Resurrection of the Dry Bones and of God’s People from Their Graves (37:1-2) – This is easily the best-known chapter in the book, at least v. 1-14. The second half is probably as unfamiliar as the first half is familiar. The first ten verses are a vision in which the prophet participates (e.g., 1:1–3:15; 8:1–11:25; 40:1–48:35). Note the repetitive terms: ruach “Spirit, spirit, breath, wind,” ten times; “bones,” ten times; “prophesy,” seven times; “to live again, come back to life,” six times. There is dispute among critics as to whether this chapter describes a literal resurrection of the body from the dead or is simply Israel’s national “resurrection.” St. Augustine’s dictum is helpful here: “The New Testament is latent in the Old; the Old Testament becomes patent in the New” (In Vetere Novum lateat, et in Novo Vetus pateat, CCSL 33:106). We have received the OT anew at Christ’s hand and now read it with a veil lifted from our faces (2 Cor 3:12-18). The OT teaches a tradition of life with God after death (Gen 2; Gen 5:24; Deut 32:39; 1 Sam 2:6; 2 Kings 2; Ps 73:24). Some passages of life after death are explicit (Ps 16:10-11; 49:14-15; 116:8-9; Hos 6:1-3; Is 25:6-8; Dam 12:1-3).
The NT does not cite Ezek 37:1-14 directly. Matthew’s resurrection account (27:50-54) has an earthquake, graves opened, and bodies being raised. Of course, this also looks forward to the Last Day, when all believers will be raised with immortal, glorified bodies (1 Cor 15:48-55). John’s Gospel and Apocalypse have strong allusions. “Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live… for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth” (John 5:25-29). Jesus calls Lazarus forth from the tomb (Jn 11:43) Rev 11:11 directly quotes Ezek 37:5,10: “Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet.” Compare also the giving of the Spirit “ruach” with the ambiguity of “pneuma” in Jn 3:5-8 and “born again” as a motif of the resurrection. In Jn 20:22, the risen Christ breathes on His disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit”—echoing both Gen 2:7 and Ezek 37:14. Consider also 1 Thess 4:8 and Romans 11. All believers in Christ, both Jewish and Gentile, comprise the “all Israel” that “shall be saved” (Rom 11:26). From at least the time of Jerome, this text has been read, primarily during Lent and Easter.
Note the two actors who appear, the “hand” and the “Spirit.” The “hand” is Yahweh exerting His supernatural power, which snatches the prophet out of the everyday realm and locates him in the position where he hears and sees divine revelation (3:14, 22; 8:1; 33:22; 40:1). The “Spirit of Yahweh” is only used elsewhere in 11:5 with the command to prophesy, signifying the Spirit’s enabling…