The prophecies that were given to the Jews before they were taken into captivity did not have any effect on the people. There was a lack of faith among the people of Israel, and in particular, they did not want to hear Ezekiel’s prophecies about destruction. “The only visions that were accepted were those that promised peace and were proclaimed by false prophets (cf. Ezekiel 13:2-10, 16)” (note on Ezekiel 12:21-25). God described the people of Israel as a rebellious house, “who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 12:2).

God had a radical transformation in mind when he promised that he was going to change the Jews attitude toward him. God said through the prophet Ezekiel, “I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they will be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20). The promise that God was going to put within the Jews a new spirit was mentioned again later in Ezekiel’s ministry. In the latter instance, God said he was going to put his Spirit within the people, and this would cause them to walk in his statues and to be careful to obey him (Ezekiel 36:26-27; 37:14).

The Hebrew word that is translated within, qereb (kehˊ-reb) “is utilized abstractly to describe the inner being of a person. This place was regarded as the home of the heart from which the emotions spring (Psalm 39:3[4]; 55:4[5]; Lamentations 1:20). It was also viewed as the source of thoughts (Genesis 8:12; Psalm 62:4[5]; Jeremiah 9:8[7], which are often deceitful, wicked, and full of cursing. Yet wisdom from God can reside there also (1 Kings 3:28). This inner being is also the seat of one’s moral disposition and thus one’s affections and desires” (H7130). When the Pharisees demanded to know when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus told them, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here; or , lo there: for behold the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21, KJSB).

The idea that the kingdom of God could exist inside a person shifted attention away from the physical realm where the nation of Israel existed to the spiritual realm where the church that Jesus said he would build existed. Jesus declared about the church, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Jesus indicated the key to the church’s success would be the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17). Paul explained in his letter to the Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:4-6).

The Holy Spirit’s power is necessary for change to occur in a person’s heart (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit helps people to overcome the effects of sin, but He only dwells within believers. The Spirit’s presence causes the believer to be dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:5), meaning that the person has the ability to turn away from sin and decide to do what is right. This is evidenced by the person’s conscience being activated by the Word of God (Hebrews 10:22). Throughout the Old Testament we see that the people of Israel never changed. It wasn’t until the twelve apostles and other believers were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4) that people were able to turn away from their sin and could do what God wanted them to. Paul indicated that the power of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling is what gives believers eternal life. Paul said, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).