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EZEKIEL 37

Please turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 37, as we continue our study through the Word of God. If you remember from our last study in Ezekiel chapter 36, the Lord said, and I’ll paraphrase: "Ask of me and I will do it, and you will see the proof of My work before your eyes!" That is what we will see this evening as God takes this dead, this lifeless people and nation, and makes them alive again. And so, with that in mind, let’s dig into this exciting chapter here in Ezekiel.

EZEKIEL 37

VERSES 1-3

1. It seems that Ezekiel is given this vision by God of this valley that is packed with these dry, sun-bleached bones. A massive graveyard that once represented life, but now all that is seen is death. What is this all about? I believe there are a few ways to look at this, and one of them being the complete fulfillment. First of all, at this point in time, the nation of Israel was in captivity in Babylon. Many people were killed and the nation was, in a sense, dead. Can this nation come to life again? You bet! God did raise them up and bring them home again. We can call this a partial fulfillment or a glimpse of what is to come.

2. The second view is seen in our recent past. In 70 AD the Jews were scattered throughout the world as the Romans came in and destroyed Jerusalem. Then, in 1948 God brought His people back home again, but not before 6 million Jews were murdered by Hitler and the German army. Again, picture in your mind this massive graveyard, 6 million dead bodies, can they live? You bet! God brought them back into the land of Israel, this people who were almost wiped out. He preserved the Hebrew language. And this too is only a partial fulfillment of what is to come.

3. The third view and I believe the complete fulfillment of what this chapter is all about, comes at the end of the tribulation period as God is going to set-up His kingdom here on this earth. You see, at the 3½ year mark of the 7 year tribulation period, the Antichrist will go into the holy of holies and demand to be worshiped as God. At this point many will flee for their lives to Petra as 2/3 of the Jewish population will be wiped out by the Antichrist and his forces, only 1/3 making it through the tribulation period. And once again, can this people live? You bet! God will restore them and they will enter into the kingdom age with Him.

4. I love the question God asks Ezekiel, "Son of man, can these bones live?" Poor Ezekiel, what can he say. From a human perspective, of corse not. But from God’s point of view, of course they can. So Ezekiel throws the ball back into God’s court and says "O Lord GOD, You know."

5. To me, this is also a picture of sinful man separated from a holy God. He is dead, spiritually speaking. Can he live again? From a human perspective there is nothing he can do to resurrect his dead, lifeless body. But God can. It is as we read in Matthew 19:25-26, "When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." And the great thing here is that not only can God do it, but He desires to do it for us. He wants to make us alive again! In I Timothy 2:4-6 we read that it is God "who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." So again, it is not only that God can do this in our lives, but He also desires to do it! Just one more Scripture before we move on, and that is found in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1-9, where Paul says "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

VERSES 4-6

1. Can you imagine standing in front of all these bones and speaking forth these words? Ezekiel did because the Lord instructed him to and he trusted in the Lord, as strange a command as this was or seemed. But understand this, God has you take that step of faith and then He begins to work.

VERSES 7-8

1. As Ezekiel spoke as he was commanded, all of a sudden these bones came together, the muscles and ligaments came together, and flesh was covering all of this. You know, "The thigh bone is connected to the knee bone. The knee bone is connected to the leg bone..." Now the only thing missing was life, the bodies came together as they should, but there was no life in them.

VERSES 9-10

1. The word for "breath" in Hebrew is RUACH and in Greek it is PNEUMA. And both these words carry with it the idea of wind, breath or spirit; depending on the context of the verse. God breathed into these dead, lifeless bodies, LIFE! He resurrected them. Now the question is, "Who are these people that came to life?" For most students of the Bible, this is an easy question to answer, it is Israel. But just in case there is any confusion God is going to clarify this for anyone who is still unsure!

