   

Ezekiel 1-16 17-32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45

46 47 48

EZEKIEL 47 – THE RIVER

OF LIFE
Enduring
A. The river from the temple. Word
1. (1-2) The river’s source: the temple. Bible
Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and
Commen
there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the
By
temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced
:David
east; the water was flowing from under the right side of Guzik
the temple, south of the altar. He brought me out by way Quick
of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the Navigation
outer gateway that faces east; and there was water,
running out on the right side.

a. There was water, flowing from under the threshold

of the temple: Led back to the door of the temple
(presumably by the radiant man of Ezekiel 40:3),
Ezekiel saw something that never existed in the
temple before: a river flowing directly from the temple.

i. “Ezekiel uses this imagery to affirm that the new

temple, like the old, will be a font of blessing for
Israel.” (Vawter and Hoppe)

ii. Significantly, the river does not come from a

king’s palace or a government building. It doesn’t
come from a marketplace, a place of business, or
an athletic arena. It comes from God’s house.
b. There was water, running out on the right side: In all    
of its recorded history, Jerusalem never had such a
river. There were streams and springs, but never a rich,
mighty river, and never one flowing from this part of
the city. In the semi-arid geography of Israel a river like
this was both a blessing and a miracle. It brought life,
growth, vitality, refreshment, hope, and security.

i. “Blessing, fertility and water are almost

interchangeable ideas in the Old Testament”
(Taylor). We think of the beauty of Psalm 46:4:
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There is a river whose streams shall make glad the BLOG POSTS
city of God.
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ii. “Jerusalem is the only great city of the ancient
CornerstoneMarc
world that wasn’t located on a river, and in the
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east, a dependable water supply is essential for
pm
life and for defense. During the Kingdom Age,
Jerusalem shall have a river such as no other Filled with
nation ever had.” (Wiersbe) the Holy
SpiritMarch 15,
iii. Running out on the right side: “The waters
2021 - 12:14 am
seem to have been at first in small quantity; for the
words imply that they oozed or dropped out. They
The Right
were at first so small that they came, drop by drop;
Thing in the
but they increased.” (Clarke)
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iv. “We have reminders that flowing streams are WayMarch 7,
parables of the flowing life of God (e.g. 2021 - 10:12 pm
Psalm 42:1; Jeremiah 2:13; John 4:10-15).”
(Wright)
Subscribe to
v. Trapp gave a typical spiritualized explanation of our mailing
this river: “The gospel of grace, and the gifts of the list
Holy Ghost thereby conveyed into the hearts of
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believers, and poured out upon the world by the Email Address *
death of Christ.”

vi. Though such a river has symbolic meaning, we

First Name
should not miss the plain promises of such a river
 in the coming kingdom of the Messiah.    

· A fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD

Last Name
(Joel 3:18).

· And in that day it shall be – that living waters shall

flow from Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:8). Get Prayer
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vii. John mentioned a similar river relevant to the David Guzik
eternal state in Revelation, but it isn’t the same as
Enduring Word
this river. “The variance between Ezekiel’s account Info

of this river and that of John in the Revelation Receive David

Guzik's Weekly
centers on the river’s source. God is the source of Devotional
both rivers; but Ezekiel saw the river issuing from Inspiration by
the temple, whereas John saw the river coming Email

from the throne of God and of the Lamb (a temple Special Emails:
Pastors,
not existing according to Revelation 21:22).” Preachers, Bible
Teachers
(Alexander)
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2. (3-5) The river’s increasing depth. Teachers

And when the man went out to the east with the line in his Subscribe
hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought
me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles.
Again he measured one thousand and brought me
through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again
he measured one thousand and brought me through; the
water came up to my waist. Again he measured one
thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the
water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river
that could not be crossed. He said to me, “Son of man,
have you seen this?” Then he brought me and returned
me to the bank of the river.

a. When the man went out to the east with the line in
his hand: Ezekiel’s unnamed guide followed the course
of the river as it flowed out to the east. He followed
the river one thousand cubits (about one third of a
mile or one-half a kilometer) from some point, perhaps
its origin from the temple.
b. He brought me through the waters: Together with    
the unnamed guide, Ezekiel went into and through the
waters. The river was not something for Ezekiel to
simply look at or think about; it was something for him
to enter in to.

