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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was 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 caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. |
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| 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, thou knowest. |
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 Again he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the 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 saith the Lord Jehovah unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. |
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 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 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 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. |
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, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. |
No breath – Ruach. E317
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| 9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may 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 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. |
Great army – A nation. R2505:6
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| 11 Then he said unto 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. |
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 say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people; and I will bring you into 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 shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come 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 will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it, saith Jehovah. |
Put my spirit – Ruach. E317
In your own land – The land of Palestine. C260; R1373:6
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| 15 The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, |
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| 16 And thou, son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: |
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| 17 and join them for thee one to another into one stick, that they may 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 the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?
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| 19 say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 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, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand. |
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| 20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes. |
The sticks – Two sticks representing the divided people. R2084:4
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| 21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own 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 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; |
One nation – No "ten lost tribes," for whom there has been so much seeking. R4893:5
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| 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 dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. |
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| 24 And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them. |
David my servant – David's posterity, Christ. C257
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| 25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, for ever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. |
Given unto Jacob – Natural Israel. A300
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| 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 in the midst of them for evermore. |
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 My tabernacle also shall be over them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. |
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| 28 And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah that sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. |
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