Ezekiel 36:25Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Through the cleansing water, He designated the water of purification, through which we were baptized and granted forgiveness of our sins. What we have expressed is substantiated by the subsequent words.

Multitudes upon multitudes came to the Lord, their eyes opened through the sacred rite of baptism. As the prophet proclaimed, ‘I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be cleansed both from your idolatry and from your sins.’ Another prophet also asked, ‘Who is a God like you, who forgives iniquity and passes over transgression...? For He is indeed compassionate and will turn to us in mercy... and will cast our sins into the depths of the sea’ (Micah 7:18-19).

The closest connection here lies in the prophecy that the Jewish people, having gained insight through the trials of their exile, would be liberated from idolatry and its associated sins. The term pure water in this context can be understood as the grace of the Holy Spirit, which, through the stirring of repentance, purifies souls from the impurities of sin, much like the ceremonial water, as instructed in the law of Moses, cleansed those whose bodies had been rendered unclean by contact with a dead body (Num. 19:10-13). In his penitential psalm, David implored the Lord for this divine grace of cleansing, stating, “Sprinkle hyssop on me, and I shall be cleansed. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew the spirit of righteousness within me” (Psalm 50:9, 12).