Ezekiel 37:11–14

Context

Ezekiel was a prophet who ministered among the exiles during the Babylonian captivity. Chapter 37 comes after the news of Jerusalem's fall reached the exiles (Ezekiel 33:21). In Ezekiel 37:1–10, Ezekiel sees a valley full of dry bones and watches in a vision as those bones come together again and return to life. In verses 11–14, God Himself explains the meaning of the vision.

The words "Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost" (Ezekiel 37:11) record the lament of exiles who had lost their nation. God answers with a promise to open their graves and bring them "into the land of Israel" (Ezekiel 37:12). The Hebrew word ruach can mean breath, wind, or spirit, and it recurs throughout Ezekiel 37:1–14. Translations differ in how they render the word in verse 14. Among Korean versions, for example, the older Korean Revised Version uses an archaic term, while the Revised Korean Version uses the ordinary word for "spirit." The promise of a new spirit in the preceding chapter and the prophecy of the joining of the two sticks that follows (Ezekiel 37:15–28) frame the passage on either side.

Interpretation

• Historical and national reading: Many commentators understand the passage as a promise of the return from exile and the restoration of the community of Israel, because the text explicitly identifies the bones as "the whole house of Israel" (Ezekiel 37:11).
• Reading as a foreshadowing of resurrection: Some of the early church fathers are reported to have read the vision as a foreshadowing of the bodily resurrection. Jewish tradition also contains interpretations that connect the passage with the resurrection of the dead.
• Reading as new life in the Spirit: In Protestant preaching, the words "shall put my spirit in you" in verse 14 are often read as referring to the regeneration and the revival of the community that the Holy Spirit brings. Pentecostal and charismatic circles in particular emphasize this reading in connection with revival.

Debates and Issues

Dispensationalism holds that the promise will be literally fulfilled in a future restoration of Israel as a nation. Some within this camp also link it to the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. Covenant theology and the Reformed tradition tend to see the promise as fulfilled initially in the return from exile and brought to completion in Christ and the church. Apart from these differences, some critics argue that certain sermons take the passage out of context. These sermons bypass the exilic community, which was the text's primary audience, and apply the passage directly to individual spiritual experience or to the growth of a particular church.

In the Korean Church

In Korean Protestant churches, the "valley of dry bones" is a common sermon text and theme at revival meetings and special early-morning prayer meetings. Preachers use it to express the hope that stagnant faith or a declining church may be brought back to life.

Related Passages

• Ezekiel 36:25–27
• Genesis 2:7
• John 20:22
• Romans 8:11
• John 5:25–29