Morning Light – September 14th, 2017 – Ezekiel 47: Come Out to Waters to Swim In!

Morning Light – Ezekiel 47
Today: [Ezekiel 47] Come Out to Waters to Swim In! In this chapter Ezekiel sees waters flowing out of the depths of the temple on the right side of the altar of God. Jesus spoke of living waters coming out of man’s heart, confirming that the temple described in Ez. 40-47 says as much about who God is in us and who we are in God as anything else. There is also an understanding given about the graduating fullness of God moving from waters to the ankles and waters to swim in as we are moving progressively deeper into the things of the Spirit of God.
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[Eze 47:1-23 KJV] 1 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. 2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters [were] to the ankles. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters [were] to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters [were] to the loins. 5 Afterward he measured a thousand; [and it was] a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. 6 And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen [this]? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. 7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river [were] very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: [which being] brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. 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. 10 And it shall come to pass, [that] the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a [place] to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. 11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. 12 And by the river upon 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.
In this chapter, the angelic guide that appeared in chapter 40 appears for the final time to conclude Ezekiel’s tour of the Restoration Temple. He brings him to the door of the house which is the entrance to the inner court. He sees inside the altar of incense, the table of showbread and the golden lampstand. From the south side or the right side of the altar water is flowing out from the depths of the inner court toward Ezekiel standing just beyond from his vantage point from the outer court. We know Ezekiel would have presumed this is the Sabbath day because this door remains shut on the remaining 6 days of the week. Therefore, Ezekiel stands in the rest of God looking into the depths of God’s glory seeing something that has never been seen before of a fountain coming from the depths, offering him refreshing and cleansing.
Remember that Jesus would have been very familiar with this passage of scripture. A picture of the temple with a fountain of water proceeding from the inmost court, the Holy of Holies and flowing out from the right side of the altar into the outer court. What is this a picture of and did Jesus ever refer to it in His teachings? Consider John 4:14:
[Jhn 4:14 KJV] 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Here we see that not only Paul in his teachings considered your body to be the temple but here Jesus frames for the woman at the well an understanding that you are the temple and that from that temple as Ezekiel’s vision conveys there is something of God’s glory and refreshing flowing forth for healing and renewal. The larger context is plain, suggesting that the entire vision from Ezekiel 40-47 of the Restoration Temple is speaking something of who you are in God and who God is in you in your person as the house of God, the temple of God not made with hands where the Father affixes His name and were His glory is inclined to dwell.
To speak of the depths of this water the angel takes his line and beckoning Ezekiel to follow measures a 1000 cubits and finds water to the ankles. Then another 1000 and water to the knees. Then another 1000 and water to the loins. Then another and a river of water to swim in that could not be crossed over – a vision of the immeasurable depths of eternity wherein we will endlessly be with the Lord. This is a picture of the graduating and increasing refreshing and glory of God ever enlarging itself on the inside of us as what John 14:4 calls a well, John 7:38 describes as a river:
[Jhn 7:38 KJV] 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Now there is another metric to apply to what the angel revealed to Ezekiel. We have shown in previous teaching that the square cubits of the Royal cubit used to measure the temple are equated to years, or epochs of time in God’s timeline. In Moses’ tabernacle the outer court was 4000 cubits representing 4000 years from Adam to Christ. In the inner court there were 2000 square cubits representing the number of years from Christ to the advent of the 7th 1000 year epoch after Adam. The inner court was 1000 years from the advent of the 7th millennium from Adam, the 3rd millennium from Christ and the end of man’s seven 1000 year days according to Peter who taught that a 1000 years was a day and a day was as a 1000 years (2 Peter 3:8). Ezekiel live in the 6th century before Christ. If you equate the number of cubits with years moving forward from Ezekiel’s millennial (which began with the rule of king David) the measure that brought Ezekiel to waters to the ankles would have been approximately the time that Constantine declares Christianity the rule of the realm of the Roman empire. This is the church in waters up to the ankles.
If you measure with the angel then from Constantine’s time, one cubit for a year 1000 years you come roughly to the time that Martin Luther nails his 95 theses to the wall of the Wittenberg chapel, igniting the Protestant Reformation. This is water to the ankles. Moving forward then another 1000 years you come to 25th Century approximately 5 centuries from now and waters to the loins and the final thousand representing the end of the timeline of man measuring a cubit for a year we come to the waters to swim in that speak to us of eternity, time without end. Without engaging in unwise date setting, it is nonetheless compelling to realize from several prophetic timelines including this one that we are in the threshold of the final epochs of the day of grace before the commencement of the 1000 year reign of Christ!
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This [shall be] the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph [shall have two] portions. 14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: [concerning] the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. 15 And this [shall be] the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad; 16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which [is] between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which [is] by the coast of Hauran. 17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And [this is] the north side. 18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel [by] Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And [this is] the east side. 19 And the south side southward, from Tamar [even] to the waters of strife [in] Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And [this is] the south side southward. 20 The west side also [shall be] the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This [is] the west side. 21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. 22 And it shall come to pass, [that] ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23 And it shall come to pass, [that] in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give [him] his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.
The chapter concludes with an abstract of the apportionment of the land to the people of God by their tribal heritage that is covering more completely in the next chapter.