On our side, our safety too secure, the God of Jacob is for us a refuge strong and sure. Amen. Let us turn now to the reading of God's Holy Word, Ezekiel 47. We continue to look out the temple vision which ends the book of Ezekiel all the way from chapter 40 to 48. This is page 931 in the Blue ASV Bibles. Ezekiel chapter 47, be reading and considering the first 12 verses. Let us hear the Word of God, Ezekiel 47, beginning at verse 1. Then He brought me back to the door of the temple. And behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward 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. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east, and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. Going on eastward 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. 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. 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. And he said to me, Son of Man, have you seen this? Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, this water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Araba and enters the sea. When the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. 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. Fishermen will stand beside the sea, from Engedi to Anglayam. 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. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh. They are to be left for salt. 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. So far the reading, the grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. And dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as all of Scripture has finally one author, the Holy Spirit, there are a number of times in the Scriptures when we have a truth which is plainly declared in one place, which is declared for us in another place prophecy or parable or vision. Ezekiel 47 together with James one is one of those times when we see the Holy Spirit working through two different human authors who lived many miles and many centuries apart from each other. And the Holy Spirit used these two men to communicate the same truth in two different ways. And so what James plainly says in James 1 verse 17, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights. This is the truth which comes to us through this great vision of the river of life in Ezekiel chapter 47. And so, to just restate James 1.17 a little bit, is our theme tonight. God is the source of every good gift. And as we look at Ezekiel, communicating this truth to us fully and beautifully in this visionary form, we have three points. That it is the river from the temple, and that it is the river of life, and then the last two verses that it is the river of healing verses 11 to 12. We begin with this that it is the river from the temple and chapter 47 is is basically a transition, chapter 40 to 46 is more focused on the temple itself and now 47 and 48 is focused on the land and this river that runs in the land. And so we have the angelic tour guide, then he brought me back to the door, that's the angelic tour guide, the man of bronze mentioned all the way back and described all the way back in chapter 40 verse 3. And this angelic tour guide takes Ezekiel back to the door of the temple. And starting from the south side of the temple, south of the altar, he shows Ezekiel that there is water coming from below the threshold of the temple and going towards the east. Why does the water start from the south side of the temple? Well, that's where the bronze pool for ceremonial cleansing was in the Temple of Solomon. That was a rather large pool. It was bigger than like an inflatable kid's pool that you might see in a backyard. It was about 12 feet in diameter, and it's described in 1 Kings 7, and it was a pool for ceremonial cleansing. It was the pool of water in the temple, and that's where it was. Well, in this visionary temple, which is not a literal temple, Again, this is a vision, as it says, back in chapter 40. And if there was any doubt that this is a vision, then the description of this river and what this river does removes any of that doubt. But it is linked to the images that the people were familiar with. And so this pool, this trickle of water begins where the pool for cleansing was in Solomon's temple. But then where does it go? It comes from below the threshold and then it goes towards the east. Middle of verse one for the temple face east. What is that reference to? It is for those who were here the last couple of weeks, it says we're now the water starts from the south, but it's going to the east, which is what? It's the central gate. The east gate is the central gate. That's where God's presence came into this temple. and that is the place which especially then represents the holiness of God in a special way together with the Holy of Holies. So, just to step back, what do we have? We have water coming from the place where they would have expected the pool for ceremonial cleansing, but this is not a pool, this is a trickle of water And it's going out through the east, through that east gate, which is especially stands for God's holy presence throughout this temple vision of Ezekiel. In other words, we have water from God. and it's going out. But then what happens? Because it's not a big pool like the temple, like the pool in the Temple of Solomon. It's just a trickle of water. That's all it is. It's this little trickle of water, which bubbles up from in the temple and is now trickling out under the temple. But then what happens to it? Look in verse three, after a thousand cubits, So the tour guide takes Ezekiel 1,000 cubits away from the temple, and now it's ankle-deep, verse 3. And then another 1,000 cubits towards the east, and now it's knee-deep, beginning of verse 4. Another 1,000 cubits, the end of verse 4, and now it is waist-deep. Another 1,000 cubits, and now it is a river which is too powerful to cross. 