Eze 36:28-38 | KingComments | STEP | Ezekiel is to tell Israel not to think that they owe their redemption and return to their land to themselves ( ). The LORD does it solely for His own holy Name’s sake. Never does God’s mercy on man lie with man, but God’s mercy always finds its origin in Himself in spite of man. When the LORD sanctifies His great Name, it is to let the nations know that He and He alone is the LORD. To accomplish this, He vindicates the holiness of His great name in His people ( ). He vindicates in them His Name before the nations by bringing them back to their land, through which He shines as the God of truth and faithfulness. The nations will be impressed by His greatness, as He reveals Himself to His people as the Holy One, Who at the same time maintains His justice and lets His grace prevail. He Himself will take the initiative and gather His people from all nations and bring them to their land ( ). The returned people will experience a tremendous spiritual renewal ( ). The LORD Himself will sprinkle clean water on them, making them clean, cleansed from all their filthiness and abominations. Water is a picture of God’s Word and of God’s Spirit ( ; ). God’s Word, through the working of God’s Spirit, makes them aware of all their sins so that they will confess them. Confession cleanses and creates room for God to give them “a new heart” and to put “a new spirit” within them ( ). He will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. A heart of stone speaks of depraved insensitivity to the LORD. The heart is as hard as stone (cf. ). A heart of flesh speaks of receptivity to the Word of God. In their heart of flesh God will give His Spirit ( ). They will not only receive a new spirit in the sense of a new inner being, but God will give them His Spirit. Their heart of flesh will be open to God’s Word. As a result, they will walk in the statutes of the LORD and obediently keep His ordinances by observing them. If everything is in harmony with the will of God, they will also be able to enjoy the rich blessing of living in the land. The greatest blessing, though, is that they will be a people to Him and He will be a God to them ( ). The Lord Jesus refers to these verses in His conversation with Nicodemus about the new birth ( ; ). He is surprised that Nicodemus does not understand Him, since surely Nicodemus could have known from this section of the book of Ezekiel about what He is talking. The new birth happens through water and the Spirit. The new birth is entirely God’s work through His Word and His Spirit. It is only through this that people are born of God and become His children. No one can do anything about being born of God by himself. And once a person is born of God, no one can change it. The situation Ezekiel describes will not be a temporary one, but a continuous and unchanging one. This is because the LORD has saved them from all their uncleanness ( ). He will call an abundance of blessing over the trees and the field for them instead of the former famine. That famine He had to impose on them because of their constant forsaking Him and sinning against Him. The abundant fruit of the trees and of the field will also result in them no longer receiving the reproach of famine among the nations ( ). The abundant blessing will be in stark contrast to the evil ways they have gone and to their evil deeds ( ). The contrast will bring them to loathe themselves. When we receive goodness from God, we will also experience how unworthy we are of that goodness. Then it again dawns on us that the Lord does not bestow His goodness on us because of who we are, as if we were any better than others, but that He does so because of Who He Himself is ( ). Then with gratitude there is also shame. The awareness that we are unworthy of the LORD’s goodness is also an evidence of true repentance.

‏ Ezekiel 36:28-38

A New Heart and a New Spirit

Ezekiel is to tell Israel not to think that they owe their redemption and return to their land to themselves (Eze 36:22). The LORD does it solely for His own holy Name’s sake. Never does God’s mercy on man lie with man, but God’s mercy always finds its origin in Himself in spite of man. When the LORD sanctifies His great Name, it is to let the nations know that He and He alone is the LORD.

To accomplish this, He vindicates the holiness of His great name in His people (Eze 36:23). He vindicates in them His Name before the nations by bringing them back to their land, through which He shines as the God of truth and faithfulness. The nations will be impressed by His greatness, as He reveals Himself to His people as the Holy One, Who at the same time maintains His justice and lets His grace prevail.

