Commentary - Ezekiel 37

Old Testament Commentary ~ Ezekiel 37

by Don R. Hender

All Bones Can Live Again As Israel1
Life can come to Israel as to the bones 9
The divided kingdom to be joined 15
David to be king 24

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 37 Israel shall inherit the land in the resurrection—The stick of Judah (Bible) and the stick of Joseph (Book of Mormon) become one in the Lord's hand—Israel shall be gathered and cleansed—The Messiah shall reign over them—They shall receive the everlasting gospel covenant.	'Israel' (under which umbrella all will come through the covenant blessing of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Ephraim) shall be redeemed and inherit the land (the earth) in the resurrection --	All who ever lived shall come under the 'adoptive' covenant of Israel. It is why we do temple work and what a major work of the Millennium will be, doing the ordinance work for all who have lived upon the earth as they will all come under the umbrella of the Covenant of Israel.
1 ¶ THE ^ahand of the LORD was upon me, and ^bcarried me out in the ^cspirit^a of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones^b, 2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley^a; and, lo, they were very dry. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones ^alive? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. All Come Under Israel Over the centuries of time an elitist feeling evolved in Israel perpetuated by the Jewish view of being the Sons of Abraham, the chosen people of Israel. When Christ commanded the Gospel be taken to the heathen Gentiles, and they were to be accepted in Israel as being the same as the Sons of Abraham, it caused quite a stir in the traditional Jewish elitist mind set. The prideful Pharisees and Sadducees portrayed to John the Baptist that 'they were the Seed of Abraham', the chosen people of God. To this 'vain' elitist pride John stated that 'God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham'. Replacing the notion of the 'children of Abraham' with the 'children of Israel', it becomes clear that God's intention in taking the Gospel to all the world is to bring everyone under the umbrella of the children of the promise, the children of Israel. We teach that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are children of Israel. The blood of Israel has been sifted and scattered among all the nations of the earth. If ever a non-Israelite is baptised into the Church and receives the 'Holy Ghost', the old blood is 'purged' and they becomes the actual seed of the covenant, a Son of Abraham, the Blood of Israel. That person's blood is changed by the power of the Holy Ghost and they become of the blood of Israel (Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 149). The covenant was made by God before the foundation of the world. It came down from the fathers beginning with Adam. It is today known under the grouping of the House of Israel. Any who come under the covenant are considered as being of Israel.	1^a carried me out in the spirit For lack of a better word 'teleportation' by the spirit often occurs during God's dealings with his servents the prophets. Christ, himself, was transported by the spirit a number of times during his mortal mission upon earth. He was conveyed into the wilderness and during his temptations. He passed through the crowd at Nazareth unseen. He traveled upon the surface of the lake of Galilee as he walked upon water to the ship after being left ashore. 1^bvalley which was full of bones Since Ezekiel was transported by the spirit, it might be assumed that this valley of dry bones was an actual place and location upon the earth. This raises the question, where on the earth was there in the days of Ezekiel such a scene as a vast killing field, a wide 'open valley' full of dry bones from a vast destruction? There was at that very point in time a vast valley containing the dryed bones of millions of people. It is recorded in the Book of Mormon as being about the hill Ramah and known by the name of the Land of Cummorh. Ezekiel's Jews had been taken captive by the Babylonians. While Jerusalem had been destroyed, it was not a vast valley full of dryed bones as Jeremiah and a small remnant of Jews where allowed to remain in the land. While it is not known for sure, considering that Ezekiel was transported and shown the vast killing field of the Jaredites present an opportunity to present and discuss a well founded doctrinal tenet of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in addition to just considering the statement found in Ezekiel 6:5. 2^a open valley In contrast to Jerusalem which resides upon a hill or Mount Zion, this location containing the vasts fields of dryed bones was a wide 'open valley' much like the regions of the land of Cumorah in New York. 4^a Prophecy upon these bones The 'Prophecy' here is not a mere prediction but communicating what the future we hold as performed by the word of the power of God. Such a 'prophesy' as commanded by the Lord for Ezekiel to state is as though God himself so stated it. Here the Lord has Ezekiel verbalize the prophesy so that he will feel the power of the work of God which comes by the internalization of such as given by the 'spirit of prophesy'. 