Sermon Transcript — October 4, 2004
I noticed some of our young people doing homework during the Feast, which they have to do to stay caught up and from time to time walking around, noticed textbooks open and notes being taken and homework being done and some of the homework I know has included geography, I've seen the geography and social studies book or two being studied. So here is a mid-Feast pop quiz for our young people. Just our young people because if I ask the adults they may be embarrassed because they don't know the answer but young people probably do. The following list of words are all names of what? Colorado , Mississippi , Missouri , Delaware , Potomac , Shenandoah. Of course the correct answer is rivers, yes some of those are also states but those are all rivers, well-known rivers in this nation, the United States . But they're also well-known rivers, I'm sure most of our young people have studied about that are known all around the world, the Amazon, the Nile, Euphrates and a number of others.
Now in the World Tomorrow, there is going to be one river that will become more famous than any other river — and which river is that going to be? Will it be the Tigris ? Will it be the Euphrates ? They are mentioned in the bible quite often. Well the answer is no. In fact none of the rivers that I have just mentioned, whether in the United States or around the world are going to become the most famous in the World Tomorrow, in fact some of them, most of them perhaps, might be changed and might not even exist, there may be different rivers than these and certainly the names probably won't be what we've been calling them by.
But today we're going to look at a river that doesn't even exist yet, but it is destined to become the most amazing and famous river in the whole history of the world. We're going to look at a snapshot of just one feature this morning, of the World Tomorrow and that particular feature is a river and so to begin looking at this river, let's go to Ezekiel 40 . There are some amazing prophecies in Ezekiel 40 which God showed to the prophet Ezekiel while he was still in captivity, he was still a captive over in Babylon, one of the captives of Judah and then God showed him some amazing prophecies of exactly how things were going to look in the land that he was taken captive out of, back in Judah, far far into the future.
Ez. 40:1 — In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year on the tenth day of the month in the fourteenth year after the city was captured, on the very same day the hand of the Eternal was upon me; and He took me there.
Now what he is saying is that in a vision, God took him back to the land of Israel , back to Judah . He's physically still a captive in Babylon, but in the vision, what we might call something similar to virtual reality or however God did that, but He took him there and it was as real as if he were there and as if he were in a time machine advanced over 2500 years into the future and then able to see exactly and just as real as life, real as it could be to him, what it was going to look like.
V. 2 - In the visions …so they are visions of God… He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain. On it toward the south was something like the structure of a city.
V. 3-4 — He took me there, and behold, there was a man, his appearance was the appearance of bronze. Perhaps this is an angel that is now going to be a tour guide for Ezekiel. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand and he stood in the gateway. And the man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see."
He was going to give him a dramatic tour of the way that area is going to look over 2500 years into his future and he is to just impress it into his heart and mind and then tell his fellow Israelites about it. And of course it's recorded for Israel for all time and in fact for all the world now for all time. Now from this time to the end of the book, chapter 48, contains detailed descriptions of Jerusalem in the World Tomorrow and Zion and the Temple all in the Millennium. Some fascinating details in all those chapters. Let's go back now to chapter 47, jump now to near the end of the book.
Ez. 47:1 — (Ezekiel said) Then he (that's this angelic tour guide ) brought me back to the temple.
Now the temple is actually a large complex of structures, of numerous structures. In fact if any of you have gone through the bible reading program and when you went through that part of Ezekiel, you've learned that its really quite a number of large structures including the main temple which has a court around it and that is surrounded by a wall which has three gate tower complexes and that's all surrounded by an outer court which is surrounded by a wall with three more gate tower complexes and it's really quite a complex over all. Now the next feature that God wants Ezekiel to be shown is some water.
V. 1 - He took me brought to the 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. Now he's going to see that this is not your typical flow of water.
V. 2 — He 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. That's coming from the same source from under the temple.
V. 3 — Then when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits …that is about 2/5 th' s of a mile, roughly… and he brought me through the waters, the water came up to my ankles. So about 2/5 th of the mile away from the temple this flow of water is quite shallow, up to his ankles.
