Ezekiel 37:19, commentary and pictures

The stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim joined with the stick of Judah is made one in God's hand, so that the divided kingdoms and scattered hosts of Israel and Judah become one people under one shepherd. The sticks are scepters, signs of kingly authority brought together under one rule. The promise belonged to what God would have done for Israel then if they had turned to Him, repented, put away sin, and given themselves wholly to Him. Because they refused to meet the conditions, the national reunion and restoration were never fulfilled as presented, and only a partial and feeble return with a mere shadow of the temple followed. The unity is fulfilled more gloriously in Christ, where the David who is king is Christ under the new covenant and all who accept Him, Jew and Gentile with no difference, become Abraham's seed joined in one fold under one Shepherd. The final oneness has not yet taken place but will occur at the second coming, when the redeemed of the twelve tribes enter the land for an everlasting possession in the new earth and New Jerusalem where death no longer reigns.

Sign of Joined Sticks

The stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim with the tribes of Israel his fellows joined with the stick of Judah is made one stick in God's hand, meaning the divided kingdoms and scattered hosts of Israel and Judah become one people under one Shepherd. Joseph's stick stands for Ephraim and his fellow tribes and companions, and Judah's stick stands for Judah and its companions, and God joins the divided groups to become one in His hand. This is a promise of bringing all His children into one fold and forming one fold under one Shepherd through Christ, in whom those united form one people. Jesus from Judah's tribe is the center who draws His people together, and all who accept Christ by faith — the true children of Abraham and Abraham's seed according to the promise, including Gentiles gathered from among the nations — are united under Jesus the one Shepherd. God would have brought about this reunion of the two divisions, the ten tribes and Judah, as one nation when Cyrus decreed the restoration of the people and the temple, with the sanctuary and land arrangements following, if Israel had turned to Him; because the people rejected that call the national reunion did not take place as presented.

The sticks are scepters, signs of kingly authority. Their union pictures the remnant church bringing true believers together under Christ the Prince Immanuel in the good old paths of commandment keeping and the spirit of prophecy. The figure is drawn from the prophet's own time of division and captivity and is expressed in figures and language drawn from that time, belonging to a chapter of prophecies about Israel's future restoration and glory. The ten tribes had been taken into captivity more than a century earlier, and Jerusalem was later destroyed.

The chapter presents the valley of dry bones as bodily resurrection and not merely a change of condition at death. God opens His people's graves and brings them into the land of Israel, and the dry bones which are the whole house of Israel are given flesh and sinews and skin, filled with His Spirit, made alive, and then brought into the land of Israel, their own land. The resurrection is the hope and gateway to the promised land, and all unfulfilled promises of Israel's return to their own land belong to the true Israel in the resurrection, not to the Jews as a nation returning to Palestine now in a mortal restoration to their own land. That joining into one in God's hand is fulfilled when Abraham and all his seed together enter possession of the land for an everlasting possession, which cannot happen while death reigns, so the land belongs to Christ and His saints in the resurrection in the new earth and the New Jerusalem. The vision of the dry bones is a lively portrayal of the resurrection, showing that resurrection power is found in the Word of God, by which those dried up with lost hope can take hold of God and His mighty power and be revived.

Conditional Promise Fulfilled

The promise belonged to what God would have done for Israel at that time if they had turned to Him, yielded wholly to Him, repented, put away sin and wickedness, and given themselves to Him. If God's people had been faithful to Him, the restoration of the chapter would have taken place then. Because Israel largely failed to meet the condition, did not truly repent and put away wickedness, and refused to be ashamed, the promised restoration as presented was not fulfilled, was fulfilled only in small part, and will not be fulfilled exactly as given to them or in every detail of the original descriptions.

