The Waters of the Temple

One of the greatest passages of scripture in the Old Testament has to be Ezekiel 47:1-12.  For all of chapters 40-46 Ezekiel had been seeing in vision the temple at Jerusalem that, as far as I’m aware, is still to be built sometime in the future.  Ezekiel was in captivity with other Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians around 600 BC.  Despite this great distance in time from us, the vision he sees of the temple in Ezekiel 47 is a pertinent and stirring witness of the healing power of the temples of God in any dispensation. 

                In the vision he saw that “waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward.”   The heavenly messenger walked eastward in this water for “a thousand cubits, and he brought [Ezekiel] through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.”  They went another thousand and “the waters were to the knees.”  After another thousand “the waters were to the loins.”  And then Ezekiel said, “Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.”  The waters were so powerful that they could not be avoided and one could not go around them.  Just like this water, the power of the temple will eventually fill the whole world and will bring life-giving, refreshing water to all those within its reach.  For those who participate in the temple, I think the progression depicted in Ezekiel’s vision represents our own progression as we let the power of the temple ordinances fill us.  First we go in with our ankles, then our knees, and ultimately if we truly understand its importance we find ourselves filled on all sides with the spirit of the temple. 

                The next several verses also give powerful imagery showing the influence of the temple.  We read, “These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.”  In other words, these waters going forth from the temple would heal the Dead Sea so that “their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.”  If I understand correctly, currently the Dead Sea has no fish because it is so salty.  I’m not sure whether this depiction by Ezekiel is meant to be literal, but the important point is that the temple can eventually heal even the most difficult of circumstances.  Not only will these waters from the temple heal the Dead Sea, but “every thing that liveth, which moveth, withersoever the rivers shall come, shall live.”  What powerful symbolism!  Everything in the path of the water “shall be healed” just as the temple holds great power to heal us if we will let it.  For Ezekiel in captivity who had seen the destruction of the temple and most of his people, what a comforting message this must have been to know that ultimately the temple and its power would triumph over the forces of the world.