V. 4 — Again he measured one thousand …and we're now about 4/5 th of a mile out…and brought me through the waters, the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the water, the water came up to my waist. So about 4/5 th of a mile out is now waist deep. So we are at one thousand, which is 2/5 th of a mile, two thousand which is 4/5 th of a mile, three thousand is about 1.2 miles. Then in verse 5:
V. 5 — Again he measured one thousand and it was a river that I could not cross.
So about a mile to a mile and a half out from the temple this river is now so deep you can't walk across it, you'd have to swim across it. So the indication here as we see, moving away from the temple from that original flow of water from under the temple is that the volume of water has miraculously been increasing. It starts as a relatively small stream that flows from under the porch of the temple, perhaps it flows through channels that will be cut in the bedrock underneath the temple complex but by the time it's a mile, mile plus away, it's a deep river. Now that is not your typical phenomenon of nature! What I've always observed in nature is just the opposite — if you go downstream from a modest creek that just has one source, maybe a spring or just a single source, maybe a pond or reservoir that's flowing out, you keep going downstream from it, it gradually becomes more shallow and finally it's just mud puddles — then nothing. But this is just the opposite, it miraculously increases.
It almost reminds you of the miracle of the fishes and the loaves which Christ performed out of just a little bit it grew into a great great amount. That miracle by the way reminds me of a recent visit to our church area by our regional pastor Mr. Suckling, he is the regional pastor for our area and one Sabbath on a visit during his sermon he referred to the miracle of the fishes and the loaves and he said, "Christ fed seven people with 5,000 loaves and 2,000 fish!" He didn't realize he had gotten the numbers turned but to his surprise one member just blurted out and just interrupted him and said, "That's no miracle, I could do that!" So he was a little bit miffed by the brazenness of the member and later he thought about what he said, he realized he got the numbers turned around. So on his next visit to our area as Regional Pastor, he just happened to bring up the miracle of the fish and the loaves again during his sermon and he said, "Christ fed 5,000 people with five loaves and seven fish" and then in the same breath he said, "Now I wonder how many of you could do that?" Well to his chagrin several members raised their hands and so he called on one of them and asked, "All right, just how do you think you would do that?" "Easy Mr. Suckling" the member replied, "With all the leftovers from your last visit!"
V. 6 — He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river . Now the next feature to point out is what is on the bank or the banks of the river, it's a fascinating feature.
V. 7 — When I returned, there along the bank of the river were very many trees on one side and on the other . We'll come back to those trees after a moment.
V. 8 — Then he said to me: "This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley and enters the sea. (That would be the Jordan Valley ) When it reaches the sea, its water are healed.
Now God, this angelic tour guide and Ezekiel are on the eastern side of the Temple and the river on that side is going to be flowing into the Dead Sea and when it does it heals its waters. If you have a map in the back of your bible it might be helpful to turn to one that shows the Dead Sea and you can see how roughly in the area of Jerusalem, which you will see Jerusalem on your map to the west, basically in that area and the Temple will be slightly north of Jerusalem, but this river is going to flow eastward and end up in the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is currently almost 1300 feet below sea level and the water coming into it evaporates, it leaves a high concentration of minerals which are toxic to marine life and nothing lives in it, it's toxic. But these waters are going to be healed. We'll come back to that statement in verse 8, which says that, but first lets find out just a little bit more about the river itself. In Zechariah 14:3 , this is at the time when Christ returns to the earth, He touches down on the surface of the earth and it will be upon the Mount of Olives that he will touch down upon when He comes at the seventh trumpet.
Zech. 14:3 — Then the Eternal will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.
V. 4 — And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west …the split will be an east west split… making a very large valley. Half the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south . Leaving a large east west valley through which of course now, that river can flow, the river that will flow from the temple.
So this will be a new flow of waters, a new river that doesn't exist today, flowing east and west. It's going to flow into the Dead Sea . Now let's look at verse 8. It's also going to flow west which we haven't seen yet. It will flow not only eastward into the Dead Sea but westward from the temple as well.
