And he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward for the front of the house was eastward. And the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, south of the altar.
At the door of the temple, Ezekiel sees water. It seeps out from under the threshold, runs east, and passes the south side of the altar. Everything else in the chapter — the measuring, the depth, the healed sea — depends on where that water starts.
This stream does not start in the hills. It starts where God dwells.
The waters that flow out of the sanctuary picture the life-giving power that comes from the throne of God. It flows through His temple and heals the Dead Sea, that lasting mark of judgment.
The starting point settles a question of order: does good come from God or from man?
The Lord's House must be established if peace is to be within the walls of Jerusalem (Ps. 122), and spread out to the nations (Isa. 2:2). It is from that House and not from any seat of learning that the life-giving waters will flow (Ezek. 47). That means that God must be first and not man, that from the heart of God and not from the brain of man all good comes.
The verse marks the route: the water comes down from the south side of the temple, south of the altar. Commentators read that detail as deliberate.
You will notice that the waters have their spring in God Himself. They flow from under His dwelling place, by the south side of the altar. This shows that the love of God could only reach this world by way of the Cross, which the altar pictures. There our blessed Lord, by His atoning death, made a righteous channel for the love of God to flow down.
The water deepens stage by stage, from the ankles to a river no one can cross. Nothing joins it along the way.
The striking thing here is how much the waters increase. There is not the least hint of side streams feeding them, as happens in ordinary nature; the thought is ruled out. It is an astonishing sign of God's gracious power. All of it gushes out from His house, yet the waters grow deeper, not shallower, the farther they get from their source — to the ankles, to the knees, to the waist, and at last a river to swim in that could not be crossed.
Commentators hold both sides together: this is an actual river in an actual land, and it carries a meaning. Its low starting point at the threshold is part of the picture.
These waters are a picture of life in the Spirit, in its origin and its growth. The stream deepens and widens as it flows, and it carries and spreads healing and life, greenness and fruitfulness. This life has its source in God, and is spiritually and divinely pure... Its LOWLY and HOLY origin is shown by its coming out from the THRESHOLD of the SANCTUARY. The SOVEREIGNTY of God's GRACE, founded on the atoning work of Christ, is shown in its coming from the THRONE of God and of the Lamb. Ezekiel 47 gives the LITERAL and EARTHLY view of it; Revelation 22 gives the SPIRITUAL and HEAVENLY view; and both are millennial.
The healed sea belongs to the millennial age — the coming reign of Christ on earth. Even then, the chapter sets a limit.
In Ezekiel 47 waters flow from the sanctuary, healing on every side, and the waters are full of fish. It is a striking picture of the blessing that will flow out in the millennial reign of Christ, for "everything will live where the river goes" (ver. 9)... The blessing will indeed be widespread, but it is not absolute or complete even in that day, for "its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt" (Ezek. 47:11).
The same water has a meaning for believers now. One writer traces the link.
Ezekiel 47:1-9 had predicted that waters would flow from the Millennial Temple, and that its waters would be living, since "everything will live where the river goes."... Those living waters will show that the living Lord is among them. But the Spirit was to be given when Jesus was glorified on high, long before the Millennial Day arrives. He marks His presence, and His indwelling of believers, by the outflow of the living waters in a spiritual way and not a material one... what Israel will enjoy in a more material way in that age, the believer is to know in a spiritual way in this age.
- Source — the water starts under God's house, not in nature. All good comes from the heart of God, not from the mind of man.
- Altar — it flows past the place of sacrifice. God's love reaches the world by way of the Cross.
- Increase — no side stream feeds it, yet it deepens from the ankles to a river no one can cross. It is pure gift, growing as it goes.
- Healing — it turns the sea of death into a place full of fish. The marshes left to salt show that the blessing of that day is real, but not yet complete.
- Now — Israel will one day have this as real water. The believer already knows it as the Spirit's living stream from the glorified Christ.
And he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round outside unto the outer gate towards [the gate] that looketh eastward; and behold, waters ran out on the right side.
Water has just appeared under the temple threshold. Now the guide takes the prophet the long way round, out through the north gate and along the outside wall, to the point where the stream leaves the house. Why the detour, and why does so small a trickle matter?
The east gates were shut, so the prophet could not follow the water straight out. One writer traces the whole path, and explains why "right side" in older translations means the south:
Brought back to the door of the House, the prophet sees waters flowing out from under its threshold. They flow from the House on the right side, that is, the south. The prophet stands facing east, looking toward the altar, so the south is on his right hand. On the south of the altar he sees the stream flowing eastward. The two east gates are closed, so his guide brings him out of the north gate and leads him around outside the wall of the outer court to the east gate. There the water was flowing out on the right side.
The water runs out past the altar. One writer reads that as the reason such blessing can reach a world like ours at all:
Notice that the waters find their spring in God Himself. They flow from under His dwelling place by the south side of the altar. This shows that the love of God could only reach this world by way of the Cross, which the altar pictures. There our blessed Lord, by His atoning death, made a righteous channel for the love of God to flow down.
