Ezekiel, who lived in captivity in Babylon, saw many visions representing renewal and healing. In a particularly striking one, he sees a valley full of dry bones, representing the scattered and captive house of Israel. God asks, “Son of man, can these bones live?” and Ezekiel humbly replies, “O Lord God, thou knowest.” God commands Ezekiel to prophesy their restoration, and after he does, Ezekiel observes the sinews, flesh, and skin growing back upon the bones and wind breathing life into the bodies. “Behold, O my people,” God says, “I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel” (Ezekiel 37:1-14).
It’s a dramatic symbol of the reemergence of Israel, which at that point looked like it was finished. It also parallels the Book of Mormon’s descriptions of the literal resurrection of the body, such as this one from Amulek:
The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.
Alma 11:43
Ezekiel not only described restored bodies but also changed hearts. Speaking on behalf of God about the gathering of Israel, he prophesied:
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26; see also Ezekiel 11:19
The Book of Mormon doesn’t use the phrases “a new heart” or “a new spirit,” but it does speak of hearts being miraculously transformed by God:
- “The Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent…has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2).
- “According to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart” (Alma 5:12).
- “They did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil” (Alma 19:33).
(See also Helaman 15:7-8.)
So according to Ezekiel, God can renew both our bodies and our hearts, and the Book of Mormon confirms this doctrine. Even though Book of Mormon authors likely didn’t have access to Ezekiel’s writings, we can find strong parallels between the doctrines they taught.
This week, as we study Ezekiel, let’s look for strong connections with the foundational doctrines taught in the Book of Mormon.
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