Ezekiel 37:23, commentary and pictures

They shall defile themselves no more with idols and detestable things and transgressions, but God will save them out of all the places where they have sinned and cleanse them, so they shall be His people and He shall be their God. The promise was what God would have done for Israel in Ezekiel's time in connection with the return from Babylon if they had yielded and obeyed, but it was never literally fulfilled because they did not repent, and only a small and feeble beginning came with the few thousand who returned and the lesser temple. Its gathering and cleansing are fulfilled after Christ's second advent, when graves are opened and the dead in Christ rise and the living elect are gathered from the nations to meet the Lord and dwell with Him forever, not in a national return of Jews in mortal life before He comes. That restored Israel is the second Israel after the law of faith under the new covenant, Jew and Gentile united in Christ as fellow heirs, with Christ Himself as David their King, not the natural descendants under the first covenant. For the restoration to last the people must face and loathe their sins and turn from evil to be filled with God's Spirit, and then cleansed from sin they become one people planted to be removed no more with His sanctuary among them forever.

Setting in Ezekiel's Prophecy

Ezekiel 37:23 stands in the later part of the book, after its warnings and correction, among promises of restoration, consolation and glory spoken after Jerusalem fell. It belongs to the promise of resurrection and of the uniting of Israel's scattered hosts and kingdoms, as part of the salvation and blessings God will bestow on His people. It is set against Israel's sins, with the nation's hope placed in individual repentance.

It belongs to the vision of the valley of dry bones given for the whole house of Israel. That vision is a vivid, lively picture of bodily resurrection, in which the dead are raised bodily from their graves and God brings His people into the land of Israel, so that resurrection is the gateway to the promised land. It therefore supports the Old Testament hope of immortality through resurrection. That resurrection power is found in the Word of God, so that when hope seems dried up and lost like Israel's bones, laying hold of God and His mighty power brings revival.

It belongs also to the promise that Israel and Judah shall be gathered as one people under one King, My servant David, no longer defiling themselves with idols, detestable things, or sin, but saved and cleansed to belong to God. It stands within the sanctuary prophecy of Ezekiel 37 to 48, with its promised temple, division of the land, and sanctuary among the people. That sanctuary among the people is where the saints remain and serve Him forever in the earth made new, where Israel shall be planted to be removed no more and the Lord reigns forever.

Cleansing and Covenant Promise

The promise is that defilement ends: no more self-pollution with idols, detestable things, or any transgressions, but rescue out of all dwelling places where sin was committed, cleansing, and restored belonging in which they are His people and He is their God. That rescue and cleansing belongs to spiritual Israel, Israel of faith under the new covenant, and not to natural descent alone. It was offered in connection with the return from Babylonian captivity and would have been fulfilled then if the people had yielded to God, but because they did not truly repent it was not fully fulfilled at that time. What was conditional then will be fulfilled in the last days under different, broader, and more glorious conditions, for true Israel in full immortal glory rather than in every local detail.

That cleansing was necessary if restoration was to last, and it required turning from evil, facing sin, being ashamed of iniquity, loathing it, and putting wickedness away. Only so would defilement cease and the saved, cleansed people be made God's own. The condition is stated as in Ezekiel 43:9-11, that shame for iniquities and putting them away must precede the glorious promise. The filling needed is God's Spirit and a new spirit, bringing life and healing power upon the land and earth as never before. Because Israel was not ashamed and did not put away iniquity, only a shadow of the promised greatness appeared in the temple built by Zerubbabel, and that typical temple with its forward-pointing sacrifices will never now be built since Christ's death fulfilled all sacrifices; the promises faintly foreshadow what God will restore by mighty power in the new heavens and new earth.

Division is tied to the same defilement, for idolatry, other evils, and transgression fractured Israel. When the people are saved and cleansed from sin and turn from evil, they become one people belonging to God and He is their God.

The cleansed and gathered people are planted to be removed no more, dwelling with God forever in the new earth with His sanctuary among them. This takes place when Jesus comes, in the final gathering of Israel and Judah as one people under one King. It is fulfilled in resurrection rather than in a mortal national return to Palestine before Christ comes, when the whole house of Israel as dry bones is brought up from graves, given sinews, flesh and skin, filled with His Spirit, made alive, and brought into their own land. While death reigns the everlasting possession cannot be received; then Abraham and Christ the true seed, with all who are in Christ by faith with no difference of Jew or Greek, together enter the everlasting inheritance, which is the new earth and the New Jerusalem. There the saints remain and serve Him forever and the Lord reigns forever.