V. 8 — In that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem . Half of them toward the eastern sea …that's the Dead Sea… and half of them toward the western sea …which is the Mediterranean Sea. In both summer and winter it shall occur .
That statement means that in summer time it won't dry up, it won't shrivel up and in the wintertime it won't freeze over, it will always be a flowing river. Now let's turn to Joel 3 since we're in the Minor Prophets. Prophecies indicate that this river of living water is going to branch out into channels or streams. For example Joel 3:18 and also Psalm 46.
Joel 3:18 — It will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine… this is in the Millennium… 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 Eternal and water the Valley of the Acacias.
That's just one particular valley mentioned here in this prophecy that ultimately will be watered by that River of Living Water coming from the Temple . Also in Psalm 46:4 — we actually sing this; we have a song in our hymnal with these words in it. Again, a prophecy of the Millennium.
Psa. 46:4 — There is a river whose streams …so this the River of Living Water and it's going to have streams coming off from it… shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
Now Ezekiel said when the river went into the Dead Sea, its waters were healed, which reminds us of the healing of the poisoned waters in Moses' day at Mariah out of the wilderness so the waters are going to be healed and made fresh and sweet and healthy. But when Christ returns to this earth, is the Dead Sea the only body of water that's going to need healing? Even as we now sit here, the oceans themselves, which cover 70% of the surface of this earth, the oceans are gradually dying from pollution. Oil pollution, toxic wastes from landfills are leaching out into the oceans, from dumps, from mines, from farms. Radioactive waste, medical waste, there's dumping going on in the ocean, garbage from ships and even municipal waste is taken out in ships and dumped into the ocean in some cases. We heard about pollution in the sermonette, very fitting subject for the World Tomorrow because it's going to all be cleaned up.
But by the time Christ returns, what will be the condition of the waters on the earth? Well by the time the second trumpet concludes as you see in Rev. 8, one-third of everything living in the sea is going to be dead. By the time the third trumpet concludes, one-third of the earth's freshwater supplies, or the remaining fresh water supplies at that time will become poisoned. With the second plague, the second vial or plague, the rest of the seas or the oceans, the salt-water bodies, will die and become dead blood and all creatures in it die. Then in Rev. 16, the remaining fresh water supplies become dead blood. It appears that basically all of the water on this earth is going to be poisoned or otherwise polluted and ruined. If there's any not tainted, we wouldn't know where, but for all practical purposes it's all going to be ruined. Ezekiel 47 now, we'll go back to the main prophecy we're looking at. V. 9, picking up where we left off. We just read verse 8 when this river of living waters reaches the Dead Sea , its waters are healed.
Eze. 47:9 — And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go… now notice here it uses the plural for rivers as we saw in Zechariah, it will go both directions, there will be an eastward flowing one and a westward flowing one… wherever the rivers go will live … every living thing …not just fish, everything, fish is a prime example in the water and so that is used. 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.
So not only the waters are healed but everything living in the waters. Here the word for " living thing " in the beginning of verse 9 is nephesh and it just means, " living things " an example is the fish and they're going to proliferate and multiply greatly.
Now if the fish population becomes healthy and multiplies prolifically, what does that mean happened to their environment and their food chain? Well it means its all been healed, all been restored, all the water plants will have been, all the micro organisms, everything. So it says there will be a "very great multitude of fish" and it says rivers (plural) not just the Dead Sea but other water bodies as well. It makes you wonder what is the world going to do with so many healthy salmon and trout and flounder and tuna and red snapper and perch filling the oceans — what will we do with it? Well one idea I can think of involves a little lemon pepper seasoning and a bit of garlic, maybe some butter and salt and baked potato on the side, that's probably what we'll do with them! Even when we're spirit beings because after Christ was resurrected to spirit life, with His disciples, He dined on fish, that's very clear. And certainly He dined on other things as well, but the record does show He certainly did dine on fish. So as spirit beings, I'm convinced, we'll all be enjoying many different kinds of food including appreciating good fish.
