Ezekiel 47:1 - Meaning and Application

This part of Ezekiel’s vision must have a spiritual meaning, so we should expect the rest of the vision to have one too. It cannot simply refer to the water used in the temple for washing sacrifices, cleaning the temple, and carrying waste away. That would turn this beautiful river into a drain or sewer. Zechariah 14:8 may help explain it, where living waters go out from Jerusalem, half toward the eastern sea and half toward the western sea. John also seems to point to this in his vision of a pure river of the water of life (Revelation 22:1).

That picture seems to show the glory and joy that come when grace is fully complete. Ezekiel’s river seems to show grace and joy that have already begun to share in that glory. Most interpreters agree that these waters stand for the gospel of Christ, which went out from Jerusalem and spread into the surrounding lands. They also stand for the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit, which went with the gospel and helped it spread widely and work amazing blessings.

Ezekiel had already walked around the house many times, yet he did not notice these waters until now. God does not show his will all at once, but little by little. The first thing to notice is the source of the waters. Ezekiel is not told to trace the stream back to its fountain. Instead, the fountainhead is shown to him first: waters came out from under the threshold of the house toward the east, and from under the right side of the house, that is, the south side of the altar (Ezekiel 47:1). Again, waters ran out on the right side (Ezekiel 47:2). This shows that from Zion would go out the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3).

That was where the Holy Spirit was poured out on the apostles and gave them the gift of tongues, so they could carry these waters to all nations. In the temple, they were first to stand and preach the words of this life (Acts 5:20). They were to preach the gospel to all nations, but they had to begin at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47). But there is more. Christ is the temple, and he is the door. From him these living waters flow, from his pierced side. The water he gives becomes in us a spring of water that wells up to eternal life (John 4:14). And when we believe in him, rivers of living water come from within us, and this spoke he of the Spirit (John 7:38, John 7:39).

The source of these waters was not above ground, but under the threshold. That reminds us that the fountain of a believer’s life is a mystery, hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Some have noted that the waters came from the right side of the house, to show that gospel blessings are right-hand blessings, that is, blessings of favor and honor. It also encourages those who wait at Wisdom’s gates and stand at the doors of God’s house, and are willing to lie at the threshold like David. They are right at the fountainhead of comfort and grace. Even the entrance into God’s word brings light and life (Psalm 119:130). David praised Zion by saying, “All my springs are in you” (Psalm 87:7).

The waters came from the side of the altar, because it is in and through Jesus Christ, the great altar who makes our gifts acceptable to God, that God has blessed us with spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. From God as the fountain, and in Christ as the channel, flows the river that makes glad the city of our God, the holy place where the Most High dwells (Psalm 46:4). Yet the joy of glorified saints in heaven far exceeds the joy of the best saints on earth. Here, our streams of comfort rise from under the threshold. There, they come from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 22:1).

The second thing to notice is the river’s growth. It flowed eastward (Ezekiel 47:3), toward the eastern country (Ezekiel 47:8), as it was directed. The prophet and his guide followed the stream as it came down from the holy mountains. After about a thousand cubits, they crossed it to test its depth, and it was ankle-deep (Ezekiel 47:3). They went another thousand cubits and crossed again, and this time it was knee-deep (Ezekiel 47:4). They went another thousand cubits, and it was up to the waist. After another thousand cubits, they tried to cross again, but now it was too deep. The water had risen, whether from streams joining it above ground or springs feeding it below ground, so that it was a river to swim in and could not be crossed (Ezekiel 47:5).

These waters of the sanctuary are running waters, like a river, not still water like a pond. The gospel, when first preached, kept spreading farther. Grace in the soul also keeps moving forward. It is active, always pressing on toward perfection. These are also increasing waters. The river keeps flowing, and the farther it goes, the fuller it becomes. The gospel church began very small, like a little brook, but little by little it grew to ankle-deep and then knee-deep. Many were added daily, and the mustard seed grew into a great tree.

The gifts of the Spirit grow as they are used, and true grace grows too, like the light of morning that shines brighter and brighter until full day. It is good for us to follow these waters and go with them. We should watch the spread of the gospel in the world, and we should also watch the work of grace in our hearts. We must pay attention to the movements of the blessed Spirit and walk after them, under divine guidance, as Ezekiel did here. It is also good to keep searching into the things of God and testing their depth, not just looking at the surface of these waters, but going as deep as we can.

If we search into God’s things, we will find some things very plain, like water that is only ankle-deep. We will find others that are harder and require deeper searching, like water to the knees or waist. And some things will be beyond our reach. We cannot fully understand or explain them. Then, like Paul, we must sit down at the edge and worship the depth of God’s wisdom (Romans 11:33). It has often been said that in Scripture, like these sanctuary waters, some places are so shallow that a lamb can wade through them, and others are so deep that an elephant can swim in them.

So it is wise, as the prophet did, to begin with what is easiest to understand and let our hearts be washed by those truths before moving on to what is dark and hard to understand. It is good to take our work in order.

The reach of this river is wide. It flows toward the east country, but then it seems to split into several streams, or bend around so that it runs down into the desert and then into the sea, either the Dead Sea, which lay to the southeast, or the Sea of Tiberias, which lay to the northeast, or the Great Sea, which lay to the west (Ezekiel 47:8). This was fulfilled when the gospel spread successfully through Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1), and then to the surrounding nations, even to distant islands. Its message went to the ends of the world, and its enemies could no more stop its advance than they could stop a mighty river.

