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.
Ezekiel 36:28 stands as the culmination of a divine sequence in which God gathers Israel, cleanses them from sin and all filthiness and idols, removes the stony heart and gives a new heart and a new spirit and a heart of flesh, and puts His Spirit within them to cause them to walk in His statutes and to keep His judgments and do them. After that cleansing and renewal God restores them to dwell in the land He gave to their fathers and renews the covenant relationship in which they are His people and He is their God. This reconciliation and restoration is done for the sake of God's holy name, which was profaned among the nations by Israel's conduct, and not because Israel deserves it.
The dwelling with God as His people is not a temporal and earthly dominion but the spiritual kingdom Christ opens, a kingdom of love and grace and righteousness distinguished by the likeness of the Son of man. Its subjects are the poor in spirit, the meek and the persecuted for righteousness' sake, and though the promise is not yet fully accomplished, the promised new-heart work is begun in them to make them fit to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
The verse applies now to Christian families, schools, sanitariums and publishing houses, showing that fathers and mothers must feel God's converting power and have cleansed, transformed character so the Holy Spirit can accomplish its work upon hearts. The promise describes a heart in which Christ is enthroned, where selfishness is replaced and conduct is shaped by His unselfish love. The cleansing by the Holy Spirit is to be seen in holy speech and conduct, as those who have received the truth live in godliness and look for Christ's return and the promised new heavens and new earth.
Ezekiel 36:28 stands as the culmination of a divine sequence in which God gathers Israel, cleanses them from sin and all filthiness and idols, removes the stony heart and gives a new heart and a new spirit and a heart of flesh, and puts His Spirit within them to cause them to walk in His statutes and to keep His judgments and do them. After that cleansing and renewal God restores them to dwell in the land He gave to their fathers and renews the covenant relationship in which they are His people and He is their God. This reconciliation and restoration is done for the sake of God's holy name, which was profaned among the nations by Israel's conduct, and not because Israel deserves it.
The dwelling with God as His people is not a temporal and earthly dominion but the spiritual kingdom Christ opens, a kingdom of love and grace and righteousness distinguished by the likeness of the Son of man. Its subjects are the poor in spirit, the meek and the persecuted for righteousness' sake, and though the promise is not yet fully accomplished, the promised new-heart work is begun in them to make them fit to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
The verse applies now to Christian families, schools, sanitariums and publishing houses, showing that fathers and mothers must feel God's converting power and have cleansed, transformed character so the Holy Spirit can accomplish its work upon hearts. The promise describes a heart in which Christ is enthroned, where selfishness is replaced and conduct is shaped by His unselfish love. The cleansing by the Holy Spirit is to be seen in holy speech and conduct, as those who have received the truth live in godliness and look for Christ's return and the promised new heavens and new earth.