The Process That Jesus Called "Born Again"

The prophet Ezekiel saw sometime into the future. Israel who had been wicked would be restored:

I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezek 36:24-28) 

This was seen in the distant future for it has yet to happen! God will take the “old creature” and make it a “new creation.” So far, this rebirth (of Israel) has been partly accomplished beginning with the Balfour Mandate.

Arthur Balfour wrote in 1917, announcing his support for a national home for the Jewish people that were spread across the world.

Balfour may not have known it, but God was subconsciously in his mind. From that brain “burp” came the nation of Israel in 1948, fulfilling both the idea behind the Balfour Mandate and the vision that Ezekiel saw.

After World War II, God took the Israelites from among the heathen, gathered them out of all the countries (which He is still doing) and brought them to their own land, just as Ezekiel foresaw.

Part two has yet to happen: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean.”

Israel has been born again but has yet to be baptized. To this date, according to AI Overview as of 2025 only 22.4% of the Jewish population of Israel identify as religious. Of that small number only 30,000 Messianic Jews reside in Israel (ibid).

As anyone can deduce, unless a miracle of God occurs, Israel is quite a distance from spiritually clean, so do not expect the rapture anytime soon. Eventually the nation of Israel will be “born again,” as God describes it: 

·         A new heart also will I give you,

·         and a new spirit will I put within you:

·         and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

·         And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.

·         And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers,

·         and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 

What is regeneration? The points above apply to what Jesus called “born again” (John 3:7). Nicodemus wondered what it meant, and there it is! Israel will be born again, and so will sinful Gentiles.

People fail to understand the philosophical concept of the word “heart.”

It has little to do with the mechanical pump and its beats. The “heart” of a person is just like the heart of anything — the heart is the centroid of any object. For instance, the nucleus of an atom is its “heart” because other things encircle it. Like an atom, the heart of a person is whatever is of prime importance. Electrons and protons, for instance, must revolve about something, and that some thing is the nucleus.

The Hebrew word for “new” preceding the word “heart” is “hadas,” literally meaning “a new thing.” What is that thing? They are two: heart and spirit, not one without the other, but both in harmony — a new intellect along with a new breath, ostensibly because God breathes life unto the old creature.

Therefore, Israel will be a reborn creature, created from the old creature that was filthy like a swine might be. Filth is neither mud nor dirt, but sin. Just as Israel will be cleansed from sin before obtaining from God a new mind and spirit, so it is with individuals.

You may not like this, but you were born with a filthy spirit, not as a child of God, but a child of the beast, Lucifer. Your progenitor was not God but the Devil (John 8:44).

That beautiful young lady that you lust after so intensely; well, she is as dirty as a pig. If you think of her in that manner, she is not quite as attractive, is that not true? A modest Christian woman is the most attractive of them all, because although she is still animal on the outside, she would have a clean mind and spirit within, and she would cover her animal flesh that offends. That is the beginning of regeneration: “phase I” I will call it.

Phase II is putting on the new flesh. Next that will be discussed. Phase II for Israel, according to Ezkiel’s vision, is to populate a new land wherein God is sovereign.

Will every one of the Jews be regenerated? No, as revealed to John, only 144,000 Jews shall become new creatures, twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes (Rev 7). Therefore, regeneration is not for everybody. Out of the millions of Jews, only a small percentage will be chosen. Expect that from Christians as well because a Christian is a Jew inwardly (Rom 2:29).

Like the Israelites, a Christian was filthy, but like some Israelites, a Christian will be cleansed and changed. The first step is a change within. If the inside has not been changed, do not expect the outside to be changed. In other words, you will not obtain glorified flesh that will not perish until the change inwardly takes place.

Most who call themselves “Christian” are a clicking timebomb because of the yeast inwardly has spoiled the whole lump (1 Cor 5:6). Like too much fermentation in wine, the bottle will break because of the filth inside.

Who would have thought that the idea of rebirth could be found in Judaism?

(To be continued)