Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to
OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian Walk on
Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend requests
to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of The Christian
Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The man led me back to the entrance of the Temple. Water was
coming out from under the entrance and flowing east, the direction the Temple
faced. It was flowing down from under the south part of the Temple past the
south side of the altar. The man then took me out of the Temple area by way of
the north gate and led me around to the gate that faces east. A small stream of
water was flowing out at the south side of the gate. With his measuring rod the
man measured 560 yards downstream to the east and told me to wade through the
stream there. The water came only to my ankles. Then he measured another 560
yards, and the water came up to my knees. Another 560 yards farther down, the
water was up to my waist. He measured 560 yards more, and there the stream was
so deep I could not wade through it. It was too deep to cross except by
swimming. He said to me, “Mortal man, note all this carefully.”
Then the man took me back to the riverbank, and when I got
there, I saw that there were very many trees on each bank. He said to me, “This
water flows through the land to the east and down into the Jordan Valley and to
the Dead Sea. When it flows into the Dead Sea, it replaces the salt water of
that sea with fresh water. Wherever the stream flows, there will be all kinds
of animals and fish. The stream will make the water of the Dead Sea fresh, and
wherever it flows, it will bring life. From the Springs of Engedi all the way
to the Springs of Eneglaim, there will be fishermen on the shore of the sea,
and they will spread out their nets there to dry. There will be as many
different kinds of fish there as there are in the Mediterranean Sea. But the
water in the marshes and ponds along the shore will not be made fresh. They
will remain there as a source of salt. On each bank of the stream all kinds of
trees will grow to provide food. Their leaves will never wither, and they will
never stop bearing fruit. They will have fresh fruit every month, because they
are watered by the stream that flows from the Temple. The trees will provide
food, and their leaves will be used for healing people.”
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Today is the closing devotion in this seven part series on
God’s restoration of His people from their captivity. To date, we have seen the
Lord address the place of worship for the Israelites, reinstate their spiritual
leadership, restore His presence to the temple, call His people to atonement,
make allocations for where the people would live, and set strict guidelines for
their future rulers.
Everything seems to be in order right?
Well, almost everything because as we see in this final
message, the Lord still needed to set things in place to make sure His people
would be provided for once settled again in their homeland. Look again at these
verses:
The man led me back
to the entrance of the Temple. Water was coming out from under the entrance and
flowing east, the direction the Temple faced. It was flowing down from under
the south part of the Temple past the south side of the altar. The man then
took me out of the Temple area by way of the north gate and led me around to
the gate that faces east. A small stream of water was flowing out at the south
side of the gate. With his measuring rod the man measured 560 yards downstream
to the east and told me to wade through the stream there. The water came only
to my ankles. Then he measured another 560 yards, and the water came up to my
knees. Another 560 yards farther down, the water was up to my waist. He
measured 560 yards more, and there the stream was so deep I could not wade
through it. It was too deep to cross except by swimming. He said to me, “Mortal
man, note all this carefully.”
Then the man took me
back to the riverbank, and when I got there, I saw that there were very many
trees on each bank. He said to me, “This water flows through the land to the
east and down into the Jordan Valley and to the Dead Sea. When it flows into
the Dead Sea, it replaces the salt water of that sea with fresh water. Wherever
the stream flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish. The stream will
make the water of the Dead Sea fresh, and wherever it flows, it will bring
life. From the Springs of Engedi all the way to the Springs of Eneglaim, there
will be fishermen on the shore of the sea, and they will spread out their nets
there to dry. There will be as many different kinds of fish there as there are
in the Mediterranean Sea. But the water in the marshes and ponds along the
shore will not be made fresh. They will remain there as a source of salt. On
each bank of the stream all kinds of trees will grow to provide food. Their
leaves will never wither, and they will never stop bearing fruit. They will
have fresh fruit every month, because they are watered by the stream that flows
from the Temple. The trees will provide food, and their leaves will be used for
healing people.” Ezekiel 47:1-12
(GNT)
It isn’t hard to see where the restoration is taking place
here, for the Lord is bringing the land back to life and as we so often see in
the scriptures, life is associated with water. In fact, the word of God tells
us in this passage that wherever the stream flowed, it would bring life.
Within the vision given to Ezekiel, the water begins to flow
from the temple of God, symbolic of life starting from where God abides. That
water from the temple ended up flowing throughout the land into the Jordan
River and to the Dead Sea and note what begins to happen once the water starts
to flow:
a. Many trees started to appear which would have leaves that
would “never wither” and thus would always bear “fresh fruit every month”.
Those never-withering leaves would also be used for medicinal purposes to bring
healing to the Israelites.
b. All kinds of animals began to appear because animals need
water to survive and will come to the water’s edge to have their thirst
quenched.
c. The waters will begin to teem with fish and there would
be as “many different kinds of fish” as there was in the Mediterranean Sea. Our
scriptures tell us that there would be “fishermen on the shore of the sea”
ready to harvest the bounty of fish there for the taking.
The bottom line here is that God provides for His people. He
was bringing them home to rebuild their homes, their lives, and their
relationships with Him but He wanted to give them what they needed to survive,
especially food to eat. He promised that He was once again going to be their
God and they were returning to be His people. One way to validate that promise
was to quickly show His people He was their Great Provider and Sustainer.
Today, we need only turn toward God to see He is still the
One who ensures His people have the sustenance they need to live and serve Him.
If His people are to do the work He calls them to do, they need to be nourished
and healthy to do so. And so God provides an abundance of foods for His people
to choose from to keep their bodies well and strong.
Let us never take this blessing from God for granted. Today
and every day, let us give thanks for the way He continuously cares for us in
every way possible. We should always rejoice in the God of restoration.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment