Ezekiel 37 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application
Ezekiel 37 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
A specific date is not provided for the prophecy in chapter 37.
Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:
Amon (642-640 BC)
Josiah (640-609 BC)
Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)
Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)
Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)
Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)
WHAT WE STUDIED PREVIOUSLY
Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel had a vision of 4 living creatures, 4 wheels, and God’s throne.
Ezekiel 2 – God commissioned Ezekiel to be a prophet to his rebellious countrymen.
Ezekiel 3 – The end of the heavenly vision. Ezekiel ate a scroll of God’s words, and God called him to be a watchman over the people of Judah.
Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel prophesies with an object lesson in the street by laying on his side for 430 days, eating rations of bread, and creating a siege scene with a brick that represents Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 5 – After the 430 days, Ezekiel cut off his hair divided it up into 3 parts and used it as a symbol for what would happen to the people of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 6 – Ezekiel prophesies against the idol worshipers in Judah, telling them their bodies will be thrown at the feet of their powerless gods.
Ezekiel 7 – God spoke to Ezekiel about the day of His judgement. The end was near for the citizens of Jerusalem, and their doom was on the horizon.
Ezekiel 8 – Ezekiel saw a vision of the Temple in Jerusalem. God guided him through the courts and gates of the Temple and showed him the secret idolatries that filled God’s house.
Ezekiel 9 – God sends a man with a writing case to mark the foreheads of those who hated the idolatries of Judah. Afterwards, God sends 6 executioners to kill everyone in Jerusalem who didn’t have the mark.
Ezekiel 10 – God’s glory departed the inner sanctuary of the Temple and ascended to His throne carried by the 4 living creatures.
Ezekiel 11 – God announced judgement on the wicked rulers of Judah. They thought they were safe in Jerusalem, like meat in a cauldron, but God promised to bring them out for death and captivity. At the end of the chapter, God spoke of a future day, when He would regather a remnant of His people and give them a new heart and new spirit.
Ezekiel 12 – Ezekiel prophesied about the downfall of King Zedekiah by carrying his possessions out of his house as if he were going into exile. God promised that His judgement was near, and anyone who suggested otherwise would be put to shame.
Ezekiel 13 – God confronted the false prophets and sorceresses amongst the people of Judah. The false prophets falsely claimed to speak with the authority of God, and the sorceresses hunted the souls of God’s people through witchcraft and divination.
Ezekiel 14 – God condemned the elders of Judah who harbored love for idols in their hearts. He told Ezekiel Jerusalem would not be spared even if righteous men like Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there.
Ezekiel 15 – God compared the citizens of Jerusalem to useless vine wood that was good for nothing except to burn.
Ezekiel 16 – God compared his people to a young woman who he had raised and cared for. When she grew up, she turned her back on God and prostituted herself with foreign nations and idols.
Ezekiel 17 – Ezekiel spoke a parable to the people of Judah about two great eagles. The parable indicated that the King of Judah would betray Babylon and be uprooted by them.
Ezekiel 18 – The people of Judah were accusing God of punishing them for the sins of their ancestors. God clarified that each man was responsible and would be held accountable only for his own sins.
Ezekiel 19 – God lamented the unfaithfulness of His people through two laments, the lament of the lion cubs and the lament of the vine.
Ezekiel 20 - The elders of Israel wanted to consult with God, but God refused them based on their continual and cyclical rebellion against His laws. God spoke of His future judgement on Judah and His future grace that would restore the nation.
Ezekiel 21 – Ezekiel spoke of the sword of the Lord that God had sharpened to punish Judah. The king of Babylon stood at a fork in the road, and God was going to direct him and his army to Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 22 – God condemned Judah for a litany of sins and their total neglect of any attempt to keep His commands. He told them He would melt them down like metal within the furnace of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 23 – God illustrated the unfaithfulness of Israel and Judah with a story about two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah.
Ezekiel 24 – God compared Jerusalem to a corroded pot that would be emptied and melted down. In the second half of the chapter, Ezekiel’s wife died, and God instructed him not to mourn for her publicly as a sign of the fate of the citizens of Jerusalem and their beloved city.
Ezekiel 25 – God prophesied against Ammon, Edom, Seir, Moab, and the Philistines.
Ezekiel 26 - God prophesied against the city of Tyre. God was going to judge them by bringing the nations against them and destroying them. Babylon would attack first, followed by the Greeks under the command of Alexander the Great (332 BC).
Ezekiel 27 – God described the downfall of the city of Tyre. His judgement on them was going to take them from the mountain of wealth, power, and influence, down to obscurity in the depth of the sea, never to rise again.
