Speak to Your Mountain
The Renewal of Israel: A New Heart
Part 2 of a 3 Part Series
Ezek 36:22-38 NKJV "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 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 flock offered as holy sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem on its feast days, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the Lord."'"
This is Part 2 of an incredible prophetic word God is giving. In the first part, we saw how God told the prophet to prophecy to the mountains. But remember, these were not just any mountains, these were the mountains of promise, prosperity and harvest but the land had become desolate because of the spiritual state of the people. He told the mountain to begin producing once again because God’s people were coming back. It’s a great message but I don’t have time to re-preach it right now.
Let’s look at the Word we just read. In verse 22, the prophet begins to shift away from prophesying to the mountains of Israel and God now begins to address the people. And, we are going to walk through some of these points throughout this session. For example: In verse 22 he says, "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.
God is saying here, you guys really blew it. You actually profaned my good name among the nations, everywhere you went.
What does the word “profaned” mean? Obviously it’s where we get the word profanity from. The word profane literally means “outside the temple.”
Colossians 3:8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).
Some words that define “Profane” = desecrate, outrage, violate; sacrilegious, unconsecrated, subvert, pervert, misdirect, deprave, demoralize, debase, debauch, corrupt. Depress, demoralize, deject dismay, cast down, weaken, undermine, sabotage, countermine, counteract, subvert, decrease, and diminish.
God was saying that they were profaning His good name everywhere they went. But if you look at the text in Ezekiel you will see that God had been dealing with Israel about these issues, and that they had suffered enough. In essence, God is saying here that you have messed up, royally! And you have bad-mouthed me but……
I still love you
I am taking you back
I am forgiving you
I am restoring you.
I am renewing you.
I am re-anointing you
God was saying that His good name was on the line because folks were saying thing about him that wasn’t true. But; because his name was on the line. And he was saying, “And the nations shall know that I am the Lord," says the Lord God, "when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.” Wow, these same people who had been profaning the name and reputation of the Lord were about to become touched in a special way and God would become hallowed in them before the eyes of the enemy. Hallowed be Your name - What does this mean? Yes, it’s where we get the word “holy” from; I get it….. But it’s more important than just a casual glance here.
Remember the Lord's Prayer? It contains the phrase, "Hallowed be Your name," but what does hallowed mean? The American Heritage Dictionary defines hallowed as, "sanctified; consecrated; highly venerated; ...... To hallow is "to make or set apart as holy. To respect or honor greatly; revere."
Here a few scriptures that reflect the importance of the holiness of God’s name.
Psalms 7:17 I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.
Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
Psalms 113:1-3 Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. 2 Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. 3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.
Psalms 124:8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous run into it, and are safe.
So, his name is holy and he says in Ezekiel that he is going to do a work in the very people who profaned his name to the point that all those people who heard them before are now reflecting and radiating God’s passion, purity and holiness in such a tangible way that everyone can see it. And not only will they see it, it will be so amazing that God’s good name will be restored. Wow, I think God is taking this whole thing very serious. I mean this is a sovereign work God is doing here; and it’s not because the people are so wonderful. It’s because God says enough is enough and I am doing a new thing.
Now, going forward in the chapter, …
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.
God is saying here that the chastisement is over, the punishment is finished, the lesson has been learned.
I remember when I was in the Army we were given some training about being decontaminated after coming in from a biological or chemical attack. We had to go through this multiple stage process of getting hosed off, scrubbed down, old clothes removed and destroyed and get redressed in new, clean clothes. Interestingly enough, you cannot decontaminate yourself; someone else has to do it for you. I kinda liken this to the spiritual cleansing God is doing here in our text. It’s something God is doing. And, it’s something only God can do.
I really like this next part,…. 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.
Have you ever felt betrayed by your own heart? I mean, you are born again, you love the Lord, but there is something in your own heart that misfires or fails you?Do you struggle with your identity or no matter what you do you can’t seem to get rid of a certain darkness that seems to loom over you? Romans 5:1-6 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Justified means your sins have been pardoned; as if they never existed in the first place. But being justified or pardoned is something we need to have reinforced through faith. So, you will never have peace in your life until you know, I mean really know, by faith…….. that you have been forgiven.
(Walk through these next scriptures as the Spirit leads.)
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”
You see this is the New Testament version of what Ezekiel is telling us.
Romans 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Conclusion:
Righteousness is a gift but we think it’s something we need to achieve. We look at it as something to work on and by doing so we go back to living according to the law and you are no longer under grace. If righteousness is a gift then why am I trying so hard to get something I already have? It makes no sense and takes me back into legalism and performance orientation.
Isaiah 64:6 My own righteousness is filthy rags.
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
You see, when we are born-again we are given a new heart, a new Spirit if you will.
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.
Some of us need to quit living by the Law. That means we are trying to earn our merit badges. As long as you are focusing on your sin guess what you will keep on struggling with? But if you look unto Jesus and the reward of eternal life then you will put your struggles in the rear-view mirror.
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;”
Let me illustrate it like this; most of you know that I love riding my Harley. Well it’s a big bike and a little on the heavy side to handle. Years ago, in order to get my Motorcycle endorsement I had to take a safety class. The instructor took us out to the parking lot where a course was laid out with traffic cones. One of the things we were taught to do was navigate a very tight turn. This turn was so tight that none of us could do it, it was to sharp and we kept running over the cones or blowing off the course. So the instructor stopped all of us and told us what we were doing wrong. We were looking at the cones rather than turning our heads and looking to the place we were wanting to go.So, the next time I tried it, I did what my instructor said. I rode up to the turn and instead of looking at the obstacle and followed the direction of my new focus. Guess what? I never had a problem making tight turns ever again because I was looking in the right direction and following through with my focus.
We are able to lay aside the sin by looking unto Jesus. Aren’t you glad that He has taken out the old heart and given us a new one?
