Visions of Grandeur
Ezekiel 47:1, 3-12
Lesson
Setting
This vision of the river flowing from the temple occurs
within a topographical setting
Ezekiel’s guide takes the prophet outside of the building in order that
Ezekiel understand the infinite reach of God’s Spirit, presence, faithfulness
and love. As he stands near the temple
and surveys its surrounding terrain, Ezekiel realizes anyone’s experience of
God is not limited to one physical location.
The flowing river, a main source of life for nature and humankind, epitomizes
God’s presence and compassion. This
natural imagery reminds Ezekiel and he in turn communicates to his listeners
and readers that God is “the Giver of every good and perfect gift.” The river flowing from the altar is as
infinite and ever-present as Almighty God.
Lesson
Outline
I.
Ezekiel 47:1 – The River of Living Water
II.
Ezekiel 47:3- 6 – An Insurmountable River
III.
Ezekiel 47:7-10 - A
Source of Bountiful Life
IV.
Ezekiel 47:11-12 – Fruit for Life and Leaves of Healing
Unifying
Principle
Sometimes people feel as if they are stranded on a high
cliff, forced to leap into dangerous and unknown waters. Where can they find what they need to make
the plunge? The life-giving water in
Ezekiel’s vision is a symbol of God’s presence and blessings, which flow from
God’s sanctuary and are available to the earth and its people.
Introduction
In today’s grand vision, Ezekiel explores the life-giving
streams flowing from the temple. The
topographical setting of this vision reflects the infinite reach of God’s
goodness and encouragement to His people.
Water, the source of earthly life, flows freely from the temple and
nourishes life forms beyond its ground.
Spiritually, this means the teachings and experiences in the temple
extend to a worshipers daily living. Periodically,
disciples experience the spiritual and natural equivalents of a severe
drought. All attempts to secure water
are futile. You begin to fear that you
will die of thirst. In practical
application, you remain bewildered to consider how expensive and time-consuming
a resolution is despite your efforts.
When embroiled in such dilemmas, disciples can find comfort in Ezekiel’s
vision of the temple’s living water flowing into their lives with salvation and
security.
This vision further teaches that God’s presence is not
limited to a building. Flowing water can
symbolize the Spirit of God which is everywhere. Whereas Ezekiel previously details several
spiritual lessons about the altar’s significance, he presently expands this
teaching to demonstrate the importance of transforming any place into a sacred
place. The presence of God changes any
ground into sacred space whether it is a car, closet, driveway, cave,
gymnasium, auditorium or office building.
As a river flows and provides life to a land-locked state, the Spirit of
God flows out of the temple and revitalizes anyone in God’s presence.
Ezekiel’s vision of the river adjacent to the temple
additionally reflects covenant with Almighty God is an ever-deepening river of
blessings. It is a limitless and
continual source of provision and protection.
From the river, crops and livestock receive sustenance and they in turn
supply food and clothing to humankind.
The river can be a barrier to enemies.
It also can be a place of recreation and renewal as nearby inhabitants
enjoy fishing, rafting, swimming, diving and other fun and fulfilling
pastimes. These practical, outdoor
activities have spiritual corollaries.
Yet, Ezekiel desires his listeners and readers appreciate the worth of
investing in a vibrant relationship with Almighty God, the Source of life,
health and strength.
With both pleasant and unfortunate experiences with water,
adults have myriad symbolism of water and its tremendous potential for life and
destruction of the same. Someone who
loves white water rafting in the Pacific Northwest probably envisions rivers as
places of renewal and lots of fun. A
person who barely escapes drowning as a result of a boating accident may
develop aqua phobia. He sees bodies of
water as possible liquid graves to be avoided at all times. A trip to the beach for such person equates with
sitting on the balcony of his hotel room.
Regardless, adults are aware of the life-giving value of water. Just as they always desire knowledge on how
to respond in a challenge including water, adults equally want to know what to
do as they tread life’s daily adversities.
They seek a reservoir of discernment, wisdom and strategies for
resolving unfamiliar situations.
