יחזקאל, פרק י״ב, פסוק ט״ו

The harsh reality of exile serves to bring the people to a deep realization about God. As the prophecy of their banishment is fulfilled, their dispersion will lead them to recognize that He is the active judge of the earth [מלבי"ם]. They will understand that He is faithful to carry out justice and punish them for their past sins [מצודת דוד]. When this exile is fully realized, the people will speak to one another in foreign lands about the terrible things they committed. Through these reflections, they will grasp that their punishment unfolded exactly as God's prophets had warned [רד"ק].

The process of this banishment unfolds in two distinct stages of collapse [מלבי"ם]. The first stage is a severe separation, resembling the shattering of an object that was once whole. The people are torn away from their united existence in the Land of Israel and broken into fragments among foreign nations. The second stage pushes this disintegration even further. Much like chaff being blown and scattered by the wind, the people—who are already disconnected and stripped of their unity—are scattered once again from those initial nations into even more distant lands [מלבי"ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ].