Summary of Ezekiel 36:24-38
Ezekiel then relays God’s promises to His people. God will bring them back home, cleanse them from their sins, give them a new spirit and flesh, and He will give them the Holy Spirit within. They will be His people, and God will be their God. They will prosper because of God’s desire to keep His name holy.
God will restore His people so that all (the Israelites and the other nations) will know He is God.
BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 2, Day 3: Ezekiel 36:24-38
5a) God will bring them back home, cleanse them from their sins, give them a new spirit and flesh, and He will give them the Holy Spirit within. He will ensure they are abundant.
b) When Jesus died, all believers received the Holy Spirit as their guide in this world.
The promises in Ezekiel 36:24-30 are considered by Christians to be a foundational Old Testament preview of the spiritual realities of the New Covenant, which is fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The passage provides a rich blueprint for what happens in the heart of every person who experiences salvation.
How Ezekiel’s Promises Relate to Salvation in Christ
The prophecy in Ezekiel moves beyond a mere physical restoration of national Israel to describe a deep, internal, and spiritual transformation that directly parallels Christian salvation:
- Gathering and Cleansing (vv. 24-25):
- Ezekiel’s Promise: God will gather His people from the nations and cleanse them from their sin (“sprinkle clean water on you”).
- Salvation in Christ: In Christ, God gathers people from every nation, tribe, and tongue into one body, the Church (Revelation 5:9). This spiritual gathering rescues us from the “domain of darkness” (Colossians 1:13). The cleansing is fulfilled not by literal water but by the blood of Christ, which “cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Salvation brings complete forgiveness and justification, declaring us clean before God.
- A New Heart and Spirit (v. 26):
- Ezekiel’s Promise: God will perform a divine “heart transplant,” removing the unresponsive “heart of stone” and providing a living, receptive “heart of flesh.”
- Salvation in Christ: This is a perfect description of regeneration, or being “born again” (John 3:3-7). Before salvation, the human heart is described as “hardened” and unresponsive to God. Through Christ, we are made a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17), with new desires and the ability to love and respond to God.
- The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit (v. 27):
- Ezekiel’s Promise: God will put His own Spirit within His people, which will cause them to walk in His ways and obey His laws.
- Salvation in Christ: This is a hallmark of the New Covenant. Upon salvation, every believer is sealed with and indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Spirit is the agent of sanctification; He empowers believers from the inside out to live a life that pleases God (Galatians 5:16, 22-23). Obedience is no longer a matter of external rule-following but the fruit of the Spirit’s internal work.
- Restored Relationship and Provision (vv. 28-30):
- Ezekiel’s Promise: The covenant relationship will be restored (“you shall be my people, and I will be your God”), and God will provide for and deliver His people.
- Salvation in Christ: Through Christ, we are adopted as children of God (Galatians 4:4-7) and enter into this restored covenant relationship. The promise of provision is fulfilled in Christ, who supplies all our spiritual needs and grants us an eternal inheritance (Ephesians 1:3, Philippians 4:19).
Other Scripture That Comes to Mind
The themes in Ezekiel 36 echo throughout the New Testament. Here are some of the most prominent connections:
- The New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34): This is the most direct parallel. Jeremiah prophesies a New Covenant where God says, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” This is precisely the “new heart” and internal law that Ezekiel describes. The book of Hebrews quotes this passage extensively to explain Christ’s work (Hebrews 8:8-12).
- Regeneration and Cleansing (Titus 3:5): Paul explicitly connects cleansing and spiritual renewal: “…he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”
- The Heart of Stone and Flesh (2 Corinthians 3:3): Paul uses the same imagery as Ezekiel: “And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
- The Necessity of the New Birth (John 3:3-7): Jesus’ famous conversation with Nicodemus about being “born again” by “water and the Spirit” directly reflects Ezekiel’s prophecy of being cleansed by water and given a new Spirit.
- The Indwelling Spirit as a Source of Life (Romans 8:9-11): “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you… If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
6) Grief over our sin can help us not to sin again and to repent, turn to Jesus, and live our fullest lives. It makes us humble, knowing all is by the grace of God, and this grief is profitable because it leads to a deeper gratitude, a more passionate worship, and a greater love for the God who saved us not because we were good, but because He is gracious.
7) I hope others see God in me when they look at me and see His goodness and glory. God has provided for me, protected me, comforted me, and guided me when I’ve needed it. He has turned me towards Him. And, Jesus has saved me for all of eternity, a true gift from God. The result is more appreciation for God and hopefully more converts to Jesus.
End Notes BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 2, Day 3: Ezekiel 36:24-38
God promises to bring His people back to their land and cleanse them spiritually (via the New Covenant). He will give them a new nature, along with the Holy Spirit. God will bless the land. This work would be a powerful testimony to the nations around Israel of God’s absolute power.
END NOTES SUMMARIZED
This passage is a divine promise of Israel’s complete restoration, moving from physical return to deep spiritual renewal. It can be analyzed in three succinct parts:
- The Action: Radical Regeneration. God promises a multi-faceted restoration initiated entirely by Him. It begins with a physical gathering of His people from the nations back to their own land. This is immediately followed by a profound spiritual cleansing (“I will sprinkle clean water on you”) that purges them from the filth of their idolatry. The core of the promise is a divine “heart transplant”: God will remove their unresponsive “heart of stone” and give them a living “heart of flesh,” enabling them to obey. He will put His own Spirit within them, creating an internal transformation that leads to obedience not by force, but by a changed nature.
- The Result: National & Agricultural Renewal. The internal, spiritual renewal of the people has a direct, visible impact on their external world. The once desolate and ruined land will be cultivated and become astonishingly fruitful, compared to the “Garden of Eden.” The population will multiply, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and inhabited. This external prosperity serves as undeniable public evidence of God’s miraculous intervention.
- The Motivation: God’s Reputation and Israel’s Repentance. The ultimate purpose of this grand restoration is twofold. Primarily, it is for the sake of God’s holy name (as established in the previous verses), so the nations will see His power and know that He is the LORD. Secondarily, the memory of their past sins, contrasted with God’s incredible blessing, will cause the people of Israel to feel a deep sense of shame and self-loathing. This God-given prosperity will not lead to pride, but to a lasting, humble repentance.
Best Items for Kids’ Bible Study
*As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases
6. Compare Peter’s remorse and repentance with Judas’s bitterness and act of suicide. Both disowned Christ. One repented and was restored to faith and service; the other did not