Christian Churches of God
No. 234
Valley of Dry Bones
(Edition 1.0 20060927-20060927)
God speaks through the prophet Ezekiel at chapter 37 referring to the Valley of Dry Bones. This is
understood as being the Resurrection of the Dead. However, which resurrection is it and when
does it occur, and what does it mean in relation to the Restoration of Israel?
Christian Churches of God
PO Box 369,
WODEN
ACT 2606,
AUSTRALIA
E-mail: secretary@ccg.org
(Copyright  2006 Wade Cox)
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Valley of Dry Bones
Valley of Dry Bones
The activities of Ezekiel chapter 37 have always
been interpreted as concerning the resurrection
of the dead. The word used for graves in verse
12 is the Hebrew word qeber (kehber, SHD
6913) and not Sheol. There is a repetition
involved, which is held by scholars to include a
Resurrection, as well as a Restoration into the
land of Israel (i.e. upon the soil of Israel (Heb.
‘admath) (cf. for example Bullinger, Comp.
Bible, fn. to 37:12).
Some people have interpreted this text as
referring to the Second Resurrection at the end
of the Millennium.
The placement of the text in relation to the other
chapters of the book shows that it is a generic
reference to the restoration of Israel of both
divisions, and hence includes the First
Resurrection.
The Word of the Lord came to the shepherds of
Israel in Ezekiel 34. This text has been
examined in detail in the paper Measuring the
Temple (No. 137).
God then told Ezekiel to deal with the nations
surrounding Israel, and then with the restoration
of Israel.
In chapter 35 God speaks against Mt. Seir, or
the nation of Edom, who are the children of
Esau.
Edom had a hatred of Israel and pursued them in
blood. God decided to punish Edom because
they had pursued Israel after the time that their
iniquity had ended (Ezek. 35:5). They were
defeated by Judah under John Hyrcanus and
converted to Judaism. They mingled with Judah
in Judaea, and the kings of Judaea under the
Romans were Edomites or Idumeans. Herod the
Great was a descendent of Esau. At the time of
Judah’s dispersion Edom allied with the Zealots
and preyed on Judah in Jerusalem (see the paper
War with Rome and the Fall of the Temple (No.
298)).
Edom was to be made a perpetual desolation
and their cities were not to return, and then they
would know that the Lord was God. Edom
sought to possess the blessings of Israel and
Judah, even though the Lord was there (Ezek.
35:10). This was a reference to the desire of
Edom to wrest back the birthright that Esau had
sold to Jacob. The Lord was there as witness,
and was in the land when they sought to take it.
Therefore, God was to judge Edom for their
hatred and anger and blasphemy. He was to
destroy Edom. His promise was that, when the
whole earth rejoices, He will make Edom
desolate, both Mt. Seir and all Idumea.
Edom was both in Edom and Judaea and in the
trading empires of the Phoenicians.
They will be made desolate when the whole
earth rejoices. Thus, even in the restoration to
follow, they will remain desolate.
Then, in chapter 36, Yahovah directs Ezekiel to
utter the words of Adonai Yahovah.
The nations sought to claim the ancient High
Places or the mountains of Israel, which were
promised to them (Gen. 49:26; Deut. 13:13;
33:15).
Because the nations swallowed Israel up and
made it desolate on every side, and were made a
possession of heathens and an infamy to all
people, God decided to intervene. This is the
same sentiment we see in the Book of Zechariah
(see the paper Commentary on Zechariah (No.
021K)).
God then spoke against the heathen nations that
surrounded Israel, including Idumea, and
pronounced sentence on them.
Ezekiel 36:1-38
"And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of
Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word
of the LORD. 2: Thus says the Lord GOD: Because
the enemy said of you, `Aha!' and, `The ancient
heights have become our possession,' 3: therefore
prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:
Because, yea, because they made you desolate, and
Valley of Dry Bones
crushed you from all sides, so that you became the
possession of the rest of the nations, and you became
the talk and evil gossip of the people; 4: therefore, O
mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD:
Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and the
hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes
and the deserted cities, which have become a prey
and derision to the rest of the nations round about; 5:
therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I speak in my hot
jealousy against the rest of the nations, and against all
Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a
possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt,
that they might possess it and plunder it. 6: Therefore
prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the
mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus
says the Lord GOD: Behold, I speak in my jealous
wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the
nations; 7: therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I swear
that the nations that are round about you shall
themselves suffer reproach. 8: "But you, O mountains
of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches, and yield
your fruit to my people Israel; for they will soon
come home. 9: For, behold, I am for you, and I will
turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown; 10: and
I will multiply men upon you, the whole house of
Israel, all of it; the cities shall be inhabited and the
waste places rebuilt; 11: and I will multiply upon you
man and beast; and they shall increase and be fruitful;
and I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former
times, and will do more good to you than ever before.
