Perhaps you’ve heard of Ezekiel’s vision in the valley of dry bones, where the Spirit of the Lord sets Ezekiel down and commands him to prophesy over the bones, and to the breath, so they might live. After a rattling sound, bone comes together with bone, flesh appears, and the dead come back to life, an exceedingly great army. You may have heard this story read from Ezek 37:1-10, with its accompanying interpretation: You are the dead ones, brought out of your sin and misery because of God’s Spirit giving you faith in Jesus Christ. Seems clear, right? Perhaps not so much.

Context matters. If we learn to read the Bible for what it is—and not as a collection of independently assembled inspirational stories—we’ll discover that some of our most familiar passages don’t actually mean what we’ve always assumed.

Caitlin Tobias (2014), Creative Commons

Remember What You’re Reading

We’re helped here by the historical context. The prophet Ezekiel was living in Babylon with the early Jewish exiles (Ezek 1:1). These people had been carried off before the nation of Judah’s final fall to Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel spoke of God’s glory departing the temple in Jerusalem (Ezek 10:1-22) and going to reside in exile with God’s people (Ezek 1:1-28).

Ezekiel prophesied to a broken people, who were devastated by the Babylonian conquest and captivity. They were too crushed even to admit that their own idolatry had caused this turn of events. Therefore they persistently resisted Ezekiel’s message (Ezek 3:7-11).

And to these defeated, exiled people, Ezekiel promises a coming day (Ezek 36:22-32). A day when God will vindicate the holiness of his name (Ezek 36:22-23). A day when he will sprinkle them with water to cleanse them from the filth of their idolatry (Ezek 36:25). A day when he will give them new hearts of flesh to replace their dead hearts of stone (Ezek 36:26). A day when he will put his own Spirit within them and enable them to obey him (Ezek 36:27).

Ezekiel leaves no doubt about when this day will come. It is the day when “I will take you from the nations…and bring you into your own land” (Ezek 36:24). The day when they “shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers” (Ezek 36:28).

The exiled people, dead in their idolatry, will be raised to new life when God restores them back to their land.

Read a Little Further

We’re also helped by the immediate literary context. It’s all too easy for us to read only Ezek 37:1-10, because it feels like it could have been written to us. But the next few verses remind us that, though this may have been written for us (1 Cor 10:11), it was not written to us:

Then he said to 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 indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.” (Ezek 37:11-14)

The Lord himself makes the interpretation clear to Ezekiel. There is no reason for us to be unclear on this ourselves. The dead bones coming back to life are a picture of the exiled people being brought back into the land of Israel, placed in their own land. A people without hope are resurrected to new hope.

Reflect on the New Covenant

Some might ask: “But doesn’t all that simply find greater fulfillment in the new covenant, when those dead in sin believe on Christ and are raised to new life?” And I would say: “Yes! Of course!”

But look at what we miss if we ignore the context of Ezekiel and jump right to today.

• The restoration after the exile was no minor blip on the timeline of God’s redemptive purposes. It warrants further theological reflection as the resurrection of God’s people.
• This means that the death and the resurrection of God’s people have significant corporate implications. These things are not only for individual believers, but also for the entire body of God’s people.
• This explains why the disciples were so baffled when Jesus took this key Old Testament idea of death and resurrection, and applied it to himself, an individual (Mark 9:9-10).
• We, too should expect some corporate implications today from our “death and resurrection” as those who are “in Christ.” For example, Ephesians 2:1-10 summarizes the theology of the Christian’s death and resurrection in Christ. But Ephesians 2:11-22 goes on to unfold the corporate implications of this theology in the community life of the church. Paul had far more in mind than the salvation of individuals.

Even if our intentions are good, let’s not miss what God has communicated about himself and his rescue of us.

Context matters.

For more “context matters” posts, such as the widow’s mite, the faith hall of fame, chief of sinners, and quick to listen, slow to speak—click here.