# Ezekiel 36 📖: A New Heart and Spirit [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Ezekiel Overview]] | [[Ezekiel 35]] | [[Ezekiel 37]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Blessings on the Mountains of Israel [[#Verse 01.]] “As for you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say: ‘O mountains of Israel, listen to the Lord’s message!  [[#Verse 02.]] This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The enemy has spoken against you, saying “Aha!” and, “The ancient heights have become our property!”’  [[#Verse 03.]] So prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Surely because they have made you desolate and crushed you from all directions, so that you have become the property of the rest of the nations, and have become the subject of gossip and slander among the people,  [[#Verse 04.]] therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, and to the desolate ruins and the abandoned cities that have become prey and an object of derision to the rest of the nations round about;  [[#Verse 05.]] therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Surely I have spoken in the fire of my zeal against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who with great joy and utter contempt have made my land their property and prey, because of its pasture.’ [[#Verse 06.]] “Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I have spoken in my zeal and in my anger, because you have endured the insults of the nations.  [[#Verse 07.]] So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I vow that the nations around you will endure insults as well. [[#Verse 08.]] “‘But you, mountains of Israel, will grow your branches and bear your fruit for my people Israel, for they will arrive soon. [[#Verse 09.]] For indeed, I am on your side; I will turn to you, and you will be plowed and planted.  [[#Verse 10.]] I will multiply your people—the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities will be populated and the ruins rebuilt.  [[#Verse 11.]] I will increase the number of people and animals on you; they will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as in ancient times and will do more good for you than at the beginning of your history. Then you will know that I am the Lord.  [[#Verse 12.]] I will lead people, my people Israel, across you; they will possess you, and you will become their inheritance. No longer will you bereave them of their children. [[#Verse 13.]] “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because they are saying to you, “You are a devourer of men and bereave your nation of children,”  [[#Verse 14.]] therefore you will no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Sovereign Lord.  [[#Verse 15.]] I will no longer subject you to the nations’ insults; no longer will you bear the shame of the peoples, and no longer will you bereave your nation, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” [[#Verse 16.]] The Lord’s message came to me:  [[#Verse 17.]] “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living on their own land, they defiled it by their behavior and their deeds. In my sight their behavior was like the uncleanness of a woman having her monthly period. [[#Verse 18.]] So I poured my anger on them because of the blood they shed on the land and because of the idols with which they defiled it. [[#Verse 19.]] I scattered them among the nations; they were dispersed throughout foreign countries. In accordance with their behavior and their deeds I judged them.  [[#Verse 20.]] But when they arrived in the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name. It was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, yet they have departed from his land.’ [[#Verse 21.]] I was concerned for my holy reputation, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went. [[#Verse 22.]] “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation, which you profaned among the nations where you went.  [[#Verse 23.]] I will magnify my great name that has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I magnify myself among you in their sight. [[#Verse 24.]] “‘I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries; then I will bring you to your land.  [[#Verse 25.]] I will sprinkle you with pure water, and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols.  [[#Verse 26.]] I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh.  [[#Verse 27.]] I will put my Spirit within you; I will take the initiative, and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my regulations.  [[#Verse 28.]] Then you will live in the land I gave to your fathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.  [[#Verse 29.]] I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and multiply it; I will not bring a famine on you.  [[#Verse 30.]] I will multiply the fruit of the trees and the produce of the fields, so that you will never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.  [[#Verse 31.]] Then you will remember your evil behavior and your deeds that were not good; you will loathe yourselves on account of your sins and your abominable deeds. [[#Verse 32.]] Understand that it is not for your sake I am about to act, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and embarrassed by your behavior, O house of Israel. [[#Verse 33.]] “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will populate the cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt.  [[#Verse 34.]] The desolate land will be plowed, instead of being desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by.  [[#Verse 35.]] They will say, “This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; the ruined, desolate, and destroyed cities are now fortified and inhabited.”  [[#Verse 36.]] Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken—and I will do it!’ [[#Verse 37.]] “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them: I will multiply their people like sheep.  [[#Verse 38.]] Like the sheep for offerings, like the sheep of Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ###### Verse 32. ###### Verse 33. ###### Verse 34. ###### Verse 35. ###### Verse 36. ###### Verse 37. ###### Verse 38. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Ezekiel prophesies to the mountains of Israel (36:1), reversing the judgment spoken against them in chapter 6. 2. The mountains that were mocked by the nations will once again bear fruit for God's people (36:8). 3. God acts "for the sake of My holy name" (36:22), which Israel had profaned among the nations. 4. Sprinkling clean water (36:25) recalls purification rituals in the Law (Numbers 19:17-19). 5. The promise of a heart of flesh (36:26) builds on the earlier promise in 11:19. 6. God promises to put His Spirit within them (36:27), a key Old Testament promise of the new covenant. 7. Many scholars think Jesus' words to Nicodemus about water and the Spirit (John 3:5) draw on this passage. 8. The restored land will be called like the garden of Eden (36:35). 9. In 14:3 and 20:3 God refused to be consulted, but here He says He will let Israel ask Him again (36:37). 10. The people will become as numerous as the flocks brought to Jerusalem for the appointed feasts (36:38). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One through whom God gives the new heart and the indwelling Spirit promised here (36:26-27). Jesus told Nicodemus that no one can enter God's kingdom unless born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. God restores Israel for the sake of His holy name, not because they deserved it (36:22, 32). How does that humble us and give us hope? 2. God promises to replace a heart of stone with a heart of flesh (36:26). What is the difference between changed behavior and a changed heart? 3. God says His Spirit will move His people to follow His ways (36:27). Where do you need the Spirit's power to obey? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 22: God acts not for Israel's sake but for His holy name. - 📖 verse 25: God will sprinkle clean water on them and cleanse them. - 📖 verses 26-27: God will give a new heart and put His Spirit within them. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[John 03#Verse 05.|John 3:5-8]] - Born of water and the Spirit. - 🔗 [[Jeremiah 31#Verse 31.|Jeremiah 31:31-34]] - The new covenant. - 🔗 [[Joel 02#Verse 28.|Joel 2:28-29]] - God will pour out His Spirit. - 🔗 [[Titus 03#Verse 05.|Titus 3:5-6]] - The washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. - 🔗 [[Hebrews 10#Verse 22.|Hebrews 10:22]] - Hearts sprinkled clean and bodies washed. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Ezekiel 36 - SOAP|A Great Comeback Story]] ## 📂 Internal Notes