Verse 10 — It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi …which is the southern extremity of the Dead Sea… to En Eglaim …which is a northern extremity… 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. Verse 11 is a parenthetical thought:
Verse 11 — But its …meaning the Dead Sea … swamps and marshes will not be healed, they will be given over to salt.
So some of the perimeter swamps or whatever around the Dead Sea will be salt areas, maybe for salt mining, maybe that will be the sources of salt.
By the way, how many of you in this room now like to fish, enjoy fishing? Of all ages? That's quite a few, I know children do, many adults do but I believe that every one of you will be able to fish in this very area we're reading about, the Dead Sea, with many many fish that it's talking about, you'll be able to fish there in the World Tomorrow and make up for all those days you didn't catch a thing. Every time you throw in your line, pull out a nice fish, no need to tell fish stories, no need to stretch the truth at all!
But will it be only the Dead Sea that will need healing? Well again, by the time of Christ's return, all the water on the earth is basically going to be tainted. If you notice on any map, the river is going to flow westward into the Mediterranean Sea, which is a far bigger sea than the Dead Sea . If you look at a map you notice that these living waters from the Mediterranean Sea then, because it's going to be healed and these living waters just keep flowing into it, they just keep pouring in, it's not temporary and so these living waters are filling the Dead Sea and then the Mediterranean Sea and where does the Mediterranean Sea eventually circulate? Well again you notice on a map that the waters can eventually circulate around the whole globe from the Mediterranean Sea.
Just a side thought, just something to ponder, where does rain come from? Well rain comes largely from waters of the seas being evaporated up into the atmosphere and then moving over over land masses and condensing out and falling on to the land which may have something to do with healing the land with those living waters having been filling these reservoirs then going up in the form of rain. Ezekiel 34 has an interesting phrase, in fact I think sometimes phrases like this tend to be taken as just poetry or trite, just poetic phrasing but I believe they are literal. Eze. 34:26 —this is all a millennial prophecy.
Eze. 34:26 — "I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing and I will cause showers to come down in their season, there shall be showers of blessing." That's not just poetic, that's literal — showers of blessings like the rivers of living waters will be healing.
Now of course this is a side point, the land itself but the land certainly will need healing after Christ returns. Even today the topsoil in this nation which was once measured in terms of feet, is now measured in inches, most of the minerals are now gone, the chemistry and the organic life of the soil is so out of balance that the plants that grow are attacked by insects and worms, which God actually made to consume imperfect, unhealthy plants, so man applies poisons to kill the insects. Those poisons then which destroy the nervous systems of insects, eventually accumulate in whatever else eats them, such as birds and whatever else eats those plants, including humans. The residue washes into the soil and eventually into the reservoirs, into the rivers, into the oceans, the fish ingest these chemical runoffs and so health reports are issued, warning people not to eat the fish in certain reservoirs and even certain fish from the ocean. Some marine creatures are now born or hatched deformed; some can no longer reproduce because of this. And then there are the weeds that take over the croplands, God made certain plants to help rebuild deficient soil over a long period of time, but more poisons are applied to kill those plants so crops will still produce and so the condition just keeps getting worse and worse between now and Christ's return.
By the time the first trumpet concludes it says that one third of all the trees, the remaining trees at that time will be burned up, plus there will probably be radiation fallout upon the earth, soil, biological warfare, chemical warfare. Even today, decades later we're still hearing about Agent Orange decades after the Vietnam War ended and its effects even today. So even the land will certainly need to be healed and these showers of blessings from this rain in due season will no doubt help build that up.
Now I would imagine that the new river of living waters there in Judea will quickly become one of the hottest news topics and conversation topics early in the Millennium. Now what will be the purpose of this unique river which will originate at Christ's throne, interesting how it originates under the temple, under Christ's throne, from where He is, but will the purpose be only to heal the ecosystems of this planet or will that river illustrate some profound lessons to human beings all around the earth as well? Well what else is going to be offered to all human beings in the world tomorrow? Will it only be good tasty fish and abundant crops and wonderful fruits and energetic healthy bodies or will something else also be offered to all humans, which has not been available to the human race, by and large, for a long long time, except for just a few called-out firstfruits. In Genesis 2 , back to the same chapter Mr. Mills took us to in the sermonette, let's look at verse 8, I believe he read this verse.
