Ezekiel 11:19 - Words of Inspiration - I Will Give The One Heart | Speak His Word Only
Ezekiel 11:19 KJV
“And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:”
Opening Summary
Ezekiel 11:19 is a promise of inward transformation.
Israel's deepest problem was not simply exile, lost land, destroyed cities, or difficult circumstances. Their fundamental problem was spiritual: their hearts had repeatedly turned away from God.
Therefore, God's promise went deeper than returning His people to their land.
He promised:
“I will give them one heart.”
“I will put a new spirit within you.”
“I will take the stony heart...”
“I will give them an heart of flesh.”
God was promising to transform His people from the inside out.
“I Will Give Them One Heart”
God begins:
“I will give them one heart.”
A divided heart had repeatedly troubled Israel.
They claimed the LORD as their God while continually being drawn toward idolatry and the practices of surrounding nations.
God promised something different:
one heart.
One heart speaks of unified devotion—a heart no longer divided between God and competing loyalties.
This connects beautifully with David's prayer:
“Unite my heart to fear thy name.”
— Psalm 86:11 KJV
The issue is not merely whether we acknowledge God with our lips.
The question is:
Does He have our heart?
“I Will Put a New Spirit Within You”
God continues:
“and I will put a new spirit within you.”
God was not merely promising behavioral improvement.
He was describing inward renewal.
Human beings can sometimes modify outward behavior while remaining unchanged inwardly.
But God's redemptive work reaches deeper.
He deals with the inner person from which attitudes, desires, choices, and actions proceed.
This promise anticipates the fuller statement in Ezekiel 36:26:
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you...”
God desires more than religious appearance.
He desires spiritual transformation.
“I Will Take the Stony Heart”
God identifies the problem:
“the stony heart.”
Stone is hard.
It is resistant.
It is unresponsive.
A stony heart therefore pictures spiritual hardness—a heart resistant to God's Word, correction, and direction.
A person can repeatedly hear truth while refusing to respond to it.
That is why information alone cannot solve the deepest problem of the human heart.
We do not merely need more information.
We need transformation.
When the Heart Becomes Hard
Spiritual hardness can develop when a person continually resists what God is showing them.
The Word speaks, but the person refuses to respond.
Correction comes, but pride refuses to receive it.
Conviction comes, but excuses are continually made.
Eventually the heart becomes increasingly insensitive.
This is why Scripture repeatedly warns:
“To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts...”
— Hebrews 3:15 KJV
When God speaks through His Word, the proper response is not continual resistance.
It is surrender.
“Out of Their Flesh”
God says:
“I will take the stony heart out of their flesh.”
Notice again who performs the work:
“I will take...”
The passage emphasizes God's action.
God does not merely tell the stony heart:
“Become soft.”
He promises to remove it.
This demonstrates the depth of divine grace.
God addresses the problem at its source.
“And Will Give Them an Heart of Flesh”
God replaces the heart of stone with:
“an heart of flesh.”
The contrast is intentional.
Stone is hard and unresponsive.
Flesh is living and responsive.
A heart of flesh represents a heart capable of responding to God—a heart that can receive His Word, correction, direction, and instruction.
This does not mean sinless perfection.
It describes a heart that is no longer characterized by hardened resistance toward God.
God Does Not Merely Remove — He Replaces
There is a beautiful pattern within this verse.
God does not simply remove something bad.
He replaces it with something better.
He removes division → He gives one heart.
He removes inward corruption → He gives a new spirit.
He removes the stony heart → He gives a heart of flesh.
God's work is not merely subtraction.
It is transformation.
Christian growth therefore involves more than asking:
“What must leave my life?”
We should also ask:
“What does God desire to produce in its place?”
The Purpose Is Revealed in Ezekiel 11:20
The next verse explains why this transformation matters:
“That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”
— Ezekiel 11:20 KJV
The changed heart produces a changed walk.
God's pattern is:
New heart → changed life.
Inner transformation → outward obedience.
God does not transform the heart so that obedience becomes unnecessary.
He transforms the heart so His people can walk faithfully before Him.
“They Shall Be My People”
The ultimate purpose is relationship:
“they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”
That is covenant language.
The greatest blessing is not merely receiving something from God.
The greatest blessing is belonging to God.
God wants a people whose hearts are His.
Ezekiel 11 and Ezekiel 36
Ezekiel 11:19 and Ezekiel 36:26–27 belong together.
Ezekiel 11:19
One heart.
A new spirit.
The stony heart removed.
A heart of flesh given.
Ezekiel 36:26–27
A new heart.
A new spirit.
The stony heart removed.
A heart of flesh given.
God's Spirit placed within His people.
Ezekiel 36 develops the promise further:
“And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes...”
The transformation is not accomplished merely through human determination.
God promises divine enablement.
Connection With Jeremiah 32:39–40
Jeremiah gives a remarkably similar promise:
“And I will give them one heart, and one way...”
— Jeremiah 32:39 KJV
Then God says:
“I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.”
— Jeremiah 32:40 KJV
Put these passages together:
Ezekiel 11 — one heart.
Jeremiah 32 — one heart and one way.
Ezekiel 36 — a new heart and God's Spirit within.
Jeremiah 31 — God's law written upon the heart.
They reveal a consistent biblical theme:
God desires to transform His people inwardly so that their outward lives reflect their covenant relationship with Him.
Personal Application
Ezekiel 11:19 gives us an opportunity to examine our own hearts.
Ask:
Has my heart become hardened toward something God has repeatedly shown me?
Am I resisting correction because of pride?
Is my heart divided between God and something competing for His place?
Do I merely want God to change my circumstances, or am I willing for Him to change me?
Sometimes we concentrate upon what is happening around us, while God is concerned about what is happening within us.
We pray:
“Lord, change this situation.”
But sometimes the deeper prayer should be:
“Lord, change my heart.”
Remove hardness.
Remove divided loyalties.
Make my heart responsive to Your Word.
Give me a heart that desires Your ways.
Ezekiel 11:19 reminds us that God does not merely desire better outward behavior.
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