25 And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols will I cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and keep mine ordinances, and ye shall do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 And I will save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the corn and will multiply it, and lay no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of the trees and the increase of the field, so that ye may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 And ye shall remember your evil ways, and your doings which were not good, and shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and for your abominations. 32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord Jehovah, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. 33 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day that I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities I will also cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded. 34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all that passed by. 35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities [are] fortified [and] inhabited. 36 And the nations that shall be left round about you shall know that I Jehovah build the ruined places [and] plant that which was desolate: I Jehovah have spoken, and I will do [it]. 37 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it unto them; I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her set feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 36:25-38
Commentary on Ezekiel 36:25-38
(Read Ezekiel 36:25-38)
Water is an emblem of the cleansing our polluted souls from sin. But no water can do more than take away the filth of the flesh. Water seems in general the sacramental sign of the sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost; yet this is always connected with the atoning blood of Christ. When the latter is applied by faith to the conscience, to cleanse it from evil works, the former is always applied to the powers of the soul, to purify it from the pollution of sin. All that have an interest in the new covenant, have a new heart and a new spirit, in order to their walking in newness of life. God would give a heart of flesh, a soft and tender heart, complying with his holy will. Renewing grace works as great a change in the soul, as the turning a dead stone into living flesh. God will put his Spirit within, as a Teacher, Guide, and Sanctifier. The promise of God's grace to fit us for our duty, should quicken our constant care and endeavour to do our duty. These are promises to be pleaded by, and will be fulfilled to, all true believers in every age.