Gen. 2:8 — The Eternal God planted a garden eastward in Eden , and there He put the man whom He had formed.
Eden is a larger territory, God's garden was planted in the eastern part of Eden and there are parallels with the layout and the orientation of the new temple in the world tomorrow, you notice how they're eastward oriented and the temple is in the eastern part of the complex.
Verse 9 — Out of the ground the Eternal God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of live was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil .
Verse 10 — A river went out of Eden to water the garden …now the garden is in the eastern part of Eden , if a river goes out of Eden that means it's an eastward flowing river to flow into the garden of Eden… from there it parted and became four riverheads.
Even the river of living waters is going to branch out and become streams and feed other areas. Now Genesis 3:22. Our first parents decided not to obey God, to take Him explicitly at His word, they decided to make their own mind up as to what they should do.
Gen. 3:22-24 - Then the Eternal God said, "Behold the man has become like one of us to know good and evil, now lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of live and eat and live forever" — therefore the Eternal God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned everyway to guard the way to the tree of life.
So between this original banishment of our first parents from the tree of life, the garden of Eden, between that time and the return of Christ in the future, the human race has been cut off, cut off from the tree of life. There has been the rare exception however for those God has called, such as us, a tiny tiny fraction of humanity and God has offered the tree of life to those God has called and to become firstfruits of His family but for the vast majority of mankind, the tree of life will not be offered again until the Millennium and then once again in the White Throne Judgment. Acts 3:21 is a prophecy of the future and the restoration of all things, speaking of Jesus Christ in verse 20 when He will return:
Acts 3:21 — " whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began …"
What God originally had in mind was to offer eternal life to His mortal creation of human beings and then bring them into His divine God family. Now the river of living waters in the Millennium and in the White Throne Judgment, but in the world tomorrow the river of living waters is going to be a visual, literal, very real graphic lesson of where life comes from. Who was it who formed our first parents out of the ground? It was Jesus Christ who will be teaching people that, they're going to learn that fact. Who was it who was in the Garden of Eden offering our first parents the tree of life and explained it to them? It was Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who has live within Himself, He has life to give and people are going to learn that and they're going to begin putting, you might say connecting the dots and realizing how this river of living waters precedes from where Jesus Christ is, right beneath His throne, out of His temple and He is the source of life, He's the source of healing and He's the source of eternal life. Jeremiah 17:7 So here is going to be a graphic lesson as well as a practical physical instrument and healing the earth.
Jere. 17:7 — Blessed is the man who trusts in the Eternal and his hope is in the Eternal for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters …that prophecy clearly explains, there will be numerous trees on both banks of that river of living waters and again, it's going to be a graphic lesson, a person is going to be like those trees… he will be like a tree planted by the waters which spreads out its roots by the river and will not fear when He comes but it's leaf will be green, will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.
V. 13 - … those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth because they have forsaken the Eternal, the fountain of living waters.
He is the source. People will learn Christ is the source of eternal life; it is not medical science, cryogenics, genome manipulation, it's not some eternal soul that many people have been taught that every human is born with and never dies, it's not that, it is Christ and God who are the fountain, the source of life. So the parallels between this river and the holy spirit will progressively become clear to all as we will be teaching them about God, His plan, His offer of eternal life that they can have through covenants that they can enter with Him and then they will have to choose whether or not they want to enter that covenant with God. No one will be made to, even as we haven't been. We must want it, we must choose it and when we contemplated baptism we had to decide if we really want to enter that covenant and be obedient to God. So they will soon have a good idea of what the effects of the holy spirit will be when it comes inside them, when it's within them after their baptism and when they enter that covenant. And in several ways they will, again, understand the connection. For example:
Where this living water goes, things are healed, they're set right . Now there will be spiritual parallels for themselves personally, individually even as there are for each of us, the holy spirit is something that heals, it sets things right. Polluted waters are purified, sick and diseased creatures are healed and vitalized and that's what the holy spirit will do… Ezekiel 36:25 …in their own mind and heart, it will heal, it will refresh, energize, cleanse, purify, promote growth. This is in the world tomorrow, God says:
Eze. 36:25 — " Then I will sprinkle clean water on you …this is speaking about the human beings then in the world tomorrow… and you shall be clean and I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you (that's the holy spirit) and I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh …one that can be moved, soft and responsive and pliable and the holy spirit will heal their heart and make it that way… I will put My spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, you shall be My people and I will be your God."
