Therefore
prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people.
Ezekiel 37:12-13
Ezekiel 37 [5.] Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.
Ezekiel 37 [10.] So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.
Ezekiel 37 [15.] Yahweh’s word came again to me, saying, You, son of man, take one 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: and join them for you to one another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. When the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these? tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.
Meaning:
Ezekiel prophesied to the exiles in Babylon. In a vision God showed him a valley of dry bones that came together and lived when he prophesied (see the Context above). God explained that the bones were the house of Israel, who said, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost”.
- “Behold, I will open your graves”
The exiles felt dead and buried. God promised to do what no human power could: to open their graves and bring them out. The first meaning is the restoration of Israel from exile, a national resurrection.
- “I will bring you into the land of Israel”
The return from Babylon began this fulfilment. But the next verse goes further: “I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live.” God had promised, “I will also give you a new heart” and “I will put my Spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). The restoration would be spiritual as well as physical.
- Pointing to resurrection
Many readers have seen in this vision a picture of the resurrection of the dead that Daniel foretold (Daniel 12:2). Jesus spoke of the hour when “all that are in the tombs will hear his voice, and will come out” (John 5:28). At Bethany he called Lazarus out of the tomb as a sign of that hour (John 11:43-44).
The Significance of Ezekiel 37:12-13
- Hope for the hopeless
God speaks to those who feel that their hope is lost. No situation is beyond the reach of the God who opens graves.
- New life by the Spirit
God’s Spirit gives new life to people who are spiritually dead and will one day raise their bodies (Romans 8:11).
Cross-References:
Ezekiel 36:27: "I will put my Spirit within you," The Spirit who gives new life.
Daniel 12:2: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake," The resurrection hope.
John 5:28: "all that are in the tombs will hear his voice, and will come out;" Jesus’ promise to open the graves.
John 11:43: "Lazarus, come out!" A grave opened by Jesus.
Conclusion: To exiles who felt dead and hopeless, God promised to open their graves, bring them home and put his Spirit in them so that they would live. The promise of national restoration also points to the resurrection, which Jesus foreshadowed when he called Lazarus from the tomb.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible