Ezekiel 37

THE hand Either the prophetick Spirit, as chap. 1.3. and chap. 8.1. let. g. moving him to prophesie by this Emblem, or else the Spirit of God carrying him visionally, not corporally as in chap. 8. into such a prospect or landskip. of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit Either in the Power of the Spirit of God, or it may refer to the Prophets own Spirit, he was in his Spirit, or Mind and Apprehension. of the LORD, and set So it seemed to me in the vision, that I was set gently down. me down in the valley 'Tis vain to enquire what vally this should be, which was visional, not corporeal or real. which was full of bones 'Tis as vain to enquire, whose bones these were, they are visional and Hieroglyphicks of Israel's present Condition..

And caused In the same manner I was made to go round about them, in which I was carried to see them. me to pass by them round about Round, round, perhaps twice or oftner to view them well.: and, behold, He reports, what he observed remarkable. there were very many For number first, they were not only many, but very many, as ver. 10. that they made an exceeding great Army. in the open The place next, the face, or surface of the plain, exposed to wind, weather, and to violence, valley; and lo, they were very dry The quality of them, dry, very dry, in which could be nothing that might promise life..

And he The Lord, who brought Ezekiel hither, asks him what he thought. said unto me, Son of man, can Either is it likely they should, or is it a future thing, that shall be, or possible, that they may live? these bones live? and I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest The Prophets answer refers all to God, to whom all things are possible, which argue power in doing, and who knows all he will do in time to come, the Prophets answer seems to own the pos sibility, and refers the futurity to the will of God..

Again he said unto me, prophesie The Prophet had spoken often to things, that could as little hear, as these bones could, yet when they are deaf to a Prophet, they'l hear the Prophets God. upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear Alas what dry bones hear! no, not a syllable of this word. the word of the But this they will hear observe, and obey it, his voice, who calls things that are not, and makes them to be, gives being by his Word. LORD.

Thus says the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will My Prophet prophesied and spake, but I says the Lord only can and I will surely give life to them. cause breath When God had formed Adams body, as lifeless as these bones, he created him a living Soul, by breathing into his face the breath of life by a creating power he brings breath into these bones too. to enter into you, and ye shall live The effect shall be sure and speedy, when God brings his power to work it..

And I will lay Sinews tye the bones together. 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. Flesh fills up the hol lownesses, and being full of Muscles, helps motion. Skin as the upper silken Garment, covers all with a clear, and blushing colour. Breath lastly must be added all this God declares he will do, and I suppose, these promises are what the Prophet is to declare to these bones that they may revive.

So I prophesied Declared, or pronounced these promises, or gracious purposes of God concerning them. as I was commanded Whether it was thus or some other way, the Prophet was commanded it, and so he did it, he spake to them, which could not but be deaf to him, and which could not but hear when God speaks.: and as I prophesied Either according to the purport of my prophesie, or rather during the time, or while I was prophesying, or so soon as I prophesied. there was a noise Thunder say some; others, more likely, the noise was the ratling of the bones in their motion; such noise they could not but make where multitudes of them heaped, or laid together disperse, and rowl themselves from one to other, till they meet their fellow bones., and behold, a shaking There was a trembling or commotion among these bones, enough to make this noise, and to manifest a Divine Presence, and word from God working among them., and the bones came together Crept, or with this shaking motion, glided nearer and nearer, till each bone met the bone, to which 'twas to be tied. bone to his bone.

And when The noise he heard would certainly make any one look, and consider what 'twas, I beheld Looked carefully, and heedfully observing., lo, the sinews, and the flesh came Came gradually spreading it self, is what grows wider and longer. up upon them, and the skin covered them above Uppermost the skin covered them. So here were men in skin, with flesh, sinews, bones, but, like Adam before inspired with the breath of life.: but there was no breath The Spirit of life was yet wanting. in them.

Then said he The Lord God. unto me To Ezekiel viewing, and no doubt wondring at the sight., prophesie Declare to that, what my Will is. unto the wind Spirit Heb. and might be to rendred, but our version has it wind, while the French has it Spirit, i. e. the Soul, whose Emblem here is Wind, which, as it did gently blow upon these lifeless Creatures, they received, each inspired with its own Soul and Spirit., prophesie, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus says the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds Gather your selves from all quarters of the Earth under Heaven, unite to your own bodies, inspire them once more., O breath, and breathe upon these slain By sword of Enemy long since, some of them these 70 years., that they may live Revive, and rise..

So I prophesied See ver. 7. let. c. as he commanded me, and the breath The Spirit Heb. the Spirit of life, or the Soul, Gen. 2.7. came Entered, took up it's abode. into them, and they lived Presently discovered, that they did live., and stood Rose with strength, a le to support themselves. up upon their feet, an exceeding great A Power so the Heb. or Army of strong, couragious, and well ordered Souldiers. The phrase in the Heb. is very full. A Power, or host great, very very great, thus they rise, that the Prophet and we might know, how safe in themselves, and how terrible they would be to their Enemies. army.

Then he said unto me, son of man, these bones are the whole The Hieroglyphick, or Emblem of the house of Israel. house of Israel: behold, they say Think, discourse, and conclude., Our bones are dried Their State as hopeless, as far from recovery, as dried bones scattered abroad first, and undistinguisht heap'd up at last, are from life., and our hope is lost The hope, not that false Prophets gave us, but that the true Prophets proposed to us, is utterly lost, and we are out of all expectation of a recovery., we are cut off for our parts.

Therefore prophesie Tell them their mistake, and revive their hope by a new promise, and declaration of my purposes of mercy towards them., and say unto them These poor desponding, dejected Israelites., Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold Consider what my Prophet assures you he has seen, dry bones miraculously revived, and standing up in power as a mighty Host, so shall you. O my people, I will open your graves Though your Captivity be as Death, your Prisons and Confinements close as the Grave, yet I will open those Graves., and cause you to come out I will li t you out, lend you a hand to bring you out with life, and strength. of your graves, and bring you Be your guide, that you may know the way, be your support, that you may be able to go, and your Guard, and defence against dangers of the way, that you may certainly come into your own land. into the land of Israel.

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. When your restitution to your own land and your prosperity in your land, when your growth to strength and power, shall be so miraculously effected, then you shall acknowledge, and publish the glory of my Power, Faithfulness, Goodness, and Wisdom.

And shall put my spirit See chap. 11.19. let. f. and chap. 36.27. let. x. in you, and ye shall live Joyful in, thankful for, and contented with your blessings I give., and I shall place Quietly, and in rest settle you in your own Habitations, and in your antient Possessions. you in your own land: Then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken This shall demonstrate the truth of my Promises. it, and performed Fulness, and punctualness of my performances. it, says the LORD.

The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one Tablet, i. e. a writing Tablet or a Tally, such as is fitted to be written upon, or a Rod, or Staffe, on which thou may'st write, the Heb. calls it wood, without describing it's form and fashion, but whatere it's fashion was, it must be but one, stick, and write The Inscription is not only commanded, but the words also, in which 'tis to be written. upon it, For Judah The Tribe, or possibly the Kingdom; if the latter, then the companions mentioned will be such as in process of time fell off from the ten Tribes, and united with the Kingdom of the house of Da id; if the former, which is most likely, then, and for the children of Israel His Companions are and Levi in part. his companions Who kept with the Tribe of Iudah their obedience to Davids seed., then When thou hast written on the first stick, then take take another A second stick, such as the first was. stick, and write upon it, For Joseph He was Father of two Tribes, one of which was chief of the Ten Tribes, and is therefore mention'd here, the stick of Ephraim Ephraim was the Son of Ioseph, whom his Grand-father blest, and by Prophetick Spirit foretold, and promis'd that he should be one of the chie of all the Tribes; and Ephraim was most considerable in the Kingdom of Israel when divided from the other two., and for all the house The other Nine Tribes. of Israel his companions Who did at first side, and have continued still with Ephraim. Some say Ephraim was the whole Kingdom of the Ten Tribes, and that His Companions were the Gentiles converted to the Faith of Christ, which I wish were well proved..

And joyn Some would have this done miraculously, but I do not think God bade the Prophet work a Miracle, were it so, God would rather have said, I will make them one, for he can do Miracles, 'twas enough if glew'd together, or but held in his hand, so that in his hand they were one. them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

And when So soon as they enquire. the children of thy To whom thou art watchman by office, and near of Kin by natural descent. people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt There was some reason why they might doubt, whether he would, because they had carried it so frowardly toward him; therefore they request it by an Interrogatory. Wilt thou not? We shall never know the meaning unless thou un old it, wilt thou not do it then? thou not show us what thou meanest by these?

Say unto them, thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph On which Iosephs name is written, and which represents Ioseph. which is in the hand Which was under the government of Ephraim, or thus, which is the Tribe of E hraim, the latter explaining the former. of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows See ver. 16. let.. f., and will put them with him Iudah and his companions., even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick One Kingdom, one people, whereas these have been divided, and Enemies a great while., and they shall Real, cordial in their union. be one in mine hand Under my Government, Care, and blessing. This is the meaning, God will make the two divided Kingdomes one in his hand, as I make these two stickes one in my hand..

And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before To affect them the more, and to assure them the fullier, let them see these two divided sticks made one in thy hand. their eyes.

And say unto them, thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel The ten Tribes, as well as Iudah, and Ben amin, at least, many of the ten Tribes. from among the heathen whither they be gone The expression seems to look to them that were gone among the Heathen by a voluntary peregrination, whether before the Captivity or after it, I will not conjecture, but 'tis likely enough to me, that among the Iews carried away, and among their children there were some that were uneasie, where they were against their wills, who would ramble, and range over Countreys hoping to fare better, and perhaps these wanderers may be the persons meant by this gone, where they are, who walk't thither, as the Heb., and will gather them on every side The wind was to come from the four coasts of heaven, ver. 9. let. s. thereby telling us, they should, as in this, be gathered on every side., and bring them into their own land. See this explain'd chap. 36.24. tot.

