One Kingdom, One King forevermore ~ Ezekiel 37

In Ezekiel 17:3, when Ezekiel said, in the midst of the valley, amongst dry bones, where God placed him down in, "You know" to God's question, "Son of man, can these dry bones live?", the prophet Ezekiel placed his faith completely in the living God. Ordinarily one would say "no" to the question God posed.

But Ezekiel did not limit God; he knew the Almighty could make bones live. Amen! Praise you God! Only you God! 

God says to him again, "Prophesy to these bones" Ezekiels prophecies had often been directed to people as deaf as these old, dry bones. Again God says to Ezekiel, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God says to these bones: Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live." (17:4,5) The word translated "breath" is translated other places as wind or Spirit. The breath sent by God into the lifeless bodies symbolizes the Holy Spirit (see v 14) who brings renewal , regeneration and re-birth (see vv 6,9; John 3:5-8; 6:44; 7:37-39; 16:5-15; Romans 8:9-11) This passage is not about resurrection from physical death, but re-birth from spiritual death brought about by divine power. Psalm 87 is another text in the Hebrew Scriptures that speaks of spiritual re-birth. The point of Jesus's words to Nicodemus in John3:1-16 was that he should have known and understood the concept of a second birth. 

"So I prophecied as I was commanded; and as I prophecied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone" (37:7) The dramatic noise and then the coming together of the bones with new flesh must have been chilling and thrilling to the prophet. This was a prophetic portrayal of the rebirth of Israel (see Romans 9:11) 

"Also 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."  So i prophecied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army." (vv 9,10)  The bones symoblize the whole house of Israel. This identification picks up on imagery alreaady used:

1) those identified as dry or spiritually dead (see vv 2-5)

2) those identified as despondent and dejected, with no apparent hope of being "resurrected" as the people of the living God

3)those described as disassembled and dispersed before being rejoined and rebuilt (see vv 6-10) 

The major thrust of this passage is the coming spiritual rebirth of God's chosen people through the agency of His Spirit (see vv 15-28; 36:22-32) The spiritual rebirth would miraculously revive and restore human beings to what God had intended them to be in the beginning. The same body-breath sequence occurs in the creation of Adam (see Genesis 2:7) 

Ezekiel uses a "stick" in 39:17,  as the object in his final symbolic drama. (see 4:1,3,9; 5:1) God tells Ezekiel, the son of man, to take a stick and write on it; "For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions. Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions. Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand. And when the children of Ezekiel's people ask him, 'Will you not show us what you mean by these?' -- say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’ (vv 16-19) 

God then tells Ezekiel to say to the children of his people, "Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again." (vv 21,22) Praise God! Hallelujah! 

In verses 24,25, the Lord God says, "David my servant king 'shall' be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgements and observe My statutes , and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever."  The one king refers to the future ruler, the promised Messiah, also called Shepherd, Servant and Prince (see also vv 7:27, 34:11-31, John 10) The title, "David My servant" refers to the Messiah and King who would come from David's line to save Israel. (v 22; see 2 Samuel 7:8-16) 

The Lord had made an "everlasting covenant" with Abraham, the nation of Israel, and David. (vv 26-28) "My sanctuary in their midst" is the sanctuary or holy place of the living God, his dwelling place among His people. (see Zephaniah 3:15-18) The "My tabernacle"  term meaning "dwelling place" is a synonym for sanctuary. Both can be used of God's dwelling in the midst of His people in the wilderness. Here they point to the future dwelling of the living God in the midst of His people "forevermore". 

Hallelujah! 

One Kingdom, One King forevermore.