“And ye shall know that I amthe LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up outof your graves” (Ezekiel 37:13).

Ezekiel was one of the threeprophets who ministered to God’s people during the period of the Babylonianexile.

Daniel was taken to exile in Babylon when Nebuchednezzar first attacked Jerusalem during the reignof Jehoiakim in 606 BC.[1]Daniel would write his prophecy in exile.

Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim’s son,eventually took over the throne. But he was a very wicked king and in 597 BC,Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalemagain. He took king Jehoiachin into exile together with the prophet Ezekiel.Ezekiel would minister amongst the exiles in Babylon.

Jeremiah,on the other hand, was the prophet who witnessed the destruction of the templein 586 BC. He ministered in Judahamongst the remnant who were left behind.

So Ezekiel ministered beforethe destruction of Jerusalemand the temple. His messages to those who were carried into exile with him were that something worse would happen to Jerusalemunless the people repented wholeheartedly. The false prophets did not think so.They thought that the exile would be very short and the exiles would return to Jerusalem shortly. Many ofthe people would rather believe in the false prophets than Ezekiel.

Ezekiel wrote in anautobiographical manner,—describing his experiences and visions from a personalperspective. His book has three major sections. In the first 24 chapters,Ezekiel announces God’s judgement upon Jerusalemfor her sin. God is sovereign and holy: He will not suffer His name to betrampled underfoot. But He is also just. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father…” (Ezk 18:20). Those whorepent of their sin shall live (v. 32).

From chapters 25-32, Ezekielannounces God’s judgement on the foreign nations whose history was intertwinedwith that of God’s people. Though Judah had sinned, she bore God’sname and therefore no one could harass her with impunity.

Butnow, in chapter 33:21, we read of how a man escaped from Jerusalem to tell Ezekiel that “the city issmitten.” From then on Ezekiel began to focus his preaching on promises ofmercy and restoration for God’s people.

This book is therefore filled with promises, andit is difficult to choose one that is representative of the whole book. But aspart of our series on the great and precious promises of God, let’s considerEzekiel 37:13—

And ye shall know that Iam the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you upout of your graves.

Whatare the promises in this verse? Well, there are two: one primary and the othersecondary. Let’s look at both of them briefly.

Consider first, the secondarypromise.

1. The Secondary Promise

The secondary promise in ourtext is expressed in the words: “when I have opened your graves, O my people, andbrought you up out of your graves.”We say that this is the secondary promise because it is through the fulfilmentof this promise that the primary promise will be accomplished. The primarypromise is worded: “ye shall know that Iam the LORD.”

Butnow, what does the LORD mean in the secondary promise? Well, in the context,Ezekiel is describing the vision of the valley of dry bones. Now, somepreachers and commentators suggest that this will literally happen—that theJews would be raised from the dead and brought back to the land of Israelto rule the world for 1000 years. Others do not think that it is about theresurrection of the Jews, but about the general resurrection.

Butthere is really no reason to believe that Ezekiel is seeing something that willhappen literally. Indeed, by the time that the general resurrection occurs, thebones of many of the saints who died would have disintegrated and dispersed.There would be no white bones.

I am not denying that there will be a generalresurrection, of course. I am saying, rather, that Ezekiel’s vision of thevalley of dry bones is not so much about the general resurrection as it isabout the restoration of God’s people.

Israel,the church under-age, suffered the consequences of their sin. They had becomelike dry bones in the valley, unable to worship and serve the LORD as they wereredeemed for. But the Lord promised to restore them to the Promised Land.

So too, God’s people today aresuffering the consequences of sin. But the Lord will revive and restore. Two ofthe most important acts of revival and restoration are spoken of in thescripture as resurrections. The first is regeneration, which is spoken of bythe apostle John as the first resurrection; or the spiritual resurrection. Thesecond, is the bodily resurrection at the last day.

Now, all these are included in thepromise of our text. The fact is: God’s people will suffer in this life becauseof sin, both original and actual. But God will restore them. He will restorethem by His providential acts, such as when he restored the Jews during thereign of King Cyrus. He will also restore them spiritually through the gift ofregeneration, which is described as a sprinkling of clean water (cf. Baptism ofthe Holy Spirit) and a replacing of the heart of stone with a heart of flesh,etc (Ezk 36:25). And not just regeneration, but by justification by gracethrough faith in the Messiah, conversion, sanctification and eventuallyglorification. Some of these, He acts instantly, while others are more gradual.