Then you will know that I am the LORD.
God then pronounced blessings on Israel. The
mountains will be blessed and the children of
Israel would then soon come home. This is the
period in the Last Days at the Restoration.
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GOD."
Israel will then no longer bear reproach of the
nations, and its priests will no longer cause it to
stumble with their error.
Israel was punished for its apostasy when it
dwelt in its own land, and was dispersed
because of that apostasy and idolatry. They were
scattered among the nations for the very
traditions that the Messiah condemned them,
and for which they killed him. They were
dispersed and judged for their conduct and
deeds. The conduct of Judah, right up until the
very last, was an absolute disgrace, as we saw in
the paper War with Rome and the Fall of the
Temple (No. 298).
16: The word of the LORD came to me: 17: "Son of
man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own
land, they defiled it by their ways and their doings;
their conduct before me was like the uncleanness of a
woman in her impurity. 18: So I poured out my wrath
upon them for the blood which they had shed in the
land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19:
I scattered them among the nations, and they were
dispersed through the countries; in accordance with
their conduct and their deeds I judged them. 20: But
when they came to the nations, wherever they came,
they profaned my holy name, in that men said of
them, `These are the people of the LORD, and yet
they had to go out of his land.' 21: But I had concern
for my holy name, which the house of Israel caused
to be profaned among the nations to which they
came.
Israel would be populated and their children will
no longer die and Israel would not be bereaved.
This is at the end of the period of Holocaust that
killed the children of Israel.
God decided to restore Israel, not for their sake,
and in spite of their heresy and traditions. He
restored them for the sake of His Holy Name,
which they had caused to be profaned among
the nations. That time is now upon us.
12: Yea, I will let men walk upon you, even my
people Israel; and they shall possess you, and you
shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer
bereave them of children.
Israel is being restored prior to its conversion.
This restoration has been largely through the
actions of Ephraim since 1916.
This period of peace will see Israel no longer
killing men and losing its children.
22: "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says
the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of
Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my
holy name, which you have profaned among the
nations to which you came. 23: And I will vindicate
the holiness of my great name, which has been
profaned among the nations, and which you have
profaned among them; and the nations will know that
I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when through
you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24: For
I will take you from the nations, and gather you from
all the countries, and bring you into your own land.
13: Thus says the Lord GOD: Because men say to
you, `You devour men, and you bereave your nation
of children,' 14: therefore you shall no longer devour
men and no longer bereave your nation of children,
says the Lord GOD; 15: and I will not let you hear
any more the reproach of the nations, and you shall
no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no
longer cause your nation to stumble, says the Lord
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That gathering is being undertaken now and will
continue
for
some
time
to
come.
They will then be cleansed, given repentance
and converted in the power of the Holy Spirit.
25: I will sprinkle clean water upon you*, and you
shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from
all your idols I will cleanse you. 26: A new heart I
will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you;
and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and
give you a heart of flesh. 27: And I will put my spirit
within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and
be careful to observe my ordinances. 28: You shall
dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and
you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
*Note: Knox translation says for verse 25: “And
then I will pour living cleansing streams over
you….”
Notice that the conversion process involves
Israel walking in the Commandments and
Statutes of God, as He gave to Christ, and to
Moses at Sinai. This obedience is the sense of
Revelation 12:17 and 14:12.
God will cleanse them and make the mountains
pour forth in their abundance. They will never
again be disgraced with famine. In that way they
will remember their evil and iniquity.
29: And I will deliver you from all your
uncleannesses; and I will summon the grain and make
it abundant and lay no famine upon you. 30: I will
make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field
abundant, that you may never again suffer the
disgrace of famine among the nations. 31: Then you
will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that
were not good; and you will loathe yourselves for
your iniquities and your abominable deeds.
God says He is not acting for Israel’s sake, but
to confound them, and make them ashamed.
32: It is not for your sake that I will act, says the Lord
GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and
confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. 33:
"Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse
you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to
be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt.
34: And the land that was desolate shall be tilled,
instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight
of all who passed by. 35: And they will say, `This
land that was desolate has become like the garden of
Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities
are now inhabited and fortified.' 36: Then the nations
Valley of Dry Bones
that are left round about you shall know that I, the
LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places, and replanted
that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken,
and I will do it. 37: "Thus says the Lord GOD: This
also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for
them: to increase their men like a flock. 38: Like the
flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during
her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled
with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the
LORD." (RSV)
The nation will then understand that God did it.
