Blessing like water

 

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my blessing on your descendants.  They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.  --Isaiah 44:3-4

Water is essential to life.  Cities are built beside lakes and rivers for a reason.  Wells are dug beside farmhouses for a reason.  Desert caravans follow paths that lead from oasis to oasis for a reason.  What is that reason? Because water is a blessing.

In the book of Ezekiel, the prophet is given a vision of the heavenly temple.  Starting in chapter 40, Ezekiel is led by a tour guide whose identity is kept secret, but who could have been an angel or even the pre-incarnate Christ.  The tour guide gives the dimensions, and paints a beautiful picture of the house of God.  Of particular interest is the eastern gate of the Temple, because in chapter 43 this is where the Lord stands.  "And behold," he says in verse 2, "the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east.  And the sound of His coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory."  

Take note here, because he describes the glory of the Lord using multiple senses.  Not only could he see God's glory as light, but he could hear God coming.  What did it sound like?  Like rushing water.

No man could enter the Temple from the east gate, because that was where God was (see chapter 46).  I could go on, but I want to get to my favorite passage, Ezekiel 47:1-12.

The Source of Blessing 

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 outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold the water was trickling out on the south side.  --Ezek 47:1-2

The water began to flow from the east gate of the temple, where we have already seen is the throne of God.  God created all things, including water that in this passage signifies blessings poured out from His holy presence.  Jeremiah 14:22 says, "Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God?  Therefore we hope in You, for You are the One who has done all these things." 

The Scope of Blessing

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.  --Ezek 47:3-6

Ezekiel's tour guide led him through the water at intervals of about 500 yards, and each time the water was a little deeper.  An obvious parallel is that the further we follow Jesus, the deeper His blessings become.  At the end of the measuring, the water was deep enough to swim in, but flowing so fast it was impassable.  Can you imagine the blessings of God so deep and so wide that it is difficult to take it all in?  It is easy to see with the eyes of faith.  Take a good, long look at your life.  If you have food and clothes and shelter, you are blessed. If you have friends and loved ones, you are blessed.  If you can see and hear and smell and touch, you are blessed.  Not a day goes by that all these blessings come at you, fast and furious.

Do you want to know how I know God is bigger than our problems?  Because He is with us in the big middle of it all. James 5:13-16 says "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

The Sway of Blessing

There is an old hymn that goes like this:

I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold
I'd rather be His than have riches untold
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land

I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand

Than to be the king of a vast domain
And be held in sin's dread sway
I'd rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today

When it uses the word "sway", it is a poetic word meaning "influence", but it is more than that.  One can say in a court of law that a certain witness helped sway the jury.  Let's look at our text and consider how the blessings of God sway us.

As I went, 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." --Ezek 47:7-12

This is the influence of God's blessing: cleansing, food, and healing.  Wherever God's blessing goes, it is made cleaner.  It's easy to imagine the cleaning of the air after a rain.  It's easy to see the cleansing of people or things that are washed with clean water.  It is not easy to imagine fresh water cleaning the salt out of the sea.  How can this be?  It is the same as the heart change of a sinner turned saint.  God's blessings can change people at their very essence.  He can change a heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

What about those who reject the blessing of God He so freely offers?  Look back at verse 11: "But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.  What does that mean?  To be left for salt means being left desolate.  Psalm 107:36-27 says, "He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants." Jeremiah 17:5-6 says "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.  He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come.  He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabitable salt land."

Do not dwell in the swamp or the marsh.  Do not think you can live unclean, because the water may not always be there.  In a drought, the swamp becomes desert, and the marsh becomes a salt land.  Without the blessing of God that flows like a river, you will be desolate, alone, withing for death.  Remember the parable Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus?  Lazarus was blessed, even though he was poor and without possessions or wealth.  When he died, he went to heaven.  The rich man died without the blessing of God.  And what was his desire? "Have mercy on me," he said, "and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame." (Luke 16:24). 

Get up, let God wash you and make you clean.  Take advantage of the blessing of God before it is too late.  Ephesians 5:26-27 says this about the Church: "That He might sanctify her (the Church), having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

 

Of sheep, and goats

 

And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord.  --Ezekiel 34:31

A classic barbershop quartet song speaks about an adventurous goat owned by a man named Bill Grogan.  If you have heard it, you may sing it in your head every time you read it:

Bill Grogan’s goat,
Was feeling fine.
Ate three red shirts,
Right off the line.

Bill took a stick,
Gave him a whack,
And tied that goat,
To the railroad track.

The whistle blew,
The train grew nigh,
Bill Grogan’s goat,
Was doomed to die.

He heaved a sigh,
Of awful pain,
Coughed up the shirts,
And flagged the train!

