Riverfront Property Series

During the Covid pandemic, the U.S. housing market went haywire. Inventory went down 37% and prices went up 24%, both setting records. The housing market got so bizarre that a Bethesda, Maryland, homebuyer included in her written offer a pledge to name her first-born child after the seller. She lost the bid (Tim Levin, “Redfin's CEO reveals his biggest takeaways from the wild housing market,” Business Insider, 5-25-21; www.Preaching Today.com).

I’m glad those days are over, but it raises a question: What do you do when you live in desperate times? What do you do when you not only lose a bid, but you lose everything?

The prophet Ezekiel was writing to a people whose homeland had been destroyed. Their capital and temple were in ruins, and they were far away from home. They had literally lost everything, but God gave Ezekiel a vision of their future which gave them hope, and it will give you hope, as well. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Ezekiel 47, Ezekiel 47, where God gives hope to people living in desperate times.

Ezekiel 47:1-2 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side (ESV).

In the previous chapters, God describes a returned people to restored worship in a rebuilt temple. Here, God takes Ezekiel outside the Temple, where he sees water trickling east from under the Temple past the altar and out the east gate on its south side.

Ezekiel 47:3-6a Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” (ESV).

What Ezekiel saw was a river running from the Temple, which got deeper the further east it ran. At 1,500 feet, it was ankle deep. At 3,000 feet, it was knee deep. At 4,500 feet, it was waist deep. At 6,000 feet (a little over a mile), it was over his head. This is highly unusual, because a trickle of water usually dissipates. In this case, the trickle of water becomes a river deep enough to swim in. Furthermore, that river brings life to the desert.

Ezekiel 47:6b-8 Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh” (ESV).

This river flows through the Arabah (i.e., the desert) into the Dead Sea, turning its salt water into fresh water and filling it with life.

Ezekiel 47:9-10 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea [or the Mediterranean Sea] (ESV).

I remember floating on the Dead Sea when I visited the Holy Land several years ago (1999). It usually takes some effort for me to lay on my back in the water, but floating in the Dead Sea was like lying on a waterbed.

That’s because the Dead Sea is six times saltier than the ocean, but one day that sea will become completely salt free! On top of that, it will sustain an abundance of marine life, so much so that fisherman will line its shores to catch a great number of fish.

Ezekiel 47:11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt (ESV).