4^b hear the word of the Lord The power of God, the priesthood of God, works by the power of command. The Lord created heaven and earth by the power of his command. What Ezekiel would prophesy concerning the vast valley of bones would surely come to pass by the power of God's word upon them.	1^a Ezek. 1:3 ^b 1 Kings 18:12: Luke 4:1 JST Matt. 4:5 Then Jesus was taken up into the holy city, and the Spirit [Holy Ghost] setteth him on the pinnacle of the temple. ^c TG God, Spirit of 3^a OR resurrect A Gospel Tenet While we do not believe all who have lived will achieve the Celestial Kingdom and obtain the fullness of the glory and blessings of God, we do believe in a form of 'universal salvation' for all mankind, that all will resurrected into an immortal and eternal state, receiving the extend of the glories of the kingdoms of God dependant upon their worthy performance of the ordinances of salvation, faith upon and acceptance of Christ, and according to the degree of their repentance, good works and living the commandments and spirit of the law of the Lord. This divine Doctinal Tenet of the universal salvation and resurrection found in the Gospel of Christ as restore to earth is confirmed as part of our performances in the Church. We as members of the Church understand that we do temple work for the dead becasue they will all come under the salvation of Christ and will be resurrected and need to have their saving ordinance completed for them. Because all will rise from the dead, be baptise and perform their saving ordinances for the dead in our Temples of the Lord. (Note: The whole of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 speaks of this universal resurrection.) Abraham was blessed that all nations of the earth would be blessed through his seed. This was not only those living in the last days, but all who ever lived, past, present and future. We are the seed of Abraham through who these blessing are being fullfilled in blessing the nations of the earth, past, present and future. We are for the most part the seed of Joseph of Egypt by whom these covenant promises of the fathers have remained. It is through Joseph posterity that these pomises remian and are being fullfilled, by his two sons of the covenant, primarily by Ephraim as assisted by Manasseh. It is under the direct and according to the covenant tribe of Ephraim that the restored gospel is conveyed to the world.
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause ^abreath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, ^abone to his bone. 8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.	5 - Breath ... and you will live The breath (also translated "spirit") is the symbol of life from God ge0207. 7 - Shaking Perhaps a purification process as under the sixth seal re0613. 8 - Sinews ... flesh The rebuilding or re-creating the bodies is a reverse of the process of deterioration. 8 - But ... no breath As at the time of creation., the breath of life was given in a separate process. We are flesh and spirit or breath. We cannot expect peace and eternal life if we live to please our physical bodies, ignoring the spiritual relationship with God ro0814.	5^a TG Breath of Life 7^a D&C 138:17 (11-17, 43) How Jaredites Are Israelites When one considers all who have ever lived upon the earth and that they will all be resurrected and become the benefactors of the atonement of Christ, it should be understood that they must become partakers of the covenant blessing which God made to man before the foundation of the world. And the only way for that to occur is through the saving ordiances of the Gospel of Christ. For example the entire Jaredite nations was destroyed. Their bodies laid upon the ground of the Land of Desolation unburied. Millions of skeletons of dryed bones laid upon the ground about the Hill Ramah in the valley of the land of Cumorah. For these to become the Sons of Abraham and of the Seed of Israel, they will be changed and purged and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, thus coming under the unbrella of the covenant of the fathers and of the House of Israel.
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the ^awind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four ^bwinds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the ^abreath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are [represent] the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is ^alost: we are cut off for our parts. Bones Represent Israel It seems clear that if this 'open valley' of dryed bones was an actual place which the spirit conveyed Ezekiel to, that it logically could not have contained all the bones of the House of Israel. Ezekiel himself stood as witness and his bones would not have been there. Neither would the bones of any of the living or those yet to live. Therefore the vast 'open valley' of bones dryed upon the ground could have only been a 'representation' of the bones of the house of Israel. This leaves open to consideration that the actual bones being views were those of the destoryed Jaredite nation.	9 - Prophesy unto the wind To bring breath. The "four winds" or, as we would say, the four points of the compass. Jeremiah tells us that Elam would be scattered to the four winds je4936. 11 - Whole house of Israel So will all Israel will be saved? Yes, but the end-time Israel � the faithful Christians at the end of time. See on ro1126.	9^a HEB spirit, breath, or wind ^b Dan. 11:4; Rev. 7:1 10^a TG Breath of Life 11^a Isa. 49:14