The river also shows the healing power of the waters of the sanctuary. Wherever these waters go freely, they bring life and restoration. Even when they flow into the sea, that sulfurous lake of Sodom, a lasting sign of God’s judgment, its waters are healed and made sweet, pleasant, and healthy (Ezekiel 47:8). This points to the wonderful change the gospel makes wherever it comes in power, a great change in both character and condition, like turning the Dead Sea into a place full of gardens. When people who were children of wrath become children of love, and those dead in sin are made alive, this picture is fulfilled.

The gospel is like the salt Elisha cast into the spring at Jericho, when he healed the waters (2 Kings 2:20-21). Christ came into the world as a physician, and he sent the gospel as the great medicine, a remedy for every kind of sickness. Wherever these rivers come, they make things live (Ezekiel 47:9). Plants and animals flourish there, because they are the water of life (Revelation 22:1, Revelation 22:17). Christ came so that we might have life, and for that reason he sends his gospel. Everything will live wherever the river reaches. God’s grace makes dead sinners alive and makes living believers fruitful and active.

But its effect depends on how it is received, and on the state of the heart. As for the marshes and muddy places, settled in the mud of their own sin and refusing to be healed, or settled in the wetness of their own righteousness and thinking they need no healing, their sentence is this: they will not be healed (Ezekiel 47:11). The same gospel that is a sweet smell of life to some will be a smell of death to them. They will be given over to salt, to lasting barrenness (Deuteronomy 29:23). Those who refuse to be watered by God’s grace and made fruitful will be left to their own sinful desires and remain unfruitful forever. Let the filthy remain filthy still. Let no fruit grow on you ever again. They will be given to salt, meaning they will stand as warnings of divine justice, like Lot’s wife, who became a pillar of salt to teach others.

There will also be a great abundance of fish in this river. Every living creature will be found here, and will live here, prosper, and increase greatly (Ezekiel 47:9). There will be a very great number of fish, of every kind, like the fish of the great sea, beyond counting. So there will be large numbers of Christians in the church, multiplying like fish in later generations, full of youthful strength. At creation, the waters brought forth fish in great abundance (Genesis 1:20-21), and the fish still live in and by the waters that produced them. In the same way, believers are born through the word of truth (James 1:18) and through the living word of God (1 Peter 1:23). That word is like God’s river. They live by it, and it supplies their strength and support. In the waters of the sanctuary, they are in their proper element. Outside them, they are like fish on dry land, as David was when he thirsted and longed for God, for the living God.

Where fish are known to be plentiful, fishermen gather and cast their nets. So, to show that these waters will be full and useful in every way, the vision says that fishermen will stand on the banks of this river, from En-gedi, on the edge of the Dead Sea, to En-eglaim, another town that borders that sea, and all along they will spread their nets. The Dead Sea, once avoided as foul and harmful, will be frequented. Gospel grace makes people and places that were once useless become useful to God and to others.

There are also many trees on both banks of the river (Ezekiel 47:7), which makes the view pleasant and gives shelter that helps the fishing. But that is not all (Ezekiel 47:12). These are fruit trees, and their fruit will not fail, because they will bear fresh fruit every month. Their leaves will be for healing, and they will not wither. This part of the vision is copied very closely in John’s vision (Revelation 22:2), where the tree of life grows on either side of the river, gives fruit every month, and has leaves for the healing of the nations. Christians are meant to be like these trees, especially ministers, as trees of righteousness, planted by the Lord (Isaiah 61:3), set by the waters of the sanctuary, the waters of life (Psalm 1:3), grafted into Christ the tree of life, and through their union with him made trees of life as well, rooted in him (Colossians 2:7).

There is great variety among these trees because the one Spirit gives different gifts and works all in all. They grow by the riverbank, or keep close to the holy ordinances, and through them they draw life and strength from Christ. They are fruit trees, meant, like the fig tree and the olive, to honor God and man with their fruit (Judges 9:9). Their fruit is for food, because the lips of the righteous feed many. The fruit of their righteousness is helpful in one way or another. Even their leaves are for healing, for bruises and sores. Good Christians, by their good words, which are like leaves, and by their charitable deeds, which are like fruit, do good to those around them. They strengthen the weak and bind up the brokenhearted. Their cheerful spirit does good like medicine, not only to themselves but also to others.

God will give them grace to keep going in what is good and useful. Their leaves will not fade or lose their healing power, because they have life in their roots and sap in all their branches. Their profession of faith will not wither (Psalm 1:3), and its fruit will not be used up. In other words, they will not lose the power to bear fruit, but will keep producing even in old age, showing that the Lord is upright (Psalm 92:14, Psalm 92:15).

The reward of that fruitfulness will last forever. They will bring forth fruit that will count for them in the great day, fruit that leads to eternal life. That is truly fruit that will not be consumed. They will bear new fruit each month, some at one time and some at another, so there will always be someone ready to serve God's glory in the way he intends.

Or the meaning may be that each tree bears fruit every month, which shows a great readiness to bear fruit, they will never grow tired of doing good. It also points to a very favorable climate, where there is always spring and summer. The reason for this unusual fruitfulness is that their waters came from the sanctuary. It is not due to anything in themselves, but to the steady supplies of divine grace, with which they are watered every moment (Isaiah 27:3). Whoever planted them, it was this that gave the increase.