338. River of Life
Ezekiel 47:9 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.
The awesome image in this figurative picture includes a promise of life. God promises life, over and over, eternal life that all believers receive. This promised life is represented here by a river that flows from the temple. The temple is magnificently pictured in these last chapters of Ezekiel. The temple is the representation of the living, active, brilliant and glorious presence of God. This Glorious Presence is revealed in Revelation 21-22 as we enter the Eternal State in the New Heavens and the New Earth to live forever with God in perfect love, peace, and joy.
God Himself is the source of the river, as the Lord is indeed the source of life, eternal life that is really living. Sin entered the world through us humans and cut us off from The Life, and thereby Death entered. And we have been squeezed, pressured, frightened, afflicted, and robbed by Death ever since. Death and the Second Death is our necessary and unavoidable fate, unless God should intervene and give us Life. Which He Did!
In God’s Creation there was, and still is, no such thing as Death. Every living thing would just keep on living, including the fish. There was no such thing as sickness, pain, injury and weakness in body, emotions or mind. The “river” and the “tree” heal everything and renew life constantly, and we are continually young, healthy and strong. Everything is healed and everything lives. “Every thing shall live whither the river cometh.” This is our promise from Jesus and our promise is guaranteed because of Jesus. The River of Life heals viruses, broken bones, broken hearts, and stupid minds immediately.
This kind of life will be ours in real, eternal physical living One Day. But it is also ours today in real, spiritual living. Jesus puts it this way in John 7:38: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture [Ezekiel] has said, ‘Out of his heart [KJV, “belly,” Greek, “bowels”] will flow rivers of living water.” This He said of the Spirit. The Spirit is the Life; the Spirit is the river of life. We have such awesome power in us, and it flows out of us. We have such a river that heals and gives life. However, we also have that other power in us, Sin, that gives death. So we avail ourselves of the forgiveness of sins as often as possible.