14 And the word of the Lord came to me: 15 “Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.’ 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ 18 And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.”
22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. 24 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25 And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me. Ezekiel 11: 14-25
Ezekiel 11: 14-25 Israel's New Heart and Spirit
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
For God So Loved the World
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” John 3: 1-21
Your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel - Those brethren with whom Ezekiel shared this captivity, the brought out ones, sojourners in the land of Babylon.
Are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said - As we have seen in Ezekiel's visions there are those still in Jerusalem, and their leadership has gone apostate. They are resisting Babylon, who has already taken away many, including Ezekiel and his family. There are false prophets there as well as mixed in with the captives who continue to insist upon a 2 year captivity. They have made up a story that they like, and they are holding to it with self determination as to a pseudo faith, and leading others astray. Meanwhile, other leadership has developed what appears to be a back up plan, that if God won't listen to us, if He won't deliver us, then maybe the Queen of Heaven will, or the sun, or Tammuz, or any one the scarab beetles or other unclean spirits etched upon their walls. They have made their own abominations of desolation in their time, and God's glory is leaving this place, they have violated His house.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. Jeremiah 24: 4-7
Go far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession - This is what those in Jerusalem have said of those in the captivity. Go far from the Lord, you have lost your part here and are no longer part of us. This is the old language of works, of religion, the language of Job's friends, that surely yours is the greater wrong, there is a reason that you have been sent away. "If I am still here in Jerusalem, then I must be doing it right. Don't even bother coming back, for no one will be your kinsmen redeemer, the land is now ours." Wow, they even had replacement theologians back then, and to them go the spoils.
…18And he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand? 19Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it, may they be cursed in the presence of the LORD! For today they have driven me away from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20So do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. For the king of Israel has come out to look for a flea, like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”… 1 Samuel 26: 18-20
They cut them off from being members of the commonwealth too, as if they had no longer any part or lot in the matter: "Unto us is this land given in possession, and you have forfeited your estates by surrendering to the king of Babylon, and we have thereby become entitled to them." God takes notice of, and is much displeased with, the contempt which those that are in prosperity put upon their brethren that are in affliction. - Matthew Henry
Though I removed them far off...I scattered them...yet I have been a sanctuary to them - This is all under God's sovereign plan, not to eradicate them or disown them, for some are His elect still, a remnant spread about the world, but predestined in Christ Jesus to be brought back to Zion. Going away from Jerusalem is not going away from God, remember, His glory is departing from the temple in which they trust. Remember, He is Creator over all, and there is no where, not even in the belly of a fish, in the depths of the sea, that He cannot see or hear even those things that are unspoken. Who goes into the fire with Shadrach and his friends as they defy the mandate to bow to an idol in a foreign land? Who shuts the mouths of lions for Daniel when He prays to the true God? Salvation is of the Lord, not of a place, not from the leaders in Jerusalem, nor being related to Abraham, nor resisting Nebuchadnezzar in the name of patriotism. They are afraid of losing stuff, they want the land, but they are oblivious to the glory of God that is departing.
I will gather you...and assemble you - He takes credit for both their departure and their return, it is all to the glory of God and the good of those who love Him. It is a marvelous thing; they will not be so mixed with the world as to be indistinguishable from it by God. He will gather them, assemble them and bring them home. He will keep them regardless of the land, and He will be their God regardless of the habits of the culture around them. He will always have His called, His set apart ones. What a great comfort to those in exile, ridiculed by those hypocrites at home, cast off by those pretenders, yet God is saying they are not forever lost.
…38For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me. 39And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”… John 6: 38-40
…15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite. 16For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me, with the breath of those I have made. 17I was enraged by his sinful greed, so I struck him and hid My face in anger; yet he kept turning back to the desires of his heart.… Isaiah 57: 15-17
…12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter. … Matthew 23: 12-13
I will give you the land of Israel - This is high level Sovereignty speaking here. They know it's possible, for those that believe know that God had, at one time, made Himself known to Abraham, the son of Terah, who was a pagan moon god worshiper in the land that the exiles now reside in. He called Abraham out of that place, away from such superstitions and brought him to Canaan, where He increased Abraham's faith. God called up Isaac, Abraham's son, from the barren womb of Sarah, who was passed the time of menstruating, and who had of yet never born a child. God made a unilateral covenant with Abraham, wherein Abraham slept while God passed through the halves. His people later ended up in Egypt where God called them out with many great signs and wonders. Now Babylon has the land, then Persia, but Persia will let some of them return and build a temple, and eventually will come Roman rule then the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70. So many have their eye on that little nation, so many desire to stake their claim, but God's sovereignty is ultimate and infinite.
