The problems of the Israelite people were not merely national or political ones. From the Lord's perspective, the northern kingdom had been removed by Assyria because of moral and spiritual degradation. The southern kingdom of Judah had fallen into similar patterns and was carried into exile by the empire of Babylon. It was during the Babylonian exile that the prophet Ezekiel delivered his message for Israel. Through Ezekiel, God said to the people, "When the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings" (Ezekiel 36:17). But he promised them, "<span> I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. ... </span><span>I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you ....</span><span> I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them" (Ezekiel 36:24-27, World English Bible [public domain]). </span>
