Ezekiel 47
COMMENTARY:
: 1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. (4325 “waters” [mayim] means watersprings, waterflood, refreshment, rain, flood, sea, river, tears, or pool.)
DEVOTION: As has been stated above we find that there are two meanings to this liquid. One meaning is physical and other is spiritual.
The place where the water comes from makes all the difference in the world. Here we have water coming from Jerusalem to the rest of the nation. It is a time period when the Messiah has come to reign in Jerusalem.
HIS presence causes the wilderness to turn into productive land. HIS presence causes the waters that were without life to come to life. HIS presence gives all those who are alive healing through the leaves of the trees that come to life during this time period.
There will be sickness but healing will be found close at hand. There will be refreshment in every house. There will be blessing in every house. Those who enter this time period could live to be a thousand years old. Someone dying at a hundred would be rare. Those who reject the message would also face death.
During that time period Israel would receive a new inheritance but they would also give strangers an inheritance because there would be room for all.
How deep is the living water today? There is enough for everyone to drink from the Spiritual drink that Jesus offered the woman at the well to fill everyone who will accept the message. We are to present the message of an offer of Living Water to all those we meet.
CHALLENGE: Our life should be full of the Living Water that Christ offered the woman at the well. We need to share this truth with others.
: 3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.(4058 “measured” [madad] means mete out, to determine the measurements of something or somebody, take measurements of.)
DEVOTION: Here we have an example of words having two meanings in the Bible. There is a physical side to water and there is a spiritual side to water.
The physical side deals with the fact that Jerusalem had no rivers next to it. The people of Jerusalem received their water through springs that ran throughout the land. The springs gave enough water to be used in cisterns. So people had water most of the time.
The Spiritual side of water is used by Jesus in HIS meeting with her at the well in the Gospel of John chapter 4. HE offered her living water. This is talking about the idea that once someone becomes a believer they have access to HIM. HE will provide them with fresh understanding of the Word of God. HE will provide access to the Holy Spirit. HE will help them live a life longer that is pleasing to the LORD.
So in the future when Jesus is reigning in Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom the city of Jerusalem is going to change physically with the splitting of the Mount of Olives. When that happens there will be water flowing from the Temple all the way to the Dead Sea. When this happens the Dead Sea which at present can’t have any living thing in it will be able to support a multitude of fish and other water animals. The mineral count will be reduced to just the marches around the Sea.
Also in the future LIVING WATER which is Jesus Christ will be reigning in Jerusalem and everyone will understand the spiritual truths of the Word of God. Some will even reject it during the Millennium but they will spend their eternity in the lake of fire with the devil and his angels.
CHALLENGE: So, there is a future river that is going to run through Jerusalem.
: 12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. (8644 “medicine” [t@ruwphah] means healing, recovering health from a physically sick state, or remedy.)
DEVOTION: This chapter is part of the description of the Millennial Reign of Christ. The Temple is the source of a river that runs out of the Temple through the Dead Sea and into the Sea. The Dead Sea is desalted.
People will be fishing in the Dead Sea that previously could not support life. There will be fruit trees growing along this river. They will produce fruit year around. It speaks of a time of abundance for Israel. The land of Israel will be blessed.
Is this river literal or figurative? Many think that it is figurative of the advancement of the church from the day of Pentecost until the end of the world. Others think that it is a literal river that will flow during the Millennial time period.
One of the reasons for a literal interpretation is that there will be fishing in the river. There will be salt left in the delta for the use of humans during that time period.
Salt is necessary. It is a preservative. It seems to be a literal river that shows a change during the Millennium. There will be blessings throughout the land.
Those who are fisherman will really enjoying knowing that a new river will open up for good fishing. The salt sea has no living fish in it. On another note there will be fresh fruit on the trees always.
At least one of the trees will have healing in their leaves. In the book of Revelation we find a verse in chapter 22 that talks about the tree of life that has healing in its leaves.
Also we find in the verse a reference to fruit coming on the tree every month. The tree mentioned in this verse is saying the same thing. There is going to be a tree in the future that will be meat for the people. This new fruit shall never be completely consumed. It will never run out. The trees leaves will never fade. Fruit lovers will be in their glory also during this time period.
Secondly, the leaves of the tree are going to be used for the healing of the people. There will still be sickness that needs healing in the Millennium. There will be spiritual needs that will be healed by the LORD Jesus Christ who is on the throne during this time period.
We realize that the LORD is in control. We realize that the LORD has the future planned. It was planned before the foundation of the world. God is working HIS plan in our lives.
HE is working HIS plan in our world. Sometimes we don’t understand what HE is doing but we know that the Bible says it is for our good. In the future Israel and her land is going to be healed.
Remember that Christ described HIMSELF as LIVING WATER. We need to encourage each member of family to drink from the LIVING WATER of Christ. The Samaritan woman drank. The Word of God promises eternal life to those who truly drink.
CHALLENGE: The Bible has all we need to heal our spiritually dead body. At present we need doctors to help us but God is always the ultimate healer both spiritually and physically. In the future the LORD will do all the healing through the leaves on the trees.
:22 And it shall come to pass, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be to you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. (5159 “inheritance” [nachalah] means hereditary property, taking possession, heritage, share, occupation of anything, or a lot assigned by God.)
DEVOTION: There will be a different lifestyle during the Millennium. When Christ reigns on the earth there will still be Jew and Gentile. The difference is that the Gentiles or strangers can live in the land and have an equal inheritance with whatever tribe they decide to live with, in the land. They will be able to give birth to children and they shall inherit the land as well.
The LORD told the disciples HE had another flock that would become followers of HIM. This other flock was the gentiles or those who were not Jews. They were going to be reached after the death of Jesus Christ.
Jesus gave instructions to the disciples while HE was alive to only go to the nation of Israel. They did their evangelism only with the Jews. They only went to Jewish villages. If the people of the village didn’t accept their message, they were to shake the dust of their feet to show that they had rejected the message of Jesus. Those villages that accepted the message would receive the blessing of the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Today we are part of that ministry. We are to reach both Jew and Gentile for the LORD. Those who accept will become followers of Jesus and will inherit all the promises of God given by Jesus Christ while HE was on the earth.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Sanctuaryverse 12
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Thus says the Lord GODverses 13, 23
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
Lord – Adonai (Owner, Master)verses 13, 23
GOD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)verses 13, 23
Lord GODverses 13, 23
I lifted up MY handverse 14
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man = angel guiding Ezekielverses 1-23
Guided him through waters
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Fishing from Engedi to Eneglamverse 10
Damascusverses 17, 18
North side -Hamathverse 17
East side – Hauranverse 18
Strangersverses 22, 23
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Son of man = Ezekielverses 1-23
Brought to the door of the house
Angel guided him
Healing waters seen
Went from En-gedi to En-eglaim
Saw fish – exceeding many
Fruit was meat
Leaf for medicine
Inherit the landverses 13, 14, 22
Twelve tribes of Israelverses 13, 21, 22
Joseph shall have two portionsverse 13
Borders of land explainedverses 15-21
North side from the great sea
Way of Hethlon as men go to Zedad
East sea
South side – from Tamar to great sea
West side – great sea to Hamath
Children of Israelverse 22
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Waters healedverses 8, 9
Trees will bring forth fruit every monthverse 12
Leaves of trees will be used for healingverse 12
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