The waste cities will be filled with men like the
flock of sacrifices as at Jerusalem. These people
will be dedicated to God in the Holy Spirit.
They will leave their traditions like dirty rags,
and turn and rend their hearts and be baptised
and converted.
The next phase of the Restoration is that of the
resurrection at the return of the Messiah.
The Resurrection
This section deals with the Dry Bones (vv. 1-14)
and the two sticks (vv. 15-28) in Ezekiel 37.
The prophecy of the dry bones follows a
sequence:
1. The vision revealed (vv. 1,2).
2. The question and answer of the prophet
(v. 3).
3. Command to prophesy upon or over the
bones (v. 4) (Heb. ‘al).
4. Words of the prophecy (vv. 5,6).
5. Obedience of the prophet (v.7).
6. Result (vv. 7-8).
Then the next phase repeats from 3:
7. Command to prophesy unto (‘el) the
Spirit; i.e. God is directing His own
power at the correct time (v. 9).
8. Words of the prophecy (v. 9).
9. Obedience of the prophet (v. 10).
10. Result (v.10).
Then the vision is explained (v. 11).
The question and the answer of Yahovah then
comes (vv. 12-14).
The Lord now speaks by the Spirit (see also
1:1,3; 8:3; 11:24-25; 40:2-3). The expressions in
Valley of Dry Bones
these texts show the meaning of Revelation 1:10
(see also Bullinger, Comp. Bible note to v. 1).
Ezekiel 37:1-28
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought
me out by the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down
in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. 2: And
he led me round among them; and behold, there were
very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very
dry. 3: And he said to me, "Son of man, can these
bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, thou
knowest." 4: Again he said to me, "Prophesy to these
bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word
of the LORD. 5: Thus says the Lord GOD to these
bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and
you shall live. 6: And I will lay sinews upon you, and
will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you
with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live;
and you shall know that I am the LORD." 7: So I
prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied,
there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the
bones came together, bone to its bone. 8: And as I
looked, there were sinews on them, and flesh had
come upon them, and skin had covered them; but
there was no breath in them. 9: Then he said to me,
"Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and
say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come
from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon
these slain, that they may live." 10: So I prophesied
as he commanded me, and the breath came into them,
and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an
exceedingly great host.
The word refers to those slain for the service of
God. They are the dead by violent death. The
Septuagint renders it tous nekrous, which is
distinct from nekrous without the article,
referring to those who were once alive. But in
this way, with the article, it refers to corpses.
Bullinger notes the distinction (in the fn. to v.
9). Compare this text to what Christ was
speaking about in Matthew 22:31-32 and Luke
24:5 (cf. also 1Cor. 15:29, 35, 42, 52).
This text refers to the First Resurrection and its
place in the administration, and also the
restoration of Israel by some miraculous means.
This is the end of the vision shown and the first
sequence. These people are the obedient of the
House of Israel.
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also, as spiritual Israel.
11: 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 clean
cut off.
They consider they are completely cut off but
they are not, and their identities and lineages are
to be restored.
12: 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 home into the land of Israel. 13: And you
shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your
graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.
This miraculous action requires a resurrection
similar to the creation of Adam. This is a
resurrection similar to that of Lazarus and the
elect at the time of the Messiah, when those
who came from the graves lived again and died
natural deaths, or were killed.
The sequence follows the promise of Yahovah
to:
1. Proclaim the act (v. 12).
2. Promise the resurrection (v. 12).
3. Promise the restoration in Israel (v. 12).
4. The effect is to know the Lord (v. 13).
Then comes the promise of the knowledge
following on from the act.
5. When I have opened your graves (v.13).
6. And placed you in your own land (v.
14).
7. Then they will know (v.14).
8. Proclaims the Lord God (v.14).
14: 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, the LORD, have spoken, and I have
done it, says the LORD.
Here the resurrection involves the placing of the
Holy Spirit in Israel. Thus, the conversion of
Israel, both of Judah and of Ephraim, is being
spoken of here. We now see that explained.
The vision is now explained.
This is also the second Exodus foretold by the
prophet Isaiah (Isa. 66:18-24).
The use of the term “whole house” refers also to
the Church, which is the vineyard of the Lord
The Two Sticks
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The two sticks are taken to represent the two
nations of Judah (with part Benjamin and part
Levi) and Ephraim and the ten tribes associated
with it. These two are to be joined again after
the union was broken as we saw with the
prophecy of Beauty and Bands (see the paper
Commentary on Zechariah (No. 021K)).
