Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and,
behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house
eastward: for the forefront of the house was the east, and the
waters came down from under from the right side of the house, from
the south of the altar. Then brought he me out by the way of the
gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the outer gate
toward the gate that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out
waters on the right side. And when the man went forth eastward, he
had a line in his hand, and he measured a thousand cubits, and he
brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again
he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the
waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought
me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a
thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the
waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be
passed over.
And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he
brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now
when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many
trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These
waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the
desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea,
the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every
thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall
come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish,
because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed;
and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall
come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even
unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their
fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great
sea, exceeding many. But the marshes thereof and the pools thereof
shall not be healed: they shall be given to salt. And by the river
upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all
trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit
thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his
months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and
the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for
medicine (verses 1-12).
This great vision of the Temple stream has been variously interpreted.
The critical school has treated it only as an imagery of the prophet and
speaks of the physical impossibility that such a stream could ever be in
existence.[56] Others have spiritualized the vision. A leading annotator
states, "Messiah is the temple and the door; from His pierced side flow
the living waters, ever increasing, both in the individual believer and
in the heart." In this spiritualizing method the waters are also applied
to the reading and study of the Word of God. The same commentator says
"some things in the Bible are easy to understand, as the water up to the
ankles; others more difficult, which require deeper search, as the
waters up to the knees and the loins; and others beyond our reach." Such
applications can be made in different ways. The stream which Ezekiel saw
is more than typical of the blessings which the land and all the earth
will enjoy in the coming age. It is a literal stream. There will be a
great outpouring of the Spirit of God for the age to come, and spiritual
blessings will abound everywhere. But the stream Ezekiel beholds tells
of the physical blessings which are in store for the earth in that
coming day of the restoration of all things. We do not need to trouble
ourselves about the manner in which the temple stream is to flow forth,
nor do we need to solve the physical difficulties. When the Lord of
Creation was on earth in humiliation, and walked among men garbed in
servant's form, nature acknowledged Him and He manifested the Creator's
power. What will it be when He comes again, not as a servant to die, but
as the King and Lord of all! Omnipotence will then be displayed to the
full. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? (Jere. xxxii:27). He who
bore the thorns on His brow, the symbol of the curse which on account of
man's sin rests upon Creation, will remove that curse in the day of His
power. He paid for it on the cross.
[56] One says: "The double impossibility of the rapid rise of water in
the stream and the course of the river across the steep limestone range
east of Jerusalem into the Dead Sea does not occur to the prophet." As
if Ezekiel had invented this vision.
And Ezekiel was not the only prophet to whom was revealed the physical
blessing of the earth in the life and health giving stream. Isaiah had
the same vision. "And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the
thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals where each
lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes" (Is. xxxv:7). "I will even
make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" (Is. xliii:19).
"Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the
brier shall come up the myrtle tree" (Is. lv:13). "The desert shall
blossom like the rose" (Is. xxxv:1). Joel at the close of his great
vision concerning the still future day of Israel's tribulation and the
judgment of the nations following the time of trouble, and the Lord's
visible manifestation, also speaks of the blessings of the Millennium.
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop
down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of
Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the
house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim" (Joel iii:18).
Joel, one of the earliest prophets, living centuries before Ezekiel, saw
water coming forth from the house of the Lord for earthly blessings.
Still more definite is the great post-exilic prophet Zechariah. "And it
shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem;
half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the hinder
sea; in summer and in winter shall it be" (Zech. xiv:8).
The waters Ezekiel saw issued out from under the threshold, from the
right side of the house, the south side of the altar. Of the heavenly
Jerusalem a similar scene is recorded by John in the Revelation. "And he
showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Rev. xxii:1). The stream has
its origin in the midst of the millennial temple. There is no use in
speculating about the source of the water supply. It is super-natural.
He who said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and
let it divide the waters from the waters" (Gen. i:6) and He who broke
open all the fountains of the deep when His judgment came on the earth
(Gen. vii:11) by whose power also the smitten rock in the wilderness
supplied the water for His people, He will provide from His
inexhaustible resources the life giving stream. And the waters which
gush forth are increasing in volume; the stream does not become
shallower but deepens in its flow. It is not like a natural river which
has its source in a spring and is fed by brooks and rivers. It is a
miraculous, unexplainable self-supply which occasions this increase. A
thousand cubits are measured and the waters come to the ankles of the
prophet. The next thousand cubits bring the waters to the knees; then
advancing another thousand cubits the waters come to the loins, and with
the fourth thousand they become so deep that the prophet could not
fathom them. The four thousand cubits make about a mile and a half, so
that the prophet had advanced, under the guidance of the man, this
distance from Jerusalem in a southeastern direction.
He is caused to return to the bank of the river, and saw there on both
sides many trees. These trees testify of the great fertility which this
stream will produce in nature. Expositors who give the vision a purely
spiritual meaning explain the trees as being the righteous who shall
flourish at the waterbrooks (Psalm i).
The man informs the prophet that these waters go toward the east country
and go down into the desert. The word desert in Hebrew is "Arabah" and
means "plain," which is the plain of Jordan. It signifies a parched, dry
place. Jordan is the type of death, and the sea of salt, the Dead Sea,
into which Jordan flows, also signifies death.[57] And now in the Dead
Sea this living water from the temple flows, and healing is the blessed
result. Where death has reigned so long abundant life now is manifested.
Sodom is restored to its former estate (See chapter xvi). Wheresoever
the waters go life follows at once. "There shall be a very great
multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither, for they
shall be healed; and everything shall live whither the river cometh. The
fishers shall stand up from En-gedi unto En-eglaim." En-gedi is on the
one end and En-eglaim at the other end of the Dead Sea. Yet there will
be marshes and pools which remain unhealed; their former condition is
unchanged. It has been suggested that this is done for the production of
salt. But it is rather a reminder that while the coming age is an age of
wonderful blessing, that it is not yet the perfect, eternal age. And the
trees will be ever green, never failing, providing meat by their
abundant fruit and the leaf is for medicine. It shows the gracious
provision made for man living on the earth during the age to come.
Poverty, famine and sickness will be banished.
[57] Ps. lxviii:4 has this word "Arabah;" in the Authorized Version it
is translated "heaven." It is in the plural, "Araboth"--"Cast up the way
for him that rideth in Araboth"--the places of death. Christ is seen
prophetically as the Conqueror of death and Sheol.