The water at the gate is only a trickle. It then behaves like no river on earth:
The striking thing here is how the waters increase. There is not the least hint that anything is added from tributary streams, as happens in ordinary nature; the account rules that thought out. It is an astonishing display of God's gracious power. Everything gushes out from His house, yet the waters deepen quickly instead of growing shallower as they move away from their source — to the ankles, to the knees, to the loins, and at last until they are a river to swim in that could not be crossed.
Some writers read the four depths as stages in a believer's own experience. The move from the south side round to the north is part of that lesson. Older translations say "loins" where the ESV says waist-deep:
These waters picture life in the Spirit. It is small at its start in the new birth, and it goes on deepening and widening as it flows. It leads to purity of WALK, pictured by the water reaching to the "ankles." Patiently keeping on in holy walking leads to a spirit of WORSHIP, shown by the waters reaching to the "knees." The prophet was led from the SOUTH side — the side of loving-kindness and grace — back to the NORTH — the side of righteousness and judgment... The waters now reach to the "loins," for worship leads to SERVICE, the bent knee to the girded loins.
The stream has a destination — the Dead Sea. One writer follows it there:
The eastward direction is noted again (v. 8). Ezekiel is also told that the river flows into the Dead Sea and heals its waters, so that they teem with life, for "everything will live where the river goes." Its waters are waters of life flowing out from the Sanctuary of the living God. Only the marshes and pools are not healed; they are kept to supply salt.
Others point to a present counterpart that does not wait for that day:
The living waters will mark out that the living Lord is among them. But the Spirit was to be given when Jesus was glorified on high, long before the Millennial Day arrives. He marks out His presence and His indwelling of believers by the outflow of the living waters in a spiritual way, not a material one... Again and again we see this confirmed: what Israel will enjoy in a more material way in that age, the believer is to know in a spiritual way in this age.
- Source — Everything in this river starts at God's house. Nothing is added along the way; the volume comes wholly from where it began.
- Channel — It runs out past the altar. Writers read that as the reason God's love can reach the world at all: the cross made a righteous way for it to flow down.
- Trickle — At the gate it is only water running out at the side. What starts small does not stay small.
- Depth — Ankles, knees, loins, then a river to swim in that could not be crossed — walk, worship, service, deepening all the way.
- Destination — The stream ends in the Dead Sea and heals it. Israel will know this in a material way in a coming day; believers know the same life now by the Spirit.
When the man went forth eastward, a line was in his hand; and he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters the waters were to the ankles.
A stream has just begun to flow from the temple, and the man with the measuring line walks the prophet into it ankle-deep. That small start raises the question the rest of the chapter answers: why does a river get deeper as it leaves its source?
The measuring is not a survey of a normal watercourse. No streams join it, yet each stage doubles down on the last:
The striking thing here is how much the waters increase. There is no hint of any addition from tributary streams, as in ordinary nature — that thought is ruled out. It is an astonishing display of God's gracious power. Everything gushes out from His house, yet the waters deepen fast instead of growing shallower as they move away from their source: to the ankles, to the knees, to the waist, and at last until they are a river to swim in that no one could cross.
One writer reads the vision literally first: real water, and a real change in the land when Christ reigns.
When His throne is exalted in Zion, the living waters will flow out (see Ezekiel 47:1-12) and bring amazing fertility to the very earth. This passage is no doubt a picture of spiritual blessing, but it must first be taken in its literal sense. The curse will be lifted off the face of creation.
The tool in the man's hand has changed since the earlier chapters of the vision.
He was to take a reed and measure; "cubits" would never do here. In chapter 47:3 it is a line in the man's hand.
The man who leads Ezekiel through the water is never named.
Ezekiel, in his vision of glorious things to come, was guided by a man with a measuring line in his hand. Unlike the heavenly messenger who appeared to Daniel (Daniel 9:21), this man had no name. He is rightly seen as a picture of the Holy Spirit. He is the One who searches out the deep things of God for us, so that He may lead us into an understanding of them (1 Corinthians 2:10).
The first measurement is the shallowest, and that is exactly its lesson. Speaking to younger believers, one writer ties ankle-deep water to the very start of the Christian life:
Now it would be good for all of us to understand clearly about new birth. This is the necessary start. It is a great blessing to have no doubt that you have truly been born of water and the Holy Spirit. But let us not be satisfied with simply being born, for it is only the start. Shall I say just "ankle" deep? The ankles suggest walking, and we cannot begin the Christian walk until we are born again. Many seem satisfied with just being converted and make little further progress.
Shallow water still has a firm bottom. The stage the prophet reaches first is read as the settled place every believer is given at the outset.
Isn't it encouraging, especially to young people, that there is nothing vague about this? It is our standing, and there is something very comforting about it. God gives us a standing where we are firmly established. It is God's thought that we are brought into something we can stand on. It is like getting the ankles into the river mentioned in Ezekiel 47. We go on eastward, towards the coming of Christ, and the river gets deeper. But at the start there are waters up to the ankles, "grace in which we stand."
Each depth touches a different part of the body, and each part stands for a stage of growth.
