22 For this cause say to the children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: I am doing this, not because of you, O children of Israel, but because of my holy name, which you have made unclean among the nations wherever you went. 23 And I will make holy my great name which has been made unclean among the nations, which you have made unclean among them; and it will be clear to the nations that I am the Lord, says the Lord, when I make myself holy in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you out from among the nations, and get you together from all the countries, and take you into your land.
25 And I will put clean water on you so that you may be clean: from all your unclean ways and from all your images I will make you clean. 26 And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you: I will take away the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit in you, causing you to be guided by my rules, and you will keep my orders and do them. 28 So that you may go on living in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you will be to me a people, and I will be to you a God. 29 And I will make you free from all your unclean ways: and at my voice the grain will come up and be increased, and I will not let you be short of food. 30 And I will make the tree give more fruit and the field fuller produce, and no longer will you be shamed among the nations for need of food. 31 And at the memory of your evil ways and your wrongdoings, you will have bitter hate for yourselves because of your evil-doings and your disgusting ways, O children of Israel. 32 Not because of you am I doing it, says the Lord; let it be clear to you, and be shamed and made low because of your ways, O children of Israel. 33 This is what the Lord has said: In the day when I make you clean from all your evil-doings I will let the towns be peopled and there will be building on the waste places.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 36:22-33
Commentary on Ezekiel 36:16-24
(Read Ezekiel 36:16-24)
The restoration of that people, being typical of our redemption by Christ, shows that the end aimed at in our salvation is the glory of God. The sin of a people defiles their land; renders it abominable to God, and uncomfortable to themselves. God's holy name is his great name; his holiness is his greatness, nor does any thing else make a man truly great.
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.