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.