As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. He asked me, ‘Son of man, do you see this?’
Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, ‘This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.’” (Ezekiel 47:1-12 NIV)
The “Dead Sea” is an appropriate name for a body of water in Israel that is eight times saltier than any ocean. No plants or animals can live in its extreme salinity. That is what makes Ezekiel’s vision all the more interesting. Notice that the Dead Sea comes alive. A river, that started as a trickle and grows wider and deeper as it goes, flows into the salty body of water and replenishes it with fresh, life-giving water. And all along the way, the river is bringing life—trees bearing luscious fruit and healing leaves growing on its banks and abundant fish swimming in its waters—living waters that have the power to turn death into life.
The Temple was the center of the Jewish faith and at the center of the Temple was the Holy of Holies, the place where once a year the High Priest would enter into the presence of God. So the picture Ezekiel’s vision is painting is of the day when living water would flow from the presence of the Lord into the spiritually dead world.
When Jesus met the woman at the well (John 4:1-26), He identified Himself as the source of “living water.” And then later in John 7, He says this: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (v. 37-38)
The vision of Ezekiel is the picture of Christ entering the world and the living water flowing from Him into human beings who, in turn, allow this water (the Holy Spirit) to flow from them into a spiritually dead world, bringing life wherever it flows. This is the picture of what the Church’s impact is to be in the world. Sadly for many, however, experience with churches has only brought more death—death through legalism, hypocrisy, abuse, and shallowness. To the point they have given up on finding any life there.
Yet, the Church is the Lord’s means by which the living water flows. We, His followers, are His temple (I Corinthians 3:16), and the water that brings life is to flow from us.
Today as we begin a new school year, let us see our campus (or our workplace or neighborhood) as a dead sea that is in desperate need of life. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to flow powerfully through us so that everywhere we go, we bring life into dead places.
© Jim Musser 2016
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