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your ^agraves, and cause you to ^bcome up out of your graves, and ^cbring you into the ^dland of Israel. 13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14 And shall put my ^aspirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.	12 - Open your graves The mention of resurrection indicates fulfillment of the prophecy to the faithful at the end of time jn0528, 1th0416. And see on v11.	12^a TG Jesus Christ, Prophcies abt ^b TG Resurrection ^c TG Israel, Gathering of ^d Ezek. 36:28 (24-28) 14^a Alma 40:26 (16-24); D&C 88:15 (15-17)
15 ¶ The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one ^astick, and ^bwrite upon it, For ^cJudah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and ^dwrite upon it, For ^eJoseph, the ^fstick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become ^aone in thine hand. Israel Divided When most speak of Israel being divided they refer to the event when the 10 tribes of Israel rejected King Rehoboam and joined under king Jeroboam. an Ephraimite/Ephrathite who had been appoint by a prophet to be king. The Kingdom of Judah, had basically absorbed much of the tribe of Benjamin and those associated lands from Zelah and/or Zelzah/Bethlehem (site of the tomb of Rachel) to Jerusalem and beyond. Thus many considered that at least half of the tribe of Benjamin remianed with Judah under Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. But the wedge which caused that division begain long before then. (tselaha=tseltsach? eleph)	16,17 - Stick ... become one God's final purpose. Some may see this fulfilled in modern Israel. They, however, are not living in holiness as expressed in v14. See note on Israel. The prophecy will be fulfilled to spiritual Israel at the coming of Christ.	16^a HEB wood. Wooden writing tablets were in common use in Babylon in Ezekiel's day.; Num. 17:2 (1-10); TG Scriptures to Come Forth ^b TG Scriptures, Preservation of ^c TG Israel, Judah, People of ^d TG Scripture, Writing of ^e TG Israel, Joseph, People of ^f D&C 27:5 17^a 1 Ne. 13:41; 2 Ne. 3:12; JST Gen. 50:31
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us ^awhat thou meanest by these? 19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of ^aJoseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. 20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.	-	18^a Ezek. 12:9; Ezek. 24:19 19^a TG Book of Mormon
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the ^aheathen, whither they be gone, and will ^bgather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22 And I will make them ^aone ^bnation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and ^cone king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more ^dtwo nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their ^aidols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will ^bsave them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will ^ccleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.	21 - Gather them Ultimately at the coming of Christ mt2431.	21^a HEB nations or gentiles ^b TG Israel, Gathering of 22^a Jer. 50:4; John 10:16; TG Unity ^b TG Israel, Restoration of ^c Ezek. 34:23 ^d The tribes led by Judah and by Ephraim were historically adversaries (after events of 1 Kings 12:16-20. In the latter days this enmity will be healed. 23^a Ezek. 36:25 ^b Zech. 9:16 ^c TG Purification
24 And ^aDavid my servant shall be king over them^a; and they all shall have one ^bshepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25 And they shall dwell in the ^aland that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ^bever: and my servant David shall be their ^cprince for ever. 26 Moreover I will make a ^acovenant of peace with them; it shall be an ^beverlasting ^ccovenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my ^dsanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27 My ^atabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their ^bGod, and they shall be my people. 28 And the ^aheathen shall ^bknow that I the LORD do ^csanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.	24^a David my servant shall be king over them David, the son of Jesse who had been anointed king by the prophet Samuel had been long dead and neither was he worthy to be made the ruling king over the millennial kingdom of God. Simply stated, one of the names of God, that is Christ, is David, being the 'Beloved' of the Father. It is Jesus Christ using his name David, which the son of Jesse had used, who is to inherit the ruling and reigning throne as king during the millennial era. 26^a Tabernacle...with them Is He saying that the temple should be rebuilt in modern Jerusalem? The Jews rejected their opportunity. The promises are for us who are Israel according to the Spirit and not the flesh ro0906, re2103.	24^a Jer. 30:9; Ezek. 34:23 ^b TG Shepherds 25^a Ezek. 28:25; Ezek. 36:28; ^b Isa. 60:21 ^c Ezek. 34:24; Ezek. 44:3; 26^a Ezek. 34:25; ^b TG New & Everlasting Covenant ^c TG Restoratin of the Gospel ^d TG God, Presence of TG Temple 27^a D&C 124:38 (37-40) ^b Ezek. 34:24 (20-31) 28^a TG Heathen ^b TG God, Knowledge about ^c TG Sanctification

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