Entertaining the Presence Part 6 (Ezekiel 47 and John 7:37)
Verse 1 Throughout the book of Ezekiel he has this tour guide simply identified as “the man.”
o This man is leading Ezekiel through a long and complex vision.
o Much of the last part of the book is related to the restoration of the temple and the land.
• The water coming from the temple is also going to be a very important of this prophetic scene.
o Common practice to build temples and other important building over a spring or water source.
o But this will be different because of what the water does. This water becomes entirely supernatural.
o We also have to back to Ezekiel 43:1-5 to see the source of this water.
• The source of the water here in Ez 47 is the Glory of the Lord which has now filled the temple.
o It’s also interesting that the voice of the Lord sounded like rushing waters.
Verse 2 The word here translated in the NIV as “flowing” is actually the word trickling.
• The Hebrew verb is also related to the noun pak, which means “vase.”
o The initial source of water is to be seen as limited, as if water was pouring from a narrow jar/vase.
Verse 3 Throughout the whole vision this man keeps measuring everything for Ezekiel.
• Here he stops and measures the depth of the water every 1500 feet.
Verse 4-5 Remember this stream started so small it was like being poured from a vase.
• We now know this is a supernatural flow of water. Rivers don’t get that deep is just 6000ft
• Then it gets so deep he can no longer walk. A good place to be, in over our head.
Verse 6 This is like when Jesus says, “do you have eyes to see?”
Vere 7 This is what he is seeing the in the vision, because at the time the land would have been quite barren.
o This is similar to the scene in Ezekiel 37 when he saw the valley filled with dry bones.
Verse 8 Here the scene really starts to take on a super natural element.
• It says that this river is now able to overcome the saltiness of the dead sea.
o The average salt content of the ocean is about 3.5 percent, the salt content of the Dead Sea is 34%.
• NT imagery: The Dead Sea here can represent us in our pre-Christ condition
o It represents the unredeemed world around us.
o The River is of course Jesus and the Holy Spirit and their transformative nature and power.
o Jesus is of course in the business of brining dead things back to life.
Now let’s look at John 7:37 We need to remember this scene takes place at the Feast of Tabernacles.
• The history and tradition behind the Feast of Tabernacles is so important to see Jesus as the Living Water.
• At this feast when they would pour this water both looking back to what God had done, and forward to the coming Messiah, Jesus stands up and says that this water is Him. He is this living water that they desire.
Verses 9-12 These verses give us a glimpse of just how complete the restoration Jesus bring is.
• And this all flows out of the presence of God. Practice the Presence!
