Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 83:2 (Fall 2021)
Article: Having Our Hearts Sprinkled Clean: The Influence Of Ezekiel 36:25–26 On Hebrews 10:22
Author: Jason P. Kees

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Having Our Hearts Sprinkled Clean: The Influence Of Ezekiel 36:25–26 On Hebrews 10:22

Jason P. Kees

Jason P. Kees is Pastor of Discipleship and Education at East Leesville Baptist Church in Leesville, LA, and serves as an Online Adjunct Professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO.

The purpose of this article is to examine the language of Heb 10:22, specifically what the author means by “having our hearts sprinkled clean.” There is agreement from several scholars that the author was perhaps alluding to the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, or that the language was used in the more generic sense of washing (i.e., baptism). After examining these discussions and the overall structure of Hebrews, this article proposes that the language better alludes to the language of the new covenant in Ezek 36:25–26. Furthermore, this article argues that not only is the author of Hebrews using inner-biblical exegesis with the Ezekiel passage to apply the promises of the new covenant to the recipient’s present circumstance, but he is also using Ezek 36:25–26 as a “text in the middle” to connect to the Levitical priesthood purification rites. What the former purification rites could not do as they were a “shadow of things to come” (Heb 10:1a) has now been accomplished in the new covenant, because Jesus, the better high priest, entered the presence of God by his own blood. Therefore, the author of Hebrews urges the new covenant people of God to draw near to him with confidence, because their hearts have been sprinkled clean.

Outside of Revelation, the book of Hebrews utilizes the OT more than any other book in the NT canon. The language, imagery, and allusions saturate the discourse of the book at both the macro and micro level, and Hebrews has earned the title “Queen” in a discussion of the NT’s use of the OT.1 The exact number of the author’s usages of the OT is difficult to ascertain, however. George Guthrie notes that Hebrews is so permeated with general references to OT topics, allusions to historical events, and repetition or exposition of those passages that have been introduced overtly, that the exact

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enumeration of the author’s uses of the OT has taxed the efforts of many a student of the book.2

The author of Hebrews chose to use the LXX rather than the MT. Dispute over the author’s usag...