THE VALLEY OF DRY BONES

                         A RENEWED NATION OF ISRAEL

ezekiel 37:1-14King James Version (KJV)

37  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,

2 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.

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.

4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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,

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.

The vision of the valley or plain of dry bones has been variously interpreted. Some see it as teaching the postexilic return of the exiles; as an OT doctrine of bodily resurrection; or as an analogy of spiritual regeneration and the birth of the church (vv.11-14). Dispensational interpreters see here the resurrection and restoration of end times national Israel (v.12).

Contextually, it is designed to be a message of hope to a despondent people whose Jerusalem was ravaged and whose people were exiled (v.11). Whatever may be the precise meaning of the whole house of Israel (v.11) or my people brought into the land of Israel (v.12), it is clear that God has a future beyond Babylon for those who believe in Him. He will see to it they continue, no matter how great a miracle is required. The miracle required two stages (explained in vv. 8 and 9, 10).

37:1 Hand of the Lord: A phrase used to express how God’s Spirit came upon him in revelation. The valley: The same Hebrew word is translated  "plain". Where judgment had been pronounced previously, hope is now proclaimed. Bones: Contextually, these represent the exiles, who, according to v.11, have given up all hope of reviving the kingdom of Israel because they have been in Babylon 10 years.

37:5 Breath: Hebrew ruah can be translated "breath," "wind," or "spirit."

 There is a constant wordplay in vv. 7-10,14.

37:6 The number 4 is a symbol of completeness. A fourfold list consisting of sinews, flesh, skin, and breath.

37:8 No breath: Similar to the creation of man described in Gen. 2:7, there was no life until God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." The first phase of this vision  (vv. 7,8) seems to correspond to Ezekiel’s ministry of calling the spiritually dead Judahites to hear God.

37:9,10 Four winds represent either the four quarters of the Earth or God’s omnipresence. This second phase of the vision was synonymous with Ezekiel’s praying, asking God to effect a miracle.

37:12 Graves figuratively describes the condition of the people. The imagery has moved from the scattered bones on a battlefield to the cemetery.

37:14 Spirit (Hebrew ruach) is used here for the Spirit of God, but the same word is translated  "breath" and "wind" in other verses. Only the infusion of the spirit of God can bring about the miracle described in this passage. I shall place you in your own land indicates national restoration for the exiles.

.….. to be cont’d

Playwright Janet  Irene Thomas

Founder/President/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

www.biblestoriestheatre.org