Tuesday, July 7, 2026
A New Heart – Ezekiel 36:26-27 Submitted by Kay Crumley
We often think of the Old Testament Prophets as hard to read and understand. Ezekiel was a prophet who wrote while Israel was in captivity and prophesied about their release from captivity. He was a most interesting character and did several very dramatic things directed by God to demonstrate the point God was leading him to make to the people. He not only spoke and wrote, but also demonstrated by actively living out the message from God.
A great deal of his message had to do with renewal. The verses below show his prophesy of God giving His people a new heart. The nation of Israel had become so acclimated to the culture of the Babylonians that they were worshiping idols, living immoral lives, and had abandoned the Laws of Moses.
We read in verse 25 God’s words spoken through Ezekiel; Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. Becoming clean again, pure in God’s eyes, was not something they could do for themselves any more than it is something we can do today. We are only clean, forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus because of God’s grace.
Verses 26 – 27 promise that cleansing will be deeper than just outward appearance but will be cleansing of our heart. We will have a new perspective. Our devotion will return to the one True God, and we will desire to serve Him by obeying Him.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observemy ordinances. – CSB
Below is the same passage in New Living Translation. The heart of stone is the stubborn heart that is replaced with a tender, responsive heart. Then we will follow His decrees/laws as we obey Him.
26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. – NLT
Jesus referenced this passage in John 2 and Paul spoke of believers as being new creations in 2 Corinthians. God promised to ‘place my spirit within you’. Jesus promised an Advocate, a Helper who would come to live in the heart of the believer, that is the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in the old heart; it is a filthy place, devoid of all good, and full of enmity to God. His very first operation upon our nature is to pull down the old house and build Himself a new one, that He may be able to inhabit us consistently with His Holy Spiritual nature.” (Spurgeon)
We have been given a new heart where the Holy Spirit lives to guide, teach, correct, intercede, and sanctify us to be instruments of God as we share Him with the world around us. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19 asks believers this question; Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. We are no longer free to sin but free from the power of sin. We have been bought by the blood of Jesus and have a new heart that yearns to obey Him.
