EZEKIEL
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.
1 THE hand of the LORD was upon me, [ A Semitism meaning he was experiencing a revelation from the Lord, cp. 1:3, 3:22, 8:1, 1 Chron. 28:19. So we have a allegory given to the prophet Ezekiel. This vision takes place before Exekiel is transported to an exceedingly high mountain. Ez 40. ] and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley [ So Ezekiels vision starts with him being taken to a valley, he will later end up on the top of an exceedingly high mountain in Ezekiel 40 where he will eventually see a temple to be built in Jerusalem. ] which was full of bones, [ Not complete skeletons, but scattered bones. Representing the wicked and scattered state of the house of Israel. This is a symbolic presentation given to Ezekiel similar to the presentation given to Zenos of the Olive tree with it's grafting, branches and fruit or fruitlessness. Both represent the HOuse of Israel and the later restoration of each. ]
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. [ The dry bone represent Israels fruitless service unto the Lord and disobedience unto him. If we contrast that to the covenants that God made with them under the direction of Moses. They were told that if they were to break their covenants with him right before they entered into the land of promise. Where God promised that he would scatter them to the four winds if they broke their covenants. See Duet 30:1-4. ]
4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, [ Represents Israels fruitless service as the Lord's people, as they chose wickedness and disobedience. ] hear the word of the LORD. [ At this point Ezekiel has not put the pieces together that God is talking to him about the House of Israel. ]
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath [ "breath", the Hebrew "ruach", is variously translated to "wind" and "spirit". It is only God who can do that. ] to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6 And I will [ While man can assist the Lord in gather the bones on both sides of the veil, the Lord alone is capable of restoring them. Since God is talking to Ezekiel about the entire house of Israel we need to understand that the house of Israel in the church today is primarily represented by one of the two half tribes of the House of Israel (Ephraim and Manasseh). So the Jews and these tribes make up the 16 million members we have today, but wait there is more. Far more as we only have two of the ten tribes represented to any great degree with us. That is a lot of dry bones. So in essence Ezekiel is being asked if he believes if all of the ten tribes can be restored to the House of Israel. And since the task being accomplished here is impossible for man to do it will then be in the hands of God to fulfill or complete it. ] lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, [ While we can help to gather them in we cannot restore them, that is for God to do. Putting skin back on these bones suggests the latter day restoration. The first thing that will happen is that they will be restored to this earth and they will come forth as an army which we will discover going forward here. ] 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, [ Some kind of external force was applied. Something that man cannot do; suggesting that it must and can only be done by God. ] and the bones came together, bone to his bone. [ The restoration of the structure(frame work) of the individual. ]
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. [ Another thing that is impossible for man to do; these things can only be done by God. So we have gone from just dry bones to now we have corpses laying on the ground. At this point Ezekiel has not yet made the connection between Israel and the dry bones. He failed to recognize that the Lord was asking Israel if he felt that it was possible for the Lord to retore Israel back into one great body. Or do you believe that all 12 tribes can be restored to their original state. The symbolism here is that while man can assist God in gathering men on both sides of the veil, the Lord alone is the only one who can restore them. (Ezekiel 11:17-20) ]
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, [ From all over the face of the earth as in "from the four corners of the earth". As Israel was scattered to the four winds and the four corners of the earth, so shall she be gathered in from there. ] O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. [ Even though the bones have been added to with flesh or skin they are not a live - it is not until they have their spirits that they get up off the ground and live. ]
10 so I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, [ As he prophesied as he was told to do the corpses rose to their feet with life. ] an exceeding great army. [ A better translation would be "a vast multitude" (JPS) As they rose they gathered into formations ready for battle. As he sees this he begins to realize that he is looking upon all of the army's of the entire house of Israel , the army's comprised of all 12 tribes. Why do you think that Ezekiel is shown them as a great army? Do you suppose that the fact that it is an army (ready for battle) and that the size of the army is hugh is of significance? See Isaiah 13:2-9. ]
11 ¶ Then he said unto me, son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: [ We are told who the bones represent here - the house of Israel. All 12 tribes are restored. So Ezekiel begins to realize that he is now staring at the army's of Israel - all 12 tribes in battle formation. This is a fulfillment of the covenant that the Lord gave in Duet. 30:1-4. ] behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: [ They are found lamenting the hopeless state that they are in because of sin while they inherited their ancestral homelands. ] we are cut off for our parts. [ Reference to both the temporal and eternal condition of Israel with respect to being temporally scattered and eternally cut off from the Lord as a result of sin and death. ]
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, [ This exceedingly great army. ] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, [ Return from their scattered state. Remember that the Lord told them what would happen when he made the covenant with them before they entered into the land of promise. The Lord told Moses (Duet 30:1-4) to tell them that if they did not keep their covenants that he would scatter them to the four winds. They broke their covenants and the Lord kept his word. We often he why is the Lord so vengeful? Well we don't often look at things from Gods perspective. For him death, or hardship is simply a different classroom in which to work. ] and bring you into the land 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, [ We God has completed the restoration, which includes the restoration of all of the 12 tribes including those who are now lost. ]
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall [ God himself will be the one to bring this miracle forward, it is beyond the scope of man. We as a church have been laboring for some 200 years and we only have a small portion gathered and what we do have is primarily from two tribes Ephraim and Manassiah. ] place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, [ "stick", for the Hebrew term "'ets" the Strong's entry is as follows: 1) tree, wood, timber, stock, plank, stalk, stick, gallows
1a) tree, trees 1b) wood, pieces of wood, gallows, firewood, cedar-wood,
woody flax
1a) tree, trees 1b) wood, pieces of wood, gallows, firewood, cedar-wood,
woody flax
The _International Standard Bible Encyclopedia_, G. W. Bromley,1988, says under the entry for "Stick" on page 618:
Among the symbolic acts the Lord tells Ezekiel to perform is taking two "sticks", one for Judah and one for Joseph, writing on them, and then joining them together to symbolize the reunification of the nation (Ezk. 37:15-28). The difficulty is determining whether Hebrew `es here means "sticks" or perhaps wooden tablets (cf. Targum, which reads tuha', "tablets" ).
