Ezekiel 37:21-28

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.
23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,[a] and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
24 “ ‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.
25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.
26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever.
27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.
28 Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’ ”

Ezekiel 37:21-28 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 37

This chapter contains a prophecy of the Jews' return from captivity to their own land; of the union of the each tribes with one another; and of the glorious kingdom of Christ among them. Their restoration is represented by a vision of dry bones made alive; the place in which they were; the condition they were in; and the manner in which they were made to live, are described, Eze 37:1-10, the explication and application of this vision to the Jews, Eze 37:11-14, their union is signified by a sign or emblem of two sticks, which became one in the hand of the prophet, Eze 37:15-17, the meaning of this is shown, Eze 37:18-20, then follow promises of their return to their own land, in express words; of their being one kingdom, under one King, Christ, the antitype of David, of their sanctification; of their covenant interest in God, made manifest to them; and of his presence, and dwelling among them, Eze 37:21-28.

Cross References 23

  • 1. S ver 12; S Isaiah 43:5-6; S Ezekiel 20:42; Ezekiel 36:24; Ezekiel 39:27; Micah 4:6
  • 2. S Ezekiel 17:22; S Ezekiel 34:13-14
  • 3. Isaiah 11:13; Jeremiah 3:18; Jeremiah 33:24; S Jeremiah 50:4; Hosea 1:11
  • 4. Ezekiel 36:25; Ezekiel 43:7
  • 5. S Jeremiah 7:24
  • 6. Ezekiel 11:18; S Ezekiel 36:28; Nahum 2:2
  • 7. Isaiah 55:4; Hosea 3:5
  • 8. S 1 Samuel 13:14; S Isaiah 32:1
  • 9. Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:23; Zechariah 13:7
  • 10. Psalms 78:70-71; S Jeremiah 30:21; S Ezekiel 21:27
  • 11. S Ezekiel 28:25
  • 12. S Ezra 9:12; Amos 9:15
  • 13. S Psalms 89:3-4; Isaiah 11:1; S Ezekiel 34:23-24
  • 14. S Numbers 25:12; Isaiah 55:3
  • 15. S Genesis 9:16; S Deuteronomy 29:14; S Hebrews 13:20
  • 16. S Jeremiah 30:19
  • 17. Leviticus 26:11
  • 18. S Ezekiel 16:62
  • 19. S Leviticus 26:11; John 1:14
  • 20. S Ezekiel 34:30; S Ezekiel 36:28; S 2 Corinthians 6:16*
  • 21. S Exodus 31:13; Ezekiel 20:12
  • 22. Hosea 1:10-11
  • 23. Ezekiel 43:9; Zephaniah 3:15

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Many Hebrew manuscripts (see also Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts "all their dwelling places where they sinned"
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