Key verses: Ezekiel 37:1-3
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know."
This vision given to Ezekiel more than two thousand five hundred years ago right before the destruction of Jerusalem by the army of Nebuchadnezzar. God used dry bones to represent the whole nation of Israel because the nation would be broken and ceased to exist as a nation. As a matter of fact, after Jerusalem was conquered in 70 A.D. by the Roman Empire, they scattered in different countries all over the world. Apart from countries where many Jews known have lived such as Canada, England, Germany, Italy, Russia and the USA, Jewish population can even be found in unexpected countries such as India, China and Ethiopia.
These dry bones represent the ''dead'' nation of Israel for there is none other example in world history that a broken country with their citizens scattered over the world could re-establish and become a nation again. Yet, God told Ezekiel more than 2,500 years ago that the Israelits would scatter into different countries and would return to their homeland and re-establish as a nation (Ezekiel 37:11-13):
11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ''Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.'' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ''This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.
God also emphasized that they will be re-established as a united country rather a divided country of northern and southern countries since 931 B.C. after Solomon''s reign (Ezekiel 37:21-22)
21 and say to them, ''This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.
On May 14th, 1948, Israel declared independence with the support of the United Nations resolution. Land was given to the Jews and they might return to form a nation. We all witness one of the greatest miracles in world history for we actually see a ''dead'' country resurrected into a living country in our very eyes today! Friends, as we studied this passage in the Bible and consider the history of the Jewish people and the return to their homeland and become an independent nation, we should see the power and faithfulness of God and the trustworthiness of His words the Bible. We can trust this when Jesus said in John 11:25,
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;
I enjoy listing more scriptures about the prophecy of the return of Israel:
Jeremiah 29:14
I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
Ezekiel 11:17
"Therefore say: ''This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.''
Ezekiel 20:41
I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will show myself holy among you in the sight of the nations.
Ezekiel 28:25
This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will show myself holy among them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob.
Ezekiel 34:13
I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.