47 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me round on the outside to the outer gate that faces towards the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.
3 Going on eastwards with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. 5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”
Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on one side and on the other. 8 And he said to me, “This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. 9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
The passage before us now is clearly an idealisation of God's abundant blessings. This is a thought echoed frequently in the Old Testament. In Psalm 46:4 for example, we read, 'There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.' It is perhaps significant that these words occur in the context of cataclysmic upheaval and therefore bear witness to the ultimate triumph of God. Similarly, Psalm 65:9 speaks of the river of God that is full of water. Blessings, fertility, water are almost interchangeable ideas in the Old Testament. Here, in Ezekiel, it is because the Lord is there that blessings flow. It is He who is the source and the fountain of all benison and benediction (cf also Isaiah 33:22ff). The parallel references in Revelation must surely be clear that this refers to the consummation in Christ at His coming. Therefore, in line with what we have said earlier about prophetic interpretations, there is an application both to Christ's first coming and to His second. And significantly, in both there are references to living waters. One thinks, for example, of our Lord's words in John 7:37, 38, 'He that believeth on Me … out of his inmost being shall flow rivers of living water .... This spake He of the Spirit ...', the reference being to God the Holy Spirit, Who was to come and dwell in His people. This is exactly Ezekiel's imagery: where the Lord is, in a human life, there is a river of living water. If we are indwelt by the Spirit of God there must be an overflow to others. And - to change the metaphor slightly - it is from the presence of the Lord that we can go forth to be a blessing to others.