Ezekiel 36:24-27

In Ezekiel 36, God is talking through Ezekiel about what is yet to come. Jeremiah 31 speaks of a covenant that He is going to make with Israel. We have already been drawn into that covenant. The time is coming when He is going to make that New Covenant with a political entity.

We have already been drawn into a part of the New Covenant, in God's preparations for the fulfillment of this very prophecy. This is so that we can be prepared to work with Christ when this time He is speaking of in Ezekiel 36 begins to occur.

I want you to notice that the primary feature of this New Covenant is the change in the people's heart. It is a change in their mind, in their conscience, from one that is hard, from one that is defiled, from one that is contaminated, from one that is resistant to truth, from one that is stone-like, to one that is soft, to one that is sensitive, to one that is pliable, to one that is merciful, to one that is kind, to one that is generous, to one that is concerned, to one that is humble, to one that is God-centered rather than self-centered.

What is He talking about here? He is talking about conversion. What is conversion? Conversion includes the change from a stony heart to a soft heart, a heart that is tender. He is speaking of the softening of a heart, the removal of the obduracy toward God and the way of God, making it possible for a person to be sensitive and concerned about submitting to God. Is this world concerned and sensitive about submitting to God? You know from your own experience that it is not, except in a very general way.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

So in this part here, Nicodemus is told by Jesus that he should know something of this. He and his pals in the Sanhedrin should know something of this because the Old Testament is full of such knowledge. For instance, God cries out in Deuteronomy 5:29 that He wished Israel had a converted heart so that they would fear Him and do His commandments. It was not happening. In Ezekiel 36:25-27, He speaks of sprinkling His people with clean water and giving them a new spirit and a new heart. One of flesh rather than the normal human heart of stone.

Ezekiel 36:24-27

So this is the third time in the book of Ezekiel where He shows the way it works. We have to repent. Actually, I should start earlier than that. God calls them out. God takes them from the place of ruin, from the place of death, from the place of sin, and He brings them into their own land. He causes them to repent, and then He gives them a new heart and a new spirit so that they can keep God's way, so they can walk with Him, so they can ultimately have eternal life.

Ezekiel 36:24-26

I want you to connect the last part of this chapter with the first part. He begins by describing a desolate land, then he prophesies that the desolate land is going to be beautiful and produce more than it ever produced before, then he tells why He is going to do it. That is, because His name has been profaned and now He is talking to the people and He is telling them that the only thing that will make this possible is because their heart is changed.