A NEW HEART
Opening Prayer
I Praise You, God, for Your wonderful faithfulness. Your steadfast love never ceases.
Read Ezekiel 11:14–25
The Promise of Israel’s Return
14 The word of the Lord came to me: 15 “Son of man, the people of Jerusalem have said of your fellow exiles and all the other Israelites, ‘They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession.’
16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’
17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’
18 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. 19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
22 Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. 23 The glory of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it. 24 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia[a] in the vision given by the Spirit of God.
Then the vision I had seen went up from me, 25 and I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.
Footnotes:
a Ezekiel 11:24 Or Chaldea
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What does it mean to you to be counted as one of God’s people?Amidst the vision of God’s terrible departure from the Temple in Jerusalem, there is hope. The old covenant from Mount Sinai lies in fragments. The Temple is desecrated. The city where God made his name to dwell is being left by him. His people are not in the Promised Land but in exile.
But there is hope because there is God. The older covenant, the one he made with Abraham, is not forgotten. “I will be your God and you will be my people” still stands. He will yet have a people who are his, who reflect his glory to the nations, who worship him in spirit and in truth. There will be a new covenant. He will give a new heart, not as dead cold as stone towards him but beating with life.
At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “This is the new covenant in my blood.” We look into these amazing verses today and see God with us, not in a building but among his people. There’s no need for a temple—we are his temple. There’s no need for an earthly city—we become the city where he dwells. Obedience flows out from undivided hearts as he puts a new spirit within us.
Apply
God is faithful. Think of ways that you experience his faithfulness to you today and write them down.
Closing prayer
I praise You, God, for Jesus in whom all Your promises are sealed with “Yes and Amen.” I Praise You for the hope You give me.
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