44 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
44 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
+++
|
||
title = "Ezekiel 47:1–12"
|
||
date = "2023-07-19"
|
||
+++
|
||
|
||
### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel47.1-12)
|
||
|
||
With new law for the temple prescribed and written down, Ezekiel is shown
|
||
something new. A fountain of water springs up inside the temple, trickling out
|
||
of the southern half of the east threshold, which is the front entrance. It
|
||
goes south of the altar, presumably through the courts, and out the eastern
|
||
wall that has the gate sealed shut. Several other passages of Scripture mention
|
||
a river flowing from Jerusalem, and this isn't even the first one. [Psalm
|
||
46](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Psalm46) speaks of a river that makes the city
|
||
where God dwells glad. Jerusalem has never had a river, even in ancient times,
|
||
but that psalm goes on to describe the end of war because God takes His throne
|
||
on the earth. [Zechariah 14](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Zecharaiah14) and
|
||
[Revelation 22](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Revelation22) also describe a
|
||
river (or two) flowing from the city of God in the end times.
|
||
|
||
The angelic surveyor guides Ezekiel out of the city and every 500 yards they
|
||
go, they see how deep the water is.It gets deeper the further east they go:
|
||
first it is ankle-deep, then knee-deep, and then waist-deep, and finally it is
|
||
too deep to cross, possibly because Ezekiel can't swim or it is just too
|
||
dangerous for anyone to cross. As strange as it is for a trickle of water to
|
||
become a torrent further from its source, it is not the most remarkable thing
|
||
about this river. It flows into the Dead Sea, but its water will become fresh
|
||
because of the river flowing from the temple. Fish will inhabit the
|
||
no-longer-dead sea, as many as can be found in the Mediterranean Sea, and trees
|
||
will grow on both banks of the river providing food all year round.
|
||
|
||
The Dead Sea is so salty because it has no outlet streams, so all the water
|
||
that comes into it from the Jordan River and other sources simply evaporates.
|
||
The surrounding land contains salt deposits which are dissolved in the river
|
||
water and flow into the sea where they are deposited. It is feasible that
|
||
simply pouring a bunch of water from Jerusalem into the sea bed so that it
|
||
overflows could actually wash out the salty water and make it suitable for
|
||
marine life. I don't know if that would take a supernatural amount of water to
|
||
do that, but considering how it starts, this is not an ordinary river.
|
||
|
||
* * *
|
||
|
||
You will heal Your broken world when You establish Your kingdom.
|