c. The water came up to my ankles: At the measured

distance (one thousand cubits), the river was as deep
as Ezekiel’s ankles. It wasn’t very deep, but Ezekiel
was in it as much as he could be, experiencing all the
depth the river had at that point.

i. The phrase, the water came up to my ankles, is

literally water of ankles. Taylor relates how this led
to a bad translation and bad theology: “So strange
did this phrase seem to the lxx translator that he
virtually transliterated it and made ‘water of
remission,’ with the result that many early
Christian commentators applied this symbolism
to the waters of baptism. A warning to both
translators and interpreters!”

d. Again he measured one thousand and brought me

through the waters: Ezekiel’s guide continued
eastward with the flow of the river, and he brought
Ezekiel with him along the way. This continued for four
measures of one thousand cubits in total.

e. The water came up to my knees… up to my waist:

As Ezekiel continued, the river became deeper at each
measuring point. Starting at ankle depth, then up to
his knees, then his waist. At each point along the way,
Ezekiel was in the river as deep as he could be. He
didn’t artificially sink himself into the river, but his
experience matched the actual depth of the river.

i. This rapid increase in depth – from small trickle

of a stream to ankle depth, to knee depth, to waist
depth, all in the course of about a mile (or 1.5
kilometers) – is miraculous. We read nothing of
 other streams leading into this; it is a miraculous    
and abundant provision.

ii. “Why was it necessary to bring Ezekiel through

the waters in vision? The purpose was to reveal to
him both the size and depth of the river. The
trickle (the literal of ‘ran out’ of v. 2 is ‘trickled
forth’) had become a veritable river during the
measuring activity of the man in the vision.”
(Feinberg)

f. It was a river that I could not cross; for the water

was too deep: The rapid increase of the river’s depth
and power showed what a mighty river this was. It
soon came to the point where the water was over
Ezekiel’s head, and all he could do was swim.

i. Fundamentally, this shows us the miraculous

nature of a real river in a real Messianic kingdom
to come. Yet by spiritual analogy there is a
powerful picture of increasing progress and depth
in our spiritual life. It illustrates progression from
ankles, to knees, to waist, to depths where one
can no longer touch the ground and must swim.
God’s people read this and feel a call to go deeper.
They shouldn’t stop until they are swimming,
carried along by God’s currents and comfortable
in that place.

ii. “We need the ankle-depths of walking to be

exchanged for the knee-depths of praying; and
these for the loin-depths of perfect purity; and
these for the length, depth, breadth, and height of
the love of Christ.” (Meyer)

iii. Spurgeon saw a spiritual analogy between the

life of faith and swimming. We start out “floating
in faith,” somewhat passively, just keeping our
head up out of the water. We then progress to
swimming by faith. “How blessedly our friend Mr.
 Mueller of Bristol swims! What a master swimmer    
he is! He has had his feet off the bottom many
years and as he swims he draws along behind him
some 2,000 orphan children, whom, by God’s
grace, he is saving from the floods of sin and
bringing, we trust, safe to shore.” (Spurgeon)

iv. Many commentators and preachers through

the centuries have seen the increasing depth of
this river to be an illustration of the great depths
of God’s word. “Scriptures have their shallows
wherein the lamb may wade, like as they have
their profundities wherein the elephant himself
may swim. Augustine condemned the Holy
Scriptures at first, as neither eloquent nor deep
enough for the elevation of his wit. But afterwards,
when he was both a better and a wiser man, he
saw his own shallowness, and admired the never
enough adored depth of God’s holy oracles.”
(Trapp)

g. He brought me and returned me to the bank of the

river: When it was clear that the water was too deep
for Ezekiel and he could not cross it, then his guide
brought him out of the river and back to the bank. He
asked Ezekiel to carefully think about what he saw and
experienced (have you seen this?).

3. (6-12) The power of the river.

