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.
Now in chapter 47 we find this river that comes forth from this east gate.
Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, the 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 the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar (Ezekiel 47:1).
Now here from the house of God this temple house, a spring of water bubbles out and begins to flow toward the east. This is also described or spoken of in Zechariah and it certainly has its counterpart in Revelation chapter 22, that stream in heaven of which many of the aspects of this are similar to the one there. Now it comes out from the throne there of the temple from the south part of the east side. And he took him out the north gate because the east gate was only for the prince.
and he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the water; and it was ankle deep. So he measured another thousand, and he brought me through the water; and the water was up to my knees. And again he measured a thousand cubits; and he brought me through the waters; and they were to my loins. And after he measured another thousand; it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were so high they were waters to swim in, a river that you could not just walk across (Ezekiel 47:3-5).
So here is an interesting thing, this river that begins here at the temple and begins to flow eastward from the temple towards the Jordan valley. It increases as it goes. So at a thousand cubit, or two thousand feet away approximately, it's only ankle deep. By the time you get almost two-thirds of a mile away, three-quarters of a mile away, it's knee deep. You go another two thousand feet and it's waist deep. Go another thousand feet and it's over your head. And so this great river coming forth from the area of Jerusalem originating there at the temple, but yet picking up from other sources begins to flow probably through the valley that is created when the Mount of Olives splits in the middle. And flows on down to the Jordan plain.
And he said to me, Son of man, did you see that? And then he brought me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, the bank of the river there were very many trees on either side. And he said unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, they go down to the desert, and they 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 lives, which moves, 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 water comes. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; and they shall be a place to spread forth the nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, all of the kinds of the fish, even as you find in the Mediterranean, just a great variety of fish (Ezekiel 47:6-10).
So the interesting thing about this new river that will flow into the Dead Sea originating there at the temple in Jerusalem will bring a healing to the waters of the Dead Sea so that the Dead Sea will no longer be a dead sea, but the waters will support all kinds of fish and it'll be a great fishing spa. So you might want to go down there and open up a worm stand or something and you can be a successful man in the Kingdom Age. Because they'll be fishing all the way from Engedi on down to Eneglaim.
Now, there are certain portions of the miry areas and the marshes of the Dead Sea that will remain salty. But for the main body of the Dead Sea, the waters will be healed.
And on these trees, their fruit shall be for the meat of the people, their leaf will not fade, neither will the fruit thereof [run out or] 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 will be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine (Ezekiel 47:12).
So these will be very interesting trees that each month will have a different kind of a fruit. They'll bear fruit year round, which will be a very life-sustaining type of a food. It'll be a very helpful fruit, sustain your life. Good protein, it'll be for meat. But the leaves will be used for healing, for their medicinal value. So these trees...
Now, in Revelation, you get the river that flows from the throne of God there, and again you find the trees on either side bringing forth the fruit. And so there, you know... of course, God is able, you say, "Well, I don't know of any tree like that." Of course you don't. God hasn't developed it yet. But He will develop it there in the Kingdom Age, and what's so hard for God to create an interesting fruit tree that has very nutritious fruit and bears all year long? Man, you'll want some of those in your garden. And the leaves will be good for medicinal purposes and the same things are described as along this river in heaven that is pure as crystal flowing from the throne of God in heaven. So read this along with Revelation 22 and you'll find the correlations that are there.
Now, even as the tabernacle in the wilderness was built as a model in heaven, so this probably again is a model of the heavenly things. And this river is more or less a model of that river flowing from the throne of God in heaven described in Revelation 22.
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