“Out With the Old, In With the New”

Tuesday, May 06, 2014

"And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, "when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. (Ezekiel 36:23)

The 70 year captivity served a purpose in punishing Judah for her wickedness.  Yet, the captivity would prompt charges from the heathen nations that Jehovah was feeble.  Thus, God reveals a much nobler purpose in all of His working – i.e.  Jehovah’s name would be sanctified.  To accomplish this task we read of four things God would do for Judah.

"For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. (Ezekiel 36:24)  He would remove them from heathen influences and give them the land.  God’s name is sanctified today by those who refuse to ally with the defilements of the world.  Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:17-18)  Such a change is a sign of genuine conversion.

"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. (Ezekiel 36:25)  The law required the mixing of water with the ashes of a heifer for moral purification. (Num. 19:17-19)  Today, the sinner is cleansed by the blood of Jesus (Eph. 5:25-27) when he yields to the command of immersion in water. (I Pt. 3:20,21)  This is a necessary step to one’s being right with God.

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)  God would remove the old unreceptive heart and give them a heart of flesh.  This Old Testament utterance anticipates one of the richest truths of the New Testament.  Folks sometime view salvation as purely a change of the soul’s destiny, but fail to see that real conversion involves a change in one’s nature.  By the power of the gospel, pride, and stubbornness are broken down.  The renewed heart is ready to receive the call of God.

"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:27)  The renewed heart produces a new kind of walk.  It is manifested by a life devoted to keeping God’s judgments.  Peter says, “for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:1-2) 

It is remarkable to find in Ezekiel’s prophecies an anticipation of the promises the New Covenant.  We are live by the gracious assurance that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

By George Slover
 

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