Sermon on The Mount (Discourse On Discipleship)

The Depths of the Kingdom

Ezekiel 47 1-12

Ezekiel 47:1–12 ESV

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

A Theological Symbol and Metaphor The OT contains laws for the use of water in rituals as a symbol of purification. Priests, sacrificial meat, and ritual utensils were washed before involvement in rituals (Lev. 1:9; 6:28; 8:6). Unclean people and things were also washed as a symbol of ritual cleansing (Lev. 11:32–38; 14:1–9; 15:1–30; Num. 31:23). The book of Genesis uses water as a symbol of instability before the completion of creation (1:2), and Ezekiel spoke of water as a symbol of renewal in the age to come (47:1–12).

The Bible contains dozens of metaphorical usages of water. For example, in the OT, water is a metaphor or simile for fear (Josh. 7:5), death (2 Sam. 14:14), sin (Job 15:16), God’s presence (Ps. 72:6), marital fidelity (Prov. 5:15–16), the knowledge of God (Isa. 11:9), salvation (Isa. 12:3), the Spirit (Isa. 44:3–4), God’s blessings (Isa. 58:11), God’s voice (Ezek. 43:2), God’s wrath (Hos. 5:10), and justice (Amos 5:24). Among the metaphorical uses of water in the NT are references to birth (John 3:5), the Spirit (John 4:10), spiritual training (1 Cor. 3:6), and life (Rev. 7:17). See Creation; Famine and Drought; Flood; Rain.

Bob R. Ellis

Bob R. Ellis, “Water,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1661.

john 7: 37 yOn the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, z“If anyone thirsts, let him acome to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, bas6 the Scripture has said, c‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of dliving water.’ ” 39 Now ethis he said about the Spirit, fwhom those who believed in him were to receive, gfor as yet the Spirit had not been hgiven, ibecause Jesus was not yet glorified.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 7:37–39.