Ezekiel #20
C. Paul Willis
Before we look at the prophecy of Ezekiel chapter 47 we need to get some background material. The first I want to look at comes from the very well known Christmas passage in the book of Luke:
Luke 1:30 - 33 30Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
One of the declarations concerning Jesus is that He will have the throne of David and reign of the house of Jacob forever. When Mary was given this prophecy about her Son the throne of David did not exist and no one of the house of David was king of Israel nor has there been a king over Israel until this day. So there has to be a future Kingdom of Israel with a ruler of the house of David and that King has to be Jesus. When then does Jesus become ruler of the house of David? This cannot be in heaven, or spiritual, because the prophecy pertains to a kingdom here on earth. It cannot be the Kingdom of God because it is limited to the house of Jacob. And it has not occurred yet! The answer is in that period of time we call the millennium, or the thousand year reign of Jesus but it does not stop at the end of the thousand years for of it there will be no end.
Let’s look at the prophet Daniel and his night vision.
Daniel 7:13 - 14 13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel sees Jesus, the Son of Man, coming from heaven. This can only be His second coming. He comes to the revelation of the Father on Earth, is given a Kingdom on earth over peoples, nations, and languages and this Kingdom as prophesied to Mary by the Angel, Gabriel, and is everlasting. This, again, is a prophecy concerning a kingdom that begins during the millennium and has no ending.
Hosea 3:5 5Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.
When does Hosea say this will happen? After Israel returns to the land! Next they will seek the Lord. And then, David will be their King! He cannot be talking about King David who is dead unless it is the resurrected David but he can be referring to one of the line of David – Jesus!
It is important when we look at this period of time we call the millennium that we understand who will be on earth during this period.
All the people of the Gentiles who are left alive after the war of Ezekiel chapter 38/39, the seven year Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon.
The Jewish survivors who build the temple of Ezekiel 40-46 and reestablish Jewish religious ritual.
Those raised from the dead in the first resurrection – they are in glorified bodies.
The Church who returned with Jesus.
Zechariah 14:5 5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with £You.
In Ezekiel chapter 47 and following we are going to see the blessing of having the temple returned and the division of the land for the Jews
Ezekiel 47:1 - 2 1Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. 2He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side.
In God’s war with enemies of Israel one of the weapons He used was that of a massive earthquake (Ezekiel 39) that over through their missile launchers, destroyed roads and transportation systems, leveled buildings and disrupted the armed attack upon Israel. That earthquake left a fissure in the earth that passed by Jerusalem leaving a channel for water from Jerusalem to the Mediterranean Sea and to the Dead Sea. Zechariah writes:
Zechariah 14:8 - 9 8 And in that day it shall be That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. 9 And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be— “The Lord is one,”£ And His name one.
Another description of the millennium is found in the book of Joel and it also indicates the river:
Joel 3:18 18 And it will come to pass in that day That the mountains shall drip with new wine, The hills shall flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord And water the Valley of Acacias.
I wrote in my discussion of the war in Ezekiel 38/39 that I believed that Russia and Iran used, or attempted to use, nuclear weapons against Israel. After the seven years of tribulation are complete then will come the battle of Armageddon in which nuclear weapons will be used Remember that when Zechariah wrote the weapons of warfare were swords and arrows. Read what he described:
Zechariah 14:12 Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
How could Zechariah even imagine something so powerful and terrifying that would destroy the flesh so quickly, so thoroughly, that they would still be standing when it happed and their eyes and tongues would simply dissolve – he could not! He is prophesying what he sees – a neutron blast.
The earthquake leaves a water course that flows out from Jerusalem and the temple west to the Mediterranean Sea and East to the Dead Sea. This is from the new temple in which the Jews are now celebrating their feasts (all are mentioned as occurring during the millennium except Pentecost).
Zechariah 14:16 - 19 16And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 17And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. 18If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 19This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
The question arises, why are the Jews celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles after the sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth? Some answers are:
They are continuing in the Law and Sacrifices
They are looking backward to the cross even as Christians look back when taking the Lord’s Supper
God reinstates the sacrificial system for the millennium period of time for those who are Jews and those who are born during that period as the way of their salvation.
Ezekiel 47:1 - 6 1Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. 2He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side. 3And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. 4Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist. 5Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. 6He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river.
The picture and measurements given to Ezekiel are very specific. I do not believe anything this specific could be allegorical. This temple is very real, physical, and exact. The angel gives Ezekiel precise directions, measurements and descriptions. The water comes from under the city and the altar it trickles forth as a very small stream from the eastern side of the temple for about one half of a mile and then it gets deeper, ankle deep another half a mile and the water is kneed deep, another half a mile and it is waist deep, another half a mile and it was to deep to cross.
Ezekiel 47:7 - 12 7When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. 8Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. 9And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. 10It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. 11But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. 12Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
One of the greatest drops on earth is the grade between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea which is east of the city. Today the Dead Sea is one of the most salty places upon the face of the earth. The water has no way of escape, evaporates in the hot sun and leaves behind salt and mineral deposits. Ezekiel writes that the Dead Sea will no longer be dead. The Dead Sea has 6 X the salt content as the oceans. It will be healed and filled with all kinds of fish. Men will fly cast along its banks and spread nets where the Dead Sea was and catch fish, the same fish that swim in the Meditation. Trees bear fruit continually and the leaves of trees will produce medicine. Note that medicine is used for healing. There will be no need for medicine in heaven but here in the in the millennium some people will still be in their body of flesh and will need healing. We can make a spiritual application to this picture in the book of Ezekiel to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and Jesus on to the temple and the feast of Tabernacles.
John 7:37 - 39 37On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those £believing in Him would receive; for the £Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Division of the Land
Ezekiel 47:13 - 23 13Thus says the Lord GOD: “These are the borders by which you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. 14You shall inherit it equally with one another; for I raised My hand in an oath to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you as your inheritance. 15“This shall be the border of the land on the north: from the Great Sea, by the road to Hethlon, as one goes to Zedad, 16Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), to Hazar Hatticon (which is on the border of Hauran). 17Thus the boundary shall be from the Sea to Hazar Enan, the border of Damascus; and as for the north, northward, it is the border of Hamath. This is the north side. 18“On the east side you shall mark out the border from between Hauran and Damascus, and between Gilead and the land of Israel, along the Jordan, and along the eastern side of the sea. This is the east side. 19“The south side, toward the £South, shall be from Tamar to the waters of Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the Great Sea. This is the south side, toward the South. 20“The west side shall be the Great Sea, from the southern boundary until one comes to a point opposite Hamath. This is the west side. 21“Thus you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22It shall be that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you. They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance,” says the Lord GOD.
The division of the land needs to be studied in conjunction with Numbers 34:1-5 for they are practically those indicated by Ezekiel. The geographical locations are so exact that they cannot mean other than literal places. The Brook of Egypt is not the Nile but the Wadi-el-Arish in the land. The names of some places have changed from the days of Numbers to the time of Ezekiel and some have been lost in history but once God gives a gift He does not take it back and regardless of the size of Israel today it will fill the borders God has given!
Numbers 34:1 - 15 (NKJV) 1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries. 3Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea; 4your border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south of Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar Addar, and continue to Azmon; 5the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea. 6‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border. 7‘And this shall be your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to Mount Hor; 8from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border to the entrance of Hamath; then the direction of the border shall be toward Zedad; 9the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border. 10‘You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; 11the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border shall go down and reach to the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth; 12the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries.’” 13Then Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and the half-tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance. 15The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, across from Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”