Ezekiel’s vision of the river flowing from the temple corresponds to an
infinite divine source of compassion and power to face each day’s dawn.
More specifically, the river in Ezekiel’s vision represents
God’s presence and faithfulness which naturally emanate from God’s
sanctuary. These divine attributes and
resources are available to the whole earth and its people. The river also denotes the everlasting
covenant God makes with His people.
Multiple biblical passages (Genesis 3, Joel 3:18, Zechariah 14:8 and
Revelation 22) contain imagery of a sacred river signifying bountiful life and
balanced existence. Just as
civilizations, ancient and modern, depend heavily upon rivers for daily
existence, believers draw upon the life-giving Word of God and His eternal
presence as the means of grace and abundant life. He enriches their lives and supplies every
need. The process of relating to Him is
not stagnant; like a ever-flowing river, this relationship remains dynamic as
it adjust to the seasons of a disciples life.
However, irrespective of the natural season, the river remains a stable
source of life and regeneration.
Similarly, God does not change life shifting shadows or sinking sand but
remains eternally as the Source of Life and “Giver of every good and perfect
gift.”
Exposition
Point I –
Ezekiel 47:1 – The River of Living Water
An unnamed man, perhaps a tour guide, leads Ezekiel outside
of the temple where he observes water gushing from beneath the altar and toward
the East side of the temple. As
delineated in the setting, this imagery conveys a significant spiritual truth
exceeding the prophet’s natural description.
You recall Ezekiel’s superlative description of the altar in last week’s
lesson. He utilizes meticulous
architectural details to instruct the nation on the importance of the altar in
making acceptable sacrifices and burnt offerings to receive repentance and forgiveness
as spiritual disciplines in cultivating a vibrant relationship with Almighty
God. Ezekiel further encourages the
people to find and define other sacred spaces where they can also commune with
God. In this lesson, Ezekiel expands his
teaching to assure Israel that any experience they have at the altar can be had
anywhere as they designate sacred space.
Concretizing God’s essence and love in a flourishing river, Ezekiel
wants his contemporaries to realize that God’s presence is as ubiquitous as a
thundering river that twists and turns through myriad terrain giving life
wherever it flows.
In what a twenty-first century reader would relegate as an
awkward image, Ezekiel sees an enduring spiritual lesson of God eternal
presence which enables disciples to persevere even if they find themselves
living temporarily in the desert of life.
Ezekiel’s grand vision offers comfort and consolation to his listeners
and readers. Like Isaiah and Jeremiah,
Ezekiel assures Israel and Judah of God’s faithfulness and unfailing love
despite the treachery of the Babylonian captivity, subsequent exile and
challenge of rebuilding their civilization following such a lengthy time of
subjugation and oppression. A stalwart
priest, Ezekiel initially calls their attention to the temple that God will
build; an edifice that will surpass the grandeur of Solomon’s inimitable temple
if it were possible. Instead of being a
place for traditional religious services and practice of historical rituals,
the temple Ezekiel sees in his vision is a sacred space where someone with a
sincere heart and humble attitude can commune directly with God. In the vision of the river flowing underneath
the altar of the temple, Ezekiel sees the limitless willingness of God to meet
the needs of His people wherever they may be.
Point II
– Ezekiel 47:3-6 – An Insurmountable River
The river Ezekiel sees is not a shallow body of water. It is deep, wide, high and broad enough for
an adult male to take a swim. The tour
guide of the vision measures the contours of the river to demonstrate God’s
sincerity in His intention for reconciliation and restoration with Israel and
Judah. A pond is a man-made body of
water which many persons add to their property for decorative purposes. Lakes are self-contained bodies of water
which are not connected to the ocean like rivers. This description of the river adjacent to the
temple implies a contrast between these different bodies of water. The variance in character implies the limits
and deficiencies in the type of relationships that worshipers will have with
God if they fall prey to the fallacy of self-reliance and self-righteousness. The actual river nears the temple appears
insurmountable to human efforts to tame or traverse. This natural feat represents the futility of
human beings in seeking to limit God to their conceptualizations. As the creatures, we humbly approach the
Creator. He is infinite, ever-present,
all-knowing and all-kind. His ways are
not fathomable to us. The intrepid
dimensions of the river near the temple symbolize the infinite character of
Almighty God.