These waters picture life in the Spirit. It is small at its beginning in the new birth, and it goes on deepening and widening as it flows. It leads to purity of WALK, pictured by the water reaching the "ankles." Patient continuance in holy walking leads to a spirit of WORSHIP; this is shown by the waters reaching the "knees." … The waters now reach the "loins," for worship leads to SERVICE — the bent knee to the girded waist, occupied with the Master's service in the hope of His return. "Waters to swim in." Patient continuance in doing good leads the soul into a richer and fuller acquaintance with God. It brings the enjoyment of His manifested presence and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
- Source. The stream starts at God's house and deepens as it goes. No tributaries feed it, so only God's gracious power explains the growth.
- Guide. A man with a line measures each stage and leads the prophet in. He has no name. Writers see in him the Spirit, who leads us into the deep things of God.
- Start. Ankle deep is where everyone begins. The ankles suggest walking, and no one walks before new birth — but many stop at the start.
- Standing. Even the shallowest water has solid ground under it — the grace in which we stand, firm from the first step.
- Progress. Ankles, knees, waist, then water to swim in — walk, worship, service, and finally depths no one can cross. The measuring line keeps moving east; the invitation is to keep moving with it.
And he measured a thousand [cubits], and caused me to pass through the waters the waters were to the knees. And he measured a thousand and caused me to pass through the waters were to the loins.
A man with a measuring line leads Ezekiel deeper into the stream from under the temple, and the water climbs from his knees to his waist. Strangely, this river grows deeper the further it runs from its source.
This chapter belongs to a coming day, when God's throne is raised up in Zion. One writer keeps both the literal and the spiritual sense.
Lastly, when His throne is exalted in Zion the living waters will flow forth (see Ezek. 47:1-12) and bring amazing fertility to the very earth. This passage is no doubt a picture of spiritual blessing, but first of all it must be taken literally. God will lift the curse from the face of creation.
Ordinary rivers deepen because other streams join them. Nothing joins this one, yet it keeps rising.
The striking thing here is how the waters increase. There is not the least hint of anything added from side streams, as happens with ordinary rivers; the thought is ruled out. This is an astonishing display of God's gracious power. Everything gushes out from His house. Yet the waters grow deeper, not shallower, the further they run from their source — to the ankles, to the knees, to the waist, and at last to a river to swim in, one that could not be crossed.
The water does not begin at the knees. It begins under God's house, and it passes the altar on the way out.
The waters, you will notice, find their spring in God Himself. They flow out from under His dwelling place, by the south side of the altar. This shows that the love of God could only reach this world by way of the Cross, which the altar pictures. There our blessed Lord, by His atoning death, made a righteous channel for the love of God to flow down.
Twice in this verse the man leads the prophet through the water. Ezekiel did not wade in alone — and neither do we.
It is the story of the river of blessing that flowed from the house of God. The prophet was led into it step by step, until he found it to be waters to swim in, too deep to measure and without a shore. But he could not have gone into those waters if he had not kept company with the man who held the measuring line. This man was a figure of the Holy Spirit, "who searches everything, even the depths of God" (1 Cor. 2:10). He it is that "will guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13). The fullness must flow into us, and we must make room for it and receive it wave upon wave. We are to be led into it as well, and only the Spirit of God can lead us into it.
Writers take the parts of the body the water reaches as stages of Christian growth. Older translations say "loins" where the ESV says "waist-deep".
These waters picture life in the Spirit. It is small at its start in the new birth, but it goes on deepening and widening as it flows. First it leads to purity of WALK, pictured by the water reaching the "ankles." Then patient continuance in holy walking leads to a spirit of WORSHIP, shown by the waters reaching the "knees." … Now the waters reach the "loins," for worship leads to SERVICE. The bent knee gives way to the girded loins, taken up with the service of the Master in the hope of His return.
Knee-depth and waist-depth are not simply "more of the same". Tracing the water through John's Gospel, Trench finds it moving in two different directions.
In chapter 4 the water flows up to God in worship, and here in chapter 7 it flows out in ministry to man. How can we have anything to give unless we keep drawing water from the wells of salvation? Here, then, we have water up to the loins, and if we are to serve God in spreading the fame of our blessed Lord and seek to lead others to Him, we need to gird up our loins for service.
The measuring stops where the water gets too deep to stand in. One writer sees in that ending a grace no one ever exhausts.
This water is also plentiful. It is not a pool but a "river," like Ezekiel's river, "a river to swim in," "a river that cannot be passed over." Oh, the depths of the riches of the grace of God! … Its source is hidden, but the further you trace it from that source, the wider and deeper it becomes. So it is with the grace of God in Christ. None of us knows much of its depth, height, length and breadth. But this we know: the longer we live, the more we feel our need of the glorious truths of the sovereign and unchanging grace of God to hold us up, and the more we enter into its vastness.
- Source — the stream springs from God's house. It passes the altar, the sign that God's love reached this world by the cross.
- Increase — nothing flows in to swell it, yet it deepens as it goes. The rise displays God's gracious power alone.
