Ezekiel 36:26
New King James Version
26 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.
Context and literary setting
Ezekiel 36[i] is a prophetic oracle of restoration addressed to Israel after the judgments that produced exile. The chapter moves from denunciation of the nations that profited from Israel’s ruin to a sustained promise that God will cleanse and restore his people, renew the land, and reverse Israel’s shame. Verses 25–28 form a compact promise cycle: cleansing (sprinkling of water), inner renewal (a new heart and spirit), divine indwelling (the Spirit enabling obedience), and covenantal restoration (dwelling in the land and relationship with God). Ezekiel’s language deliberately echoes and expands earlier prophetic material (for example Ezekiel 11:19–20 and Jeremiah 31:31–34), so the promise in 36:26 stands within a prophetic trajectory from judgment to new covenant renewal.
Key phrases and theological meaning
- “A new heart” and “a heart of flesh” — these metaphors capture radical moral and affective renovation: a change from hardness, insensitivity and rebellion to responsiveness, tenderness and willingness to obey. The “heart” in Hebrew thought denotes the centre of will, affection and thought; God’s action is therefore interior and formative, not merely external or legalistic.
- “A new spirit” and “I will put My Spirit within you” — the promise points to a personal, empowering presence of God’s Spirit that enables covenant faithfulness. Old Testament patterns have the Spirit coming upon persons for particular tasks; Ezekiel anticipates an indwelling Spirit who remakes inward disposition and produces obedient life as its fruit.
- Divine agency and grace — the verbs are God‑centred: God gives, puts, takes away, and gives. The transformation is initiated and effected by God, which underlines that moral renewal is a gift, not a mere human achievement.
These elements together portray conversion as comprehensive: forensic cleansing (verse 25), ontological renewal (verse 26), sanctifying indwelling (verse 27) and covenantal life (verse 28).
Interpretation and emphases
Christian theology highlights several motifs in Ezekiel 36:26 that resonate with its doctrinal convictions:
- Total inability and God’s sovereign initiative. The depiction of a “heart of stone” corresponds with human deadness in sin and the inability of unregenerate wills to seek God. God’s promise to “give” a new heart underscores sovereign, effectual grace rather than mere moral suasion.
- Regeneration precedes and enables obedience. Ezekiel links inner renewal and the Spirit’s indwelling with the capacity to “walk in my statutes” and “keep my judgments” (36:27–28). Regeneration and the Spirit’s work are the decisive ground for true repentance and new obedience, not as subsequent moral improvement alone.
- Covenant continuity and fulfilment. Ezekiel’s restoration language (land, covenant people, God as their God) points forward to the new covenant realities later fulfilled and more fully revealed in Christ and the apostolic teaching. Ezekiel is both a historical promise to Israel and anticipatory of Christ’s fulfilment of covenant renewal by the Spirit.
- Union with Christ and the Spirit. While Ezekiel speaks in Old Testament terms, Christians see the Spirit‑bestowing promise culminating in New Testament fulfilment: regeneration by the Holy Spirit given through Christ, producing incorporation into God’s people and new life.
Note the inseparable link between divine gift and human response in Ezekiel: the new heart produces genuine repentance and obedience, and yet that repentance is itself the fruit of God’s renewing action.
Practical applications for modern Christian living
- Expectation of inward change, not mere behaviour modification
Christians should distinguish moral improvement from heart renewal. Ezekiel insists God changes desires and affections, so pastoral ministry and personal discipleship emphasise the Spirit’s work of reorienting loves and affections, not only forming correct external behaviour. - Prayer that seeks God’s creative work
Pray for regeneration and ongoing renewal. Petition and dependence should centre on God’s gift of a renewed heart and Spirit, asking for both the initial work of conversion and daily sanctifying grace that renders obedience joyful rather than legalistic. - Gospel‑centred assurance of God’s sovereignty and grace
For believers struggling with slow progress or relapse, Ezekiel’s divine verbs reassure that the ground of renewal is God’s faithful initiative. This supports pastoral encouragement rooted in God’s promises while calling for persevering repentance and growth in holiness. - Community and covenantal formation
Ezekiel connects individual renewal to communal restoration (land, peoplehood). Christians and churches should cultivate congregational practices—preaching, sacraments, mutual accountability—that foster Spirit-wrought transformation and corporate faithfulness. - Holistic mission shaped by inner renewal
Social and cultural engagement flows from transformed hearts. Christian praxis[ii] links faith to public life: transformed individuals and communities exhibit justice, mercy and flourishing—concrete signs that God’s covenantal restoration is at work in and through his people. - Humility about methods and confidence in God’s means
Pastoral and evangelistic methods matter, but Ezekiel redirects ultimate confidence to God’s Spirit. Techniques without reliance on the Spirit risk producing only surface conformity. The church’s ministries should be means‑oriented but Spirit‑dependent.
Clear teaching from Ezekiel 36:26
God sovereignly effects a deep inner transformation in his people: he replaces hardened, rebellious hearts with responsive, living hearts and grants a new spirit—the gift of his Spirit—so that those people are empowered to obey, dwell in covenant relationship with him, and experience holistic restoration.
Suggested short reading plan for study and application
- Read Ezekiel 36 in one sitting, noting the movement from judgment language to restoration (verses 1–15; 16–38). Reflect on verses 25–27 for devotional focus. Use the plan repeatedly over two weeks, each day praying through a single verse and asking for the Spirit’s renewing work in that area of life.
[i] Ezekiel 36
New King James Version
Blessing on Israel
36 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord! 2 Thus says the Lord God: “Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The [a]ancient heights have become our possession,’ ” ’ 3 therefore prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because they made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you are taken up by the lips of talkers and slandered by the people”— 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the [b]rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which became plunder and mockery to the rest of the nations all around— 5 therefore thus says the Lord God: “Surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave My land to themselves as a possession, with wholehearted joy and [c]spiteful minds, in order to plunder its open country.” ’
6 “Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and My fury, because you have borne the shame of the nations.” 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “I have raised My hand in an oath that surely the nations that are around you shall bear their own shame. 8 But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come. 9 For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. 10 I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and [d]bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. 12 Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, My people Israel; they shall take possession of you, and you shall be their inheritance; no more shall you bereave them of children.”
13 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because they say to you, ‘You devour men and bereave your nation of children,’ 14 therefore you shall devour men no more, nor bereave your nation anymore,” says the Lord God. 15 “Nor will I let you hear the taunts of the nations anymore, nor bear the reproach of the peoples anymore, nor shall you cause your nation to stumble anymore,” says the Lord God.’ ”
The Renewal of Israel
16 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. 18 Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. 19 So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. 20 When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of His land.’ 21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. 23 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. 24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 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. 26 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. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will [e]loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”
33 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. 35 So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ 36 Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.”
37 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will increase their men like a flock. 38 Like a [f]flock offered as holy sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem on its [g]feast days, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
Footnotes
Ezekiel 36:2 Or everlasting
Ezekiel 36:4 Or ravines
Ezekiel 36:5 Lit. scorning souls
Ezekiel 36:11 Lit. be fruitful
Ezekiel 36:31 despise
Ezekiel 36:38 Lit. holy flock
Ezekiel 36:38 appointed feasts
[ii] noun accepted practice or custom:
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