VERSES 11-14

1. Again, the captives in Babylon saw their situation as hopeless. But God was encouraging them and telling them He will bring them home from their captivity, and He did! Also, as 6 million Jews were murdered by Hitler, the situation once again seemed hopeless, but God brought them home again. What took place in 1948 was truly a miracle of God. On May 14, 1948 Israel became a nation once again!

The head of the Islamic Arabs, Husseini said: "I declare a holy war, my Moslem brothers! Murder the Jews! Murder them all!" And on May 15, 1948, at 5:25 AM, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, broadcasting live from a Tel Aviv radio station, was expressing Israel’s thanks to America for their prompt recognition of the State of Israel. As he spoke, suddenly, without warning, a loud explosion interrupted his speech. After a long pause, he said to his American audience, "A bomb has just fallen on this city from an enemy aircraft flying overhead." The Arab’s war to "Drive the Jews into the sea" had begun.

These planes were flying overhead and they were also being hit with gun fire from a ship, but Israel had no air force to combat this attack against them, nor did they have an army. But they did have one Piper Cub that was piloted by one man and the second man on board threw down Molotov cocktails down upon this ship that was firing into Israel. And, for some reason, the ship retreated and so did the army. And Israel was victorious in their first battle since they became a nation.

It was not by their might, not by their strength, but a work of God! And if anyone doesn’t recognize that fact, that the Jews being in the land today is a miracle of God, they are not looking at the facts. Every war that Israel has been in since they became a nation, and there have been several that have been launched by the Arabs against Israel, the Jews should have been wiped out by them, for they are surrounded by 80 million people that are their enemies. But in each of these wars not only did Israel win, but they gained more land than before!

2. And ultimately this is looking ahead to the kingdom age, when God will pour out His Spirit upon them, they will be reborn again. It is as Jeremiah 31:31-33 says, "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah– not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Also, in Jeremiah 33:14-16 we are told, "‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness; he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’"

You see, today most of the nation of Israel is either agnostic, they don’t believe you can know God, or they are atheists, they don’t believe there is a God. But one day, as a nation, they will recognize Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Remember as Jesus looked over the city of Jerusalem and said "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Matthew 23:37-39. One day that will be a reality, they will call upon the name of the Lord!

3. Now if you have ever taught a Bible study or tried to share your faith with others, you may have wondered to yourself, "Can these dry bones live?" You may have felt very much like Ezekiel did and what did God tell Ezekiel to do? Speak forth the Words of God to these dead, dry bones! Why? Because they can live again. The Words of Jesus are spirit and truth, they are life and they are 100% truth. You don’t have to defend it, but just share it. Share it with those that are dead, and as silly as that may sound, God’s Word will not return void but accomplish what He desires in that persons life, if they allow Him to. Open the Word of God up and share the Scriptures with those around you because it will always impact people in some way. As Paul said in Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

So you are to share the Word of God with them and then you are to pray for them. You talk to them about the Lord and then you talk to the Lord about them. And never give up on anyone no matter how dead, how dry, how lifeless they may look! Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, "...‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’"

VERSES 15-17

1. Now, as hard as this may be to believe, there are those who interpret these verses this way. The stick of Judah represents the Bible and the stick of Joseph represents the book of Mormon! I am sorry to say that you could not come up with that on your own, no matter how you try, by just reading the Scriptures. Someone had to tell you that is what it means. Joseph Smith and the Mormon church have missed the boat on this one, they aren’t even in the water!

2. The Scriptures themselves tell us what these two sticks represent, and I will trust what God has to say over what man has to say any day. Judah represents the Southern Kingdom of Judah while Ephraim, the son of Joseph, represents the Northern Kingdom of Israel with its capitol being in Ephraim. If you remember in our study through I Kings, under the reign of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, the nation was divided into two separate kingdoms. This took place in around 931 BC as Rehoboam ruled the Southern Kingdom of Judah, with its two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. While Jeroboam ruled the other 10 tribes and were called the Northern Kingdom of Israel. One kingdom was divided into two separate kingdoms now.

