I’m unsure how you arrived at this post, but reading these words is no accident.
The LORD brought you here.
Do you feel like a failure?
Are you struggling with anxiety, Does the crushing weight of expectations cause you to desire “to give up.”
Read carefully.
Do not give up.
What follows below is LIFE itself.
Jesus Is Your River Life
I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side.
3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 6 He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”
Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.
Ezekiel 40-48 compose nine of the most beautful chapters in the Hebrew Scriptures (e.g. “The Old Testament“).
Ezekiel 40-48 narrates a vision that Jesus gives to the prophet Ezekiel (b. 622 – d. 570 BC) of a New Temple.
This New Temple is a metaphorical picture of the New Covenant Church of Jesus Christ.
John Gill says in his commentary on Ezekiel 45:
“This whole vision (Ezekiel 40-28) respects the Church of Christ on earth. It is meant mystically and spiritually of the Kingdom of Christ, and the settlement and establishment of the Church throughout the whole world, according to the allotment and determination of God. The people of Christ are a distinct and special people that are admitted into this state. It is by the distinguishing grace of God that they are taken into the Gospel church, and have a part and share in all the privileges and immunities of it.” (John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible, Ezekiel 45).
In the vision, Ezekiel sees a River of Living Water flowing from the Temple (the River of Life), out the Eastern Gate, into the Judean desert and the Dead Sea.
Jesus the Messiah is this River of Living Water.
It flows out of the Church of Jesus Christ. The Good News of Jesus is powerful enough to make “every dead creature live.”
That’s you.
Jesus makes the dry, dead desert of Judah live.
Jesus makes the dry, dead deserter of God in America live.
The Good News of Jesus Christ transforms this dead, barren world.
Jesus, in a pre-Incarnate appearance (e.g. “a Christonphony), gives to the prophet Ezekiel a picture of the power of the New Covenant Good News to make dead, barren, hopeless people live!
The addicted, abandoned, and anonymous in this world have hope.
His name is Jesus.
The Mission of the Church
As the River of Life flows from the Temple (the Church of Jesus Christ), the river becomes wider and deeper.
The number 1,000 is a beautiful number of God’s government.
Every 1000 cubits the River of Life flows, the deeper the River of Live becomes.
So it is with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The more the Church of Jesus leaves the Eastern Gate and takes the Good News to this world’s dry and barren desert, the deeper and wider the River of Live flows.
Never, ever give up.
The Good News of Jesus Christ has the power to change the world.
The River of Life has the power to change you.
from the sayings of the Apostolic Fathers, this:
” . . . there is within me a water that liveth and speaketh,
saying to me inwardly,
‘COME. COME TO THE FATHER’ .”
Wade,
CHRISTIANE is right. I don’t know how, but my email shows on the comment I made on August 1, at 2:31 pm on your Post: “Jesus the Messiah is the River of Life”.