Mind of a Christian - Chapter 2

To ponder - The heart of flesh verse can hit harder than you think

It's all in the exile-redemption mindset, baby.

Okay. So, I'm currently (currently, as in December 2022) in my Ezekiel read-through, and came across the iconic "I will put a new Spirit within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh".

We know that this verse has a good chance of being on a canvas and hung on the wall. That's not a bad thing, and it's also not a bad thing to cherish the parts of the Bible that you emotionally (or otherwise) resonate with. I have a whole bunch! But, I'm also typically of the camp that encourages people to go beyond the immediate verse and take in Scripture in their context.

Does that make me a killjoy? Sometimes, but not in this case! In this chapter, I'll try to make the point that Ezekiel 11:19b is actually more impactful if you consider where it is in the dialogue between God and Ezekiel.

Here's the verses surrounding these sentences - Ezekiel 11:14-21 (TLV)

The word of ADONAI came to me saying: "Son of man, as for your kinsmen, fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel - all of them - are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, 'Keep far away from ADONAI! This land has been given to us for a possession!'"

Therefore say, thus says ADONAI Elohim, "Though I removed them far away, among the nations, though I scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I was a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone."

Therefore say, thus says ADONAI Elohim, "I will gather you from the people and collect you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. When they come there, they will remove all of the detestable things and all of its abominations. Then I will give them one heart. I will put a new Spirit within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow My laws, keep My ordinances and practice them. They will be My people and I will be their God. As for those whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their ways upon their heads." It is a declaration of ADONAI Elohim.

In the first half of this (11:14-16), it seemed like the Jerusalem remnants have something against the first people who were sent out into exile, as if those people have been removed from their land and their God.

Recall from the scroll of Kings that Israel-Judah had become provocatively unfaithful towards God for generations, ignoring His warnings and offerings to turn back. And so, God sends the Assyrians and Babylonians to invade them, and uproot many Israelites out of their homes and into exile. It's a very painful and shameful thing to have the land promised to you be plundered, and for you to be carried away as part of the enemy's spoil. For someone in exile, what the Jerusalem remnants have said was like rubbing salt on the wound.

And yet, it's those people in exile who God said that He will be a sanctuary for them.
And it's those people in exile who God will gather back and renew their hearts, to be His people.

The rightfully encouraging words of "I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh", is all the more encouraging when we see that it's directed to the people who have been removed from their land and disowned by their own countrymen. It's meant for the people who have lost everything.

And so:

There's still hope for the future, because God will restore the land and their hearts - a full outward and inward restoration.

And, there's still hope in the current moment, even in exile, because even there, God is still a sanctuary. His face is still turned towards them.