
26. I solemnly promise to bless the people of Israel with unending peace. I will protect them and let them become a powerful nation. My temple will stand in Israel for all time,
    
27. and I will live among my people and be their God.
    
28. Every nation on earth will know that my temple is in Israel and that I have chosen the Israelites to be my people.
    
    

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    God's promise to restore Israel continues in chapter 37. He restates what He has said before, "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them." (37:26) At the time of this prophecy Israel was a captive of Assyria and Judah was exiled in Babylon. A majority of the people were dead by famine, plague, and the sword. How was it possible for the Hebrew people to be restored in their homeland and be better off than they were before? But this is what God promised, "I will make you inhabited as you once were and make you better off than you were before. I will make you inhabited as you once were and make you better off than you were before." (36:11)
    
    The vision of the dry bones that God gave to Ezekiel answers this question. As impossible as the situation might seem to the people of Israel, nothing is impossible for God. He could even breathe life into dry, bleached out bones.  In this vision, Ezekiel was taken out to a valley filled with the bones of those killed in battle. As Ezekiel watched, the bones came together, then tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and they were covered with skin. Once breath entered the bodies, "they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army." (37:10) No, God is not restricted even by death. One might wonder why a God of love would take the lives of His people who He is punishing. And it would seem that, at least in part, the answer to this question also lies in this vision. God is the source of life. He gives it and is free to take it. But in taking it He is also free to restore it. Death is not the end for those who are in Christ.
    
    This first vision addressed the restoring of life to the people. A second vision addressed the restoration once again of Israel and Judah as one nation. In this vision Ezekiel was to take two sticks and write "Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him" on one, and "Belonging to Joseph--the stick of Ephraim--and all the house of Israel associated with him," on the other.  Then he was to join the two sticks together in his hand and explain that God "will make them into a single stick so that they become one in My hand." (37:19) Continuing He said, "I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them. They will no longer be two nations and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms." (37:22)
    
    In this restored state, God will make His dwelling with them. "When My sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel." (37:28)