So a human heart that has been hard and stony like hardpan soil, just like worn out, burned out soil. A heart that is that way is going to become healed and soft and able to move with Godly emotions and compassion and love for others and it will become productive. A heart and a mind that is impure and poisoned, corrupted is going to be cleansed and purified and clean and clear, like that clear clean water and become pure. So the parallels became obvious.
That river of living waters doesn't stagnate, it never stagnates, in fact it grows, becomes more abundant with time and that is the holy spirit, as long as we do our part. If we're doing our part, the holy spirit does not stagnate, it becomes more prolific and grows.
It gives every tree life and the tree flourishes and never stops producing fruit . They'll see that, this river of living waters does that to these trees, these trees never quit producing fruit. Ezekiel 47:12 — that's where we left off.
Eze. 47:12 — " Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food …the variety is just going to be amazing, all the fruit trees you can possibly think about plus olives and just all kinds of trees, figs and dates and fruits, bananas, everything… their leaves will not wither …won't go through the seasonal dying and buds coming on and then greening up, because of the river of living waters it will be green all the time… and their fruit will not fail . As much fruit as people can pick, it just keeps bearing more fruit. They will bear fruit every month …all twelve months out of the year… becaus e…it's interesting, why, because… their water flows from the sanctuary . Because it's coming from the source, Jesus Christ and His sanctuary and that will be the illustration of what the holy spirit does, it just keeps bearing fruit. Fruit will be for food and their leaves for medicine. " The margin says healing, so even the leaves will be used for healing.
So in the world tomorrow, as we work with people, teach them, they will see that their life that they have in the flesh, as a human, is really just like the wind up clock that will run down to the eventual end of their life but they can become infused with this deposit of eternal life, the holy spirit. Psalm 1:3 — again, we sing this in one of our hymns. Psalm 1 is probably a hymn that almost everyone in the church knows.
Psa. 1:3 — He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water …that is this river of living water, rivers that flow both directions and channels coming off of it, so certainly all those channels that would precede from it, there will be trees growing on their banks as well… like a tree that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither …won't go through the seasonal dying, all twelve months staying green and full of life… whatever he does shall prosper .
So they will realize that the holy spirit is certainly as real as that, some may call more tangible water, but they'll realize the holy spirit is every bit as real as the visible wet water of that river that they can see, they can hear it, they can drink out of it, they can taste it, touch it and they'll realize the holy spirit is every bit as real as that and its effects are no less dynamic. But even more dynamic really because they work in a human, in a human heart and mind and that is something we must realize now.
Now the holy spirit should be that tangible to us, as real as wet water is, its effects should be as real to us as the effects of that river of living water in the future. Now we don't get to see that river, so we don't have the graphic visual aid that they're going to have. And why not, why can't we have that as they're going to in the world tomorrow? Why don't we get that before we're baptized? Adam and Eve got to see it and so having that visual aid doesn't necessarily mean a person's automatically going to accept it, Adam and Eve had that but they rejected it, it is free moral agency, which we all have. But the truth is, this world is cut off from God and we must appreciate that fact and how this world is completely cut off from God. God put cherubim and a flaming sword to keep the world out of the Garden, away from the tree of life and so there cannot be a river of living water, there cannot be a tree of life, literally, visibly in this world, we can't see those things but we can have faith in God and take Him at His word and believe that the holy spirit is every bit as tangible and real and its effects just as dynamic as the river of living water . Isaiah 44:3.