Conditional Offer to Israel

Ezekiel 37:23 is part of a conditional prophecy of what God would have done for Israel in Ezekiel's own time and in connection with the return from Babylonian captivity, under the universal principle of Jeremiah 18:8-10. The promised cleansing from idols, detestable things and all transgressions, and the restored relation in which they would be His people and He would be their God, would have been given if they had yielded to Him, returned to Him wholeheartedly and obeyed Him. The condition required them to put away wickedness, turn from evil, be ashamed of their iniquities and loathe their sins as required in Ezekiel 43:9-11. Because they did not meet that condition of faith, obedience and wholehearted return, the promise was not fulfilled to them, though God's purpose toward true Israel remains and His plan to gather a people who prevail by faith, from Jews and Gentiles, would not fail.

If Israel had met the condition, God would have brought the scattered faithful back from the nations to their land and to the mountains of Israel, where He would be present among them. He would have raised the faithful dead in Israel who slept, as described in the resurrection of Ezekiel 37. He would have conquered all their enemies far and near, including the northern enemies and the kings of the North, made Jerusalem a praise in the earth, and built within that city the sanctuary and temple promised in the closing chapters of Ezekiel, with its new division of the land and with life and healing power coming upon Palestine and the earth as never before.

That restoration was never literally fulfilled as promised because Israel never yielded to God's plan, never truly repented, and was not ashamed of iniquities and did not put away iniquity. There was only a small and feeble fulfillment after the return from Babylon, when about forty thousand or fewer than fifty thousand returned. Only a temple with a shadow of the promised greatness was built by Zerubbabel, and the nation later fell under Roman power.

In its detailed local form the prophecy will never now be fulfilled, though in fullest literal detail it would have been fulfilled had Israel obeyed. The literal sanctuary of Ezekiel 37 to 48 will never be built, because God cannot go back to typical sacrifices pointing forward to Jesus Christ since Christ suffered, died on the cross, and fulfilled all types and sacrifices. God's purpose toward true Israel remains the same though times and environment vary, to be fulfilled in the last days under different, broader and more glorious conditions, when true Israel will still be redeemed and given a more glorious inheritance, even the earth made new and the new heavens and new earth, of which all those promises are faintly typical.

Fulfillment at Christ's Coming

The cleansing from idols, abominations and every transgression, with rescue from every dwelling place of sin and renewal of the covenant that they shall be God's people and He their God, belongs to the restored Israel reunited under Christ as My servant David in the coming glorious Messianic kingdom, and is fulfilled after the second advent. That restoration comes when Jesus comes, and God's people dwell with Him forever in the new earth with His sanctuary among them. It points to Christ's second majestic and glorious appearing, not to His first advent, and does not mean worldly station and gain for Israel at His first coming with exaltation of Israel and subjection of all other nations; that expectation came from lofty pride and arrogance looking only for worldly gain and confused the first advent with the second, whereas the true promise is Messiah as Redeemer not of the Jews only but of the world.

The gathering from among the nations and bringing into their own land is the final gathering of the whole house of Israel at Christ's coming, and it is the only gathering of Israel that remains to be fulfilled. Graves are opened and the dead are raised, the dead in Christ rising at the sounding of the great trumpet when Christ sends His angels to gather His elect from the four winds, and the living are caught up together to meet the Lord in the air and to worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. This is the same gathering spoken of in Isaiah 27 and Matthew 24, united in 1 Thessalonians 4 and connected with Revelation 21.

The cleansing and gathering are fulfilled in the resurrection, not in a national return of the Jews to Palestine in mortal life before Christ comes. The dry bones are brought up from their graves with flesh and sinews and skin put upon them, God's Spirit is put in them and they live, and they are brought into the land of Israel as their own land. Then Abraham and Christ the true seed, with all who are in Christ by faith with no difference of Jew or Greek, together come into possession of the land for an everlasting possession, which is the new earth and the New Jerusalem, and which they cannot receive while death reigns. People in the present mortal state must first be raised from the dead and changed to immortality, showing that God's kingdom would not appear immediately, and the promise is read in the setting of the unity of Jew and Gentile in Christ, not a renewed division between them.

