The prophet business in Ezekiel’s time was not easy. It’s hard to be the one delivering the rebuking word of the Lord. Yet Ezekiel served God in Babylon, offering truth to His chosen people. Years before, Moses had told the Israelites that if they turned their back on God, there would be judgment. That time had come. But Ezekiel’s admonishing message held hope: God desired to take their stubborn, rebellious hearts of stone and make them hearts of flesh, working His truth into them so they would become pliable and teachable. With new hearts would come the transformation of will and spirit, renewal, and walking with God. Israel desperately needed this.
And don’t we all? God says, “I am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25). God, in His grace, chooses to forgive our sins and save us. He’s still in the business of taking hearts of stone and transforming them into hearts of flesh, moving us from spiritual death to worship-filled, praise-filled life.