37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on 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 on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
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 is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
On any estimate and interpretation, the vision of the valley of dry bones contained in these verses is a tremendous one. Even to read it through cursorily is to sense the pulse of the Spirit of God in it. Indeed, it is full of God, and its subject-matter - the reviving of the dry bones of Israel - comes out at one with considerable force. In order, however, to understand its significance, and what it has to say to us today, we need to expound it in its context. Indeed, we are obliged to do so, if we are to retain any kind of integrity in handling the word of God, and avoid the charge of handling it deceitfully. It is possible to make this passage say things it does not say, and mean things it does not mean, by reading into it what is not there, instead of drawing out the meaning that is there. It is much better to let it speak for itself, so that we may establish its primary meaning - that is, its meaning as given to Ezekiel, and by Ezekiel, to his day; and after establishing this, to see whether it unfolds any principle of general validity and therefore of general application. This involves looking at the passage in its context within the prophecy. We have already seen how, in the past few chapters, Ezekiel has spoken of a new leadership that would come to the people of God (34:1-31); (ii) of a renewed land, with the favour of the Lord upon it (35:1-13); and (iii) of a renewed people, who would be cleansed from idolatry, and given a new heart and spirit (36:22-38). The thought of this chapter (37) is similar, and refers to the same spiritual rebirth of the nation referred to in 36:25ff, in the words 'Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean ... a new heart also will I give you'. What we read here, therefore, is a comment, if not a commentary, on what Ezekiel has already spoken.