Ezekiel 47:1-23
1 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 stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.
2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.
4 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.
5 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.
6 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.
7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the banka of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert,b and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.
9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the riversc 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.
10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; 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.
11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.
12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall growd 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.
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.
14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.
15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;
16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon,e which is by the coast of Hauran.
17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.
18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.
19 And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strifef in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.
20 The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.
22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 47:16. Hamath, a city commanding the passage of mount Lebanon, and the north-west boundary of the Israelites. 1 Chronicles 13:5.
REFLECTIONS.
The jews rejoiced more when they poured water on the sacrifices, than when they poured wine; because water designated the Holy Spirit in all his plenitude of grace. We now come to the richer sources of the sanctuary of God, to sources of glory and beauty to the saints, and of life and verdure to the barrenest parts of the earth. The sanctuary and city of the jews, with the division of their land, is here taken both literally and spiritually; and spiritually we must take this fountain, though it is sincerely believed that God will work many marvellous changes in nature for the good of man in the glory of the latter day. There was however no such river opened when Ezra presided over the people, and no gentile had then a lot among the Israelites, as in Ezekiel 47:22. Ezra expelled the sons of the priests, because they could not prove their legitimate descent: Ezra 2:62; Ezra 2:64. Our Saviour seems most evidently to allude to those waters when he says, that a river of living water should flow from the belly of every believer. John 7:38. Every believer is the temple of the living God, and grace opens the fountain of life in his soul. Our Saviour likewise assured the woman of Samaria that he could give her living water. John 4:10.
We may here remark, that this river proceeded from the foundation of the house; it burst out at the threshold, and also at the sides, and circumscribed the altar as an island. St. John also was shown the river of the water of life, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Here the Holy Spirit, in all the manifold operations of justifying and sanctifying grace, is shadowed forth, as already remarked concerning the river which maketh glad the city of God; to which the reader is referred in the note on Psalms 46:4.
This river marvellously encreased. Ezekiel was directed to ford it at regular distances. First, it reached to the ancles; secondly, to the knees; thirdly, to the middle; but when he had reached about a mile and a quarter from the threshold of the temple, the river was no longer fordable: he could swim in the abundant waters. This assuredly marks the rich and overflowing grace which God designs to shed down on the earth in the gospel age, and in the glory of the latter day; and it apprizes believers that they should not remain in a loitering state, trampling the shallow waters of grace; but go on to a deeper baptism of the spirit, till they can swim in the abounding streams of grace. The soul groaning after purity and perfection longs to be filled with the Spirit; yea, “plunged in the Godhead's deepest sea, and lost in thine immensity.”
This river flowed with a constant as well as an encreasing stream. Zechariah remarks, that it was alike in summer and winter: Zechariah 14:8. The heavenly Zion is as the fountain of the whole earth: it is not subject to periodical droughts and rains, as natural rivers are, but flows with a stream constant as the Father's love, and copious as redeeming grace. Hence they that are planted in the house of the Lord, shall flourish in the courts of our God: they shall grow and not wither, they shall bring forth fruit in old age.
The virtues of these waters counteracted the bituminous qualities of the sea of Sodom, called the dead sea, because the waters killed the fish. It is not improbable, but some natural changes will take place in the glory of the latter day. When the wickedness of man shall diminish, it is not an improbable conjecture that God will diminish the afflictions of man, will remove many impediments of agriculture, cause the earth to bring forth her full encrease, and make the desert as the garden of the Lord. But of the spiritual waters we ought to speak with more decision. They heal, when flowing with a full torrent, all the bitter waters of the human heart, which are fostered, like Sodom, with pride, idleness, and fulness of bread. They shed a vivifying influence on all around, and make the barrenest heart as the Eden of the Lord. Zechariah on this subject, has enlarged on Ezekiel. He saw the living waters not only flow towards Sodom, but another stream taking a western course to the Mediterranean sea: most happy image of the glorious gospel of the blessed God, going forth in every direction, and richly accompanied with the sanctifying graces of the Holy Spirit, that all nations might be healed of discord, wickedness, and war. This is surely the fountain of life opened from above, and chasing darkness, death and the curse, far away from the earth for a thousand sabbatic years.
These healing and vivifying waters communicated perpetual fertility to an infinitude of trees, which adorned both the shores. As a month is the usual season of any kind of ripe fruits, so these trees, having their nature rëanimated, were always budding, blooming, and bearing fruit. No hungry man could come seeking fruit, and finding none. Christ is indeed this tree of life, growing on either side of the river, and also in the city of God. By his leaves, or the adorning of his virtues, our concupiscence is healed; and by the fruit of his redeeming love, our souls are nourished with the health of eternal life. Happy is the age, happy the heart which shall see this paradise opened from above.