Ezekiel's vision concerning the dry bones portrays the assembling of the royal priesthood in the last days and then the raising of the priesthood from the chains of physical death (Ezekiel 37:1-14). The resurrection of the saints is the summoning from the ground of an army, which is in keeping with the description of the first resurrection given by the Apostle Paul (I Thessalonians 4:16).

With a shout (for the battle)!

With the voice of the archangel!

With the trumpet of God!

Here is the onslaught of the Battle of Armageddon, not the sneaking away of the Christian saints for fear they may be harmed by Antichrist or by the tribulation.

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. (Ezekiel 37:10)

Notice that the dead saints are raised in order to bring them into the land of Israel, not up to Paradise:

Therefore prophesy and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. (Ezekiel 37:12)

When Christ descends from Heaven we, His army, every member of the royal priesthood, will be raised from our graves and stand on our feet on the earth. Antichrist and the wicked nations will behold the army of Christ and terror will seize them. Then, to the dismay of the wicked, we shall be raised to meet the Commander in Chief in the air.

Next, we shall descend with the Lord Jesus Christ to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The Battle of Armageddon will be fought. After that, Christ, the Son of David, will be crowned King on the Throne of David in Jerusalem and we shall be with Him. We always shall be with the Lord.

We shall be raised from the dead so we may live in Spirit-filled immortality and victory on the earth. Also, we shall have access to the heavenlies. We shall be as Jacob's ladder which reaches from earth to Heaven. Here is the restoration of the immortality that was available to Adam and Eve prior to their rebellion against the Lord God. We shall have all the glory that had been available to Adam and Eve—and infinitely more.

The Christian conflict sometimes is viewed as fighting our way up to Heaven—Heaven being viewed as the spiritual fulfillment of Canaan, the land of promise.

Heaven, Paradise, is not the spiritual fulfillment of Canaan. Are there "Philistines" in Heaven? Shall we enter Heaven one city at a time, overcoming and destroying its inhabitants as we proceed?

It is the earth and its nations, not Heaven, that are the inheritance of Christ and His saints (Psalms 2:8). It is the earth and its peoples that are our land of promise, and we shall take possession of the earth by violence, as described by the Prophets (Joel 2:3; Habakkuk 3:16; Revelation 19:11-15).

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [hath made us alive] together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 2:5,6)

We understand, therefore, that we are not fighting our way upward into Heaven but downward into the earth. When we entered Christ our new spiritual life was raised to the highest heaven—far above every evil power. Christ, who Himself is the Kingdom of God, has been born in us. He is at the right hand of God, in the present hour and we are there with Him and in Him, and He in us.

Now we are fighting our way downward from our spiritual position in Christ. We, through the Lord's grace, are being enabled to bring God's will to pass in the earth as it is performed in Heaven. This is the entering of the Kingdom of God into the earth, and it will take place in power and glory at the coming of the Lord.

The resurrection of the royal priesthood is the final victory. It is the overcoming of the last enemy—physical death. When we have been raised from the dead we shall be able to stand once again on the earth, this time in Spirit-filled glory. We shall possess the power, the rod of iron of the Spirit, to enforce God's will on the nations and eventually to teach the saved people of God's ways and to bring His Presence to them. (from The Purpose of the Resurrection of the Priesthood; It Is Time for a Reformation of Christian Thinking)