Ezekiel 36: Old Testament Types of New Testament Realities

During a Theology class last quarter, we were reading from the book of Ezekiel, and I noticed something quite interesting and profound. Due to the great number of assignments that I had to complete, however, I forgot to write a commentary on it and it slipped into the recesses of my mind.

Now, I have remembered and, on this, my last day of school for this quarter and the first day of my 2 week break, I will proceed to share with you what I saw.

Ezekiel 36: 25-27 holds some very intriguing similarities to a few other things we may know today as "Sacraments" in the Catholic Church. Let me explain...

Verse 25 says, "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you." This, in my mind, was an obvious reference to the sacrament of Baptism. In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, this "Rite of Sprinkling" can also be found. Any Catholic can attest to the fact that, during the Easter season (the 50 days after the end of Lent), at each Sunday Mass the Rite of Sprinkling is used in place of the Penitential Rite. Do not fear, this is provided for in the rubrics of the Roman Missal: "When this rite is celebrated it takes the place of the penitential rite at the beginning of Mass. The Lord have mercy is also omitted." A wonderful connection indeed is found here in Ezekiel 36 to the practices Catholics continue to carry on today in the liturgy (By the way, liturgy, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 1069, means "the participation of the People of God in the 'work of God').

Verse 26 contains two references, and says, "A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Within this verse, I saw references to both the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of the Eucharist. Please, let me explain. The sacrament of Penance gives us a new heart because it transforms us, purifying us and giving us that new heart spoken of in this verse. Additionally, when he says, "I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh," it reminds me so much of the Eucharistic miracles (where the host changes into actual flesh) that have occurred around the world. In case you did not know, every specimen of the Eucharistic host that has been scientifically analyzed (by secular, non-Christian scientists, no less) has been found to be cardiac, or heart tissue (every Precious Blood sample has been found to be of the same blood type, as well). This is why I can see this verse referring to the Eucharist, among other theological reasons. (As a sort of disclaimer, I understand that Eucharistic miracles are not an article of faith, and no one must feel obligated to believe in them) As additional biblical support, I feel I should cite Ezekiel 36: 29-30, where it says that the Lord, "will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you," as well as making, "the increase of the field abundant," all in order to prevent famine among God's people. Bread (grain) and wine (increase of the field) are guaranteed to God's people. Just as one other side note, in Revelation 6:6, it says, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm oil and wine!" In this chapter the different horsemen are being unleashed, and in this particular verse the horseman of famine is being loosed on earth. What is meant by this saying is that all other foods may may harmed, provided that wheat, (oil,) and wine are not harmed. A coincidence? I'll let you decide...

Finally, in verse 27, it says, "And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances." The sacrament of Confirmation is to be seen here in Ezekiel. It is by Confirmation that our Baptismal graces are completed. A biblical reference to this is present in of Acts 8:14-17, which says, "Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for the Spirit had not fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit." So, seeing as the spirit is put within the people of Samaria (completing their baptismal graces), it is not unreasonable to think that they had received the sacrament of Confirmation, although it was not mentioned by that name (Keep in mind that the term "Trinity" is not mentioned, either; only the evidence of it).

I hope that all of you who read this see the beautiful connections between the Old and New Testaments. There are so many more, and I hope that you will go out and find some of your own. God bless and Mary keep you all!