- Guide — the man with the line takes Ezekiel through at every stage. He pictures the Spirit, who guides us into all the truth.
- Stages — ankles for walk, knees for worship, loins for service; each stage grows out of the one before.
- Depth — the measuring ends in water too deep to cross. No one ever finishes exploring a grace like that.
And he measured a thousand it was a river that I could not pass through, for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.
A man with a measuring line has already led Ezekiel three times into the stream flowing out of the temple. At the fourth thousand the prophet loses his footing. The water is now too deep to cross, and commentators ask what that means for the earth and for anyone who follows the water in.
In nature a river deepens because other streams feed it. This one has no such streams, and one writer calls that a display of God's power.
The striking thing here is how much the waters increase. There is no hint that other streams flow in to feed them, as happens in ordinary nature. In fact that idea is ruled out. It is an astonishing display of God's gracious power. Everything gushes out from His house, yet the waters deepen fast instead of growing shallower as they move away from their source, until at last they are a river to swim in that could not be passed through.
The river runs out from under God's house and past the altar. One writer reads that route as the answer to how God's love ever reached this world.
Notice that the waters find their spring in God Himself. They flow from under His dwelling place by the south side of the altar. This shows that the love of God could only reach this world by way of the Cross. The altar pictures the Cross, where our blessed Lord by His atoning death made a righteous channel for the love of God to flow down.
Each earlier measure touched a different part of the body. One writer reads a spiritual progression in that, ending where standing is no longer possible.
These waters picture life in the Spirit. It is small at its beginning in the new birth, and it keeps deepening and widening as it flows. It leads to purity of WALK, pictured by the water reaching the "ankles." Patient continuing in holy walking leads to a spirit of WORSHIP; the waters reaching the "knees" show this. … The waters now reach the "loins," for worship leads to SERVICE, the bent knee to the girded loins… "Waters to swim in." Patient continuing in well-doing leads the soul into a richer and fuller knowledge of God, the enjoyment of His manifested presence, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
At every stage the man with the line brings the prophet through. One writer asks who that guide pictures, and ends with a warning.
The prophet was led step by step into this river of blessing, until he found it to be waters to swim in, unfathomable and shoreless. But he could not have gone into those waters if he had not stayed in company with the man who held the measuring line. This man was a figure of the Holy Spirit, "who searches everything, even the depths of God" (1 Cor. 2:10). He it is that "will guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13). … So we must heed the command, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" (Eph. 4:30).
At this fourth thousand the measuring gives out. One writer hears good news in that.
This water is also abundant. It is not a pool, but a "river," like Ezekiel's river, "deep enough to swim in," "a river that could not be passed through." Oh, the depths of the riches of the grace of God! … A river's origin is hidden, but the further you trace it from its source, the wider and deeper it becomes. So is the grace of God in Christ… the longer we live, the more we enter into its vastness.
Not every reading of this river is symbolic. One writer puts its literal sense first.
When His throne is exalted in Zion the living waters will flow out (see Ezek. 47:1-12) and bring amazing fertility to the very earth. This passage no doubt pictures spiritual blessing, but it must first be taken in its literal sense. The curse will be lifted off the face of creation.
Swimming in the water is not where the vision ends. One writer names what it leads to.
Here we may be sure are waters that could not be passed through — waters to swim in. The result will be… fruit-bearing. The river of living water flows down from its heavenly source by way of the Cross to us, and leads us in varying measures to bear fruit for the Lord, for "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples."
- Source. No other streams feed this river. It all pours from God's house, past the altar, so every drop reaches us by way of the Cross.
- Step. Ankles, knees and loins picture walk, worship and service. They are stages, not the goal; each thousand takes you further out of your own depth.
- Guide. Ezekiel gets in only by staying with the man holding the line. That man pictures the Spirit, who searches the depths of God and leads believers into them.
- Limit. "Could not be passed through" is good news. Grace outruns measurement, and deepens the further you trace it.
- Fruit. Swimming depth is not the finish. It leads to much fruit, and that is how the Father is glorified.
And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen [this]? And he led me, and brought me back to the bank of the river.
Ezekiel's guide has walked him out into a stream that deepened until no one could cross it, and now turns him back to the bank. What is he meant to have seen, and why must he look again from the edge of the water?
The question points back to the measuring just before it. Most rivers grow because other streams join them, and they thin out far from the spring. This river does neither:
The striking thing here is the remarkable increase of the waters. The account gives no hint of any addition from tributary streams, as happens in an ordinary river. It rules that thought out. It is an astonishing display of God's gracious power. It all gushes out from His house. Yet the waters deepen quickly instead of growing shallower as they move away from their source. They rise to the ankles, then the knees, then the loins. At last they become a river to swim in that no one could cross.
The water comes from under God's dwelling place, and it passes the altar on its way out. One writer sees meaning in that route:
The waters, you will notice, have their spring in God Himself. They flow from under His dwelling place by the south side of the altar. This shows that the love of God could only reach this world by way of the Cross, which the altar pictures. There our blessed Lord by His atoning death made a righteous channel for the love of God to flow down.
