Where does this river start to flow from? What is the name of the land that the river runs through? What is the purpose for this river? How is this river going to affect our life?
This is not a story about Montana, nor about flyfishing, this is a prophecy that God gave Ezekiel for his people to understand. It has to do with the restoration of Zion and the promise that God was going to provide for his people. The land is called Israel and soon God will start to heal the land from all its woes.
Ezekiel 47:1-23… 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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.
Soon this river will run through the land of Israel to the east to the Dead Sea. This prophecy goes hand-in-hand with Zechariah chapter 14. Where God stands upon the Mount of olives, and the mountain splits. This new valley provides an escape for his people and away for the new river to start to flow towards the dead sea from the Temple of God.
Zechariah 14:1-19… The day of the Lord is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence. 2 I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.
The fulfillment for these first two verses may have had their fulfillment in 70 CE at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Empire. I would like you to focus on what God is going to do next?
3 Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as He fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. 5 You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him.
Is it any wonder there can be no peace? Because God identifies himself as he positions himself specifically and strategically upon the Mount of olives, this is so that the nations can know that the word he speaks is true and is having a fulfillment. God’s people will flee by means of this newly formed valley. Then he says God will come with all his holy ones, but who is willing to fight with them?
Back to the reading:
Living Water Starts to Flow
6 On that day there will be no light; the sunlight and moonlight will diminish. 7 It will be a day known only to Yahweh, without day or night, but there will be light at evening. 8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern seaand the other half toward the western sea, in summer and winter alike. 9 On that day Yahweh will become King over all the earth—Yahweh alone, and His name alone. 10 All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be changed into a plain. But Jerusalem will be raised up and will remainon its site from the Benjamin Gate to the place of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. 11 People will live there, and never again will there be a curse of complete destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell in security.
Zechariah’s prophecy spoke of two rivers flowing from Jerusalem one to the east and one to the west. Whereas Ezekiel’s prophecy speaks of one of river flowing east toward the Dead Sea.
Symbolically waters mean life, but God promises both the physical restoration and a spiritual restoration by means of these waters. By means of Zechariah prophecy God next gives us a warning.
Back to the reading:
The Plague
12 This will be the plague the Lord strikes all the peoples with, who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 On that day a great panic from the Lord will be among them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other. 14 Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected: gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance. 15 The same plague as the previous one will strikethe horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the animals that are in those camps.
The rotting away of one’s flesh sounds painful but it is very specific and is against those who fought against Jerusalem. This is not an all doom and gloom prophecy because look what God says next.
Worship the King
16 Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Festival of Booths. 17 Should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, rain will not fall on them. 18 And if the people of Egypt will not go up and enter, then rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague the Lord inflicts on the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Booths.
So, God calls out that in a future time the celebration of the festival of booths. This will again happen so that all nations should celebrate and worship God.
Back to our reading of Ezekiel 47:
Trees for Healing
6 He asked me, “Do you see this, son of man?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I had returned, I saw a very large number of trees along both sides of the riverbank. 8 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, (enters the Dead Sea) the water of the sea becomes fresh. 9 Every kind of living creature that swarms will live wherever the 2 rivers 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. 10 Fishermen will stand beside it from En-gedi to En-eglaim. (Two springs near the Dead Sea) These will become places where nets are spread out to dry. Their fish will consist of many different kinds, like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. 11 Yet its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be left for salt. 12 All kinds of trees providing food will grow along both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fresh fruit because the water comes from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for medicine.”
River will start to flow through the land of Israel providing a life-giving water to the trees that helps heal the nations.
There will also come to be a plague to those who will not come to worship before the king of Jerusalem. God will reestablish the borders of Israel as it pleases him.
The New Borders of the Land of Israel
back to our reading of
13 This is what the Lord God says: “This is the border you will use to divide the land as an inheritance for the 12 tribes of Israel. Joseph will receive two shares. 14 You will inherit it in equal portions, since I swore to give it to your ancestors. So, this land will fall to you as an inheritance. 15 “This is to be the border of the land:
God intends to make good his promise about the inheritance for the 12 tribes of Israel. Even though the land has been taken in the past, it is to be reapportioned because God’s word says so, and who would defy the word of God?
The North Border
On the north side it will extend from the Mediterranean Sea by way of Hethlon and Lebo-hamath to Zedad, 16 Berothah, and Sibraim (which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. 17 So the border will run from the sea to Hazar-enon at the border of Damascus, with the territory of Hamath to the north. This will be the northern side.
The East Border
18 On the east side it will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel; you will measure from the northern border to the eastern sea (Dead Sea). This will be the eastern side.
The South Border
19 On the south side it will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, and on to the Brook of Egypt as far as the Mediterranean Sea. This will be the southern side.
The West Border
20 On the west side the Mediterranean Sea will be the border, from the southern border up to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This will be the western side.
The Allotment for Foreigners
21 “You are to divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22 You will allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners living among you, who have fathered children among you. You will treat them like native-born Israelites; along with you, they will be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe the foreigner lives, you will assign his inheritance there.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.
Whoever thinks they are ruling over Israel, I will tell you this, be aware of these words of God less you sin, and God does away with you. You nations who appoint out land for peace take note. It is God that is the ruler over the earth and his word stands, do not cross him.
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