Wow. That's deep!

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. --Psalm 46:4

Most readers would assume that the "city of God" mentioned by the psalmist would refer to Jerusalem, where the Temple had been built.  But Jerusalem does not have a river.  Skeptics might use this as proof that the Bible has no basis in fact.  But according to the study notes at the bottom of my Bible edition, the "river", like that spoken of in Psalm 36:8, is a metaphor for the continual outpouring of the sustaining and refreshing blessings of God, which make the city of God like the Garden of Eden.

There is a message of Hope and Peace and Blessing and Grace in the Bible, if you know where to look.  Many people see only messages of judgment in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament.  And where there is no active judgement, many people are bored with their study of Scripture.  I confess that has been my experience over the past few months while I have been trying to read through the book of Ezekiel.  The first 24 chapters prophesy against the nation of Israel.  Ezekiel predicts that the Temple will be destroyed, but that God will be revealed to the nations.  The middle part of Ezekiel, starting in chapter 25, prophesies that judgments will befall the nations other than Israel, and that God Himself will be known through these judgments.  The third section of the book, starting in chapter 33, promises that God will ultimately be known through the restoration and spiritual renewal of Israel, the people of God.

As I have said, the last few chapters leading up to the end of Ezekiel get pretty boring--a Man shows Ezekiel the dimensions of the Temple of God.  Chapters and chapters of dimensions and measurements to the east and to the north and to the west and to the south.  It's enough to put an architect to sleep.  But then we get to chapter 47, and something special happens.  I hope that you will stay with me, because this is pretty exciting stuff.

When I was in high school and went to youth camps, we would sing choruses designed to excite and promote heavenly thoughts.  One of them went like this:

I've got a river of life flowing out of me!
Makes the lame to walk, and the blind to see.
Opens prison doors, sets the captives free!
I've got a river of life flowing out of me!

Spring up, O well, within my soul!
Spring up, O well, and make me whole!
Spring up, O well, and give to me
That life abundantly. 

 It was a rousing song, and the young singers were encouraged to add sound effects ("Gush-gush" after "Spring up, O well"), and with the sound effects, hand motions.  It was a very inter-active song.  It would make us think of heaven, where God lives; and think of Jesus, who healed the lame and blind; and think of our hearts as God's dwelling place.

The Source of the River

In the Old Testament, many thought of the Temple at Jerusalem as being the place where God lived.  People would come from all over to offer their sacrifices there.  That is where the "River of Life" originated from, in their minds.  Ezekiel 47:1-2 shares that imagery.

The Man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.

"The Man" may have been an angelic messenger, or He may have been a foretelling of Christ Himself, who brought about the fulfillment of the blessing of Salvation for all of mankind.  This, then, is the source of the river.  In Ezekiel's vision, it came from the Mercy Seat of God, right next to the altar in the Temple.  That Temple may be in heaven, or it may be in the New Jerusalem, where God sets up the center of government for Christ's thousand year reign after His glorious return.

The Scope of the River

The prophet continues his description of the vision in Ezekiel 47:3-6:

As the Man went eastward with a measuring line in His hand, He measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep.  He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep.  He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was up to the waist.  He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in--a river that no one could cross.  He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?"

We see that the further downstream we go, the deeper the water gets.  This doesn't happen in nature--without any tributaries or run-off (snow melt, rain, etc.), a stream that begins as a trickle does not grow into a river as wide and deep as this.  But it does happen with God's blessings of grace, mercy, and provision.  The more we trust in Him, the greater the blessing.  We also see that there are four measures, which correspond to the four seasons of life.  In youth, we are content to splash around in the shallows--our blessings are brought primarily by others (parents, teachers, care-givers).  In young adulthood, we may desire something deeper, but cannot fathom anything more than knee deep--we desire our independence, but do not trust ourselves to the richer blessings that seem daunting and overwhelming.  In our middle-age, we desire again to  immerse ourselves in the blessing, but must keep our hands and heads above water so as to attend to our work--raising families, earning a living, amassing our fortunes.  But in maturity (physical as well as spiritual), we are more willing to risk delving into God's blessing, going in over our heads to soak up all that he has in store for us.

A thousand cubits is about a half a mile.  As we walk with God, there is more resistance the further we go. But the further we wade out into God's river of grace, the deeper we find His grace to be, and the more of ourselves He can cover.  We dare not stop in our journey; neither can we reverse course and climb out of the water.  We are called to navigate life's waters, and we truly need His grace to cover us.

The Salvation of the River

Once the prophet's spiritual Guide had made His point about how long and how deep and how wide the river of blessing was, He had one more lesson to show, in Ezekiel 47:7-9:

Then He led me back to the bank of the river.  When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river.  He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region, and goes down into the Arabah (the Jordan Valley), where it enters the Sea (the Dead Sea).  When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh.  Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows.  There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows, everything will live.

The contemporaries of Ezekiel, who originally read this book, would have known the Jordan river and the Dead Sea.  They would have known that the Arabah was a waterless, desert region.  They would have known that no one fishes in the Dead Sea, because all of the water that flows into it has nowhere to go; it does not have any outlets other than evaporation into the dry desert air.  As it evaporates, it leaves minerals such as salt, which leaves the water useless for drinking or for sustaining life.  But the promise of the blessing is that when the river flows from the Mercy Seat of God, then the banks of the river teem with life--"Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river.  Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail.  Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them.  Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing." (Ezekiel 47:12).  When the water from this river accumulates into the Sea, it does not lay stinky and stagnant; instead, it will be teeming with life.  "Fishermen will stand along the shore",  it says in verse 10, "and the fish will be of many kinds."

The fact that this lowest (1300 feet below sea level) and saltiest (25% by volume) body of water in the world  should sustain such an abundance of life indicates the wonderful renewing power of this river of grace.  Revelation 22:1-3 shows the culmination of this promise: "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city.  On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.  And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be any curse."  We will no longer be under the curse of sin; no longer will disease and death overpower us.  This is the promise that Jesus made to the woman at the Samaritan well:  living water, that will not run dry; water that, when drunk, will not leave one thirsty again, ever.

This is the grace that is available to us--the grace that bridges the chasm between God and man; the grace that provides a living sacrifice for us, to redeem us before God.  The source of this grace now lives in us; the scope of grace's power is available through us; and the salvation of this grace is available to us.  Will you join us along the banks of this river of life?  Or will you continue in your march toward death?

Come on in, the Water's fine!