The guide brings him back to the edge. From the bank the prophet sees what the water has done along its whole course:
The prophet now walks the banks of this river. He finds both banks covered with a rich growth of trees. Their leaves never fade and their fruit never fails, supplying medicine and food.
The end of the chapter gives the reason for that fruitfulness. One writer, quoting an older translation, tells his readers not to hurry past it:
Now read the twelfth verse. Notice that along the banks of this glorious river "all trees for food shall grow, whose leaves never fade, nor the fruit be consumed" (an endless supply), "and they shall bring forth new fruit according to the months." Why? "Because their waters issued out of the Sanctuary." Note this statement well.
The river runs on east, down to the Dead Sea:
The easterly direction is noted again (v. 8). Ezekiel is also told that the river flows into the Dead Sea. It heals that sea's waters so that they teem with life, for "everything will live where the river goes." Its waters are waters of life flowing out from the Sanctuary of the living God. Only the marshes and pools are not healed; they are kept as a means of supplying salt.
Commentators differ on how much of this is symbol. Some hold the river is as literal as the rest of the vision:
An outpouring of the Holy Spirit may go with it. Even so, there is no solid ground for questioning this part of the vision. It is just as literal as what comes before and after. It is all really of one piece.
Others read the water first of all as a figure of the Spirit at work:
Waters flow out from the sanctuary and run eastward down to the Dead Sea. Water is a picture of the Spirit of God in His life-giving activity, through the word of God. Life and blessing, through the Word and Spirit, flow out to carry healing to the desolate places of the earth. Wherever the waters flow, life springs up: the bitter waters are healed and fish fill the very lake of death.
One writer moves from the vision to the reader who considers it:
What a stream of blessing — our grasp of it deepening as we consider it — is the one that flows from the death of Christ.
- Look. "Have you seen this?" The guide stops the prophet, questions him, and brings him back to the bank to view what the water has done.
- Source. The river starts under God's house and passes the altar. So the love of God reaches the world by way of the Cross.
- Depth. No tributary feeds it, yet it keeps deepening — ankles, knees, loins, waters to swim in. That marks it as God's gracious power, not nature.
- Fruit. From the bank he sees trees on both sides with unfading leaves and unfailing fruit. They bear because their water came from the sanctuary.
- Reach. The stream runs down to the Dead Sea and heals it. Everything lives where the river goes; only the marshes are kept for salt.
When I returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And he said unto me, These waters issue out toward the east district, and go down into the plain, and go into the sea; when they are brought forth into the sea, the waters [thereof] shall be healed.
In Ezekiel's vision a stream leaves the temple and runs east. It goes down through the valley of the Jordan and empties into the Dead Sea, and there the salt water turns fresh. Is this a picture of spiritual blessing, a promise of real change to the land, or both?
The sea here is not the Mediterranean. It is the lake at the southern end of the land, and Scripture calls it by several names:
The lake on the south of Palestine, now commonly called the Dead Sea, because it was long thought that nothing alive could exist in it. But some simple organisms have been found at its northern end. It is called "the Salt Sea" in Numbers 34:3, 12, and "the Sea of the Arabah" in Deuteronomy 4:49. It is "the East Sea" in Ezekiel 47:18 and Joel 2:20, and just "the Sea" in Ezekiel 47:8. The name "Salt Sea" is very fitting, for it holds far more salt than ordinary sea water.
Some early translators missed what "the Arabah" means:
Some of the ancient versions (the Greek, Syriac, and Arabic) have missed the plain and certain meaning of verse 8. All three blundered alike in making "Arabah" mean Galilee ... instead of the plain or valley of the Jordan.
Of all the places the river could reach, it reaches the deadest. The ESV says the water will "become fresh"; older translations say the sea will be "healed":
The Dead Sea will be healed. It has stood as God's witness to His hatred of sin, for many believe that the guilty cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, lie sunk in its depths. At present no fish can live in its over-salted waters, and no bird flies over its dreary waste.
What the water does depends on where it comes from:
The waters that flow out from the sanctuary stand for the life-giving power that comes from the throne of God. That power flows through His temple and heals the Dead Sea, the lasting token of judgment. The waters teem with fish, and the trees that grow beside them are full of fruit. Only the marshes remain under the curse — they are "given to salt." The blessing of that day is real and abundant, but not complete.
Another writer traces the same water back through the altar of sacrifice:
Only the stream flowing out from the glory of God, by way of the altar of sacrifice, can turn the wilderness into a garden and undo the ruin that sin has caused. Within the limits of God's purpose "there is nothing — nothing too sunken, too useless, too doomed — that the grace of God cannot redeem, lift and make rich with life."
One writer holds both sides together:
When His throne is lifted high in Zion, the living waters will flow out (see Ezekiel 47:1-12) and bring amazing fruitfulness to the very earth. This passage is no doubt a picture of spiritual blessing, but we must first take it in its literal sense. The curse will be lifted off the face of creation.