The holy spirit will work dynamically within each of us on baptism and thereafter and it will be productive and it will bear fruits and there will be changes, there will be growth…if…but only if, we drink of it and be like that river of living water, unless you take a drink from it or somehow be there to take the fruit off the tree, drink out of the river, what are you going to get from it? Nothing. It will work in us dynamically if we drink of it. Christ said " Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled. " We do have to hunger and thirst for it which translates into, how much do we pray every day? How much time do we spend drinking in of God's word every day? Those are the tangible day-by-day affects in our life.
Isa. 44:3 — For I will pour water on him who is thirsty …we do need to thirst for it and want it… and floods on the dry ground, I will pour My spirit on your descendants and My blessings on your offspring.
A fourth lesson that people will see is that the river of living water begins with Christ and visibly it's going to be seen that it goes out through Judah and from there, through all Israel and then all the world, that's the way it's going to precede. Judah will the tribe and the territory closest to the temple and Jerusalem and Zion , then the other tribes around it and then the other nations of the world after that, around Israel . The holy spirit comes from Christ and the first to enter the new covenant after He returns, the first will be Judah, then all the tribes of Israel, then through Israel, by Israel then being an example to the world, you know the world comes through delegates from the nations of the world come to Israel to be taught the word of the Lord, to be taught of His ways and all those prophecies. So then through Israel , all the citizens of all nations of the earth eventually will enter into the new covenant or be able to. John 4:10 When Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman at the water well He said to her:
John 4:10 — " If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water."
V. 13 — Jesus answered and said unto her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again …the normal water out of that water well… but whoever drinks out of the water that I shall give him will never thirst …because it's going to lead to eternal life and a spirit being doesn't need to drink to stay alive and will never get thirsty… but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life ."
It will just keep growing and being productive and lead to eternal life and ultimately God will change us and others in the world tomorrow into spirit beings born into His divine God family. John 7:37 The setting here is during the Feast of Tabernacles.
John 7:37 — On that last day, that great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water ." Speaking of Christ, He is the source of the river of living water.
V. 39 — But 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.
It would begin on the Day of Pentecost and then be offered to the few that God would call and who would enter the new covenant. Revelation 21 — Now what about after the Millennium? As we look farther and farther into the future, we see through a dimmer and dimmer glass and there are not as many details, they're not as clear. God certainly has given quite a few details about the Millennium but as you go beyond the Millennium, the details become fewer. I believe God has intentionally not given us many details about what happens after the Millennium and after the White Throne Judgment because it will blow our brains out, blow our minds if we were told what will happen after that, we just couldn't comprehend it, we couldn't deal with it on our finite human level now. But He has given us two chapters at the end of the book where He does make mention of the river of life and the tree of life. It's interesting that in the first book and in the last book, same river, same tree of life, this river of life, tree of life are mentioned here.
Rev. 21:6 — He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts ." Rev. 22:1 — Now we come to New Jerusalem, the new heavens and the new earth, the New Jerusalem on the new earth — after the White Throne Judgment.
Rev. 22:1 — He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb .
Now the millennial temple apparently will be gone as everything else on the earth will and the earth will be completely refashioned into a new earth and then new Jerusalem comes down on it but then there will be the throne of God and of Christ and again, we have a river, a living river of life proceeding from their throne, they are the source of life.
V. 2 — In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river was the tree of life …now notice it's on either side of the river, not just the tree of life singular mentioned in Genesis 2 in the Garden of Eden, but it's on both sides of the river — it's plural… which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. Now the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Same expression as we saw in the Millennial prophecy in Ezekiel. It says, " healing of the nations " — the Greek word is therapeia , from which we get therapy, means cure, remedy, healing.
V. 14 — Blessed are those who do His commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city .
V. 17 — And the spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come and who ever desires; let him take the water of life freely .
Brethren, you and I are being offered that tree of life and waters from the river of life now . We're being offered it right now. So why don't we take them?