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Scripture Reading: Ezek. 47:1-12; Isa. 55:1-3
In chapter 5 we saw that we need to be those who experience the constant flow of life in God’s house and that we need to be measured by the Lord for the increase of the flow of life. In this chapter we want to see more concerning the flow of life in Ezekiel 47 and Isaiah 55.
Ezekiel is a book of recovery. The recovery of the building of the house starts from chapter 40, and by the end of chapter 46 the building is complete. In chapter 47 the water is flowing out of the builded house. The entire Old Testament is a picture book that can show us something concerning our situation today. By the picture in Ezekiel 47, we can realize that the flow of the divine water always comes out of the building of God. Today we are in the age of recovery, and the flow of the divine life must be out of God’s recovered house.
In most of the religious worship services in Christianity, the ones who attend have the sense or feeling of dryness, not of watering. When I was in Christianity, I heard many teachings, but I had the sense of dryness because there was very little flow of the living water. There was hardly any flow because there was no recovery of the house of God. When one enters into a local church which is in a proper situation, he will have the feeling and the sense of watering. We always have the sense of watering when we get into some of the local churches because of the recovery of the building up of the house of God. Where the house is, there is the flow of the living water.
The flow of the living water is out of the house because the source, the fountain, the spring, of the living water is within the house. This source is the Lord Jesus. He is the fountain, and now He has a place on this earth to locate Himself. He has a place to dwell, to get Himself settled. Those of us who met in the various groups in Christianity can testify that when we were meeting there, we did not have the sense that the Lord had settled Himself there. When I was meeting there, I had the sense that the Lord was outside the door. This is similar to what is depicted in Revelation 3 where the Lord as the Head of the church is standing outside the degraded church, knocking at her door (v. 20). We did not have the sense that the Lord was settled there, so we were not satisfied or settled. However, when I came into the practical church life, I had the sense that the Lord Jesus was there, and I became settled there.
The Lord Jesus is within the house as the source of the living water; out of Him the living water flows. To have the local churches built up is a great thing. We have to pay our full attention to the house of God, and we have to stay in the house. Ezekiel told us that the Lord brought him to the entrance of the house (47:1). We need to be impressed with our need for the house. There is much work in today’s Christianity, but where is the flow? There is much gospel preaching, Bible teaching, and mission work, but where is the flow? There is the feeling of dryness and not the feeling of watering. Many seeking Christians are dissatisfied due to the dryness. They are seeking after the watering. The seekers of the Lord desire the flow of the living water. Out of the marvelous building of God comes the flow of the living water.
In order for the flow of life to increase within us, within the house, the Lord as the man of bronze has to measure us. He is the testing One, the judging One, the examining One, and the possessing One because He measures us. The more He measures us, the deeper and the broader the flow will be. After He has measured us fully, the flow will become a river. In every city we need a river. The river comes out of the measuring of the bronze man within the house. To be in the local church alone is not adequate. We all need to be measured by the Lord. We may be in a local church, yet the living water may not be so deep. The flow in the church may not yet be a river. When we are adequately measured by the Lord, we will have the river. The Lord is not content with only a flow of the living water. He desires a river, because the river waters, heals, and produces. In 47:6 the Lord asked Ezekiel, “Son of man, have you seen this?” We all have to see this marvelous picture in Ezekiel.
The Lord told Ezekiel in 47:8, “This water flows out toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah and goes to the sea; when it flows into the sea, the water of the sea is healed.” The river in verse 8 goes down into the Arabah. The Hebrew word Arabah means the wilderness, the dry land, the parched land that grows nothing; hence, the desert. This land needs the watering. The river is for watering the dry land and healing the Dead Sea. The Arabah is close to the Dead Sea. Joshua 3:16 refers to the Dead Sea as the sea of the Arabah. The Dead Sea, or the Salt Sea, is near the Arabah. Because of the flow of the river into the sea, the salt water in the sea is healed. The sea now becomes fresh water because the salt has been swallowed up. The river comes first to water the dry land that grows nothing and to heal the death waters. This watering and healing is for the purpose of producing life.
The two basic categories of life produced in Ezekiel 47 are the plant life and the animal life. Verse 7 tells us that “there were very many trees on the bank of the river, on one side and on the other.” Trees are of the plant life. The river of water brings forth an abundance of fish (v. 9). Verse 10 says, “Fishermen will stand beside the sea from En-gedi even to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish shall be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many.” According to the Hebrew, En-gedi means “the fountain of the kid,” and En-eglaim means “the fountain of the two calves.” Thus, the flow of the river produces trees, fish, and cattle. The fishermen spread their nets on the land from En-gedi to En-eglaim. They spread their nets on the land between these two fountains. The trees, the fish, and the cattle in Ezekiel 47 are mentioned according to the order in Genesis 1. In Genesis 1 the plant life is first, the fish are second, and the cattle are third.
We need En-gedi, and we need En-eglaim, the fountains of the kids and the calves. We must realize that the potential with the Lord’s recovery is with the young people. I am happy to see so many “kids” and “calves” in the church life. I am an older saint, and I am also very thankful for all the older saints among us. All the “kids” need the care of the older saints. Although I love and appreciate all the older saints, deep within me I realize that the future, the prosperity, and the potential of the Lord’s move is with the young ones, with the kids and with the calves. The many young people among us who are full of life are evidence that the local church is the fountain of the kids and the fountain of the calves.
