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| 1 There hath been upon me a hand of Jehovah, and He taketh me forth in the Spirit of Jehovah, and doth place me in the midst of the valley, and it is full of bones, |
The hand – Power. R2505:3
This passage of Scripture regarding the dry bones was addressed to fleshly Israel when in Babylon. R2505:2
Midst of the valley – The valley of Jehoshaphat, typifying Adamic Death. R2908:2
Representing the captivity in Babylon. R2505:2
Was full of bones – Captive Israelites, the whole twelve tribes. R2505:3
This was a vision, not literal. R2505:3
This vision does not refer to the literal resurrection of the dead, but to the restoration of the dead hopes of the Jewish nation and their gradual reanimation as a people. Q584:4
The dry bones represented the Israelites themselves. R2505:2
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| 2 and He causeth me to pass over by them, all round about, and lo, very many [are] on the face of the valley, and lo, very dry. |
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| 3 And He saith unto me, 'Son of man, do these bones live ' And I say, 'O Lord Jehovah, Thou Thou hast known.' |
Can these bones live? – Is there any hope for the scattered people of Israel that they will ever be restored as a nation? R2505:5
Lord...thou knowest – Any hope must come from God. R2505:5
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| 4 And He saith unto me, 'Prophesy concerning these bones, and thou hast said unto them: O dry bones, hear a word of Jehovah: |
Prophesy – Ezekiel was to declare the divine message, foretelling what was to come to pass. R2505:5
Ye dry bones – Of hope of again becoming a nation. PD53/65
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| 5 Thus said the Lord Jehovah to these bones: Lo, I am bringing into you a spirit, and ye have lived, |
Cause breath – Ruach, spirit of life, life-energy. E315
Ye shall live – Not referring to a literal resurrection, but to the revival of Israel's hopes in the divine promises. R5503:3; Q584:4; PD53/65
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| 6 and I have given on you sinews, and cause flesh to come up upon you, and covered you over with skin, and given in you a spirit, and ye have lived, and ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.' |
Sinews – Of strength. PD53/65
Flesh – Of comeliness. PD53/65
Skin – Completion. PD53/65
And put breath – Ruach. E316
Be infused with the spirit of the Lord as the breath or energy of national life, begotten of faith in the promises, and standing again as a nation. R2505:6
Ye shall live – Though a symbol, it shows that a human organism has no life until it receives the ruach, the breath of life, which is common to all animals--none of them can live without it. E316
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| 7 And I have prophesied as I have been commanded, and there is a noise, as I am prophesying, and lo, a rushing, and draw near do the bones, bone unto its bone. |
A noise and...a shaking – The Revised Version renders this: "Thunder and an earthquake." R2505:6
The commotions incident to the fall of Babylon and the transfer of the empire to the Medes and Persians, typifying the coming time of trouble. R2505:6
There is a commotion amongst those who are spiritual Israelites indeed, whose Kingdom hopes are now being revived. R2506:4
The great noise is the "seventh trumpet" which has begun to sound. R2506:1
The bones came together – Now in progress among the Jewish people through Zionism. PD53/65
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| 8 And I beheld, and lo, on them [are] sinews, and flesh hath come up, and cover them doth skin over above and spirit there is none in them. |
No breath – Ruach. E317
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| 9 And He saith unto me: 'Prophesy unto the Spirit, prophesy, son of man, and thou hast said unto the Spirit: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: From the four winds come in, O Spirit, and breathe on these slain, and they do live.' |
Unto the wind – Ruach, spirit of life, life-energy--margin, breath. E317
Four winds – Ruach. E317
O breath – Ruach. E317
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| 10 And I have prophesied as He commanded me, and the Spirit cometh into them, and they live, and stand on their feet a very very great force. |
Great army – A nation. R2505:6
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| 11 And He saith unto me, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; lo, they are saying: Dried up have our bones, And perished hath our hope, We have been cut off by ourselves. |
Whole house of Israel – The whole twelve tribes. R2505:3
No longer to be considered as two distinct nations. R2505:3
The rest of the world is typified by the "whole house of Israel." R1377:2*
Our hope is lost – Does not refer to the literal resurrection, but to the revival of Israel's hopes in the divine promises. R5503:3; Q584:4; PD53/65
Of being God's favored people and the heir of the promises made to Abraham. R2505:3
Of ever again becoming a nation. PD53/65; R2505:3
We have lost heart, our ambitions are all gone, or are asleep. R4788:5, R2505:2
A lesson might also be drawn for spiritual Israelites, who, for centuries, lost sight of Kingdom hopes for blessing the whole world of mankind. R2506:2
For our parts – From our parts, from all tribal and national union. R2505:3
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| 12 Therefore, prophesy, and thou hast said unto them, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am opening your graves, And have brought you up out of your graves, O My people, And brought you in unto the land of Israel. |
I will open your graves – Where the dead sleep, waiting for an awakening. SM39:T
Blinded, stumbled Israel is still there. R4781:2
