[Partial Version] Ezekiel 37 Fulfilled
During The Babylonian Exile
The Prophet in his old age
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In a vision, an old prophet stood in a desolate valley, surrounded by the unsettling sight of dry bones scattered across the ground. The air is heavy with a sense of abandonment and despair. Taking in the scene before him, a transformation of sort begins to take place. The bones, once lifeless and disconnected, start to come together. Ligaments and flesh envelop them, and soon, an army of fully-formed bodies stands before him. This is the vision account of Ezekiel The Prophet chapter 37.
There are 4 major things he focuses on:
A dead nation in The valley of dry bones come back to life and return to the land from exile
The reuniting of two sticks being the northern and southern kingdom after the exile and restoration of the temple and waste cities.
The Davidic Ruler being Zerubbabel during the times of exile in Ezra and Nehemiah.
The Covenant of Peace Began in the old and applied to the new.
Ezekiel 37 paints a vivid picture of restoration, reunification, and the promise of a righteous leader. It speaks to the enduring human desire for renewal and unity, while reminding us of the power of divine intervention to breathe life into even the most desolate of circumstances.
The Valley of Dry Bones
Eze 37:1-28 LEB 1 The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and he brought me by the Spirit of Yahweh, and he let me rest in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2 And he led me all around over them, and look, very many on the surface of the valley, and look, very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I said, “Lord Yahweh, you know.” 4 And he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and you must say to them, to the dry bones, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh!
Ezekiel as a younger man
Ezekiel was alive during the babylonian exile back to his homeland. So this image is The Nation of Israel as dead. Their land is bare, the people were in Babylon at the time, in captivity. It is the image of a dead nation.
In the mind of Ezekiel, God uses edenic overtones in his visions to him. As Adam was formed from the dust of the ground and became a living soul through the breath of life and placed in Eden, so too the nation of Israel is made alive again, resurrected and placed back into the land that God gave them.
5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: “Look! I am bringing into you breath, and you will live! 6 And I will lay on you sinews, and I will let flesh come upon you, and I will cover you over with skin, and I will put breath into you, and you will live, and you will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ” 7 And I prophesied just as I had been commanded, and there was a sound at my prophesying, and look! A rattling, and they came together—the bones! Bone to its bone! 8 And I looked, and indeed, sinews were on them, and flesh went up, and skin covered over them upward, but breath was not in them. 9 And he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and you must say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh from the four winds, “Come, O spirit and breath, on these dead ones, so that they may live!”
10 And I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they became alive, and they stood on their feet, a very, very large group.
11 And he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all of the house of Israel; look! they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is destroyed; we are cut off as far as we are concerned.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am opening your graves, and I will bring you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel!
Notice that these people are returning to the land of israel from their deathly state. This is in direct reference to the time Israel died as a nation from the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. This pin points the fulfilment of this prophecy to the time and events of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Old Testament. Lexical sources and scholars also acknowledge the same historic fact.
Walther Eichrodt
"The opening of the graves is a symbolical action expressing Yahweh's quickening of the dead nation to new life. What was meant was the people's deliverance from exile, their restoration to their own land, and their renewal as Yahweh's people." - Walther Eichrodt, Ezekiel: A Commentary (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1970), 508.
Leslie C. Allen
"The national revival or 'resurrection' of Israel, following the death and burial of exile, is a familiar prophetic figure (cf. Isa. 26:19; Hos. 6:2). Here the graves are metaphorical, representing Israel's captivity in Babylon (cf. v. 11). The restoration is seen as a resurrection, a return from Sheol, the place of the dead (cf. Isa. 14:19)." - Leslie C. Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, Word Biblical Commentary vol. 29 (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1990), 81.
The Hebrew Analytical Lexicon of The Old Testament. (H.A.L.O.T.)
According to HALOT, in Ezekiel 37:12 the word qever means "grave" in a metaphorical sense, as a symbol for exile and captivity. HALOT specifically defines the usage of qever in Ezekiel 37:12 as follows:
"grave, sepulchre, in a transferred, metaphorical sense: I shall open your graves and raise you up from your graves, i.e. I shall lead you out of your miserable condition in exile into a new life in your own country." - H.A.L.O.T.
Note: The HALOT dictionary provides in-depth semantic analysis, extensive biblical references and citations of extra-biblical literature, and nuanced distinctions between homonyms and polysemes for each Hebrew lemma, giving it an advantage over other lexicons.
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