All of us older saints should be so happy that we have so many kids. The kids are an indication of the freshness in the Lord’s recovery. How much we have to thank the Lord for so many young ones among us. We need to thank the Lord that Arabah, the desert, the dry land, the parched wilderness, has become the fountain of kids and of calves. We also need to praise the Lord that the Dead Sea, the Salt Sea, has become the living and fresh sea to produce a multitude of fish. By the flowing of the river, there are also fishermen (Ezek. 47:10). Fishing signifies increase in numbers. All the kids and the calves should be the fishermen. The picture in Ezekiel 47 shows us that along with the river are the trees, the fish, the kids, the calves, the fishermen, and their nets.
The main point for us in Ezekiel 47 is that we all need to be willing to be measured. There is no need for us to struggle, to strive, or to exercise our effort to do anything. The only need is that we have to be willing to be measured again and again and again and again. We need to tell the Lord, “Lord, I am willing to be measured.” Then the flow will eventually become the river. If the saints in a local church are willing to be measured again and again and again and again, four times to one hundred percent, there will be a river to water the parched desert, to heal the dead sea, to grow the trees and produce the fish, and to produce the kids and the calves. What we need is to be measured for the Lord’s move. We need to be tested, examined, taken over, and possessed by the Lord.
When the water is to the ankles, that means that only a small part of our being is possessed by the Lord. When the water is risen to the loins, part of our being is possessed by the Lord, but another part is still free. If we are willing to be measured up to one hundred percent, we will be fully swallowed up by the living water. Then in one sense, we lose all our freedom, but in another sense we are really free. When we are fully possessed by the Lord, we will be fully freed. The flow of the living water will carry us on forward toward the goal. If we are willing to be built up as the house of the Lord, we will have the Lord within us as the source of the living water. If we are willing to be measured in order to be possessed again and again by the Lord until eventually we are possessed to the uttermost, we will have enough water to swim in, a river that cannot be crossed.
The flowing river waters the dry land, heals the dead sea, produces the trees, brings in the fish, and brings in the kids and the calves. Because of the river there are the farming with all the trees, the fishing to bring in the fish, and the ranching to take care of the kids and the calves. If we are willing to be built up and measured again and again, we will have the trees, the fish, and the cattle. This means that we will have the food, which includes the produce of the trees, the produce of the seas, and the produce of the ranch. When the Lord fed the five thousand, He fed them with something of the land, five loaves, and with something of the sea, two fish. The flow of the river issues in the riches of the land and of the sea, the riches of the animal life and the plant life, the riches of Christ.
Isaiah 55:1 says, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, / And you who have no money; / Come, buy and eat.” There is no mention of drinking in this verse. It tells us to come to the waters and eat, not drink. Furthermore, this verse tells the one who has no money to come and buy. How can we come to the waters to eat and come to buy without money?
Ezekiel 47 tells us that there were many trees on the banks of the river (v. 12), showing us that when we come to the waters, we come to the food. Our intention may be merely to drink, but eventually we also get something to eat. The drinking and the eating go together. In Genesis 2 is the tree of life with a river flowing out of Eden to water the garden (vv. 9-10). At the end of the Bible is the river of water of life with the tree of life growing, spreading, and proceeding along its two sides (Rev. 22:1-2). When we come to the waters, there is food for us to eat.
Now we must see how the Lord can tell us to come and buy without money and without price. In Revelation 3 the Lord counseled the church in Laodicea to buy from Him although they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked (vv. 17-18). On the one hand, we do not have the money to buy, but on the other hand, we cannot say that we have nothing. We may not have money, but we have ourselves. We have to pay ourselves as the cost. We have to give ourselves to the Lord. Isaiah 55:3 says, “Incline your ear and come to Me.” This is the price. The price is not the money. The price is not what we have. The price is what we are. We have to pay ourselves as the price to the Lord.
Whenever we come to the waters, the food is there, and whenever we feel that we have nothing, we have ourselves. The Lord wants us. Thus, He calls us to come and give ourselves to Him. The price to buy the gold in the epistle to Laodicea is to open the door (Rev. 3:20). To open the door is to give ourself to the Lord. We all need to tell the Lord, “Lord, I give myself to You.” If we are thirsty, we need to come and buy without money but with ourselves. We need to come and give ourselves to the Lord. When we pay this price, we are free to drink. Also, when we come to drink, we get the food because the water includes the tree of life.
The last part of Isaiah 55:3 says, “I will make an eternal covenant with you, / Even the sure mercies shown to David.” Just as the statute and ordinance were made with the drinking in Exodus 15, an eternal covenant is made here with the call to the thirsty ones to come to the waters and eat. As we are drinking and eating, an eternal covenant is made. This covenant is a contract or an agreement signed by the Lord to us. The Lord becomes bound to us. When we give ourselves to the Lord for the drinking and get the food, the Lord makes an eternal covenant with us, which means that we have a secured, constant enjoyment. Our enjoyment of the Lord becomes constant, secured, and insured. This eternal covenant is the best insurance company to insure our enjoyment of the sure mercies shown to David. The sure mercies shown to David are all that the Lord is for the house of David. All that the Lord is as mercies to the house of David is our secured portion by an eternal covenant.
We can realize by our fellowship thus far that the divine life is always involved with the matters of drinking and eating. If we do not drink and eat, life is lost. The divine life is in the tree and in the river, and we receive this life by drinking and eating. Whenever we come to the waters, we receive not only the waters but also the food. When we eat and drink the Lord, He makes an eternal covenant with us. This covenant is the Lord’s signed agreement or insurance policy whereby all the mercies shown to David become sure to us. The sure mercies are secured, insured, and guaranteed by His eternal covenant. All that the Lord is today is the sure mercies to the house of David. Today we are the house of David enjoying the sure mercies shown to David, which are the riches of the divine life.