The fulfillment comes in the latter days after Israel abides many days without king, prince, or sacrifice, when God brings His people from captivity, restores them to their land, and delivers them so that strangers no longer oppress them. Then they serve the Lord their God and David their king whom God raises up, and they are made one nation in the land with one king over them all, no more two nations nor divided into two kingdoms any more, with a new spirit put within them on their return to the covenant land. That fulfillment is placed at the deliverance of living Israel, including the living saints from every nation, just before the resurrection of the just. Its gathering takes place in the last days while the powers of earth take their position for Armageddon, so the gospel must now go to Persia and the regions round about to gather out God's children there through missionary evangelists.

The restoration God was prepared to accomplish after the return from Babylon, with cleansing and renewal of belonging to God, did not take place as promised because the people did not yield to God, truly repent, become ashamed of iniquities, forsake sin and return wholeheartedly, leaving only a small fulfillment after the return. The prophecy is also a partial type of God's future work for His people at the second coming, to have a greater fulfillment in the events connected with Christ's second coming though not through the local conditions of Ezekiel's time, and to be fulfilled in general rather than in every detail. The faithful will receive the full glory of their immortal inheritance, and final fire will consume sin and melt the earth.

The chapter shows that man in the present state is mortal as one undivided and indivisible personality of body, soul, and spirit, and that death and life are opposites that cannot exist at the same time. When the spirit or breath or life principle leaves the body the man dies, the dead know not anything, and both the just and the unjust remain under the dominion of death until God breathes into them the breath of life again. Then they shall live again by the grace of God through a Redeemer, the righteous in spiritual and immortal bodies to live and reign forever with Christ, and the unjust to die again the second death from which there is no restoration.

Identity of Restored Israel

The salvation and cleansing that makes a people belong to God belongs to the second Israel, Israel after the law of faith under the new covenant, and to spiritual Israel of faith, not to the natural descendants of Jacob under the first covenant. The king and shepherd set over them in the same connection is the second David, Christ, so the people over whom He reigns must likewise be the second Israel. To set Christ to reign over fleshly Israel would join the new-covenant King to a first-covenant people, which is impossible, for the first Israel and the reign of the first David belonged entirely to the first covenant.

The restored Israel reunited under Christ, My servant David, in the coming glorious Messianic kingdom after the second advent is the redeemed, who spiritually belong to the twelve tribes, cleansed from sin and belonging to God. Abraham and Christ are the true seed, and with all who are in Christ by faith with no difference of Jew or Greek they together come into possession of the land for an everlasting possession. Gentiles are fellow heirs and partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel, in which there is neither Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian or Scythian, so Jew and Gentile are united in Christ rather than renewed in division. The cleansing and gathering is fulfilled in the resurrection, when the dry bones are brought up from graves with flesh and sinews and skin put upon them and God's Spirit put in them so they live and are brought into their own land, and not in a national return of the Jews to Palestine in mortal life before Christ comes, since the everlasting possession cannot be received while death reigns and is the new earth and the New Jerusalem. The larger promise, including resurrection for those sleeping in Him and the sanctuary and glories described at the end of Ezekiel, was made on condition of returning to God wholeheartedly and its literal sanctuary will never be built, and because Israel did not meet the condition and was rejected, God's plan to gather a people who prevail by faith from Jews and Gentiles would not fail.

Unity and Present Application

The divided sticks of Israel becoming one in God's hand is the church becoming one under Christ when believers are brought back to the good old paths. The promise to save out of all dwelling places where sin was committed is a last-days gathering from among the nations while earthly powers take their position for Armageddon, cleansed from idols and transgressions to be His people. That gathering therefore requires the gospel to go now to Persia and the regions round about, with missionary evangelists sent to gather out God's children there. The same chapter portrays resurrection, and its reviving power is found in the Word of God, so that when hope feels dried up like dry bones, laying hold of God and His mighty power brings revival.

The prophecy was misread by confusing the first coming of Christ with His second majestic and glorious appearing. That misreading expected worldly station and gain at His first coming, with Israel exalted and all other nations brought into subjection. It sprang from lofty pride and arrogance looking only for worldly advantage, and was even pressed upon the Samaritans. The true promise is Messiah as Redeemer not of the Jews only but of the world.