One writer traces this healing back to its source in Christ:
Malachi says that for those who fear God's name the sun of righteousness will rise "with healing in His wings." That phrase means this: all who come under the influence of Christ in that day will receive divine healing, and He will bring it about by giving them a fuller life. (The promise is addressed especially to the faithful few.) So life and healing are clearly connected. We learn further from the book of Revelation that the leaves of the tree of life — and this is Christ risen — will be for the healing of the nations.
after
Another writer names what the water stands for:
Water is a type of the Spirit of God in His life-giving activity, through the word of God. Life and blessing, through the Word and Spirit, flow out to carry healing to the desolate places of the earth. Wherever the waters flow, life springs up: the bitter waters are healed and fish abound in the very lake of death.
- Source — The river starts at the sanctuary and flows by way of the altar; the healing power is God's, not the water's.
- Direction — It runs east and down into the Arabah, the plain of the Jordan, and on into the Salt Sea.
- Target — It heads for the one place that stands as God's witness against sin, where no fish can live.
- Result — Healed means alive: fish in the water, fruit on the trees, and healing for the nations.
- Limit — The marshes stay salt. The blessing of that day is real and abundant, but not complete.
And it shall come to pass that every living thing which moveth, whithersoever the double river shall come, shall live. And there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters shall come thither, and [the waters of the sea] shall be healed; and everything shall live whither the river cometh.
In Ezekiel's vision a river flows out of the temple and runs down to the Dead Sea. Here he learns what the water does when it arrives. The promise is life. But commentators differ: is this a real change in the land, a picture of spiritual blessing, or both?
The river's power comes from its source, not its size.
The river flows out from the house filled with God's glory. It passes the altar of sacrifice, where the work of judgment is finished. It runs down to the sea of death. It takes away the curse of that sea and brings fruitfulness and life where barrenness and death had ruled. For the Deliverer has come out of Zion, and creation sings its Hallelujah.
God does not send the stream to an easy target. He aims it at the one sea everyone knew was dead.
God takes that valley just because it is such an example of dryness, and He declares that it will be watered then. It is because the east sea is famous as a sea of death that He will make it teem with life. Blessing will spread to the ends of the earth, and from this centre — the house of Jehovah.
That sea also carries a meaning: it stands for what humanity did to the world given into its hands.
The Dead Sea and the land around it are a symbol of the utter ruin that man, by his sin, brought into the world that God gave him to rule (Gen. 1:28-30). But "the wages of sin is death."
The crowds of fish are more than scenery. One writer sees the healed sea as a picture of Israel's own return to life.
When Israel is restored in a future day, a river will flow out of the house — the future temple. It will go down into the desert and run into this sea, and the waters will be healed. En-gedi, about halfway along the western shore of the Dead Sea, will be one of the fishermen's stations. This is a beautiful picture of God one day bringing to life the dead and dry bones of Israel and Judah, and making them the means of life to others.
The promise is wide, yet the vision sets a limit two verses later. That limit marks the edge of the millennium — the coming age of blessing on earth.
But the "healing waters" will not restore every part of the earth. Its marshes and its pools will not be healed; they will be given up to salt. The new heavens and the new earth in their fullness and absolute perfection belong to the eternal state, and will not come during the millennium. Here we read of the "great sea" and of "the great multitude of fish". But no sea will exist in the eternal state, when God will dwell with men.
Commentators differ in emphasis here. Some read the river mainly as a symbol of the Spirit's work. One writer answers that a symbol and a real river are not rivals.
It is God's own blessing that will change this familiar, yet awful, scene of death outside into life and fruitfulness, though it flows out from the house of Jehovah. Whatever outpouring of the Holy Spirit goes with it, there is no solid ground to doubt that this part of the vision is just as literal as what comes before and after. It is all of one piece.
This river also speaks to the present. One writer links its living waters to the Spirit given to believers now.
The living waters will be the sign that the living Lord is among them. But the Spirit was to be given when Jesus was glorified on high, long before the Millennial Day arrives. He marks His presence, and His dwelling in believers, by the outflow of the living waters in a spiritual and not a material way. Again and again we see it proved true: what Israel will enjoy in a more material way in that age, the believer is to know in a spiritual way in this age.
- Source. The river starts in the house filled with God's glory and passes the altar of sacrifice.
- Target. God aims the stream at the sea of death, the very picture of the ruin sin brought on the world man was given to rule.
- Reach. Wherever it arrives, life follows — and the healed become the means of life to others.
- Limit. The marshes are left to salt; this age of blessing still falls short of the new heavens and new earth.
- Now. Israel will enjoy this in material form one day. The believer knows it already in spiritual form, through the Spirit given when Jesus was glorified.
And it shall come to pass, that fishers shall stand upon it; from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim 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.
Ezekiel sees fishermen standing along the shore of a sea where no fish can live. The verse names two points on that shore and promises nets spread over dead water. Two questions follow: what makes such a change possible, and how literally should we take it?
That sea has long stood as a marker of God's judgment. One writer sets its present state beside the promise:
The Dead Sea has stood as God's witness to His hatred of sin. Many believe that the guilty cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, lie sunk in its depths. That sea will be healed. At present no fish can live in its heavily salted waters, and no bird flies over its dreary waste.