And I will make them one They were one in Davids time, who was Type of the Messiah, and continued so to the end of Sol mons time, whose n me includes peace. So when the Beloved, the Peace-maker, the Messiah shall be King, and on his Throne exercis ng his Power, they shall be once more one again. nation in the land Of here, as elsewhere the Mountains of Israel., upon the mountains of Israel; and one king M ss a most, and best, if not learnedst, interpreters understand nor, nor Nehemiah, nor Iudas Macca eus. shall be king to them all: And they shall be no more two The union under the Messiah's visible and actual exercise of his Regal po er sha be perpetual. On this place so full and express for a firm lasting union between the two Nations Ephraim, and, and their being of two Kingdoms made one in the land, whence they were scatter'd some take occasion to enquire whether it be fulfill'd already, or remaineth yet to be accomplish'd, the di cussion whereof, as very alien to a literal paraphrase, and would be too prolix I pass over, saying no more of it in the Affirma tive or Negative. nations, neither shall they be divided into two Kingdoms any more at all.

Neither shall they defile Idolatry is a very defiling sin, and the I ws in both Kingdom's exceedingly addicted to it, pertinacious in it to the utter ru n of both Kingdoms, but after the return from Captivity, we find no where, that they fell to Idolatry. themselves any more with their It may refer to the Heathen, and then 'tis, they shall not defile themselves with the Idols the heathen did worship, or to the Idols of the Iews, their own Idols, with which they shall no more be defiled. idols, nor with their detestable The same with Idols, and added to set our the loathsomness of the sin. things, nor with any of their transgressions The former obstinate, bold-daring transgressors did that which these shall not defile thems lves with, Vid. chap. 36.25, 33. and chap 11.1 1.: but I will save Whilest there I preserved them, and now I will bring them safe out of the places. them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned Where out of a bad fear, or worse choice, they s n'd, as did the Heathen with whom they dwelt., and will cleanse Both sanctifie and make them holy, and justifie and give them pardon, chap. 36.29. them: so shall they be my people Vid. ch p. 11.2.. p. and chap. 36.26. l t. d., and I will be their God.

And David See chap. 34.23, 24. 'Tis the Son of David, who was also his Lord, that is here intended. my servant The M siah in his Mediatory Office is Gods Servant, and our Saviour. shall be king Over their hearts, and rule there in spiritual manner. over them; and they all shall have one This King shall be a shepherd, that feeds, not fleeceth the flock; but one chief shepherd, others, that feed an rule the flock are so by Commission from him. shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes and do them It is both declaratory of Duty, and predictive of the Event, and promissory of ability and assistance to keep the holy Commandments of God, Christs Kingdom is that, which by law and precept commandeth Righteousness, and which by Grace, and power strengthens its subiects to this, and so the event is sure, and freest grace makes holiest lives..

And they The Ten Tribes, and the two Tribes. shall dwell in the land that I have given See chap. 28.25. let. h. i. unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers Abraham and Isaac and Iacob, whose memory you venerate, and greatly affect to be heirs more of their lands and houses than of their virtues and piety. have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and their childrens children for ever If this Prophesie or Promise be to be understood with the precedent verses in the letter of it, and not mystically and only spiritually, I doubt not but to the end of the World till Christs coming to Judgment, the Iewes converted to Christ, and professing the Gospel, shall they and their seed after them, inherit this land of Canaan in much peace and glory. But I speak on supposition not asserting any thing herein;: and my servant David Typically understood it asserts the everlasting Kingdom of our M si h, and the everlasting happiness of all the faithful subjects of this King, Vid. chap. 34.23, 24. shall be their prince for ever.

Moreover, I will make As 'twas my kindness to your fathers to give them, so shall it be to you, to give you my blessings on the sure and inviolable security of a Covenant. a covenant of peace Comprehending all blessings that may give a People content, and r nder them happy, Peace with God in Heaven, Peace in your Conscience with our s lves, with your brethren in the Church, with the Beasts of the Field, and with your enemies, who shall for fear, tho' not of love, keep peace with you, while your yes pl ase your God. with them; it shall be an everlasting The spiritual part is absolutely endless, the external part shall be for a long time as 'tis always to be interpreted where Temporals seem promised for ever. covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary Both Temple, and worship, not such as is typical of the Messiah to come, but such as may assert he is come, such as bring to the knowledge, love, and obedience of him. I will set up a spiritually glorious Temple, and worship amidst you. in the midst of them for evermore Never to be alter'd, or abolisht on Earth, but to be consummated in Heaven..

My tabernacle The Tabernacle of my presence, or wherein I will show my presence among them. Their Fathers had a tabernacle of Witness, so shall they, that was brought by Ioshua into C n an. But the Messiah shall bring with him a better, a spiritual, and heavenly. also shall be with them; yea, I will See chap. 11.20. Rev. 21.1, 2, 3. be their God, and they shall be my By my grace I will make them Holy, as the people of a Holy God ought to be, and I will make them happy, as the people of the ever blessed God expect and hope to be. people.

And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctifie Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. When Christ by his spirit in Gospel Ordinances is among them, it shall appear they are a consecrated and a sanctified People.