Ezekiel 47

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In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. 

God has shown Ezekiel a temple that was measured before his face.  The prince, priest, and ministers will use the inside and outside and the different parts of the places.  The description from God is easy to comprehend.

The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway. 

Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. 

The man is still measuring.

He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. 

Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through. 

The measurements are the same each time the man moved, but the water became deeper as they moved.

He asked me, "Have you been watching, son of man?" Then he led me back along the riverbank. 

The man asked me if I was paying attention.

When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river. 

I did not notice trees before he showed me the measurement of the water flowing, but when I returned, I saw trees growing on both sides.

Then he said to me, "This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea. The waters of this stream will make the salty waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure. 

The river that started at the temple's altar is flowing through the desert and the valley of the Dead Sea.  The flowing water will make the Dead Sea's salty waters delicious.  The Dead Sea has been dead as long as I have been alive.  My brother once visited there and brought a bottle of water from the Dead Sea.

There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows. 

Ezekiel sees life in a place where life has not been in a long time or never had life.

Fishermen will stand along the shores of the Dead Sea. All the way from En-gedi to En-eglaim, the shores will be covered with nets drying in the sun. Fish of every kind will fill the Dead Sea, just as they fill the Mediterranean. 

The Dead Sea will be a popular place to fish!

But the marshes and swamps will not be purified; they will still be salty. 

But there will still be places near the water that will show no change.

Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river. The leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit on their branches. There will be a new crop every month, for they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing." 

WOW!

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "Divide the land in this way for the twelve tribes of Israel: The descendants of Joseph will be given two shares of land. 

After Ezekiel had seen the vision of a new place, God told him to divide the land between the 12 tribes of Israel.  He instructs him to give Joseph's descendants two shares of land.  God has shown what will be, and now it is time to take what He showed Ezekiel and prepare things for the new temple.

Otherwise each tribe will receive an equal share. I took a solemn oath and swore that I would give this land to your ancestors, and it will now come to you as your possession. 

God is keeping His Word.

"These are the boundaries of the land: The northern border will run from the Mediterranean toward Hethlon, then on through Lebo-hamath to Zedad; 

God spells out the borders of land for His people.

then it will run to Berothah and Sibraim, which are on the border between Damascus and Hamath, and finally to Hazer-hatticon, on the border of Hauran. 

So the northern border will run from the Mediterranean to Hazar-enan, on the border between Hamath to the north and Damascus to the south. 

"The eastern border starts at a point between Hauran and Damascus and runs south along the Jordan River between Israel and Gilead, past the Dead Sea and as far south as Tamar. This will be the eastern border. 

"The southern border will go west from Tamar to the waters of Meribah at Kadesh and then follow the course of the Brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean. This will be the southern border. 

"On the west side, the Mediterranean itself will be your border from the southern border to the point where the northern border begins, opposite Lebo-hamath. 

"Divide the land within these boundaries among the tribes of Israel. 

Distribute the land as an allotment for yourselves and for the foreigners who have joined you and are raising their families among you. They will be like native-born Israelites to you and will receive an allotment among the tribes. 

These foreigners are to be given land within the territory of the tribe with whom they now live. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!

God is given Israel seemingly a new world and another chance.  His word is final; what He has spoken it will be.

These 8 chapters have shown me how God forgives not only by words but by showing that He holds no grudges.  God is good to His people.

The water in this chapter shows that the moving of the water is like the moving of the Word of God.  Where ever the Word of God flows, things come alive.  This chapter also showed us that if we refuse to allow the water to flow through and in us, we will remain dead or short of what God wants to make out of us. ( the marsh and the swamp)

God also showed us that the foreigners will be citizens of Israel, and whatever neighborhood or tribe they will be living in, they too will have land given to them.