The River from the Temple

In context

In the twenty-fifth year of the captivity, fourteen years after Jerusalem fell, Ezekiel is brought in visions to a very high mountain in the land of Israel, where a man who looks like bronze measures a temple with a measuring reed about eleven feet long (Ezekiel 40:1–5).

The glory of the God of Israel, which Ezekiel saw leave by the east, comes back by the east gate and fills the house: “this is the place of my throne… where I will dwell among the children of Israel forever” (43:1–7; 10:18–19; 11:23). The gate the Lord came in by is to stay shut (44:1–2).

Water flows out from under the temple’s threshold, ankle-deep, then knee-deep, then waist-deep, then a river too deep to cross. It heals the waters of the sea so that fishermen spread their nets from En Gedi, and the trees on its banks give fruit every month, with leaves “for healing” (47:1–12). The land is divided among the twelve tribes, with a share for the foreigners living among them, and the city’s name will be “Yahweh is there” (47:21–23; 48:35).