Some read the whole chapter as a picture of spiritual blessing only. One writer insists that the promise is meant as plainly as the rest of the vision:
The blessing that will change the familiar, yet awful, scene of death outside into life and fruitfulness is God's own blessing, even though it flows out from the house of Jehovah. The Holy Spirit may well be poured out along with it. Even so, there is no solid ground to question that this part of the vision is just as literal as what comes before and after. It is all really of one piece.
The two names mark out the stretch of coast where the fishing will happen. One writer takes them as the two ends of the Dead Sea, and reads the whole passage as Israel's restoration on new ground:
It appears that the two places pointed out to the fishermen as a boundary were the two ends of the Dead Sea. The main features of the whole passage are the re-establishment of Israel, but on new ground, and a blessing like that of paradise. Yet, after all, this blessing did not entirely remove all evil, as will be the case in the eternal ages. There is a powerful and lasting source of blessing which rises far above the evil and almost wipes it out; even so, the evil is not entirely taken away.
The verse compares the catch to the fish of the Great Sea — the Mediterranean. One writer explains how sea fish could get there:
The Great Sea is the Mediterranean. From Joel 3:18 and Zechariah 14:8 we know that a great valley will open between the Mediterranean and Jerusalem, and from there to the Dead Sea. That is why "Great Sea" fish will be found in the Dead Sea in that wonderful day.
Everything depends on where the stream starts. It flows out from God's house, past the altar — and that, one writer argues, is why it can heal at all:
The inflow of these living waters changes everything, so that life and fruitfulness take the place of curse and death. Only one stream can turn the wilderness into a garden and undo the ruin sin has caused: the stream flowing out from the glory of God, by way of the altar of sacrifice. Within the limits of God's purpose "there is nothing — nothing too sunken, too useless, too doomed — that by the grace of God may not be redeemed, lifted and made rich with life."
The healed sea does more than come alive; it feeds people. One writer reads the whole scene as a picture of Israel:
When God restores Israel in a future day, a river will flow out of the house, the future temple. This river will go down into the desert and run into this sea, and the waters will be healed. En-gedi will be one of the stations of the fishermen. A beautiful figure of God's future bringing to life the dead and dry bones of Israel and Judah, and making them the means of life to others.
- Source. The water flows out of God's house and passes the altar. That starting point, not the sea itself, is why anything lives.
- Sea. The water reaches the Dead Sea, where nothing can live — God's standing witness to His hatred of sin.
- Shore. Where the water arrives, people arrive. Fishermen stand from En-gedi to En-eglaim, the two ends of that coast.
- Sweep. The catch is huge: fish of many kinds, like those of the Mediterranean. One writer links this to a new valley opened toward the Great Sea.
- Sign. Israel is the sea in the picture. God brings her from death to life, then makes her the means of life to others. Even so, that blessing does not remove all evil yet.
But its marshes and its pools shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt.
Ezekiel sees a river flow from the sanctuary and turn the Dead Sea into water full of fish. So why does one line in the vision leave the swamps and marshes to salt?
The verse turns on a contrast. Everything the river touches lives. These places alone stay as they were.
The waters that flow out from the sanctuary stand for the life-giving power that comes from the throne of God. That power runs through His temple and heals the Dead Sea, the lasting token of judgment. The waters are full of fish. The trees beside them are full of fruit. The marshes alone remain under the curse — they are "left for salt." The blessing of that day is real and abundant, but not complete.
The untouched ground is not an oversight. God keeps it in plain sight, so that a blessed world still sees what sin once did.
It is evidently God's way to have a memorial of sin's effects, even when those effects are otherwise not visible. Take the millennial age. The face of the earth will be smiling with abundant fruitfulness, and mankind will be richly blessed. Yet of certain spots it is written that they will not become fresh, but will be left for salt (Ezekiel 47:11). In some way, too, the bodies of the men who rebelled against the Lord will be preserved, so that people go out and look at them (Isaiah 66:23-24). It will be good for those blessed in that delightful age to have before them reminders of what sin once did, both in nature and among men.
Salt is the point of the phrase, and it means more than ruin. Salt preserves and salt seasons. So these beds are more than a mark of judgment — they are also a supply.
Yet the past must be remembered, the work of judgment must not be forgotten: and this will serve its own purpose. "But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt." This is the witness of God's unbending righteousness and unchanging holiness. That nature acts in both preserving and sanctifying power. From this supply will surely come, as of old, the salt used in the temple service. God's grace is seasoned with salt — the preserving energy of the divine will.
The same limit that shows up in the soil shows up in people. Blessing will pour out from the throne to the whole world, and still not every heart will take it.
So we gather this blessed truth. Streams of life-giving power and blessing will flow out from His throne to all the world, without hindrance and without end, because He rules in righteousness… And yet there will be exceptions to this worldwide blessing. As we read in Ezekiel, the swamps and marshes will not become fresh. Even a rule of righteous government will not be perfect. Flesh will remain flesh. Many will give only a pretended obedience, and in their hearts they will refuse the blessing held out to them.
