Life Giving Water

Please everyone grab your Bibles and lets turn to and read together;

Ezekiel 47:1-9 CSB -- Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple and there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the temple faced east. The water was coming down from under the south side of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Next he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate that faced east; there the water was trickling from the south side.

As the man went out east with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a third of a mile and led me through the water. It came up to my ankles. Then he measured off a third of a mile and led me through the water. It came up to my knees. He measured off another third of a mile and led me through the water. It came up to my waist. Again he measured off a third of a mile, and it was a river that I could not cross on foot. For the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed on foot.

He asked me, “Do you see this, son of man?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I had returned, I saw a very large number of trees along both sides of the riverbank. He said to me, “This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down to the Arabah. When it enters the sea, the sea of foul water, the water of the sea becomes fresh. Every kind of living creature that swarms will live wherever the river flows, and there will be a huge number of fish because this water goes there. Since the water will become fresh, there will be life everywhere the river goes. --

In the Book of Ezekiel the prophet Ezekiel experienced many different visions and revelations that came down directly from God. Most of these visions were about the destruction of the nation of Judah, the ransacking of the Holy Temple and the enslavement or scattering of its inhabitants. One of the last visions that Ezekiel experienced mentioned at the end of this book was about a flowing stream of water that brings forth life.

Ezekiel is standing at the front door of the Holy Temple and has a vision of a small stream.

The stream starts out as a trickle coming out from the southeast of the Temple, flowing past the south-side of the Altar of Burnt Offering, and out underneath the south wall. Ezekiel goes out of the north gate and past the closed east gate until he comes to the stream which runs for a few miles and into the Dead Sea.

Ezekiel is told to step into the stream and walk its entire length until it flows out as a deep river into the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is called dead because it has such a high salt content that nothing can live or survive in its waters. (***side note - A person can actually stay afloat on the surface waters of the Dead Sea and never sink because the high content of salt affects their buoyancy.) But right where this river (possibly the Jordan River ???) flows out into the Dead Sea it is full of life.

In his vision, when Ezekiel gets to the Dead Sea, he turns around starts to walk back. Ezekiel is struck by the number of trees on either bank of this river. Wherever this river flows as it ends into the west shore of the Dead Sea, it freshens the salt and stagnant waters of that specific area. It brings life to fish, plants, and trees, whereas the rest of the lake is completely void of any life. God showed Ezekiel in this vision that the presence of God at the center means life for the barren land.

In this case, the nation of Judah, God was their raging river of life, but since they all turned away from God and chose evil, He completely left their presence. God allowed the nation of Judah to become weak and a dried up barren wasteland to be easily conquered by their enemies. Now, I want to share with you about another river of living water that brings life to us. Turn your bible to the New Testament and let's read together;

John 7:37-39 CSB -- On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified. --