Ezekiel 37:17-27

17 Then tie the two sticks together so that you're holding one stick.

18 "When your people ask you, 'Are you going to tell us what you're doing?'

19 tell them, 'God, the Master, says, Watch me! I'll take the Joseph stick that is in Ephraim's hand, with the tribes of Israel connected with him, and lay the Judah stick on it. I'll make them into one stick. I'm holding one stick.'

20 "Then take the sticks you've inscribed and hold them up so the people can see them.

21 Tell them, 'God, the Master, says, Watch me! I'm taking the Israelites out of the nations in which they've been exiled. I'll gather them in from all directions and bring them back home.

22 I'll make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and give them one king - one king over all of them. Never again will they be divided into two nations, two kingdoms.

23 Never again will they pollute their lives with their no-god idols and all those vile obscenities and rebellions. I'll save them out of all their old sinful haunts. I'll clean them up. They'll be my people! I'll be their God!

24 My servant David will be king over them. They'll all be under one shepherd.

25 They'll live in the same land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren will live there forever, and my servant David will be their prince forever.

26 I'll make a covenant of peace with them that will hold everything together, an everlasting covenant. I'll make them secure and place my holy place of worship at the center of their lives forever.

27 I'll live right there with them. I'll be their God! They'll be my people!

Ezekiel 37:17-27 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 37

This chapter contains a prophecy of the Jews' return from captivity to their own land; of the union of the each tribes with one another; and of the glorious kingdom of Christ among them. Their restoration is represented by a vision of dry bones made alive; the place in which they were; the condition they were in; and the manner in which they were made to live, are described, Eze 37:1-10, the explication and application of this vision to the Jews, Eze 37:11-14, their union is signified by a sign or emblem of two sticks, which became one in the hand of the prophet, Eze 37:15-17, the meaning of this is shown, Eze 37:18-20, then follow promises of their return to their own land, in express words; of their being one kingdom, under one King, Christ, the antitype of David, of their sanctification; of their covenant interest in God, made manifest to them; and of his presence, and dwelling among them, Eze 37:21-28.