In addition, Ezekiel’s vision relays the vain motives of
using repetitive rituals and righteous religious practices to earn God’s love
or justification in His eyes. Our
efforts will never equal His intrinsic love and grace. The river runs deeply into the ocean which is
infinite in its cyclical nature. As the
One “without the beginning of days and the end of life,” Almighty God is the
infinite Source of love and life, earthly and eternal. Instead of relying upon a religious building
and its traditional practices, worshipers access divine aid and empowerment
through a continually progressive and increasingly vibrant relationship. A river, the source of life for nature and
humankind, best depicts God’s covenantal willingness to revitalize Israel and
Judah upon their return.
Point III
– Ezekiel 47:7-10 – A Source of Bountiful Life
In its simplest form, the river is a source of bountiful
life for anyone and anything with which it intersects. In this portion of the vision, Ezekiel offers
a very brilliant and promising picture of restoration and renewal. Notice the river that flows from the temple
into other bodies of water actually connects to the Dead Sea which should have
been a body of water that people avoided.
True to its name, the Dead Sea contained an excessive amount of salt and
other minerals that would kill life forms instead of nurture and regenerate
them. Because of its connection with
this river flowing from the temple, the Dead Sea ironically becomes a source of
bountiful life to many species of fish, plants and other life forms. Applied spiritually, this natural paradox
means the Spirit of God intervenes mysteriously and mystically into human
affairs thereby causing resurrection where our choices naturally result in
death. Allegorically, many disciples
live near a mythical Dead Sea where everything seemingly dies. However, should they establish a meaningful
relationship with Almighty God; they through His Word, presence and practice of
spiritual disciplines begin to drink from the river of life. This penetrating topographical imagery offers
tremendous spiritual encouragement and empowerment to Ezekiel’s listeners and
readers. It just as formidably sustains
contemporary disciples subject to the desert of global economic and
geopolitical chaos.
Ezekiel further specifies that swarms of living creatures
will flourish because the river runs alongside their residences. This general, wide and pluralistic
characterization of the flourishing ecological systems that will thrive because
of the river foreshadows the different human civilizations that will live
abundantly as they rightly relate to Almighty God. Diverse peoples for divergent racial, ethnic,
cultural and regional backgrounds will find wellness and wholeness from the
living waters of God’s Word and presence.
He will exchange the salt water of religion and self-reliance for the
fresh water of His unmerited favor and unfailing love.
Point IV
– Ezekiel 47:11-12 – Fruit for Life and Leaves of Healing
Ezekiel finishes this vision with a vivid and breathtaking
description of the fruit and trees perhaps thriving and abundant orchards that
will form because of the river. In
addition to quenching their thirst and providing daily drinking water and
subsistence, the river will yield bountiful fruit in a seemingly limitless
supply. The fruit will enhance their
food supply with preservatives, jams, dried fruit snacks, different kinds of
breads and wines. In addition, the
leaves of the fruit trees will offer healing teas, potions and other medicinal
gifts. All of these natural benefits of
the river, the environmental source of life and sustenance for the people,
represent the personal blessings, individual talents, myriad gifts and
spiritual blessings that Israel and Judah will receive upon their return and
restoration. This vision achieves this
apex of detailing the vibrant and affluent life that awaits God’s people who
faithfully adhere to the covenant in the post-exilic period to come.
The
Lesson Applied
Let’s
Talk About It
1. Discuss and explain
the different meanings for the symbolism that water represents in your life and
the experiences of your family members and friends.
2. Discuss baptism in
light of this passage in Ezekiel’s prophecy.
3. Offer a meditation or
practical way in which water allows people to commune daily with God.
4. The Mississippi River
flows from Northern Minnesota to New Orleans, Louisiana. Discuss God’s natural provision for the United
States in His design of this river. What
spiritual lessons do we draw from this natural provision for humankind?
5. If someone asked you
for a cup of “living water,” how would you respond?
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