Thus, the Hebrew is ambiguous in meaning and the Targum, the Aramaic language version of the OT, suggests what is being referenced here are tablets.
The LDS Institute manual comments for this chapter has an interesting entry where they show a picture of an ancient tablet with raised edges surrounding a wax layer which contains inscriptions. Two of these fairly large thin tablets would be hinged together with leather so they would close on the raised wood edges and protect the enclosed wax. Regardless of whether such a device is what Ezekiel is referring to (v. 20 suggests the tablets themselves are inscribed), it make it clear there were writing tablets common among the Jews at that time.
Jewish and Christian commentators commonly see these "sticks" as staves that serve as gathering points, like the staves to which a banner is connected. The connection of the two staves of Judah and Joseph would then mean they are gathering into one body. However, as noted above, the Targum doesn't support such a reading.] and write upon it, For Judah, [ Group number one. ] and for the children of Israel his companions: [ Group number two. This would be the lost ten tribes. ] then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, [ Group number three. See 2 Ne 2:12-13. ] the stick 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 one in thine hand. [ Strictly speaking this event has not as yet occurred. The stick of Judah has been ever-present and the stick of Ephraim has been revealed, but they have not been joined into one in the sense this passage is conveying, see also 2 Ne. 29. The unification of the word of the Lord is concomitant with the reunification of all of Israel, which explicitly requires Judah and Ephraim here. That clearly hasn't happened yet. What is kind of cool to think about is that as Ezekiel was having this vision or at least pretty close to it, the vision is becoming a reality because Lehi is in the process or about to start to take the brass plates away to the promised land. ]
18 ¶ And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, [ Entrusted to Ephraim primarily, the hand has the power. ] 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. [ Ezekiel is probably referring here to an institution which flourished among the ancient Hebrews but was completely lost sight of after the Middle Ages until its rediscovery in the last century. That is the institution of the tally-sticks. A tally is “a stick notched and split through the notches, so that both parties to a transaction may have a part of the record.” That is, when a contract was made, certain official marks were placed upon a stick of wood in the presence of a notary representing the king. The marks indicated the nature of the contract, what goods and payments were involved, and the names of the contracting parties. Then the stick was split down the middle, and each of the parties kept half as his claim-token (hence our word “stock” from “stick”) and his check upon the other party (hence called a “foil”).
Now both parties possessed a sure means of identification and an authoritative claim upon each other no matter how many miles or how many years might separate them. For the tally-stick was fool-proof. When the time for settlement came and the king’s magistrate placed the two sticks side by side to see that all was in order, the two would only fit together perfectly mark for mark and grain for grain to “become one” in the king’s hand if they had been one originally—no two other halves in the world would match without a flaw; and if either of the parties had attempted to add or efface any item of the bill (“bill” also originally means a stick of wood), by putting any new marks or “indentures” upon it, the fraud would become at once apparent.
So when the final payment was made and all the terms of the contract fulfilled, the two pieces of wood were joined by the King’s magistrate at the exchequer, tied as one, and laid up forever in the royal vaults, becoming as it were “one in the king’s hand.” (https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=mi)]
20 ¶ And the sticks whereon thou writest [ "the sticks whereon thou writest", the jewish publication society renders this "the sticks which you have inscribed". Compare Isa. 30:8 for an inscribed/engraved record for the latter days. This Hebrew term "kathab" is used in all of the Exodus references to writing such as the Ten commandments (Exod. 31:18), the remembrances Moses was to document (Exod. 17:14), as well as more mundane legal and historical documents (Deut. 24:1, 1 Kings 11:41). ] shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: [ The time of the original David (2 Sam. 5) when all of Israel was united under one king and was worshiping the Lord. It also uses this as a type of the Millennial kingdom which is to be established. ]
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, [ The Lord will redeem Israel, not as a result of their righteousness or good works but because of God's. But it comes from the redeeming blood of Israels sacrificial lamb. ] and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant [ This is a Davidic servant. ] shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land 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 ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. [ So this Davidic servant is a prince, not a king. The Lord himself is the King as we see in verse 27. ]
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary [ A temple will be part of the great reunification of Israel - a description of that temple can be found Ezel. 40-48. ] in the midst of them for evermore.