37:19. Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in Mine hand.—The reuniting of the Hebrews and of the divisions of Christians will be by the power of God, and they shall remain one.
37:20. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.—The uniting of the Hebrews was apparently due to the prophecy of Ezekiel. That to come—of the Hebrews and of the Christians—will be in accordance with the teachings of Pastor Russell.
37:21, 22. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.—In 536 B. C. God regathered the Natural Israelites into Palestine as one nation, and will soon regather them out from all the nations of the world. He will gather true Spiritual Israel into the Heavenly phase of the Kingdom, where they shall ever be one people in mind in Christ, no longer separated as Little Flock, loving Heavenly things, and Great Company, loving the earthly. He will regather nominal Spiritual Israel from the dead and from their hopeless earthly condition, into the earthly phase of the Kingdom, no longer divided as Catholic and Protestant.—Jer. 50:4-6.
37:23. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be My people, and I will be their God.—God will cleanse them all from everything relating to this present evil age and will save them out of their dwelling-places—the spirit children from their corrupt bodies; the Great Company from their spiritual bondage; the nominal Christians from their sects; and the Jews from their domiciles in all nations; and all classes from the sleep of death. They shall all be truly God's people; and Jehovah, Just, Wise, Loving and Powerful, their God.
37:24. And David My servant shall be king over them; and they shall all have One Shepherd: they shall also walk [pg 558]in My judgments, and observe My statutes, and do them.—Over them as King shall be Christ Jesus, the Beloved Head of His Body the Church, and the whole Beloved Christ, Head and Body, for all the other classes. Christ Jesus the Head shall be the Shepherd of the Spirit classes; and The Christ, Head and Body, the Shepherd and Pastor of all the others. All classes in Heaven and on earth shall walk in the royal Law of Love.
37:25. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and their children's children for ever: and My servant David shall be their prince for ever.—The promise to Jacob is to be understood as both spiritual and earthly, a place spiritually typifying a condition. The Jews, living and resurrected dead, shall dwell forever in Palestine, given by God to Jacob, wherein their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, dwelt. The Little Flock and the Great Company will dwell forever in the Heavenly condition, where their great Father dwells. The nominal Christians will dwell in the whole earth, wherein their then Father. The Christ, Head and Body, dwelt in bodies of humiliation and sacrifice. The Christ shall forever be their King.
37:26. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting Covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My Sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.—God will make effective with the Jews the everlasting New Covenant, guaranteeing eternal earthly blessings to the willing and obedient; and the nominal professing Christians will come under the benefits of the Covenant. He will make effective the complete fulfillment of the Covenant of Grace for the Church in the spirit phase of the Kingdom. He will set both classes up in power—the Church as spiritual Kings and Priests unto God; and the Jews as the rulers of the earth. He will multiply their numbers by the resurrection. He will dwell in the spiritual class, making them His Sanctuary to the earthly class.
37:27. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people.—God's abode will be in the spiritual class; and they will be God's Temple or Dwelling-place, from which the Law of Love shall proceed for the earthly class.
37:28. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when My Sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.—Then will follow the conversion of the heathen peoples of the earth—“the residue of men, even all the Gentiles.”—Acts 15:17.