On Wanting More

Ezekiel 46:9 “When my people come to worship me during any festival, they must always leave by the opposite gate from which they came: Those who come in the north gate must leave by the south gate, and those who come in the south gate must leave by the north gate.”

So … is this because we leave God’s presence changed? Or is it a traffic regulation practice? Hm.

Ezekiel 47:1-12

The man took me back to the temple, where I saw a stream flowing from under the entrance. It began in the south part of the temple, where it ran past the altar and continued east through the courtyard. We walked out of the temple area through the north gate and went around to the east gate. I saw the small stream of water flowing east from the south side of the gate. The man walked east, then took out his measuring stick and measured five hundred sixty yards downstream. He told me to wade through the stream there, and the water came up to my ankles. Then he measured another five hundred sixty yards downstream, and told me to wade through it there. The water came up to my knees. Another five hundred sixty yards downstream the water came up to my waist. Another five hundred sixty yards downstream, the stream had become a river that could be crossed only by swimming. The man said, “Ezekiel, son of man, pay attention to what you’ve seen.” We walked to the riverbank, where I saw dozens of trees on each side. The man said: This water flows eastward to the Jordan River valley and empties into the Dead Sea, where it turns the salt water into fresh water. Wherever this water flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish, because it will bring life and fresh water to the Dead Sea. From En-Gedi to Eneglaim, people will fish in the sea and dry their nets along the coast. There will be as many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea as there are in the Mediterranean Sea. But the marshes along the shore will remain salty, so that people can use the salt from them. Fruit trees will grow all along this river and produce fresh fruit every month. The leaves will never dry out, because they will always have water from the stream that flows from the temple, and they will be used for healing people.

I love the idea of fresh water so pure and potent that it can turn salt water into fresh. I just hope Aquafina doesn’t find out.

Ezekiel 48:35 “…The new name of the city will be “The-LORD-Is-Here!”

That just rocks my world. The-LORD-Is-Here! I think it needs the exclamation mark; how could you say something like that without screaming and jumping around like a little girl? Well, maybe if you were afraid of him, I guess.

Tomorrow, we begin Daniel. It’s interesting how Ezekiel goes from I’m-going-to-smite-you-you-scum to here’s-how-you-rebuild. I like that; even after the people have not only incurred his wrath but also refused to heed his warnings, God still gives them practical instructions about how to rebuild their society so that it pleases him.