Ezekiel 34:11

Thus saith the Lord. The rich promises of vs. 12-31 describe conditions as they might have been if Israel had met the necessary conditions. The prophecies were partially fulfilled at the time of the return from exile. But because the Jews failed to seek a true spiritual experience, either in the Exile or subsequently, the degree of fulfillment was extremely limited. Later, when Israel rejected her Messiah, the nation forever forfeited all claim to the blessings here promised. These promises were then transferred to the Christian church and were to be fulfilled in principle in connection with this spiritual body. A local, political kingdom would no longer form the center of the spiritual kingdom. The new adherents would be scattered in all lands. Their capital would no longer be an earthly Jerusalem; instead, they were to anticipate a heavenly. In their spiritual application these verses will be fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth. They would have met a literal fulfillment after the Jews returned from Babylonian exile if they had met the conditions God set down (see pp. 29-32).