When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were

very many trees on one side and the other. Then he said
to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes
down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches
the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every
living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live.
There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these
waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything
will live wherever the river goes. It shall be that fishermen
will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be    
places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the
same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly
many. But its swamps and marshes will not be healed;
they will be given over to salt. Along the bank of the river,
on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for
food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not
fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water
flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and
their leaves for medicine.”

a. Many trees on one side and the other: Once out of

the river Ezekiel noticed the many trees. They grew
along both sides of the river.

i. “The deepest valley rift in the world is the

Arabah in the Holy Land. The waters of the river
will flow east through the Arabah into the Dead
Sea.” (Feinberg)

b. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed:

Ezekiel’s guide described the miraculous properties of
this river. As the river flowed out from Jerusalem then
down into the Dead Sea, those lifeless waters were
healed. There would be a very great multitude of fish
in that strange body of water that previously held no
life. This can and will be fulfilled both literally in a
coming kingdom age and is also a fitting symbol of
God’s present work through the gospel.

i. There is also an obvious but possibly overlooked

point here: God cares about the environment and
promises to restore and heal it. Despite the many
who worship the creation instead of the Creator,
God Himself cares about His creation. His
salvation and work of redemption extends to the
environment.

ii. “Its waters are miraculously healed, rapa

normally refers to the healing of a diseased body,
 but in this case the miracle involves neutralizing    
the baneful chemicals in the water, so it becomes
fresh.” (Block)

iii. Jesus may very well had this image of Ezekiel

in mind (or a similar one) when He spoke of rivers
of living water (John 7:37-38). There is a valid
spiritual application of this wonderful image, and
a literal fulfillment to come.

iv. Yet many commentators unfortunately feel

comfortable ignoring any future literal fulfillment
of this and see it only as a visionary parable. “This
sea is the wide world dead in sins and trespasses.
[Ephesians 2:1] These fishers are Christ’s apostles
and ministers, who are called fishers of men,
[Matthew 4:19] and their preaching compared to
fishing.” (Trapp)

c. Its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they

will be given over to salt: There would remain certain
areas near the former Dead Sea that would keep its
old characteristics. Perhaps this was so that the
useful minerals gained from the Dead Sea would still
be available from these places.

i. “The preservation of some pockets of saltiness

is intentional, recognizing the economic benefit of
the minerals found in and around the Dead Sea.
Salt (melaḥ) is not only a valuable seasoning and
preserving agent; the word functions generically
for a wide range of chemicals extracted from the
sea.” (Block)

ii. As an example of an overly-spiritualized

approach to this passage, consider how Clarke
thought of the swamps and marshes of verse 11:
“A description applicable to the Roman Catholic
Church, that is both schismatic and heretic from
the Church of Jesus Christ, which is built on the
 foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus    
himself being the chief corner stone; for the Church
of Rome, leaving this foundation, is now built on
the foundation of councils and traditions, and
lying miracles; the popes in their succession being
its only corner stones.”

d. Will grow all kinds of trees used for food: Along the
sides of the river there were remarkable fruit trees with
leaves that will not wither and fruit that will never fail.
In some unknown way, their leaves will be used for
medicine.

i. Matthew Poole had an unfounded and

interesting speculation: “These trees most likely
were palmetto trees, whence the balm that
healeth, the fruit that feedeth, and juice that
refresheth, and allays our thirst.”

B. The borders of the land.

1. (13-14) The promise of the land, and two
portions for Joseph.

Thus says the Lord GOD: “These are the borders by which
you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the
twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.
You shall inherit it equally with one another; for I raised
My hand in an oath to give it to your fathers, and this land
shall fall to you as your inheritance.

a. These are the borders by which you shall divide the

land: This emphasizes that this was not a symbolic or
spiritual land, God gave specific borders to mark it.
There was real land that would be given to the real
twelve tribes of Israel.

i. These are all twelve tribes. “Although the nation

had been divided politically for nearly four
hundred years, as in the case of all his prophetic
colleagues Ezekiel’s vision of Israel’s future is
 based on the tradition of a united nation    
consisting of twelve tribes of Israel descended
from Jacob’s twelve sons.” (Block)

ii. “The boundaries are substantially those

originally given to Moses in Numbers 34:1-15. In
Numbers the southern boundary is given first;
here the reckoning is from the north.” (Feinberg)

b. Joseph shall have two portions: As was with the

division of the land under Joshua, the two sons of
Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) would each have
their portion.

c. I raised My hand in an oath to give it to your

fathers, and this land shall fall to you: Again, God
emphasized that this was a real land that would
continue and fulfill the promises of a real land to
Israel’s patriarchs. God made these promises to:

· Abraham in Genesis 13:15 and 15:18.