Then, in 722 BC the Northern Kingdom of Israel was taken into captivity by the Assyrians for their idolatry and their refusal to repent and get right with God. And, the Southern Kingdom of Judah, not learning the lessons from her sister to the north, were taken into captivity in 586 BC by the Babylonians. But now the Lord is saying that no longer will they be two separate nations, but one nation unto the Lord! This has not happened in its fulness yet, but there has been a partial fulfillment of what is spoken here as we will see in a minute.

VERSES 18-20

1. When Israel came back into the land back in 1948, this is one of the issues that was debated. Should they be a divided nation, a divided kingdom as it was under king Rehoboam and king Jeroboam, or should they be a united kingdom as it was under king David? After they debated for a while, they decided that it was God’s will, God’s desire for them to be a united kingdom, and that is what we see in Israel today. There is no Northern Kingdom of Israel or Southern Kingdom of Judah, but one nation just as God said would occur. And literally we will see this fulfilled in the kingdom age, as the next few verses point out.

VERSES 21-22

1. Now some like to argue that this has already taken place in Israel today, as they have become a nation once again. I disagree with that, in the sense that the complete fulfillment of what is spoken here has not taken place yet. I believe that what is spoken of here will be fulfilled in the not to distant future. You see, the last king to reign in Israel, specifically the Southern Kingdom of Judah, was Zedekiah. And he was blinded by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and then taken away captive to Babylon. Since that time they have not had a king over them. But one day they will!

2. Today the government in Israel is a Parliament, not a monarchy like it was during the time of David. But one day they will have a king over them, not an earthly king, but the Lord Himself will rule and reign from Jerusalem. It is as Isaiah 60:1-3 says, "Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising." God will once again shine down upon His people and restore them in the kingdom age. And of this time Daniel tells us, "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." Daniel 2:44.

3. Also, in Revelation 11:15-18 we are told, "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’ And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: ‘We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.’"

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is coming back to take that which was taken away from Adam by Satan, this earth. And He has and will continue to spiritually restore man, and He will physically restore this earth to the days prior to the fall. And He will rule and reign in righteousness.

It is as Paul said in Hebrews 12:22-29, "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire." That is what we are looking forward to, gathering together in Jerusalem with our Lord and escaping the fire of His judgment through Jesus Christ.

VERSE 23

1. The only way they can be clean, the only way anyone can be cleansed, is by the blood of Jesus Christ, which washes away ALL of our sins. It is as John said "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin...If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:7, 9. Also, in Hebrews 9:11-15,

"But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." God has done that for all men but not all will receive that cleansing into their lives. But, as the Scriptures say, one day the Jews, as a nation, will turn to Jesus and be cleansed of their sins, they will receive that cleansing into their lives!

VERSES 24-25

1. Who is this one to be king? The Son of David, Jesus Christ! And once again, what is happening today can not be the complete fulfillment of this for when the Antichrist comes the Jews will be scattered once again.

VERSES 26-28

1. There is coming a day in the not to distant future when Jesus Christ will return as the tribulation period comes to an end, and He will re-gather His people and set-up His kingdom. It is as Jesus said in Matthew 24:29-31, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Jesus will gather the Jews from the four corners of the world and He will dwell with His people forever! That day is fast approaching!

2. Next time, as we look at Ezekiel chapter 38, we will see a war break out against Israel once they have been established in the land. And folks, they have been established in the land since 1948, and they have occupied the old city of Jerusalem since 1968. This war against Israel can take place at any moment, as we shall see next time! Many times, as Christians, especially in the days we are living in, because I believe we are living in the days when the church age will come to an end, many people are becoming anxious. Don’t be as you see the things that are happening in the world, God is still and will always be in control. Listen to what Paul said in Romans 15:4, "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." May the Scriptures be for our learning. May they teach us patience and perseverance. And may we take comfort in them knowing that God is in control and He has told us the things that will take place before they will happen. That is our hope, and we can rest in that, we can rest in the Lord, the God of all comfort!