The Daily Word of Righteousness

One in Christ in God, #7

Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. (Ezekiel 47:1)

The River of Life

The Temple of God is described in Ezekiel, Chapters 40 through 48. As is true of many visions of the Prophets of the Old Testament, the temple seen by Ezekiel undoubtedly has several meanings. It is likely that the Jews of the captivity would be thinking about the restoration of the Temple of Solomon whenever a prophet spoke of seeing a temple.

But the scenes that Ezekiel portrayed just before he described the temple, plus some of his statements about the temple that he saw, suggest to us that God may have included some of the spiritual truths that apply to the Body of Christ.

The Body of Christ is the true and eternal dwelling place of God Almighty. Never again will God live in a temple made with hands (Acts 7:48).

Revelation 21:22 states: "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it."

The entire new Jerusalem is the Church, the Wife of the Lamb, the dwelling place of God among people.

Chapter 47 of Ezekiel describes the waters that come out "from under the threshold of the house eastward." This river is the Glory of God which will be poured out until the whole earth is filled with His brightness and power. "Eastward" points toward the morning of the Day of Christ.

But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. (Numbers 14:21)

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)

In symbolic language, Ezekiel 47:9 portrays the outpouring of God's Glory that is to stream from the members of the Body of Christ.

And it shall come to pass that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. (Ezekiel 47:9)

Notice also verse 12 of the same chapter, and compare it with verses 1 and 2 of the twenty-second chapter of the Book of Revelation:

And by the river on the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. (Ezekiel 47:12)

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1,2)

Now, think about the following statement of the Lord Jesus:

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38)

To be continued.