· Isaac in Genesis 26:3.

· Jacob in Genesis 28:13.

i. This granting of the land in the millennial

kingdom was an extension and a fulfillment of
those long ago and often repeated promises.

2. (15-20) The borders of the land on every side.

“This shall be the border of the land on the north: from the
Great Sea, by the road to Hethlon, as one goes to Zedad,
Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (which is between the border
of Damascus and the border of Hamath), to Hazar
Hatticon (which is on the border of Hauran). Thus the
boundary shall be from the Sea to Hazar Enan, the border
of Damascus; and as for the north, northward, it is the
border of Hamath. This is the north side.
“On the east side you shall mark out the border from    
between Hauran and Damascus, and between Gilead and
the land of Israel, along the Jordan, and along the eastern
side of the sea. This is the east side.

“The south side, toward the South, shall be from Tamar to

the waters of Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the
Great Sea. This is the south side, toward the South.

“The west side shall be the Great Sea, from the southern
boundary until one comes to a point opposite Hamath.
This is the west side.

a. This shall be the border of the land: Using

landmarks on the north, east, south, and west, God
described the borders of Israel in the period of
Ezekiel’s temple, a period regarded as the millennial
reign of Jesus Messiah.

i. “This is the area which God swore to give to the

nation (14, cf. Genesis 15:18-21;
Numbers 34:1-12), and which was ruled by
Solomon (1 Kings 4:24).” (Wright)

ii. In his commentary, Daniel Block has a very

good map. As he envisions it, if these borders
were put upon a modern map it would include all
of Lebanon and good portion of Syria (including
Damascus). It would not include modern Jordan
or Egypt, and not extend southward to modern
Eilat.

iii. “Only twice in Israel’s history did the political

borders of Israel extend as far north as Lebo-
hamath: under David and under Jeroboam II
(2 Kings 14:25).” (Block)

b. From the Great Sea, by the road to Hethlon: Many

landmarks are listed, but we believe that since the
geography of this part of the world will be significantly
transformed right before this period begins, it is
 impossible to exactly mark what these places will    
mark in the coming age. In general we can say that it is
an area somewhat larger than the land Israel occupied
in the Old Testament.

i. The description shows that this is not the eternal

state. “The western boundary was the Great Sea
(v.20; cf. Numbers 34:6). In contrast the land of
God’s people in the eternal state will have no sea
since the sea will no longer exist
(Revelation 21:1).” (Alexander)

3. (21-23) The command to divide the land.

“Thus you shall divide this land among yourselves
according to the tribes of Israel. It shall be that you will
divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for
the strangers who dwell among you and who bear
children among you. They shall be to you as native-born
among the children of Israel; they shall have an
inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And it
shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there
you shall give him his inheritance,” says the Lord GOD.

a. Thus you shall divide this land: The repeated

commands to divide the land indicate that this is a
real land, not a spiritual representation. The best way
to understand this is that this division of the land is yet
to come, but will come in a kingdom period when the
world is ruled in a direct way by Jesus Messiah.

i. You will divide it by lot: The general allotments

of land were assigned to each tribe. Within each
tribal allotment, particular portions of land would
be assigned to families by lot.

b. And for the strangers who dwell among you: The

land God promised to Israel in this kingdom period
would not be for Israelites alone. There would be
people from other lands and ethnic groups (strangers)
 living there also. By God’s command, these were to be    
treated as native-born among the children of Israel.
They would even have inheritance rights.

i. “The Pentateuch prescribes humane treatment

for the aliens living in Israel (cf. Exodus 22:21;
23:9; Leviticus 19:10, 33–34; 23:22;
Deuteronomy 14:29; 24:14–15, 17–22). Such
treatment is a moral obligation that derives from
Israel’s experience as aliens in Egypt. Ezekiel goes
far beyond the Torah’s legislation.” (Vawter and
Hoppe)

ii. “It is based on the principle that if these men

choose to accept the standards, the religion and
the way of life within Israel as a permanency, i.e.
as proselytes who settle and have children there
(22), then they are entitled to the same treatment
as native Israelites.” (Taylor)

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