Ezekiel: God of covenant and regeneration

With all the messages of judgement in Ezekiel, it could be easy to forget the beginning of the story - God's love story with Israel. The allegory told so grippingly in chapter 16 vividly depicts the very essence of the Old Testament: it is a story of covenant of God with a nation (Abraham's descendants). God's sovereign choice and grace in choosing Israel is highlighted as the abandoned child becomes a beautiful woman through the rescuer's love, protection and provision. The infidelity therefore becomes more shocking; the woman who has everything still has an insatiable desire for more (v29). The grotesque imagery sets the reader's teeth on edge because Ezekiel knew his audience needed to be shocked out of apathy and complacency.

But there is a message of hope, and for me it's the most exciting aspect of Ezekiel. It is in this book that the concept of regeneration begins to be sketched out, in perhaps a rather shadowy pencil tone, ready for the New Testament to boldly define it in the wake of Christ and His death on the cross.

At the end of the allegory, Ezekiel gives the pronouncement of the Lord GOD: 'I will establish for you an everlasting covenant' (v60). And there are two key passages, similar in tone and content, which give more detail to this promise. Ezekiel 11:14-21 and 36:22-38 both speak of a removal of the 'heart of stone' and a cleansing from idolatry, and a promise of 'a new heart, and a new spirit'. In ch 36, God says 'I will put my Spirit within you' (v27). The Old Covenant law, given to Moses on stone tablets, was broken again and again by God's unfaithful people. But the New Covenant is characterised by power, the divine power of God's Spirit to change our hearts and regenerate those who believe.

'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.' 2 Corinthians 5:17

This regeneration is depicted very memorably in chapter 37, where Ezekiel is given a stunning vision of the valley of dry bones being brought back to life with flesh and breath once more. The metaphor is explained: 'these bones are the whole house of Israel... I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live' (v11-14). As William Mounce writes,

'In the New Covenant, God’s Spirit is able to breath life into those who are spiritually dead. In the New Covenant, God’s Spirit is able to change and empower those changed lives to live in blissful obedience to Him.'

At the heart of Ezekiel is the message that God is a God of covenant. He is faithful to His promises and to His people. And through the New Covenant, God would do something amazing: even after giving so much already to those He loved, He would actually put His Spirit within them, empowering them to live radically for Him in true faithfulness.