Because this verse marks a limit, it points past itself. What Ezekiel sees is real restoration — but not the final one, where nothing will need repair.
But the "healing waters" will not fully restore every part of the earth. … The millennium will not bring the fullness and absolute perfection that the new heavens and the new earth will have in the eternal state. Here we read of the "great sea" and of "the great multitude of fish." But no sea will exist in the eternal state, when God will dwell with men. The present earth, with its land and sea, will by then have passed away for ever (Revelation 21:1-3).
Writers agree the verse marks a contrast; one of them adds a warning about how far to carry it.
The intimation is enough to establish the contrast, but I do not think it can be pressed further.
- Real — The river heals the Dead Sea itself. Fish fill the water, and the trees on its banks are full of fruit.
- Not complete — The swamps and marshes stay salt. Even at its best, the coming age keeps a visible limit.
- Remembered — God leaves this ground unhealed on purpose. It reminds a blessed world of what sin once did.
- Preserved — Salt is not only ruin. It witnesses to God's unchanging holiness. The same beds may supply the salt for the temple service.
- Awaited — The limit in the ground matches the limit in hearts. Both point on to a state where nothing needs healing.
And by the river, upon its bank, on the one side and on the other, shall grow all trees for food, whose leaf shall not fade, nor their fruit fail it shall bring forth new fruit every month, for its waters issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for medicine.
Ezekiel's vision ends with a river flowing out from under the temple, lined with trees that never lose a leaf. The verse gives the reason they thrive, and names what they give: food and healing.
The trees are not remarkable in themselves. Everything hangs on the last clause of the verse, which one writer urges his readers to weigh carefully.
Now read the twelfth verse, and notice that along the banks of this glorious river "all trees for food shall grow, whose leaves never fade, nor the fruit be consumed" (endless supply)... Why? "because their waters issued out of the sanctuary." Note well this statement.
This water has no distant or hidden origin, and that changes its character:
Both this river and the river of Revelation flow from the sanctuary-throne. They are not like Egypt's river, which comes from a distant source that may not even be known. God is enthroned among an obedient people, and He is the spring of this blessing — deep, wide, and never-ending. This is His needed, generous service to creatures who "live and move and have their being" in Him.
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Is this picture language, or a real landscape? One writer says it is both.
When His throne is exalted in Zion, the living waters will flow out (see Ezekiel 47:1-12) and bring amazing fertility to the very earth. This passage is doubtless a symbol of spiritual blessing, but we must first take it in its literal sense. The curse will be lifted off the face of creation.
The same river runs into the Dead Sea. One writer asks what that will do to the riches stored there today.
Someone may ask: what will become of the wonderful chemical riches of the Dead Sea that we have heard so much about? We answer: in one stroke these riches will vanish, and the healing of the Dead Sea will be a kind act of God. The curse will be largely lifted off the earth. These chemical riches are valuable as fertilisers today. In that happy world they will be of no use. The soil will need no fertiliser. Pests will not attack the plants, and frost and drought will not kill them, as our verse implies.
The leaf for medicine is a small detail with a large consequence. One writer uses it to fix which age this vision belongs to.
But in Ezekiel everything is clearly earthly, and the blessing is not yet full. The waters run down into the salt sea and heal it, so that great numbers of fish live in it. Yet there are muddy places and marshes that are not healed. They are left to salt. In the Old Testament prophet and in the New, we see that the earth is still in the millennial state, not the eternal one. In both, the leaves of the tree are for medicine. In both, there is still need of healing.
One writer points out that the fruit and the leaves serve two different groups, in two different places.
It is probable that Ezekiel 47:12 refers to the same thing as Revelation 22:2. In both passages we learn that not only does the Tree yield food, but the leaves are to be used for medicine. Revelation clearly applies this feature of the Tree of Life to the nations — those spared to enter the millennial blessing on earth. We shall not need medicine in heaven, beloved saints of God. There will be no crippled or diseased bodies there, and no more broken, sorrowing hearts. Ours is to eat the fruit of all that Christ is, in its season — always varied, never dull. But look around today, and see the open sores and the fevered state of the nations on earth. How comforting to know that the Tree of Life will give them healing in its season.
The fruit does not stay on the riverbank.
Then Israel will blossom and bud, and fill the whole earth with fruit. Out of the earthly city will flow earthly glory, government, and blessing. The people of Zion will be joyful in their King, while they and the saved nations walk in the light of the golden city.
- Source. The trees live because their water comes from the sanctuary. God enthroned among His people is the spring, not some distant, unknown source.
- Supply. The source never fails. So the leaf never fades, the fruit is never used up, and fresh fruit comes every month.
- Reach. The same stream heals the Dead Sea and lifts the curse off the soil. The land will need no fertiliser, and no pest, frost or drought will spoil the crop.
- Remedy. The leaf is for medicine. That marks the scene as the millennial earth, the age when Christ reigns here, and not the eternal state. Healing is still needed, and it is there.
- Result. Food by the river, medicine for the nations, blessing flowing out from the city until the whole earth bears fruit.