15: The word of the LORD came to me: 16: "Son of
man, take a stick and write on it, `For Judah, and the
children of Israel associated with him'; then take
another stick and write upon it, `For Joseph (the stick
of E'phraim) and all the house of Israel associated
with him'; 17: and join them together into one stick,
that they may become one in your hand. 18: And
when your people say to you, `Will you not show us
what you mean by these?' 19: say to them, Thus says
the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to take the stick
of Joseph (which is in the hand of E'phraim) and the
tribes of Israel associated with him; and I will join
with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick,
that they may be one in my hand. 20: When the sticks
on which you write are in your hand before their
eyes,
So, they are to be joined in unison in one
accord, and they are to be taken from all the
lands into which they have been dispersed.
21: then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD:
Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the
nations among which they have gone, and will gather
them from all sides, and bring them to their own land;
22: and I will make them one nation in the land, upon
the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king
over them all; and they shall be no longer two
nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.
Thus they will be one nation and one kingdom
under one rule. This union is to occur in the Last
Days at the coming of the Messiah.
Then they are to cleanse themselves of their
idolatry, their traditions and their mysticism.
23: They shall not defile themselves any more with
their idols and their detestable things, or with any of
their transgressions; but I will save them from all the
backslidings in which they have sinned, and will
cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will
be their God.
David shall be king over them.
As David has been dead for almost three
millennia, we are obviously speaking of the
Valley of Dry Bones
resurrection and the Messiah, the son of David.
Under the Christ they will follow the Law of
God as it was given to Israel.
24: "My servant David shall be king over them; and
they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow
my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes.
25: They shall dwell in the land where your fathers
dwelt that I gave to my servant Jacob; they and their
children and their children's children shall dwell there
for ever; and David my servant shall be their prince
for ever.
David shall be resurrected, and the Messiah
shall be their Lord, and the elect shall be the
household of David as elohim (see Zech. 12:8;
see also the paper The Elect as Elohim (No. 1)).
Then the covenant shall be renewed forever.
Yahovah of Israel will dwell with them, and
Yahovah of Hosts will be there through the
Holy Spirit, and the Temple shall be the elect,
and the Physical Temple shall be symbolic of
the Spiritual Temple, which Temple we are.
26: I will make a covenant of peace with them; it
shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will
bless them and multiply them, and will set my
sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27: My
dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their
God, and they shall be my people. 28: Then the
nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel,
when my sanctuary is in the midst of them for
evermore." (RSV)
The nations will come to the Holy Land year
after year to worship the Lord of Hosts, and they
will know that God is there in the midst of them
for evermore.
Then, when the Lord has commenced to resettle
Israel, and at the return of the Messiah and the
gathering of the elect, the war of the Millennium
will occur.
The story of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 deals
with this war, which is the war of Hamon-Gog
(see the paper War of Hamon-Gog (No. 294)).
Ezekiel 39:25 shows that the war commences
before the actual establishment of the
Millennium and sets off the captivity of Jacob
under God, as the whole House of Israel in the
Holy Land. The Whole House of Israel also
represents the elect. Thus, God uses this war to
Valley of Dry Bones
consolidate and establish Israel as His Holy
Nation.
Ezekiel 38:1-16
The word of the LORD came to me: 2: "Son of man,
set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the
chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy
against him 3: and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:
Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of
Meshech and Tubal; 4: and I will turn you about, and
put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth,
and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them
clothed in full armor, a great company, all of them
with buckler and shield, wielding swords; 5: Persia,
Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield
and helmet; 6: Gomer and all his hordes; Bethtogar'mah from the uttermost parts of the north with
all his hordes -- many peoples are with you. 7: "Be
ready and keep ready, you and all the hosts that are
assembled about you, and be a guard for them. 8:
After many days you will be mustered; in the latter
years you will go against the land that is restored
from war, the land where people were gathered from
many nations upon the mountains of Israel, which
had been a continual waste; its people were brought
out from the nations and now dwell securely, all of
them. 9: You will advance, coming on like a storm,
you will be like a cloud covering the land you and all
your hordes, and many peoples with you.
Israel is being established in cities, and the
northern nations move against it. The identities
of the nations are explained in the paper War of
Hamon-Gog (No. 294) and covers both sides of
the conflict. Both sides are subjugated, as we
will see in that paper.