1,000 cubits is about 1,500 feet. This miraculous river goes from being a tiny trickle coming out of the temple, from the place associated with God's holiness, to in a little over a mile being a river which is too powerful to cross. There's no literal river like this, all on its own all on its own power without any tributaries coming into it. This is a miraculous trickle of water becoming, in a very short time, a powerful river of life. The Belgic Confession says something that captures what this picture from Ezekiel tells us. Belgic Confession, Article 1. God is the overflowing fountain of all good. Now at this point, having seen this trickle become this powerful river in a short amount of time, the tour guide, the man of bronze, asks Ezekiel to slow down and consider what this means. Verse 6, Son of man, have you seen this? And so now we're going to stop and we're going to slow down and we're going to consider what this means. Well, there's more than one truth we could ponder here, but let's stop and consider this. The work of God and the gifts of God often begin as something that seems insignificant. How does this water begin? It is a trickle. It's hardly visible. Indeed, Ezekiel has been going around this temple and touring it for quite a while now, but he's surprised to find it here now. Oh, there's this little tiny trickle of water. But this little tiny trickle of water by God's power soon becomes a great river, which is too powerful to cross. Is this not a picture of how God works, time and time again? A baby in a manger may seem insignificant, but that baby in the manger is the God-man, and he will conquer the grave for sinners. 120 followers of Jesus gathered in Jerusalem before the day of Pentecost may seem insignificant, but those few would become 3,000 in a single day. And then God, by the work of the Holy Spirit poured out, continues to add to their number day by day and to bring the Gospel not only into Jerusalem, but also Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Now perhaps you are hungering and thirsting for righteousness. There are times in your life when the work of God feels only like a trickle. It seems so insignificant. It's hard to see how God is working, how God is using you, even how God is feeding you. God takes time and time again, that which is seemingly insignificant, and He brings it to be His powerful river of life from the trickle to the uncrossable river. Whether it is the work of God through His Son, Jesus Christ, whether it is the work of God in the church as a whole, or as a picture of God's work in our own life. This is a truth for us to ponder. Now when we talk about this river being the river of life, we're getting ahead of ourselves a little bit, and that is the focus of our. second point, and the language of verses 6, the end of verse 6 to verse 10. So let's come now to that. What does this river do? Well, this river provides life. It flows east until it meets the sea. And we see that especially towards the end of verse 9. Now, which sea is this? Well, it's not the Mediterranean Sea. That's to the west. This is the sea which the people of God called the salt sea, the salt sea. And what happens to the salt sea as this river of God meets it and flows into it, it becomes fresh. Verse eight says that, and then verse nine repeats it. It became fresh. So everything will live where the river goes. Now the power of that statement is even better expressed when we use not the the ancient name that we find throughout the Old Testament, the Salt Sea, but when we use the modern name of this sea, the Dead Sea. The modern name captures what's going on here exactly. God's river is a river of life which even meets deadness and turns it to life. At this point we might think back to the more familiar a vision of the valley of dry bones and how the dead are made alive. Well there it's speaking about God's work in individual sinners. Here it's speaking about God's restoration of all things. God is the one who provides every good gift. God is the one who provides the river of life, which even meets death and makes it alive. The Dead Sea becomes the living sea, where the life is now so abundant that, forget about each person taking their own fishing line, every person lines along the coast of the sea, which is no longer the salt sea, and they line along it with their own fishing nets, as it says in verse 10. And then the river itself, back in verse 9, is also full of life. There is life teeming everywhere as this river goes and where this river meets. Now, at this point, brothers and sisters, let's once again step back and consider what this means. And at this point, let's step back and let's consider this river together with the temple. which we've been looking at the last couple of weeks, and specifically, the walls of the temple. And if you were here a couple of weeks ago, you may remember that we spoke about the walls of the temple, and even as Revelation uses also the language of God will separate the clean from the unclean, the holy from the unholy, the walls of the temple are a symbol that God has straight lines to separate the unholy from his holy presence and the unclean from his clean presence. And now we have this image, now in chapter 47, of this river of life and it's going forth and it's giving life. Well, brothers and sisters, there's a reform minister, Ian Duguid, and I think he is a helpful way for us to bring these two pictures and to bring them into application for our lives. Because there are two common errors within the church. One of those errors is the error of antinomianism, which just means against the law. And the other error is the error of legalism, which we might just summarize as being only and all about the law. And where the antinomian would pretend that the law doesn't exist, the legalist would pretend that mercy and forgiveness do not exist as these errors would be taken to their extreme. Well, what is the river, especially emphasize. What is the picture of the river of life? It's a picture of freedom. It's a picture of mercy, of deadness being brought to life. And so what the walls symbolize, the straight lines of God's holiness, are complemented by what the river symbolizes, God's power going forth and in mercy bringing deadness to life. And so Ian Duguid said it this way, quote, legalism delights in preaching the walls of Ezekiel 40 to 46, but speaks only under its breath about the river of life, Ezekiel 47. Antinomianism loudly proclaims the wonderful benefits of the river of life, but does its best to conceal the walls of Ezekiel's temple. By nature, we are each drawn towards an unhealthy emphasis on either the walls or the river. As we all struggle in sin, as we all struggle to keep the perfect balance of the Word of God, what is your struggle? Do you think so much upon the mercy of God that you forget the clearly defined straight lines of God's holiness? Do you so emphasize the law itself that you forget mercy and forgiveness and God's life-giving power bringing deadness to life? Brothers and sisters, let us keep these two images then both before us and let us remember that they are not divorced from one another. They are united together. The river begins with its source from the temple and especially from where God's presence is emphasized in the temple. We must keep both. God's life-giving, forgiving power before us and God's holiness and the call to be separated from unclean things and to come to our holy God. We need both of these images in