Ezekiel 28 - God rebuked the king of Tyre, because in his pride, he elevated himself to the status of a God. Some believe the language is comparing the downfall of Tyre’s king to the fall of Satan. God promised to restore Judah, but Tyre would never be restored.
Ezekiel 29 - A prophecy against Egypt and the pride of Pharaoh. Pharaoh was like a dragon in the Nile, but God would draw him out with a hook and cast him into the desert. God would humble Egypt to a lowly nation and give them over to the Babylonians.
Ezekiel 30 - A prophecy against Egypt. The day of the Lord’s judgement would be a day of doom for Egypt. God would bring the nations against Egypt to crush their pride, throw down their idols, take their wealth, and diminish their nation. God said He had broken pharaoh’s arm so he could not take up a sword to defend his nation.
Ezekiel 31 - God warned Egypt by reminding them of the fate of the Assyrian Empire. Assyria was like a mighty ceder, tall and formidable. But when they grew proud, God chopped them down. God told Pharaoh He would do the same to Egypt.
Ezekiel 32 - Pharaoh, like a dragon in the sea, would be caught in God’s net and thrown into the desert to die. The inhabitants of Egypt would be sent down to Sheol with the Assyrians and all the evil nations who went before her.
Ezekiel 33 - Ezekiel was reminded of his role as a watchman. God invited the people of Judah to choose life, because He had no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The people accused God of being unjust. God said He would judge each according to their deeds. A fugitive from Jerusalem came to Ezekiel and informed him of the fall of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 34 – God rebuked the bad shepherds of Israel for neglecting his flock and scattering them among the nations. The Lord promised to send His “servant David” as a better shepherd.
Ezekiel 35 - A prophecy against Mount Seir (Edom). God was going to judge Seir because they encouraged and relished in the slaughter of the people of Judah. God’s anger was going to make Sier a desolate and uninhabited place.
Ezekiel 36 - God promised a future restoration for the land and people of Judah. He would restore them, not because they were righteous, but in order to vindicate His great name in the eyes of the nations. God would give His people a new heart and spirit to follow His commands.
OUTLINE:
THE VALLEY OF DRY BONES (37:1-14):
The Spirit of God brought Ezekiel to a valley which was full of dry bones.
God asked Ezekiel if anyone could make the bones live again.
Ezekiel was told to prophesy over the bones and announce the word of the Lord, that God was going to bring the bones back to life.
When he had done as he was instructed, he heard rattling noises. The bones were rattling as they lifted off the ground and reconnected with other bones.
Then Ezekiel saw muscles, ligaments, and skin covering the boney skeletons.
Full human bodies were visible before Ezekiel, repaired and renewed by the power of God, but he observed that they were not breathing, they were not yet alive.
Ezekiel was told to prophesy again, that life and breath would enter the bodies. God ordered breath to come from the four winds and enter His new creations.
Ezekiel witnessed breath entering the bodies, and they stood up, like a great army in number.
God told Ezekiel that the scene that had just played out before his eyes was a picture of what God would do to the house of Israel.
They were like dry bones, with no future and no hope, scattered around the world.
But God declared, “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” (37:12).
God once again promised to give them a new Spirit, His Spirit, to change the destiny of their nation.
A PROMISE OF UNIFICATION (37:15-28):
Ezekiel was told by God to take two sticks. On one, he was to write the name “Judah” representing the southern kingdom of God’s people. On the other stick, he was to write “Joseph” representing the northern kingdom of God’s people.
He was then told to bring the sticks together in his hand, so they looked like one unified stick.
When his countrymen asked him what he was doing, he was to tell them the sticks foretold a great unification by God. God was going to unite Judah and Israel (Joseph or Ephraim) once again.
God was going to gather the scattered people of Israel and Judah from around the world and unify them in the Promised Land.
God prophesied, saying, “I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” (37:22-23).
God’s “servant David” would be their king and they would all be united under one shepherd.
God promised that His people would dwell in the land forever and David would be prince forever.
God foretold and everlasting covenant between Him and His people.
God would dwell with His people, make a covenant of peace with them, and His sanctuary would be in “their midst forevermore.”
APPLICATION:
There is really only one true power that can unite groups that have long standing hatred for one another.
All the experts and all the books about unity in diversity and overcoming hatred cannot be taken seriously if they don’t ground their teachings in something bigger than human opinion.
Israel and Judah hated each other, they spent hundreds of years divided, and the only thing that was able to reunite them was the Messiah (Jesus).
The knowledge that we are all souls made in the image of God and the recognition of our common need for the grace of the Messiah are the only things that can meaningfully heal our divides and hatred.
