The dry bones symbolize the whole house of Israel, pictured as dead in dispersion and restored by God.
Ezekiel 37:11 plainly says, 'These bones are the whole house of Israel.' Les Feldick teaches the vision symbolically pictures Israel scattered among the Gentile nations for centuries, without hope and nationally dead. God promises to open their graves and bring them back to their land, and Les sees the modern regathering of Israel as the beginning of that restoration.
Ezekiel 37:11 — This verse is the key that interprets the vision, explicitly identifying the bones as the whole house of Israel.
Ezekiel 37:14 — Shows God's purpose to put His Spirit in Israel and place them in their own land.
In Ezekiel 37, the Lord sets the prophet down in a valley full of dry bones. At God's command, Ezekiel prophesies, and the bones come together bone to bone; sinews and flesh cover them, and breath enters them, so they stand alive as an exceeding great army. The Lord then explains the vision: 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.' They confess, 'Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.' God answers by promising to open their graves, bring them up out of them, put His Spirit in them, and place them in their own land.
Les Feldick emphasizes that Ezekiel's vision is a symbolic picture, not a literal event. He consistently points to verse 11, where God Himself says the bones are the whole house of Israel. The dry, bleached bones represent Israel dispersed among the Gentile nations, away from the land of promise and temple worship, with no national hope. Les teaches that the bones coming together, receiving flesh and skin, and finally breath pictures God restoring Israel as a nation. He sees what has happened in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries — Jewish people returning to their homeland — as the beginning of this restoration. However, he is careful to note that while Israel has come back to the land, the breath has not yet been breathed into them; they are still spiritually dead, and the full fulfillment waits for that future breath (Clip 7).
The Bible interprets the vision in Ezekiel 37:11: 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.' Les stresses that this is the Holy Spirit explaining the vision, and that the bones do not represent something else. He notes that when Israel says, 'Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost,' it reflects the nation's centuries of scattering among the Gentiles, feeling cut off from any future as a nation. According to Les, the whole house of Israel means all of them — the entire nation, not just a part (Clip 7).
Les connects the dry bones coming to life to the regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland in our own day. He points out that the vision pictures Israel coming back from dispersion, and that over the last several decades we have seen Jewish people returning to the land, just as the prophecy said. In Clip 3, he says the vision was a picture of the nation of Israel coming back to their homeland 'as we've been seeing now for the last 48 years' (recorded some years ago). In Clip 6, he calls it merely precursory to what follows in the chapter.
Les makes a crucial distinction: the bones have come together and been covered with flesh and skin, but the breath has not yet entered them. He says this is a picture of the nation of Israel coming back out of their dispersion — which we have seen — but they are still spiritually dead. The breath, he implies, awaits a future work of God. Les says the vision is only beginning to be fulfilled (Clip 7).
The Vision of the Valley of Bones
Les introduces Ezekiel 37 as the Old Testament passage about dry bones, where Ezekiel is shown a valley floor just covered with bones, setting the stage for the symbolic vision.
A Symbolic Picture of Israel
Les emphasizes that the valley of dry bones is a vision — a symbolic picture — showing Israel's long absence and the bones coming together at God's command.
The Bones Come Together
Les describes how the dry bones assemble bone to bone into skeletons, demonstrating the vision's dramatic restoration imagery, though there is still no muscle or breath.
A Picture of National Restoration
Les says the dry bones picture the nation of Israel coming back to life and returning to its homeland, which he connects to the modern return of Jewish people.
The Whole House of Israel
Les explains that the bones represent the whole house of Israel, whose hope was lost after centuries dispersed among the Gentile nations, and that God says He will open their graves.
The Bible Interprets Its Own Vision
Les stresses that the Bible interprets the vision in verse 11, plainly stating that the bones are the whole house of Israel.
Israel's Return in Our Time
Les says the prophecy pictures Israel's national return from dispersion, something he sees happening in the modern era, and calls it precursory to what follows.
Still Spiritually Dead
Les notes that Israel has come back to the land like the bones coming together, but the breath has not yet been breathed into them, so they are still spiritually dead.
Ezekiel 37:2: And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
This shows the bones had been there a long time, emphasizing Israel's long dispersion.
Ezekiel 37:7: So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
This describes the beginning of national restoration in the vision.
Ezekiel 37:10: So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
The breath bringing life pictures the completion of restoration, which Les says has not yet happened.
Ezekiel 37:11: Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
This is the explicit interpretation of the vision.
Ezekiel 37:14: And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
This is God's promise to restore Israel to life and to their land.
No — Les Feldick stresses that the vision is a symbolic picture. The bones represent the nation of Israel, not a literal resurrection of individual corpses. Even the parts where the bones come together are part of the vision's symbolism (Clips 1 and 5).
The dryness shows they had been in the valley a long time — bleached by the sun. Les says this pictures Israel's centuries of dispersal among the Gentile nations, with hope of becoming a nation again seemingly lost (Clips 1, 2, and 4).
Watch the Teaching: The Boundaries of the Promised Land: What Does the Bible Say?