For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:24-28, NASB)
The Prophet Ezekiel predicts Israel’s future in the text above. Israel had committed idolatry, and thus had been unfaithful to the LORD their God. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had already been exiled for its unfaithfulness, and the Southern Kingdom, Judah, was about to suffer from the same. Ezekiel’s prophecy is yet to occur, and will happen when followers of Jesus and Israel live together in the New Jerusalem!
He speaks of the regathering of Israel from all over the world to their Homeland. God will cleanse them from their sins, to include the idolatry, which caused them to be scattered throughout the world in the first place. God promises to give them “a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” This is not the first time Ezekiel has received this word from God (see the graphic below from Ezekiel 11).
Further, God promises to send to them the Holy Spirit, and “cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” Last, God will restore Israel “to the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.” Ezekiel reflects God’s promises throughout this book.
God’s promise to “remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” is similar to what the Christian experiences when he/she comes to faith. The people in this world have a heart condition. God has to give us a new heart. Only when that happens do we call on the name of the Lord to be saved. My prayer for my unsaved friends (and Vladimir Putin) is for God to change their hearts.
The Bible speaks of the first three kings of Israel and their hearts. King Saul had no heart for God. King David (despite all of his sins) was whole-hearted for God. And King Solomon was half-hearted. I pray for myself to be whole-hearted, and to have an undivided heart for God!