kayte
Well-Known Member
Ez :47
He asked me, "Have you seen this, son of man?"
Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He said to me,
"This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine."
Ezekiel’s words today can fill us with great hope.
He describes a river flowing from the Temple—a river whose waters give healing, life, and fruitfulness to everything it touches. What is amazing is that Ezekiel received this vision during a time of national calamity for the Jews: Jerusalem had been overrun by the armies of Babylon, and the Temple lay in absolute ruin. How could this once-glorious building ever become the source of such marvelous, miraculous healing?
We could ask the same question about the way things looked on Good Friday. Jesus, a rabbi from Nazareth, had been hailed just a week earlier as the One coming in the name of the Lord. Yet here is his bloody body hanging lifeless from a cross. How could anything good possibly come from such a wasted scene?
The answer is the same in both cases: God is all about resurrection and restoration. For the Jews, that meant the reestablishment of Jerusalem as the city of God and the Temple as the place from which all of his blessings and mercies would flow. And for us, that promise of restoration means that the blood that Jesus shed has become a never-ending stream of forgiveness and healing.
It means that just as Jesus rose victorious on Easter, we too can rise up from the death of our own sins and be brought into the joy and freedom of a personal relationship with Almighty God.
Just as God gave Ezekiel a vision of the future for Jerusalem, he wants to give us a vision for our lives and for the life of the church. He wants to reveal his ways to us—personally, in our hearts, not just theoretically and in our minds.He wants to show us that he has wonderful plans for our lives.
None of us should resign ourselves to being bound in sin or left to wander in a valley of fear or anxiety. The river of God’s healing is still flowing.
It flows to us from the cross every time we look to it for power over sin. It flows from the church every time we celebrate the sacraments. And it flows from our brothers and sisters when we open ourselves to their love
“Jesus, I want to step into your living waters. I need your healing and cleansing so that I can share in your life and be a light to the world.”
He asked me, "Have you seen this, son of man?"
Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He said to me,
"This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine."
Ezekiel’s words today can fill us with great hope.
He describes a river flowing from the Temple—a river whose waters give healing, life, and fruitfulness to everything it touches. What is amazing is that Ezekiel received this vision during a time of national calamity for the Jews: Jerusalem had been overrun by the armies of Babylon, and the Temple lay in absolute ruin. How could this once-glorious building ever become the source of such marvelous, miraculous healing?
We could ask the same question about the way things looked on Good Friday. Jesus, a rabbi from Nazareth, had been hailed just a week earlier as the One coming in the name of the Lord. Yet here is his bloody body hanging lifeless from a cross. How could anything good possibly come from such a wasted scene?
The answer is the same in both cases: God is all about resurrection and restoration. For the Jews, that meant the reestablishment of Jerusalem as the city of God and the Temple as the place from which all of his blessings and mercies would flow. And for us, that promise of restoration means that the blood that Jesus shed has become a never-ending stream of forgiveness and healing.
It means that just as Jesus rose victorious on Easter, we too can rise up from the death of our own sins and be brought into the joy and freedom of a personal relationship with Almighty God.
Just as God gave Ezekiel a vision of the future for Jerusalem, he wants to give us a vision for our lives and for the life of the church. He wants to reveal his ways to us—personally, in our hearts, not just theoretically and in our minds.He wants to show us that he has wonderful plans for our lives.
None of us should resign ourselves to being bound in sin or left to wander in a valley of fear or anxiety. The river of God’s healing is still flowing.
It flows to us from the cross every time we look to it for power over sin. It flows from the church every time we celebrate the sacraments. And it flows from our brothers and sisters when we open ourselves to their love
“Jesus, I want to step into your living waters. I need your healing and cleansing so that I can share in your life and be a light to the world.”
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