Summary of Ezekiel 37:1-14
Ezekiel saw a valley of bones while in the Spirit of the Lord. The Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones to come back to life. He did as commanded, and the bones obeyed.
The Lord says these bones are the bones of the people of Israel. God will bring them back to Israel, so they will know He is God. He will breathe His Spirit in them so that they will live.
BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 2, Day 4: Ezekiel 37:1-14
8 ) Ezekiel saw dry bones in a valley. His answer reveals that He knows that God can do anything He wants, and God knows everything.
9a) The Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones to come back to life. He did as commanded, and the bones obeyed. The bones came together. Tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin, but there was no breath in them.
b) The second time Ezekiel prophesied, the bones came to life fully with breath.
10a) The Lord says these bones are the bones of the people of Israel. God will bring them back to Israel, so they will know He is God. He will breathe His Spirit in them so that they will live.
b) What has God NOT done? Everything is from God. He has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams, and while I have my own problems and issues, He is the One behind it all.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 2, Day 4: Ezekiel 37:1-14
I love this visual of God giving life to bones, like He gives us life via the Holy Spirit. So powerful!
End Notes BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 2, Day 4: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Note that the bones were just lying around. This means they did not receive a proper burial, so the people who died were most likely disgraced.
This was a resurrection by God, a restoration of life. God’s words gave the bones life.
We can be reborn with God’s words, too.
Ezekiel 37:1-14 is about God’s promised restoration of Israel. God was referring to the restoration of His people from Babylon and Assyria, but many believe it speaks to the Second Coming, too.
END NOTES SUMMARIZED
Ezekiel 37:1-14 presents the powerful vision of the Valley of Dry Bones to deliver a message of radical hope to a despairing Israel. The analysis breaks down as follows:
- The Problem: The vision begins with a scene of utter death and hopelessness—a valley full of bones that are “very dry,” signifying a long-dead state. God explicitly identifies these bones as “the whole house of Israel,” who are in exile, saying, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.”
- The Process: God demonstrates His power through a two-stage restoration, commanding the prophet to participate. First, Ezekiel prophesies, and a physical reassembly occurs: a rattling sound, bones coming together, and the appearance of sinews, flesh, and skin. However, this creates an army of lifeless bodies. The second stage requires a prophecy to the “breath” (or Spirit), which comes and animates the bodies, bringing them to life as a vast army.
- The Promise: The vision is not about individual, literal resurrection but is a potent metaphor for national and spiritual restoration. God promises to reverse Israel’s “death” in exile. He will “open your graves,” bring His people back to the land of Israel, and, most importantly, put His Spirit in them, causing them to live.
In essence, the passage is God’s dramatic answer to Israel’s hopelessness, demonstrating that no situation is beyond His power to restore. He can bring back His people from a state of national death, renewing them both physically (returning them to the land) and spiritually (indwelling them with His Spirit).
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