The Temple Vision – Part 6, The River

Guess what’s going through the East Gate that is shut and never to be opened because Yahweh entered through it?

A supernatural stream.

We know it’s not a natural stream because natural streams flow like this:

Ezekiel’s river has no tributaries. It has one source and inexplicably gets deeper without input from any other watershed.

Based on this information alone, the LORD in His temple is depicted as the source of life.

It may be difficult to see (unless you can save the image to your photos), but the markings just east of the temple show roughly where the angel measured the water. It’s too deep to cross (unless you swim) before it even leaves the area designated for the priests.

I can think of two other biblical references where we see water flowing from within a temple.

But first a look back to the water in previous temple-spaces. 💦

Tabernacle of Moses

In the tabernacle, there was a small bronze basin for water. We would probably mistake it for a birdbath, or perhaps the chalice of a giant…

The Tabernacle of David

…we’ll come back to this one…

Solomon’s Temple

The water in Solomon’s Temple increases dramatically. Instead of a birdbath, it’s now a swimming pool/municipal water tower.

In Ezekiel’ Temple, the water increases dramatically again. It becomes a river. There is no laver or brazen sea mentioned for the priests to wash in. The only water present that could be used for the cleansing of the priests would be this stream that comes from inside the Sanctuary.

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Now let’s look at the 2 other places where a river that gives life is shown in conjunction with the temple of God.

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭22‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This description is identical to Ezekiel’s:

“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.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭47‬:‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Unless you are prepared to argue – from what scripture I do not know – that there are TWO such rivers, then I think we must understand that John and Ezekiel are speaking of the same thing.

This fruit-by-the-river language is Edenic.

“And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

As in Revelation and Ezekiel, Eden has fruit trees for food. The Tree of Life has healing properties that cause people to “live forever,” (Gen. 3:22). There is also a river that starts within the holy space of Eden and gets larger the further it goes. It starts as one river and becomes four.

I put it to your consideration that these 3…

• The River of Eden
• The River from Ezekiel’s Temple
• The River in the New Jerusalem

…are one and the same; and that it is not strictly a physical river of H2O as we understand water.

The earthly rivers we float on, 🛶 and picnic by, 🍗🍉🧺 and swim in 💦 are but a mortal shadow of the eternal reality of a REAL river; a stream of water that is as much God’s own light and life as liquid.

There is one more place in the Bible besides New Jerusalem where water comes out of the temple.

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
‭‭John‬ ‭7‬:‭37‬-‭39‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Jesus says He is quoting scripture, only, no such direct quotation exists in the OT. So what OT text(s) speak of rivers of living water flowing out from the core of something? Might it be Ezekiel 47?

You may recall that in Jeremiah 2:12-13 and 17:13, the LORD calls Himself the “fountain” or “spring” of “living waters.” He is the source of the “rivers of living water.”

And Jesus says that for whoever believes in Him, the source of the river will be within them.

SIDE NOTE…

Jesus said that the rivers of living water would flow from a person’s koilia [Greek], not his cardia. Koilia is your belly.

In Philippians 3:19, Paul describes the “enemies of the cross” as people “whose god is their belly [koilia].”

The wicked have their own appetites sitting on the throne of their inner temple.

Galatians 5:19-21 describes the stinking sewage that comes from that kind of temple. Instead of life, the stagnant waters of the belly-god’s temple breed death wherever they flow.

Ezekiel’s river is a river of living water because it brings life wherever it goes (v9).

Let us consider the following:

• Yahweh (in Jeremiah) calls Himself the fountain/spring/source of living water.
• Jesus says that the living water is God’s Holy Spirit.
• John in Revelation sees the River of Life (living water) coming from the shared throne of God and the Lamb.
• Ezekiel sees the River of Life coming from the Sanctuary where the LORD is.
• Jesus said to the temple crowds (John 7) and to the Woman at the Well (John 4), that if they believe on Him and receive Him, the source of the Living Water will be within them.

If these rivers are all the same thing, then John’s “throne of God and of the Lamb” is the equivalent of Ezekiel’s sanctuary. It would follow that the New Jerusalem is the same as Ezekiel’s huge sacred area with the temple and living spaces for the priests and holy people. And if the New Jerusalem is “the Bride, the Lamb’s wife,” (Rev. 21:9-10), then Ezekiel’s Temple must be a picture of the Church.

Now it’s time for the Tabernacle of David.

David’s Tabernacle was a tent with only 1 piece of the sacred “furniture;” the Ark of the Covenant. It was also a prophetic picture of the Church where the Son of David would be king and priest and prophet. It’s where people who were not of the Aaronic priesthood were granted unprecedented access to God’s presence. Blood sacrifices were not offered there. The only sacrifices were sacrifices of praise in jubilant song. It was glorious!

Then David’ tent fell down.

Solomon led the nation into idolatry and even though there were a few short revivals in Judah, never again did people have access to the presence of God as they did in David’s tent…

Until Pentecost.

In Acts 2 the Holy Spirit is “poured out,” (which is how you would describe water). Peter tells the crowds that it is the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-29 where God promised to “pour out my Spirit on all flesh.” Peter tells the crowd to repent and be baptized (to be submerged in water).

Remember that John said that when Jesus talked about “the river of living water” He was speaking of the Spirit Who was to be poured out. Pentecost is when the River of Living Water sprang from within the believers.

Some years later, Paul reports to Jerusalem about the Gentiles coming to faith in Christ and there is a big discussion about whether or not they have to become Jewish in order to be part of the New Covenant.

“And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?”

“After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭15‬:‭7‬-‭10‬, ‭13‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

James quotes from the prophet Amos:

“In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old,” Amos‬ ‭9‬:‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

According to the inspired Apostles, the re-established tent of David IS the Jewish-and-Gentile Church.

The physical tent that David set up for the Ark of Yahweh didn’t have a laver or a brazen sea. I suspect that’s because the water in the fulfilled Tabernacle of David is the River of the Holy Spirit flowing from the hearts of all who receive Jesus.

When I was a kid we sang this song…

I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me

It makes the lame to walk and the blind to see

It opens prison doors, sets the captive free

I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me

We have the endless spring of the Holy Spirit within our innermost being. The idea is for that river to flow out from us and bring life to everything it touches. May the LORD help us share the Living Water to all who thirst.

You know what makes the Dead Sea dead?

There is no outlet.

Its shores are the lowest place on land on planet earth. The banks of the Dead Sea sit at 1,411 feet (430 meters) below sea level.

The Dead Sea takes and takes but doesn’t pour itself out. It just sits there at its lowest point. The water can’t go anywhere because every point is uphill.

It grows saltier and richer (in mineral wealth) but it’s still dead.

If you ask me, that’s a pretty accurate picture of a soul disconnected from God.

The Good News (the Gospel) is, God’s River of Living Water flows all the way to the Dead Sea and when it reaches those salty waters, they are brought to life. The transformed waters teem with fish. The shores become green with fruitful trees.

If you happen to be at your “lowest point” and everything feels like an uphill battle, If you’re tired of taking and taking and growing richer and saltier, but still finding no life, it’s time to ask Jesus for living water.

“Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.””
‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