Restitution is spoken of by the mouth of all the holy prophets. R545:3
The various provinces of Babylonia in which your national hopes are buried by your captivity; foreshadowing the general scattering among all nations. R2506:1
Out of your graves – Israel will be regathered out from all the nations whither they have been scattered, and also come out from the graves. R1630:2, R1652:4
The fulness of Israel will finally embrace the dead as well as the living. R107:3*, R1378:4, R1466:6
The power is with God to bring men to life again. R536:4
They go into the tomb as individuals, as everyone else; but as a nation also they have gone into the tomb--especially since AD 70. R4788:5
The land of Israel – Then Abraham will realize the reward of his faith. R1652:4
The present land of Palestine is a very small part of the promised land, which is to stretch from the Nile to the Euphrates (Gen. 15:18), and appears to include Arabia, as well as parts of Egypt and the Sudan--an area equal to the half of Europe. Q792:2
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| 13 And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah, In My opening your graves, And in My bringing you up out of your graves, O My people. |
Ye shall know – Be delivered from blindness and brought to that full, clear knowledge which will render every man without excuse and fully responsible for his choice of life through obedience to Christ. R4781:3
When – During the Millennial day. C260; A108
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| 14 And I have given My Spirit in you, and ye have lived, And I have caused you to rest on your land, And ye have known that I Jehovah, I have spoken, and I have done [it], An affirmation of Jehovah.' |
Put my spirit – Ruach. E317
In your own land – The land of Palestine. C260; R1373:6
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| 15 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, |
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| 16 'And thou, son of man, take to thee one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the sons of Israel, his companions; and take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, his companions, |
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| 17 and bring them near one unto another, to thee, for one stick, and they have become one in thy hand. |
Join them – No longer to be considered as two distinct nations, but henceforth as a reunited nation. R2505:3
Shall become one – This was done to show that the exiles of Israel (carried away to Babylon BC 722, when Samaria was destroyed) were to unite with the captives of Judah. R4893:5
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| 18 'And when sons of thy people speak unto thee, saying, Dost thou not declare to us what these [are] to thee |
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| 19 Speak unto them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am taking the stick of Joseph, that [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and have given them unto him, with the stick of Judah, and have made them become one stick, and they have been one in My hand. |
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| 20 And the sticks on which thou writest have been in thy hand before thine eyes, |
The sticks – Two sticks representing the divided people. R2084:4
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| 21 and speak thou unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am taking the sons of Israel, From among the nations whither they have gone, And have gathered them from round about, And I have brought them in unto their land. |
Will gather them – With the fulfilment of their "double." SM398:T
This verse of Scripture appears on the official medal for the second Zionist conference in 1898. R2362:5*
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| 22 And I have made them become one nation in the land, on mountains of Israel, And one king is to them all for king, And they are no more as two nations, Nor are they divided any more into two kingdoms again. |
One nation – No "ten lost tribes," for whom there has been so much seeking. R4893:5
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| 23 Nor are they defiled any more with their idols, And with their abominations, And with any of their transgressions, And I have saved them out of all their dwellings, In which they have sinned, And I have cleansed them, And they have been to Me for a people, And I I am to them for God. |
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| 24 And My servant David [is] king over them, And one shepherd have they all, And in My judgments they go, And My statutes they keep, and have done them. |
David my servant – David's posterity, Christ. C257
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| 25 And they have dwelt on the land that I gave to My servant, to Jacob, In which your fathers have dwelt, And they have dwelt on it, they and their sons, And their son's sons unto the age, And David My servant [is] their prince to the age. |
Given unto Jacob – Natural Israel. A300
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| 26 And I have made to them a covenant of peace, A covenant age-during it is with them, And I have placed them, and multiplied them, And placed My sanctuary in their midst to the age. |
Covenant of peace – The New covenant. R101:6[R101:6], R282:6[R282:11], R4371:3[R4371:4]
Sanctuary – Dwelling--the Church. R102:1[R101:13], R111:1[R111:1]
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| 27 And My tabernacle hath been over them, And I have been to them for God, And they have been to Me for a people. |
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| 28 And known have the nations that I Jehovah am sanctifying Israel, In My sanctuary being in their midst to the age!' |
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