Ezekiel 37-39
Valley of
Dry Bones

Joyful singing and service are appropriate responses to God, for which people come before His presence in corporate worship.

Joy is not just an emotion, but is rooted in the knowing the person of God and what He has done. The joyful worshipers know God as the Creator and Shepherd of His people, and have experienced His care in their lives.

Note the parallelism, which is the hallmark of Hebrew poetry: 1 thanksgiving, 2 praise; 1' thanks, 2' bless. That means praise is equivalent to blessing His name. Note also the progression, from gates/thanks to courts/praise. We start with thanks and move to praise. Our awareness of what God has done (for which we give thanks), leads us to understanding who He is (for which we give praise). His works reveal His character. Thanks is for things, praise is for His person. I discovered this progression in my Quiet Time one chilly winter morning, with my hands wrapped around a hot mug of yummy coffee (see prayer below). Good coffee pointed to a good God. This can work for tea-drinkers as well.

Blessing God's name, is speaking well of His attributes and expressions of His nature/power. God reveals Himself through His acts to be good, loyal, covenant keeping, and faithful to His promises and people, forever.

Wisdom and knowledge are not the defaults of life, folly and shame are. It takes diligent effort to gain what is valuable. It takes diligent effort to gain a child in whom you can rejoice. Withholding correction/discipline from a child is to hate him/her (Pr 13:24). Parents who love their children let them reap painful earned consequences from their actions, so they will avoid disastrous catastrophes further down the road of life. That mirrors God's discipline of us. (See Parenting Principles on Truthbase.net, and under Resources below.) Biblical parents rejoice when their children make wise choices and say wise things, because they want what's best for their children, and wisdom is not only supreme, it merits God's blessings of protection and prosperity.

God takes Ezekiel via the Spirit to prophesy to a valley (literal or figurative) of dried out bones, which symbolized the nation of Israel (dead beyond hope). Ezekiel had a habit of obedience, so he did what God said: prophesy to a bunch of bones.

Verse 5 is the general statement, followed by the specifics of what God does to breathe life into the dry bones. God said He would open the graves, resurrect the bodies and give life to the people (another passage indicating the OT teaching of an afterlife), and place them back in the land (during the Millennium). When this happens, Israel will know that God indeed does keep His promises. For the exiles hearing of the fall of Jerusalem, this should have given hope.

God has Ezekiel play “pick up sticks” to symbolize the uniting of Israel and Judah under one leader, His servant/shepherd David (or a descendent). God will cleanse his people, and they will walk in His ways. Note that God still requires obedience to His law. Verse 23 has a textual variant, “unfaithfuless” for “dwelling places”; the former fits the context better. God will make an everlasting covenant of peace, and cause His dwelling to permanently be in the midst of Israel. Then the nations will know that Yahweh is God. This is obviously still future, because Israel is not at peace, nor is God dwelling in their midst.

Ezekiel prophesies against Gog, the leader of a coalition of northern peoples, who plan on attacking a regathered Israel, who is dwelling securely and prosperously in the land. There are no historic events that match Ezekiel's description, so the setting is still in the future. The identification of the individual “Gog” is up or grabs. “Chief” prince is translated “Rosh” in some versions. “Rosh” usually is an adjective meaning “chief” or “head”, and never mentioned elsewhere in Scripture as a place name, as the other countries are. Josephus, who wrote in the latter half of the first century A.D., identifies Gog and Magog with the Scythians (see map). Many commentators identify it as Russia because of Josephus and the etymology. “Rus” wasn't used to describe the territory north of Asia Minor until sometime after the third century A.D., more likely over a thousand years after Ezekiel's prophecy. Ezekiel's original audience might have been confused about what he meant (which Is the condition of most of Ezekiel's readers throughout history). However, there will be a coalition of nations from the north which will attack Israel, and if that happens when Russia occupies it's current position as a world power, the identification would make sense. This attack is probably not that described in Revelation 20 at the end of the Messiah's Millennial rule, since the purpose and consequences (also described in the next chapter) of both battles differ. In any event, Bad guys will attack a prosperous, regathered Israel, at God's instigation, and He will destroy them. This will probably take place during the Tribulation. Exactly when, and who it is, will probably not make much difference in how you obey and please God this week.

Just like with Pharaoh and the Exodus, God will use the natural greed of Gog and company to attack Israel, so He may destroy them to show His might to the nations. Being “sanctified” or made “holy” is almost incomprehensible unless you understand that the root of the word “holy” means separate or different/distinct. Yahweh will show himself to be separate from all other Gods when he destroys the power of Gog and his multitude. Then all the nations will know that the God of Israel is the one and only God, who defends Israel.

God will not only destroy Gog's army but also pour out fire on Gog's land, Magog, so that all will know that He is God, when He judges them. No longer will His name be profaned (treated as common), another prophecy which awaits future fulfillment. Israel will use the invaders' weapons for fuel for seven years. It seem unlikely that weapons of the future will be made of wood, but there is no time in history when this has been fulfilled. The language could be figurative for weapons that could be used as a fuel source, which the original audience would understand as wood, or in an apocalyptic future, warfare could revert to historic weapons. It would take seven months to bury the dead. Seven is a number with symbolic significance of completeness, but that doesn't preclude the years or months from actually being seven. Would it make a difference to your spiritual life if it was a greater or lesser number? We'll eventually find out.

These verses serve as a summary of God's judgment's upon Israel's enemies, and pave the way for the new temple in the next chapters. Here, God will display His glory in judgment so both Israel and the nations will know that Yahweh is the one and only God. Israel's scattering will be seen as Yahweh's work in disciplining them for their sin, and His regathering and blessing of them (particularly with New Covenant blessings of the Spirit) will impress upon all that “I am Yahweh their God.”