Ezekiel 47:6-12: a reflection

6He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and caused me to return to the bank of the river. 7Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8Then he said to me, “These waters flow out toward the eastern region and will go down into the Arabah. Then they will go toward the sea and flow into the sea which will be made to flow out; and the waters will be healed. 9It will happen that every living creature which swarms, in every place where the rivers come, will live. Then there will be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters have come there, and the waters of the sea will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river comes. 10It will happen that fishermen will stand by it. From En Gedi even to En Eglaim will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish will be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceedingly many. 11But its swamps and marshes will not be healed. They will be given up to salt. 12By the river banks, on both sides, will grow every tree for food, whose leaf won’t wither, neither will its fruit fail. It will produce new fruit every month, because its waters issue out of the sanctuary. Its fruit will be for food, and its leaf for healing.”

In Ezekiel's vision, a river flows out from the temple of God, and wherever it goes, it brings life. It runs down toward the salt sea and heals its waters, so that they teem with fish; along its banks grow trees of every kind, bearing fresh fruit every month, their leaves for healing. Everything lives, the vision says, wherever the river goes, because its waters issue from the sanctuary, from the presence of God.

Notice the source and the effect of this river. Its source is the sanctuary, the presence of God; and its effect is life, wherever it flows, healing the dead waters, making the barren fruitful, bringing life to everything it touches. The life it carries is not its own; it flows from God's presence. Where the river of God's life reaches, death gives way to life, barrenness to fruitfulness, sickness to healing.

That is a picture of the life that flows from God, and the New Testament sees it fulfilled in the Spirit that Christ gives, a river of living water. The life we need, life that heals what is dead in us and makes us fruitful, flows from God's presence, not from ourselves. Draw near to the source; let the river of God's life flow into the dead and barren places of your soul, healing and making fruitful. And know that this life is meant to flow through you to others, bringing life wherever it goes. Stay near the sanctuary, the presence of God from which the river flows, and let his life heal you and flow through you to bring life to a thirsty world.

Lord, in Ezekiel's vision a river flowed from your sanctuary, bringing life wherever it went, healing dead waters, making the barren fruitful, its trees bearing fruit and their leaves for healing. Thank you that the life it carried flowed from your presence, and that in Christ you give the river of living water, your Spirit. The life I need, life that heals what is dead in me and makes me fruitful, flows from you, not from myself. Help me draw near to the source, and let the river of your life flow into the dead and barren places of my soul, healing and making them fruitful. And let that life flow through me to others, bringing life wherever it goes. Keep me near your presence, the sanctuary from which the river flows, and let your life heal me and flow through me to a thirsty world. Be the living water in me.