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.”
We should notice particularly that it was from the south side of the altar that the river flowed out. This has a deep symbolic significance, for the south side of the altar is the place of sacrifice. It is always the place of sacrifice that is the source of blessing. In the parallel passage in the book of Revelation, we see that the river proceeds from the throne of God and of the Lamb - a Lamb as it had been slain (22:1). The fountainhead of all blessing in spiritual life is the cross: it is when Christ is uplifted on the cross that blessing flows to men (John 12:32), and it is when we, as believers and servants of God, have been in the place of sacrifice that blessing begins to flow. In this connection one recalls something Andrew Bonar once said about the need for a minister of the gospel, when he goes into the pulpit on a Sunday, not so much to try to bring people into the presence of the Lord as himself to go out from that Presence to the people, and bring them back in. And if we go out from the place of sacrifice to meet with men, it cannot but be that that presence will be vitally communicated to them and they will be brought into living contact with the blessing of God. This is a word that is applicable not only to ministers, but surely to all who seek to serve the Lord in Christian witness and testimony. Is this how we live, and is this the kind of impact we make?