We have seen that Ezekiel 34 mainly covers the outward aspects of the Lord's recovery. God came in as the Shepherd to search and seek for His people and to bring them back to the good land. This is the outward aspect of the Lord's recovery. Then Ezekiel 36 covers the inward aspect of the Lord's recovery. The Lord not only brings us back outwardly, but also regenerates us inwardly. He gives us a new heart and a new spirit, and He puts His Spirit within us. It is not merely a matter of outward position and outward circumstances, but it is also a matter of the inward nature and inward disposition. The Lord's recovery is not something merely outward. Even more, it is something inward. Not only were our position, our circumstances, and our surroundings changed, but we also had the inward renewing of a new heart, a new spirit, and we received the divine Spirit of God. Outwardly there is a change, and inwardly there is a conversion. Ezekiel 36, however, does not tell us clearly and thoroughly how we may have a conversion, a new heart, and a new spirit, and how we may obtain God's Spirit. It is simply mentioned in a general way that He will give us a new heart, a new spirit, and His own Spirit. Thus, we need Ezekiel 37 to tell us how God can renew us and regenerate us.
First, we need to realize that before God came in to renew us and regenerate us, we were like dead and dry bones. If we had only Ezekiel 36, we would realize that we were evil, bad, sinful, dirty, and filthy, but we would never think that we were dead. Ezekiel 37 says that not only were we dead, but we were also dry bones. God's salvation is not merely for sinful people. God's salvation is for dead people. We were not only sinful, but we were also dead and buried. When we fell, whether as a sinner or a backslidden believer, in God's eyes we were buried in a grave. We were in many graves. A gambling casino is a kind of grave; a movie is a kind of grave; hatred is a kind of grave. Before we were saved or before we were revived, we were buried in all those graves. We were not only sinful, but dead and buried. We were fully dried up. We had no blood, no flesh, no sinew, no skin—just dry bones. This is a picture showing where we were and what we were to the uttermost. Have you ever realized that you were not only sinful, but also dead and buried dry bones?
Because you were dead and dry, you were also scattered. Not one piece of bone was drawn to another piece. All the bones were disjointed and scattered, having no oneness. Whether you were an unsaved sinner or whether you were a backslidden believer, this was exactly your situation. You were dead and buried in the grave. Christians today are buried in the graves of denominations, in the graves of divisions, in the graves of free groups, and in the graves of so many movements. All these groups are graves. How do we know that these are graves? We can know because they are dead and dry, scattered and disjointed. They are not connected to anyone.
Praise the Lord, He did not leave us in that kind of situation, but He came in to rescue us! The Lord did not, however, come in directly to be the Shepherd, but He came in through Ezekiel and through the prophesying of His Word. Many Christians have the wrong understanding about the meaning of prophesying. They think that to prophesy only means to predict. But have you noticed that in Ezekiel 37 there is hardly any prediction? Rather, it is a matter of declaring something or speaking something forth. Prophesying in Ezekiel 37 does not mainly mean to predict; rather, it means to tell forth. It means a kind of declaration. When the Lord said to Ezekiel, "Son of man prophesy," it meant "Speak forth." The Lord told Ezekiel that when he prophesied, He would send the breath and the wind. When Ezekiel spoke forth, God gave people the Spirit. Thus, we can see clearly that the main meaning of prophesying is not that of predicting, but of speaking forth something for the Lord.
Other Christians may think that to prophesy is to teach others. But, no matter how much you teach dry bones, they remain dry bones. When Ezekiel prophesied, speaking something for God, God followed him. As he was prophesying, God was blowing, sending the wind, the breath, and the Spirit.