…18Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor. 19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? 20I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.… Numbers 23: 18-20
They will remove from it all it's detestable things and all it's abominations - They will come back hating the things which the Lord hates, those things that caused them, as the people who were in the land before them, to be removed. This is the call to repentance heard and received by those who come; they will turn away from their idols.
…18But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away, 20that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you.… Acts 3: 18-20
37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”… Acts 2: 37-39
And I will give them one heart - Devoted as a people to the true God, not dispersed anymore.
God will plant good principles in them; he will make the tree good, v. 19. This is a gospel promise, and is made good to all those whom God designs for the heavenly Canaan; for God prepares all for heaven whom he has prepared heaven for. It is promised,
[1.] That God will give them one heart, a heart entire for the true God and not divided as it had been among many gods, a heart firmly fixed and resolved for God and not wavering, steady and uniform, and not inconstant with itself. One heart is a sincere and upright heart, its intentions of a piece with its professions. - Matthew Henry
And a new Spirit I will put within them - To will and to do His good pleasure.
…12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 13And in keeping with what is written: “I believed, therefore I have spoken,” we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak, 14knowing that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence.… 2 Corinthians 4: 12-14
That he will put a new spirit within them, a temper of mind agreeable to the new circumstances into which God in his providence would bring them. All that are sanctified have a new spirit, quite different from what it was; they act from new principles, walk by new rules, and aim at new ends. A new name, or a new face, will not serve without a new spirit. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. - Matthew Henry
…9Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. 10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me.… Psalm 51: 9-11
I will remove their heart of stone - A dead heart, belonging to dead men, deaf to the truth, blind to the glory of God, impenetrable to reason, unable to will any good. It is a heart hardened towards the things of God and enslaved to sin. This is the seat of the mind, in flesh that has become defiled by the curse of sin. It is dried up, like untilled ground, rocky soil, where the seed fell, but could not take hold, or was trampled under foot of men.
1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.… Ephesians 2: 1-2
…17In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do.… Romans 7: 17-19
And give them a heart of flesh - This is regeneration, that they may walk in His statutes. With the renewed mind comes new desires, this gift of faith to believe, and a new will that is no longer the bondservant of sin. Oh the battle that begins with the old man.
…24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Romans 7: 24-25
That he will give them a heart of flesh, not dead or proud flesh, but living flesh; he will make their hearts sensible of spiritual pains and spiritual pleasures, will make them tender, and apt to receive impressions. This is God's work, it is his gift, his gift by promise; and a wonderful and happy change it is that is wrought by it, from death to life. This is promised to those whom God would bring back to their own land; for then such a change of the condition is for the better indeed when it is accompanied with such a change of the heart; and such a change must be wrought in all those that shall be brought to the better country, that is, the heavenly. - Matthew Henry
…8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.… Ephesians 2: 8-10
But as for those - Those that do not want God may have their sins, but with sin comes it's wages. These are hard teachings for many, but no one gets the God they didn't want, yet some were caused to want the God Who is.
I will recompense their deeds on their own heads: The promise of coming restoration (especially as seen in the new covenant) is not the message of universalism, saying that all will be restored, even if they persist in their rejection of God. For those who follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, they will be judged for their sins. - Enduring Word
…22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6: 22-23
And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city - This is the Mount of Olives where Jesus often went to pray.
“The rabbis have enumerated ten stages whereby the Shekinah withdrew. These stages unmistakably reveal the loving and longing reluctance of God to leave His sanctuary where He dwelt in the midst of His beloved and erring people. Before He departed, however, He set forth the consoling promise of restoration for the remnant which we have been considering.” (Feinberg)
26So if they tell you, ‘There He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.… Matthew 24: 26-28
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