The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 216

Stripped of mino earthly friends, 1 find them nll in Ono; And pcnco nnd joy that never ends, And hoaven in Christ bogun." (C. Wesley.) 3. Tl,at they should be 1·estornd to thefr country and pi·ivileges by the Lord God. "Therefore say, Thus saith th~ Lord God; I will even gather you from ~ho people, and assemble you out of the countries where yo have been scattered, and I will give you tho land of Israel." The inhabitants of Jerusalem said, "Unto us is this land given in possession;" but in answer thereto the Lord says to the exiles, "I will give you tho lar:d of Israel." And the promise was fulfilled when "the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia" to proclaim permission to them to return to their own land and to rebuild the temple of the Lord Jehovah-a permission of which more than forty thousand arniled themselves. "It is well for us," says Matthew Henry, "that men's se"Vere censures cannot cut us off from God's gracious promises. There are many that will be found to have a place in the holy land whom uncharitable men, by their mono- polies of it to themselves, have secluded from it." 4. That they should receivefrom the Lord the hi'ghest spiritun,lfavours. (Vers. 18-20.) Here is the assurance unto them of four spiritual blessings. (1) Unity of heart towards God. "I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you." Their heart had long been divided between the true God and idols, but it should be fixed upon him. By means of the discipline of tbe Captivity, their hearts were united to fear his Name. Such, in fact has been the case; for since their return from Ilabylon they have not bowed down t~ idols. (2) Tenderness of heart towards God. "And I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them an heart of flesh." By resisting his will and Word and by persisting in sin they had hardened their hearts; and he promised to give them a hear& '' soft and susceptible of the impressions of Divine grace. The promise is essentially Messianic, although a beginning of its fulfilment is already to be recognized in the period immediately after the return from the exile " (Hengstenberg). Resistance of Divine influence and rebellion against Divine commands still harden human hearts. "Take heed . . . lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." St. Paul speaks of some who have so hardened their heart as to be "past feeling" (Eph. iv. 18, 19). It is only God by his grace that can change the stone to flesh, and make the hard heart tender in penitence and piety. (3) Conformity of-conduct to the will of God. This follows as a consequence of the change of heart. The renewed heart leads to a reformed life. Their reformation had two chief aspects-the renunciation of their sins, particularly the complete severance of themselves from idolatry (ver. 18), ann their positive compliance with the holy will of God. This was tho end aimed at in putting the new spirit within them: "That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances." The piety of the heart must and will be seen in the practice of the life. If the fountain be purified, the stream will be pure, (4) Confirmation in the most exalted and blessed relationship. "And they shall be my people, and I will be their God." This follows in natural order what has gone before. By the renewal of their hearts he restores them to himself as his chosen people; and by the obedience of their lives to him they testify that he is their God. This relationship is the richest of all blessings; it comprises all needful good, and crowns every other blessing. If "the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall want nothing." "If God be for us, who can be against us?" "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the Strength of my heart, and my Portion for ever."-W. J.