our life. Surely, above all, we are to remember the one holy one who becomes sin for us so that we may be forgiven, that we may become before the holy presence of God, Jesus, the Prince, the Prince of Peace, who dies on the cross for our sin and brings us into the temple to worship God before His holy presence. Well, brothers and sisters, let's go now to our third point. This is a river of healing. What's going on in verse 11? The picture of the Dead Sea, which is the emphasis of verses 9 and 10, this is a powerful picture of death turned to life. But, salt was very valuable in the ancient world. And even though the Dead Sea was called the Salt Sea back then, it was not useful for fish or for drinking water or for life in any of those ways. The Salt Sea still had its benefit. It was used as a salt reservoir. It took the salt from it. And so even though this is a vision, there might be an Israelite who would hear Ezekiel preaching this to the people as he was commanded to do back in chapter 40. And there might be this objection, wow, that is a powerful image of death turned to life, but that salt is really useful. And we know this. We know that salt is useful in some places and not useful in others. Even our children learn this very young. When our children say, please pass the salt shaker, they're not saying, please pass the salt shaker so I can start dumping as much salt as I can into my glass of water. That's not where it goes. You're asking for salt so that you can season your food. And of course salt had other uses. It even had medicinal healing uses in the ancient world. So there's even accounts in the ancient world of salt being traded ounce for ounce with gold. And so verse 11 at first seems a little strange to us, but we need to remember how valuable salt is. And so the Israelite who's sitting there thinking, wow, what a powerful image of the Dead Sea turning to life, and it's going to be full of fish, and it's going to be fresh water, but the salt is good too. Well, verse 11, sometimes God answers our objections very directly. The next verse, verse 11, but the swamps and the marshes will not become fresh. They will be left. for salt. God is still going to leave a place for the people to have their salt, even in this visionary image of the restored land for God's people. And it is a land for God's people. And because this river in this vision does not go to all the earth, it ends at the Salt Sea. It ends at the eastern border of the people of Israel. These are blessings for God's people, for those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Well, so there is the salt left so that we have both the salt sea teeming with life and still all of the positive things including the medicinal uses of salt from now the salt marshes. There's also now in verse 12, the trees that were first mentioned in verse 7 and then the trees that were just mentioned back in verse 7 are now described. Verse 12, and on the banks of 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. Again, this is all finding its source from God, from God's temple. The water from the sanctuary will make these trees, trees of abundant food, And they're not only for food, the verse ends, and their leaves for healing. At this point, brothers and sisters, let us turn to Revelation chapter 22. Ezekiel's vision is not purely a new heavens and new earth vision as some of the other visions are, but it does have connections even back to the rivers in the first temple of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2. And then it has connections to the river we sang about from Psalm 46, Zechariah 14. But the one that we're going to look at especially is Revelation chapter 22. I'm going to read the first two verses there. And notice that John has his own angelic tour guide. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city, also on either side of the river, the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." So here we have many connections. The river is the water of life. The river has its source from God. The river has, here somehow it's one tree that's on both sides of the river. How exactly that works, we're not told. But we have tree on either side of the river. And what does that tree do? The tree yields fruit each month and it has healing properties. There are also a few differences. Ezekiel is giving his vision to his fellow exiles and it's in Old Testament terms. And so you have the temple and the temple structure and all the sacrifices described even in some detail in chapters 45 and 46. But now we no longer have mention of the sacrifices. Why? Because now it's given to us in New Testament language. Now we have reference to the Lamb who is Jesus Christ, the one who paid the final once for all sacrifice. Now the only furniture that we see is instead of all the various elements of the temple that are described and all the different courts and all of that in Ezekiel 40-46, now we just have one piece of furniture, the throne of God and of the Lamb. And now the river begins directly from that one piece of furniture we still have, the throne of God. And also we have this difference, that while the leaves of the tree are for healing in both places, in Ezekiel, spoken to the Old Testament people of God in Old Testament language, it ends at the border of the people of Israel. It is for the Israelites and for any sojourner who would join with them, but it is for the nation of Israel now who is the healing for. The healing is for the healing of the nations. And then, in the vision of John, it also expands. No longer bound to the promised land, the entire curse will now be removed. by God's river of life. So, people of God, we have a beautiful visionary picture of blessings which come from God's presence. And then we can take that picture and we can move over and we can also see it described briefly in New Testament terms. This is the river which comes from not only God the Father, but the Lamb, God the Son. This is the river which is poured out as the Holy Spirit is poured out. This is the river of life. These are God's blessings. God calls us to worship Him and God pours out His blessings upon us. God restores our soul. God restores our land. God now brings healing to all the nations. And finally, God will remove the curse of this whole earth itself. God is the giver of every good gift. God is the overflowing source of all good. God gives the river of life. Amen. Let us pray. Lord God, abounding in mercy and grace and giving life as a powerful river which turns deadness to life. Oh Lord God, You are the God of mercy and we praise You for the truth of who You are and what You have done for us. We praise You for this truth plainly expressed.