But whatever the case may be,one thing is clear. It is God’s promise that He will restore His people. Hewill not leave his people in misery. He will restore and revive by His powersuch that what are seemingly dry bones can come to life!

This is the secondary promisementioned in our text. But let’s consider now the primary promise.

2.The Primary Promise

TheLORD says through Ezekiel: “ye shall knowthat I am the LORD.” Now, at first look, this does not seem to be a verysignificant promise. But do you realise that this promise is actually repeatedover and over again in the book of Ezekiel? If you have an electronic Bible,search for the phrase, “shall know that I am the LORD” and you will find 57occurrences of it in the whole Bible. Five instances are found in the book ofExodus, once it is found in 1 Kings. Where are the rest? They are in the bookof Ezekiel. The phrase occurs 51 times in Ezekiel, and out of these, 22 timesit is worded as “ye shall know that I am the LORD.”

Itis a promise to His people. It is a promise to us.

Whatdoes this promise mean? No doubt, what the LORD is saying is that we do notknow him as we should. Surely, we know that He is the LORD, but the fact isthat we do not know Him as much as we should. And it must be extremelyimportant for us and greatly desirous to the LORD that we should know Him as Hewould have us know. Otherwise, He would certainly not have repeated the promiseso many times!

Ezekielreminds us that many things that the LORD will do for his people are for thepurpose of fulfilling this promise that we shall know that He is the LORD.

Whatis the purpose of the destruction of Jerusalemand the Babylonian captivity? It is so that God’s people might know that God isthe LORD (Ezk 6:7; 7:4, 9; 11:10,12; 12:20; 15:7; etc).

Whywould God punish the false prophets? So that God’s people might know that He isthe LORD (Ezk 13:9)!

Why would Godpunish the idolaters in Jerusalem?So that God’s people might know that He is the LORD (Ezk 14:8)!

Whywould God restore Israelback to the Land? So that God’s people might know that He is the LORD (Ezk36:11)!

Andnow in our text: why would the LORD revive and restore His people? So thatGod’s people might know that He is the LORD!

Canyou see how important this promise is to the LORD? I wonder if we reallyappreciate it as much as we should.

Iwonder if we have taken for granted that we know the Lord Jesus that He is theLORD; and therefore there is nothing more to know. But beloved brethren, youthand children, this does not seem to be the attitude of the prophets andapostles.

TheLORD, speaking through Ezekiel, would have us know that he would revive andrestore his people that they might know Him as they should.

Andthe apostle Paul testifies that one day “every tongue should confess that JesusChrist is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:11). I believe by the word rendered ‘Lord’ (kurios), Paul is referring to Jehovah.Remember that the Septuagint which was used by the apostles would translateJehovah as kurios. So Paul is sayingthat one day “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is JEHOVAH, to theglory of God the Father.”

Thisis the promise of our text. Remember that when God speaks directly to Hispeople, we may take it as the Son speaking unless the context requires us tothink otherwise, for Christ is the Word of God. Christ is the Prophet orspokesman of God-Triune.

Belovedbrethren and children, do you know Christ as Jehovah—the I AM? Do you know Hissovereignty and power in your life?

Turnwith me to the testimony of the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:7—

“⁷ But what things were gain to me,those I counted loss for Christ. ⁸ Yea doubtless, and I count allthings but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung,that I may win Christ, ⁹ And be found in him, not having mine ownrighteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith ofChrist, the righteousness which is of God by faith: ¹⁰ That I mayknow him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of hissufferings, being made conformable unto his death; ¹¹ If by anymeans I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (Phil 3:7-11).

Itis quite clear, isn’t it, that the apostle Paul appreciates the promise of theLORD in our text. He desires to know the Lord and the power of Hisresurrection. He desires to know him more than he had ever known him hitherto.

Brethrenand children, do you desire to know the LORD Jesus more than you do today? TheLord has promised that one day, we shall all know him as He knows us. But shallwe not pray? Shall we not pray for a greater measure of the Spirit? Shall wenot pray that the LORD will renew our mind and revive our spirit so that knowhim in faith and love in a way that give confidence, joy, peace, contentment,fulfilment, in a way that nothing else in the world can.

Conclusion

And ye shall know that I am the LORD,when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of yourgraves.

One day our graves will be opened, and we shall know the Lord perfectly. But let us not leave to that day to know the LORD. Unless we know Him today, we shall not know Him in the day of resurrection. And the Lord has promised to restore and revive us even in this life that we may know that He is LORD. Shall we not, as it were, claim the promise through prayer? Amen. Ω