River of Glory Ezekiel 47:1-12

I love a story with a good happy ending. I like things laid out nice and simple and I think that’s true of most of us. I like my cowboys to wear black hats and white hats. I like clear cut conclusions. I want to know that there’s going to be something good to come out of all of this mess. I pick on my wife and the other women in my life about Hallmark movies during Christmas, but the truth is that I understand where they’re coming from. We are all looking for some hope and that hope ought to change things!

“It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going, because they were holding on to something. That there is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.

-JRR Tolkien “The Two Towers\\\\

-God promises us a life-giving river of His mercy

I. The River Flows from the Altar vv. 1-2

In our passage this morning, Ezekiel is describing a picture of a promised Temple in a new Jerusalem.

What is the purpose of this picture? I think it’s less interested in giving us the specifics of what God is going to be doing in the future than it is about showing us the abundant glory and mercy of God

In this vision, we are going to see that God has a promise of life-giving hope for His people who have endured the agony of Exile!

When we begin our look, we see an odd picture. There is a stream of water flowing out of the temple

It is the place of sacrifice, where the price of sin has been paid that this river of mercy begins

We understand through New Testament eyes that all of this is fulfilled in Jesus

All of our life, our hope, and God’s mercy finds it’s source here

It is here that God’s promises find their answer

Everything that we believe about God, His attitude towards sin, and His affection for us is found at the Cross!

Romans 8:31–32

[31] What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (ESV)

II. The River Grows and Goes vv. 3-6

A funny thing happens as Ezekiel leaves the temple

He follows the water and rather than growing shallower and smaller, it grows deeper and wider

Eventually, the trickling stream of God’s mercy becomes a river so deep that a man could swim in it; He could be consumed by it!

This is a powerful truth that I think we ought to sit with for a minute!

There are two ways that we can approach this kind of grace:

We can pursue lawlessness, but that would betray the mercy we have received

We can place our confidence in it and live boldly as the people of God through Jesus

We must leave the scarcity mentality behind in our pursuit of Christ!

It turns out that this river has an inexhaustible supply of God’s mercy towards us and it is spreading

Ezekiel will trace the path of the river down to the sea, throughout Israel

However, this river will not stop in Israel.

We will find out that God’s mercy is sufficient for all humanity and it is freely offered to us in Christ

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been reminded of that overflowing river of mercy; it is good in Montana and in Guatemala too!

This time last week, I was sitting in a feeding center that doubles as a church building in El Tejar, Guatemala, worshipping with our team and a precious church family there. It was a little taste of what lies ahead. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten to know the people from our church, on our team, and friends in Guatemala. I’m reminded as we worship together that the same grace that is holding on to me is holding on to them!

Habakkuk 2:14

[14] For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD

as the waters cover the sea. (ESV)

Revelation 7:9–10

[9] After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, [10] and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (ESV)

III. The River Cleanses and Heals vv. 7-12

As we follow the path of the river, it goes down to what we call the Dead Sea and cleanses it

This is a place that is devoid of life, because of the extreme salinity of the water; it is practically ruined

When the river arrives, the Dead Sea will be cleansed and it will no longer be Dead

It becomes a living place as God intended

As the river waters the land, trees sprout. But these trees are unlike any others!

They bear fresh fruit each month

The fruit will sustain us

The leaves will heal us

God’s mercy is a powerful thing that will cleanse us from sin and heal us from its wounds

This vision of Ezekiel is important because it takes us back to Eden; It’s a stunning reminder of what was lost to sin

We are reminded of what was

Genesis 2:9–10

[9] And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

[10] A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. (ESV)

We look forward to what will be (Ezekiel 47:12)

We find its source

Revelation 22:1–5

[1] Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb [2] through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. [3] No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. [4] They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. [5] And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (ESV)

If you want to know this kind of mercy, you must know the source. You have to come to Jesus!