5. What is the meaning of what Ezekiel acted out? (See the box “The Joining of the Two Sticks.”)

⁵ Next, Jehovah explained the meaning of the joining together of the two sticks. (Read Ezekiel 37:21, 22.) Exiles from the two-tribe kingdom of Judah and exiles from the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel (Ephraim) would be brought to the land of Israel, where they would become “one nation.”​—Jer. 30:1-3; 31:2-9; 33:7.

7. How does the account found at 1 Chronicles 9:2, 3 confirm that “with God all things are possible”?

⁷ Humanly speaking, the liberation and unification of the exiles seemed totally impossible.a However, “with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:26) Jehovah fulfilled his prophecy. The Babylonian captivity ended in 537 B.C.E., and thereafter, individuals of both kingdoms arrived in Jerusalem to help restore true worship. The inspired record confirms this: “Some of the descendants of Judah, of Benjamin, of Ephraim, and of Manasseh settled in Jerusalem.” (1 Chron. 9:2, 3; Ezra 6:17) Indeed, just as Jehovah had foretold, members of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel were joined, or united, with members of the two-tribe kingdom of Judah.

8. (a) What was prophesied by Isaiah? (b) What two significant aspects are found at Ezekiel 37:21?

⁸ Some 200 years earlier, the prophet Isaiah had prophesied about what would happen to Israel and Judah after their captivity. He foretold that Jehovah would begin to gather “the dispersed ones of Israel” and “the scattered ones of Judah from the four corners of the earth,” including “out of Assyria.” (Isa. 11:12, 13, 16) And indeed, as Jehovah had foretold, he took “the Israelites from among the nations.” (Ezek. 37:21) Note two significant aspects: At this point, Jehovah no longer referred to the exiles as “Judah” and “Ephraim” but as “the Israelites”​—one group. Further, the Israelites were described as coming, not from one nation, Babylon, but from several nations​—in fact, “from every direction.”