Messiah Yeshua and Ezekiel 36:26-27:

New Covenant Regeneration and Renewing

Spiritual Transformation for Israel and All Nations

Hanoch Ben Keshet

benkeshet@yahoo.com [Consider sending a gift via PayPal]

[The soon-coming full article examines the points described below.]

Introduction

This article is the third in a series that argues that Ezekiel 36:25-27 is a crucial eschatological text of the Tanakh needed to properly interpret the New Covenant writings. The two preceding articles are:

· "Ezekiel 36:25-27 as the Besorah for Israel: Evidence and Implications," here, explores the influence of Ezekiel 36:25-27 on New Covenant authors.

· "Yohanan Ben Zechariah and Ezekiel 36:25: Evidence for the Origin of the Messianic Water Rite" here, reviews Israelite-Jewish purification practices as the basis for Ezekiel 36:25 and for Yohanan's activity.

This article reviews the reality and operation of the Ruach Hakodesh in the Tanakh and the New Covenant writings and explores "the promise of the Father" which Yeshua told his followers to await. The original Yeshua-believing Jews knew the last days or "aḥereet hayameem" (אחרית הימים) had arrived, especially after Messiah's resurrection; they expected Israel's Kingdom promised by the prophets (Acts 1:6; 3:18, 24). This article argues that the inner transformational activity promised Israel by Yohanan and performed by Messiah Yeshua is based directly on Ezekiel 36:26-27. The following points are considered:

· Evangelion of the circumcision vis-à-vis the evangelion of the foreskinned. Paul makes clear in Galatians 2 that his evangelion of the foreskinned was sufficiently distinct from the original message proclaimed to Israel to require him to present it to apostles in Jerusalem for acknowledgement and active support. This article argues that Ezekiel 36:25-27 is a crucial element of the evangelion of the circumcision, and that the change of heart and guidance of the Ruach that Ezekiel describes indeed provides the vital background for understanding Paul's evangelion of the foreskinned.

· A fair reading of the Tanakh and the New Covenant writings shows time after time that reception of the Ruach Hakodesh was memorable and perceptible by both recipients and observers. Thus the common Christian practice of "inferring" the reception of the Ruach Hakodesh as a result of formal acts, even with no perceptible influence, is not supported by either the Tanakh or the New Covenant. Much of the Church gravely assures adherants that they "have" the Ruach Hakodesh when in fact they never received the eschatological Gift from Messiah.

· Following Messiah's Sacrifice at Passover, the Ruach Hakodesh was empowered to cause a far superior inner transformation than was possible prior to Shavuot-Pentecost. To be sure, it is quite true that prior to Shavuot-Pentecost people were powerfully and positively influenced by the Ruach Hakodesh. Nevertheless, regeneration into the image of Messiah was not possible in the days of the Tanakh; there simply was no basis for providing New Covenant transformation until after Messiah suffered to establish the New Covenant. The replacement of the heart of stone with a heart of flesh promised by Ezekiel could not occur until after Messiah's sacrifice.

· The seder hayeshuah (ordo salutis) of Romans 10 is that a person hears the Good News, believes the Good News in his heart, and calls to Yeshua the Messiah with his mouth. Paul cited Joel 2:32 (Rom 10:13) "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved," proving that he had Joel's eschatological outpouring of the Ruach Hakodesh in mind as the crucial conclusion of the salvation process (cf. Eze 36:27). Thus the so-called Calvinistic idea that one is regenerated before one can even hear the Good News is seen as a grave distortion of the seder hayeshuah. Moreover the widely-held sacramental assertion that a water rite is the vehicle for Spirit reception is yet another grave distortion of the seder hayeshuah.

· The water and Spirit of John 3:5, viewed in context, are powerful echoes of Ezekiel 36:25-27. Nicodemus, an elite Sanhedrin member who ruled Israel, truly recognized Yeshua as a teacher sent from Hashem. Nicodemus' foundation for judging was certainly the Torah and Prophets (cf., John 7:50-51). As a ruler of Israel Nicodemus had to be concerned with Yohanan's call to Israel to repent and to expect the imminent arrival of a Coming One. John 3:5 thus does not speak of some newly invented international water rite as wide sectors of Christianity assert, but rather of an Israel-specific eschatological transformation. Ezekiel 35:25-27 promises Israel both a ritual restoration with pure water, and an internal transformation by the Ruach Hakodesh. Nothing in the conversation between Messiah Yeshua and Nicodemus suggests a context outside of Israel's Kingdom promises of the Tanakh. The Church's assertion that John 3:5 is Messiah's command for a newly-devised universal water-Spirit rite is sheer eisegesis.

· Summary: Yohanan based his service to Israel on the Tanakh's eschatological promises, leading to Ezekiel 36:25 as the basis for his activity with water. Yohanan thus inaugurated Israel's Kingdom prophecies, including Ezekiel 36, even if the hiatus to final fulfillment has been two millennia. Yeshua's life and deeds were foretold in the Tanakh as well, Luke 24:44. Yeshua's post-resurrection activity with the Ruach Hakodesh, transforming his followers, is based directly on the idea of replacing the heart of stone with a heart of flesh and of being led by the Ruach Hakodesh, Eze 36:26-27. Followers of Messiah Yeshua must regain appropriate sensitivity to both the evangelion of the circumcision and the evangelion of the foreskinned, and all must recognize that Messiah Yeshua is he who pours out the Ruach Hakodesh directly on those who call to him, whether Jewish or from any Nation; all are to be internally transformed as Paul describes in Titus 3:4-7, a passage which loudly echoes Ezekiel 36:26-27.