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| 1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which 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 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 GOD, 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 upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. |
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 GOD 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 the LORD. |
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 a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his 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 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. |
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 GOD; 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, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. |
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 GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and 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 the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, |
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 shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. |
Put my spirit – Ruach. E317
In your own land – The land of Palestine. C260; R1373:6
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| 15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, |
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| 16 Moreover, 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 one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine 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 GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, 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. |
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| 20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine 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 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: |
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 dwellingplaces, 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 David my 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. |
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 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. |
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 with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
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| 28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. |
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