He Himself will take the initiative and gather His people from all nations and bring them to their land (Eze 36:24). The returned people will experience a tremendous spiritual renewal (Eze 36:25). The LORD Himself will sprinkle clean water on them, making them clean, cleansed from all their filthiness and abominations. Water is a picture of God’s Word and of God’s Spirit (Eph 5:26; Jn 7:38-39). God’s Word, through the working of God’s Spirit, makes them aware of all their sins so that they will confess them.

Confession cleanses and creates room for God to give them “a new heart” and to put “a new spirit” within them (Eze 36:26). He will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. A heart of stone speaks of depraved insensitivity to the LORD. The heart is as hard as stone (cf. 1Sam 25:37). A heart of flesh speaks of receptivity to the Word of God.

In their heart of flesh God will give His Spirit (Eze 36:27). They will not only receive a new spirit in the sense of a new inner being, but God will give them His Spirit. Their heart of flesh will be open to God’s Word. As a result, they will walk in the statutes of the LORD and obediently keep His ordinances by observing them.

If everything is in harmony with the will of God, they will also be able to enjoy the rich blessing of living in the land. The greatest blessing, though, is that they will be a people to Him and He will be a God to them (Eze 36:28).

The Lord Jesus refers to these verses in His conversation with Nicodemus about the new birth (Eze 36:25-28; Jn 3:5-6). He is surprised that Nicodemus does not understand Him, since surely Nicodemus could have known from this section of the book of Ezekiel about what He is talking. The new birth happens through water and the Spirit. The new birth is entirely God’s work through His Word and His Spirit. It is only through this that people are born of God and become His children. No one can do anything about being born of God by himself. And once a person is born of God, no one can change it.

The situation Ezekiel describes will not be a temporary one, but a continuous and unchanging one. This is because the LORD has saved them from all their uncleanness (Eze 36:29). He will call an abundance of blessing over the trees and the field for them instead of the former famine. That famine He had to impose on them because of their constant forsaking Him and sinning against Him. The abundant fruit of the trees and of the field will also result in them no longer receiving the reproach of famine among the nations (Eze 36:30).

The abundant blessing will be in stark contrast to the evil ways they have gone and to their evil deeds (Eze 36:31). The contrast will bring them to loathe themselves. When we receive goodness from God, we will also experience how unworthy we are of that goodness. Then it again dawns on us that the Lord does not bestow His goodness on us because of who we are, as if we were any better than others, but that He does so because of Who He Himself is (Eze 36:32). Then with gratitude there is also shame. The awareness that we are unworthy of the LORD’s goodness is also an evidence of true repentance.

The Sole Purpose: The Glory of the LORD

On the same day that the people are cleansed, the LORD will bestow all the deferred blessing on the people (Eze 36:33). The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. The devastated land will be cultivated to bring forth food and fruit (Eze 36:34). The land will remind all who passes by of “the garden of Eden”, paradise (Eze 36:35). The people who pass through the land will be those who first scoffed that the LORD had not been able to preserve His people from destruction (cf. 1Kgs 9:8-9; Jer 18:16; Eze 5:14 ; Eze 16:15).

So it will be in the realm of peace, when the Lord Jesus reigns as Messiah. The surrounding nations that did not perish in the great tribulation will know that He is the LORD, because He has rebuilt what was ruined and planted that which was desolate (Eze 36:36). He will do it, because He has spoken it.

Israel will then be in perfect harmony with the LORD. They will ask Him things that He gladly answers (Eze 36:37). They may think that there are only a few of them, a rest, a remnant, remaining. Therefore, they will ask Him to multiply the people. He will. He will make them as numerous in people as there are sheep. Sheep are sacrificial animals. The comparison shows that His people will be made up of people who dedicate themselves to Him as a living sacrifice (cf. Rom 12:1).

They will be like sanctified sheep being sacrificed to the LORD on the appointed times (Eze 36:38). Every day of their lives will be like appointed time for them, a day of dedication and sacrifice to the LORD. The formerly destroyed cities will be filled with “flocks of men” (cf. Eze 34:31). What a joy that will be to the LORD! He will receive all the glory for it, for He has done it.