Ezekiel 47:1

For the last time, Ezekiel returned to the *temple in his *vision. The *angel took him near to the *temple building in the inner area. There, Ezekiel saw something new. He had not seen it before in the *vision. And it did not exist in the original *temple.

There was a stream of water that ran across the inner area. Its source was the *temple building. God had said that this building would be his *throne (43:7). So its real source was God himself.

People in *Israel were very aware that every living thing needs water. They needed rain to fill their rivers so that there was water for the crops. The water was very precious to them. It was a sign of God’s kindness.

In verse 9 we shall see that the stream in this *vision is living water. In other words, it is water that gives life. In John 7:37-39, Jesus spoke about himself as the source of living water. John, the author of that passage, was familiar with Ezekiel’s *vision. John said that this meant the Holy Spirit. And that meaning seems right here too. It is the Spirit who gives life (John 3:5; John 6:63).

At its source, the stream was very small. Ezekiel did not even notice it before, if it was already there. When God’s work begins, it is often small (1 Samuel 14:6; 1 Kings 18:44; 1 Kings 19:12). It is small, but it is powerful. This steam was small, but it would give life to the country. It was small, but it caused the desert to live. It was small, but it would cause places without life to become alive.

The priests would have to walk across this stream. Perhaps they washed their feet in it. (There was a law that priests had to wash their hands and feet. They did this before they served God at the *altar or in the *temple building. See Exodus 30:21.) Dirt was unclean, so it was a word picture for *sin.

The stream did not flow in a straight line. It flowed round the south side of the *altar. So it flowed between the *altar and the room for the priests who worked there (40:44-45). Those priests had to walk through the stream in order to serve God at the *altar. They were dealing with the people’s *sin. But they needed God to remove their *sin as they worked.