10: "Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day thoughts
will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil
scheme 11: and say, `I will go up against the land of
unwalled villages; I will fall upon the quiet people
who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without
walls, and having no bars or gates'; 12: to seize spoil
and carry off plunder; to assail the waste places
which are now inhabited, and the people who were
gathered from the nations, who have gotten cattle and
goods, who dwell at the center of the earth. 13: Sheba
and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its
villages will say to you, `Have you come to seize
spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off
plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away
cattle and goods, to seize great spoil?' 14:
"Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog,
Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day when my
people Israel are dwelling securely, you will bestir
yourself 15: and come from your place out of the
uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples
with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a
mighty army; 16: you will come up against my people
Page 7
Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter
days I will bring you against my land, that the nations
may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate
my holiness before their eyes. (RSV)
The Great War of Hamon-Gog will occur at the
beginning of the Millennium. However, we also
know from Revelation chapter 20 that a great
war will occur at the end of the Millennium
also, before the General (or Second)
Resurrection of the dead. Revelation chapter 20
explains Ezekiel chapters 36-39. Ezekiel
chapters 40-41 show the Temple system that
will be established for the Millennium.
Revelation 20:1-15
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven,
holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and
a great chain. 2: And he seized the dragon, that
ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and
bound him for a thousand years, 3: and threw him
into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he
should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand
years were ended. After that he must be loosed for a
little while.
The restoration begins with the binding of Satan
at the return of the Messiah. The elect are
resurrected and judgment is committed to them.
This is the beginning of the restoration prior to
the millennial system.
4: Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those
to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the
souls of those who had been beheaded for their
testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who
had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not
received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.
They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand
years. 5: The rest of the dead did not come to life
until the thousand years were ended. This is the first
resurrection. 6: Blessed and holy is he who shares in
the first resurrection! Over such the second death has
no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and they shall reign with him a thousand
years.
Thus, the millennial reign of the saints begins
the Millennium. That is the restoration of Israel,
termed the captivity of Jacob. Christ returns to
take captivity captive.
Then Satan is loosed again for the final war at
the end of the Millennium.
7: And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will
be loosed from his prison 8: and will come out to
Page 8
deceive the nations which are at the four corners of
the earth, that is, Gog and Magog, to gather them for
battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9: And
they marched up over the broad earth and surrounded
the camp of the saints and the beloved city; but fire
came down from heaven and consumed them, 10: and
the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the
lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false
prophet were, and they will be tormented day and
night for ever and ever.
Thus the War of Gog and Magog is an ongoing
battle, both at the end of Satan’s rule and again
at Satan’s release. The demise of Satan and the
Beast, and the false prophet, are the death of
concepts at the end of the seven thousand years
of the earth’s systems. The final resurrection
does not deal with nations and systems and such
matters. It deals with judgment and correction
over a shortened period and is called the Great
White Throne Judgment. See the paper The
Second Resurrection and the Great White
Throne Judgment (No. 143B).
11: Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat
upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away,
and no place was found for them. 12: And I saw the
dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and
books were opened. Also another book was opened,
which is the book of life. And the dead were judged
by what was written in the books, by what they had
done.
The Churches of God in the 20th century made a
serious error in separating the events of verses
12 and 13, and arguing for a Third Resurrection
in order to control the membership through fear
(see the paper The Fallacy of the Third
Resurrection (No. 166)). However, it is obvious
from the logic of the text that verse 13 is simply
speaking of those who died at sea as also being
resurrected to judgment with those who died on
land. Those who are not repentant at the end of
this period are refused eternal life and die, and
are burned as rubbish in the fire of Gehenna,
which was the rubbish pit outside of Jerusalem.
13: And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and
Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged
Valley of Dry Bones
by what they had done. 14: Then Death and Hades
were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second
death, the lake of fire; 15: and if any one's name was
not found written in the book of life, he was thrown
into the lake of fire. (RSV)
Thus, Ezekiel here speaks of a resurrection both
at the beginning of the Millennium for the
restoration and at the end. The wars precede the
restoration, which goes through the Millennium.
The restoration in the wars is designed to
establish the House of God in glory forever.
Ezekiel 38:17-23
"Thus says the Lord GOD: Are you he of whom I
spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of
Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I
would bring you against them? 18: But on that day,
when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says
the Lord GOD, my wrath will be roused. 19: For in
my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On
that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of
Israel; 20: the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air,
and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things
that creep on the ground, and all the men that are
upon the face of the earth, shall quake at my
presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down,
and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to
the ground. 21: I will summon every kind of terror
against Gog, says the Lord GOD; every man's sword
will be against his brother. 22: With pestilence and
bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him; and I
will rain upon him and his hordes and the many
peoples that are with him, torrential rains and
hailstones, fire and brimstone. 23: So I will show my
greatness and my holiness and make myself known in
the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I
am the LORD. (RSV)
The millennial system is then established and
the nations are subjected to the direction and
laws of God and they are prepared for the
Second and General Resurrection of the Dead,
which is preceded by the last war of Gog and
Magog.
The end of this process results in the coming of
the City of God (see the paper The City of God
(No. 180)).
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