The Jews had been taken captivity and taken to Babylon, see the Babylonian captivity, when Ezekiel receives this vision of Israel's end times. Many Jews had
died and the remaining Jews in Babylon wondered if they would ever return to their homeland. 70 years later they were allowed to return to their homeland, see The Book of Habakkuk, but it's only a forerunner of what God will do in the future. God will take a land that's no longer a land, and that has been scattered around the nations for many hundreds of years, and make them a nation again,
in its former place. God will call their people back to their land, see
Israel Becomes a Country in The Prophecies of Isaiah. Israel became a nation 1948. Later the whole nation will come to Christ, see Messiah's Second Coming and The Millennial Kingdom in The Prophecies of Isaiah.
The vision (Ezekiel 37:1–28):
The hand of the Lord was upon Ezekiel, and he was brought forth by the Holy Spirit and set in the middle of a valley, which was full of very dry bones. The Lord told him to prophesy to these dry bones to hear the word of the Lord. The Lord would make breath enter into them, and they would come to life. He attached tendons to them, made flesh come over them, and covered them with skins. He would put breath into them, and they would come to life. Then they would know that the Lord is God.
Ezekiel prophesied as he was commanded. And as he prophesied, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. He looked and tendons
and flesh appeared on them, skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
(This is a picture of when Israel became a nation again in 1948. But still most of the Jews aren't followers of Christ, even though it's God who has made this new nation possible. They are in the land but spiritually dead.)
Then the Lord told Ezekiel that he would prophesy for the breath to enter these slain, that they might live. When he prophesied as he had been commanded, breath came into them, they came to life and stood on their feet, a great army. Then the Lord told him that these bones were the people of Israel who thought that their bones were dried up and that their hope was gone, that they were cut off. Ezekiel should therefore prophesy and tell them that the Lord will open their graves and bring them up from them. He will bring them back to the land of Israel. Then the people of Israel will know that he is the Lord, when he opens their graves and bring them up.
(The term grave is used to show that it's like raising them from the death when he allows breath to enter them so that they have spiritual life.)
The Lord will put his Spirit in them and they will live, and the Lord will settle them in their own land. Then they will know that it's the Lord who has spoken, and that it's he who has done this.
(When Jesus returns, the entire nation of Israel will be rescued and saved from Antichrist and his army. The entire nation will then turn to Christ as their Savior
(Rom 11:25–27). They will be born again Christians, see The Book of Peter.
See this explained in The Depth of the Riches in The Book of Romans.)
The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel. He should take a wooden stick and write on it: "Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him." He should then take another wooden stick and write on it: "Belonging to Joseph, that is, to Ephraim,
and all the Israelites associated with him."
(Ephraim and Judah were terms used for the two ancient kingdoms of Israel, see
The Prophet Books in the Old Testament. The northern kingdom of Israel was often called Ephraim, and the southern kingdom of Israel was called Judah. In the time of Jesus, these names were changed, so that the northern part was called Samaria,
and the southern part was called Judea.)
God would join these two sticks together into one stick so that they become one in his hand. The Lord will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. He will make them one stick of wood, and they will become one in his hand. The Lord will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. He will gather them around and bring them back to their own land. He will make them one people in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over them all and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.
(We have seen a partial fulfilment of this when Israel became a nation in 1948.
It will be completely fulfilled during the millennial kingdom. This prophetic principle with two parallel meanings is called "The law of double reference", and is described in Visions and Dreams by Prophet Daniel.)
The Israelites will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for the Lord will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and he will cleanse them. They will be God's people, and he will be their God.
David will be king over them (Ezekiel 34:23–24, 37:24–25, Jer 30:9, Hos 3:5),
and they will all have a shepherd. They will follow God's laws and be careful to keep his decrees. They will live in the land he gave to Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and their servant David will be their prince forever. God will make a covenant of peace with them, it will be an everlasting covenant. God will establish them and increase their number, and he will place his sanctuary among them forever. God's dwelling place will be with them. He will be their God, and they will be his people. Then the nations will realize that the Lord has made Israel holy, when his sanctuary is among them forever.
(This will be fulfilled during the millennial kingdom. David will reign over Israel. Jesus
will then rule over the whole world from Jerusalem. God won't save Israel for Israel's sake, but for the sake of God's holy name. God will show the holiness of his great name. Then the nations will know that he is the Lord. (Ezekiel 36:22–23, 32).)
See also The Book of Ezekiel.