What God was prepared to do after the return from Babylon, when Cyrus decreed the restoration of the people and the temple, was to revive the captive nation, recover it from its dead and dying condition, bring His people back from the nations where they had been scattered, restore them to their own land, and reunite the two divisions, the ten tribes with Judah, Ephraim with Judah, as one nation, one people in His hand. That work included turning them from sin, cleansing them from iniquity, giving His Spirit and a new spirit, and even raising faithful Israelites who had died and those sleeping in death, the resurrection of those who had gone down in death. It included cutting off all their enemies and defeating them, rebuilding the glorious temple with its water of life and glory of God, newly dividing the land with the sanctuary and land arrangements shown by Ezekiel, dwelling and being present among His people, making Jerusalem a praise in the earth, and making Israel a light to the world declaring His salvation and glory to the nations under David's rule, with David reigning over them.

Because Israel did not meet those conditions, the national reunion and restoration were not fulfilled as presented and never will be literally fulfilled in their original form. Only about forty thousand returned, only a mere shadow of the temple was built instead of the wonderful structure shown, and the restoration was only partial, feeble, and in small part. Its full fulfillment was deferred and will come to the faithful as a future inheritance, though not in every detail of the original descriptions, under broader and more glorious conditions through redemption and the earth made new.

The unity is fulfilled more gloriously in the new dispensation in Christ. The David who is king over them is the second David, Christ, and His reign belongs to the new covenant, not the first. The oneness in His hand belongs to the second Israel, Israel by faith, spiritual Israel, not to the natural descendants as the first Israel under the first covenant. All who accept Christ by faith become the true children of Abraham and Abraham's seed, fellow heirs with no Greek and Jew, joined through faith, with Gentiles who accept Christ and those gathered from among the nations included among God's people and brought into one fold under Jesus the one Shepherd. To join the reign of Christ to literal Israel mixes what belongs to two different covenants. The sticks of Judah and Ephraim represent the restoration of spiritual Israel, not the joining of the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

The greater fulfillment is connected with Christ's second coming and the events surrounding it. This prophecy of the reunion of restored Israel in the coming glorious Messianic kingdom, ruled by Christ as God's servant David, will be fulfilled only after Christ's second advent. In a spiritual sense the redeemed in God's everlasting kingdom will belong to the twelve tribes of Israel. All unfulfilled promises of Israel's return to their own land belong to the true Israel in the resurrection, not to the Jews as a nation returning to Palestine now in a mortal restoration. The dry bones are the whole house of Israel brought up from their graves, given flesh and sinews and skin, filled with God's Spirit and made alive, then brought into the land of Israel, their own land. That joining into one in God's hand is fulfilled when Abraham and all his seed together enter possession of the land for an everlasting possession, which cannot happen while death reigns, so the land belongs to Christ and His saints in the resurrection in the new earth and the New Jerusalem where God's sanctuary stands and He reigns forever. God's purpose for the true Israel will instead be fulfilled through redemption and the earth made new. The kingdom could not appear immediately in mortal state, but requires birth from the dead and change to immortality, and the final unity has not yet taken place but will occur at the final gathering when Jesus comes.

The union also pictures the remnant church bringing true believers together under Christ, the Prince Immanuel, in the good old paths of commandment keeping and the spirit of prophecy, the sticks being scepters, signs of kingly authority. Jesus, from Judah's tribe, is the center who draws His people together into one fold under the one Shepherd. This gathering, deliverance, and outpouring of God's Spirit with a new spirit and the covenant of peace occur together for the living saints just before the resurrection of the just. The prophecy also fits the deliverance of a remnant of literal Israel in Jerusalem during the battle of the great day of the Lord, while God's people in every nation are delivered.

The resurrection of the dead at the second coming of Christ is the hope, the only hope, the blessed hope of the children of God. The Son of God will come with all the shining angelic host, the dead shall hear His voice, and those who sleep in Him shall come forth to everlasting life and immortality. Without these great events of Christ's resurrection and His coming and the resurrection, man is forever lost. Eternal life comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ at His coming and the resurrection, through faith in Him, which glorifies God and Christ Jesus and does not exalt man, in contrast to the uncertain pagan theory.