Do you know that Ezekiel spoke about being born again? In addition to seeing a glorified human on the throne of God, Ezekiel also talked about the Spirit of God and the necessity of a spiritual rebirth. Many Christians start reading their Bible with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. While that is a good place to start, most of the Bible comes before Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. So if you start in the New Testament, you might think that everything Jesus taught was new. This is not true. Jesus didn’t really teach anything new. He simply restored the original intention of God’s Word before it was covered up with man’s traditions.
For example, in John 3:1-8, Jesus tells Nicodemus that we must be born again by the Spirit of God. In other words, we must have a spiritual rebirth. In John 4:24, Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Ezekiel made the same point using words and phrases in his time. Ezekiel said that God would restore the people to the land at which time He would give them a new spiritual heart. He writes in Ezekiel 11:19-20, “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.”
Further, consider these words written in Ezekiel 36:24-28. This prophecy is connected to the end times when God brings the Jews home to Israel from all the nations of the world.
Ezekiel writes, “For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and will put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk I My statutes, and you will keep My commandments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land I gave to your fathers. You shall be My people and I will be your God.”
Ezekiel’s words echo New Testament teachings of Jesus. To learn more, listen to this episode of Sounds of the Shofar on Charisma Podcast Network. {eoa}
Dr. Richard Booker is the author of The Miracle of the Scarlet Thread and 40 life-changing books and has developed 18 college-level Bible courses from a Judeo-Christian perspective. He has made more than 550 television programs and serves as a spiritual father to many. He and his wife, Peggy, have led tours to Israel for 30 years, where for 18 years, Richard was a speaker at the International Christian Celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. This event is attended by 5,000 Christians from 100 nations. During their tours they brought humanitarian aid to needy organizations in Israel.
Dr. Booker and Peggy hosted a Kristallnacht Memorial for 18 years during which time they worked closely with the Holocaust Museum and Survivors in Houston, Texas. They also participated in a Holocaust Educators Tour to Europe. In addition, they hosted an Erev Shabbat event for 15 years, where they taught the importance for Christians and Jews to discover one another in mutual love and respect To learn more, see their website at rbooker.com.
