THEOSISJerome of Stridon
Therefore declare, ‘Thus says the Lord God, I shall gather you from among the nations and reunite you from the lands to which you have been dispersed; I will give you the land of Israel. They will arrive there and will remove all that causes offense and every abominable thing from it. I will enable them to have one heart and will instill a new spirit within their innermost being. I will take away their hearts of stone and give them hearts of flesh, so that they may follow My commandments, observe My statutes, and carry them out, and that they may belong to Me as My people, while I shall be their God. However, for those whose hearts are set on stumbling blocks and abominations, their lives will be turned back upon them, declares the Lord God.
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The Almighty speaks to the captives in Babylon, to Ezekiel the prophet’s companions and their relatives, telling those residing in Jerusalem, ‘You have strayed far from the Lord, while the land has been granted to us as an inheritance.’ Furthermore, He declares: I will gather you from all the nations and bring you back to the land of Israel. Upon your return, I will eradicate all the idols that have provoked My anger, and I will give you a single heart filled with reverence and service to Me, ensuring you do not serve any idols or possess a heart different from the one you had before. I will bestow upon you a new spirit within your being, in line with the scripture, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me’ (Psalm 51:10). I will remove your hard hearts, as Stephen the first martyr for Christ stated, referring to hearts that are stubborn and uncircumcised (Acts 7:51), and how Pharaoh's heart was hardened, preventing him from letting Israel go (Exodus 7). I will grant you, He says, a heart of flesh: tender and capable of understanding God’s commandments, so they may be inscribed on the fleshly tablets of your hearts. A soft heart shall be given, while the hard heart will be taken away, allowing you to adhere to My commandments, keep My decrees, and be My people, while the Lord, who was once opposed, will become your God. Yet, for those who do not renounce their former sins through true repentance and who persist in their abominations, the Lord says, I shall bring upon them the consequences they deserve, causing their paths to be turned back upon themselves. Many believe this occurred during the times of Zerubbabel, son of Salathiel, and Jesus the high priest, son of Josedech, as well as during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, with the tribe of Judah and those who returned with them; the inhabitants of Jerusalem refer to those captured under Zedekiah, king of Judah, or those who fled into Egypt with Jeremiah, having been scattered but not returning to the city. However, the ultimate transformation of the captives and the remnant of Israel must be understood as realized in Christ, when the remnant was saved and in a single day, three thousand and then five thousand more came to believe (Acts 2), while others, as recounted by James to the apostle Paul, were zealous believers among the Jews (Acts 21:20). Yet, the daily proud residents of Jerusalem, whose hearts rest in stumbling blocks and abominations, incur the wrath of God; while those outside, who previously possessed hardened hearts, upon receiving soft hearts through repentance, turn towards the Church, follow the commandments of the Lord, adhere to His decrees, and become the Lord's people, with the Lord, whom they had previously defied, becoming their God.