Yes, goats are adventurous and curious, and those traits sometimes cause them to eat things they shouldn't.  While sheep like to graze on grass and clover, keeping their heads down, goats prefer leaves, twigs, and shrubs.  Because of their agility, they will often stand up on their hind legs to reach the tops of plants. Coupled with their curious and inquisitive nature, their liking for anything they can get in their mouths often gives them a bad name.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the differences between sheep and goats.  The Bible surely makes a distinction, often equating sheep with God's chosen and preferred people, and goats with evil-doers, sinners, and those left behind on the last day.  One of the distinctions, obviously, is diet.  Is it any wonder, then, that one of the identifying marks of God's people in the Old Testament was their diet?  Kosher dietary laws prohibit Jews, God's chosen people, from eating anything and everything.  It's one of the things that sets them apart.

There are other differences between sheep and goats.  Aside from their genetic make-up (sheep have 54 chromosomes, goats have 60), there are four distinct, observable differences between the two animals.  Without belaboring the point, I want to show a correlation with the physical and spiritual differences outlined in Scripture.

First, an obvious outward sign is the tail.  A goat's tail points up.  A sheep's tail hangs down.  It is usually cropped or shortened for health and sanitary reasons.  A shepherd that cares for the sheep will cut off the tail because he cares for the sheep, and this is usually done when the sheep is young.

In the Old Testament, an identifying mark of His people was circumcision.  It was a physical alteration done, some might say, for health and sanitary reasons.  God, who cared deeply for His people, ordered the practice to set His people apart, and it was usually done when the baby was very young.  Romans 2:25-29 says, "For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the Law, but if you break the Law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.  So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?  Then he he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the Law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but breaks the Law.  For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.  But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.  His praise is not from man but from God."

A second outward difference is the glands.  Goats have glands in the tail which emit a strong odor during rutting (mating) season.  The purpose is sexual, to attract a mate and procreate.  Sheep, on the other hand, have glands on their feet.  Their scent can be followed by others who keep their heads down, who search deeply and earnestly.  Romans 10:14-15 says, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'"

I had always thought of 2 Corinthians 2:14 in terms of a conquering Roman parade, leading the procession with the captives trailing behind.  "But thanks be to God," it says, "who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere."  How different it is to think not of a conquering general, but of a gentle shepherd, who leads His sheep out of harm's way.  Because a sheep's glands are on its feet, the fragrance of the knowledge of the Good Shepherd is spread with every step.

A third physical difference is the wool.  Goats are covered in hair that does not need grooming or shearing.  Goats are independent in that way, but they are selfish, too.  Sheep need to be shorn every year or so to keep them healthy.  This accomplishes two things at once:  First, it means a dependence upon the Shepherd.  A sheep cannot shear himself, nor can he count on other sheep to help him in this way.  Second, it is for the benefit of the Shepherd that wool is harvested and sold.  The wool is made into clothing to cover others, and to keep them warm.

When cleaned thoroughly, wool is often bright white.  In Scripture, it can symbolize purity.  Isaiah 1:18 says, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."  Daniel 7:9 says, "As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire."

A fourth physical difference is found in the eyes.  A goat does not have tear ducts, but a sheep does.  Goats must keep debris out of their eyes in other ways, while sheep can wash their eyes clean.  Humanly, tears denote sadness, shame, and emotional distress.  Spiritually dead people show no emotion.  

Ezekiel 11:19 describes a spiritual awakening. "And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them.  I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God."

Fred Rogers died of stomach cancer in 2003.  He read scripture in the hospital, the story of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25.  His last words before slipping into a coma were when he asked his wife, "Do you think I'm a sheep?"

I have been reading Ezekiel in my daily Bible readings.  Over the first 33 chapters, Ezekiel preached the wrath of God toward Israel and other nations.  But in the 34th chapter, the tone changes.  "For thus says the Lord God," he writes in verse 11, "Behold I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out."  He will look for those with physical differences, who are marked for His service.  He will look for those He cares deeply about, even those who may have suffered short term pain for His glory.  He will look for those who leave a pleasing odor wherever their feet step.  He will look for those who humbly submit to Him, and who share of themselves with others.  He will look for those who sincerely repent with tears deep from the heart, not those with a heart of stone.

Why did Ezekiel spend so long preaching against the nation of Israel?  Because they had intermingled with the other nations, nations who were genetically different from them.  Most of the time, sheep and goats cannot mate, at least not with any success.  I read one online article that said when sheep and goats hybrids are created in a lab, they are called chimeras.  A chimera is a mythological creature that combines parts taken from several different animals.  God meted out His divine discipline, as prophesied through Ezekiel, to His sheep that had taken on too many characteristics of her neighbors.

"Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet?" (Ezekiel 34:18).  Be set apart, true to your calling.  Be in the world, but not of the world.  Follow the Good Shepherd, not the siren song of sin.  "My sheep hear my voice."