LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Message 26
THE RIVER THAT FLOWS FROM THE HOUSE
WEEK 13 - THURSDAY
Scripture Reading: Gen 1:11-12; Ezek 47:8, 9, 10, 11, 12; Rev 3:15-16, 22:1
Read and pray: “And every living creature which swarms will live wherever the river comes, and there will be very many fish; and where these waters come, the waters of the sea will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river comes.” (Ezek 47:9)
EVERYTHING WILL LIVE
WHEREVER THE RIVER GOES
WHEREVER THE RIVER GOES
Everything will live wherever the river goes (Ezek 47:9). This river is the river of life, and only life can make things live. Mere teachings and gifts are not important here, because they cannot impart life.
Ezekiel does not say that we must all have knowledge or that we must all exercise the gifts; he says that everything will live wherever the river goes.
In this flow, the trees will live and bear fruit, delicious fruit every month (v. 12). Moreover, the water brings an abundance of fish (v. 9). The cattle are implied by the names of two cities: En-gedi and En-eglaim (v. 10). En-gedi means “spring of the lamb,” and En-eglaim means “spring of two calves.” These springs are for the young bulls, the lambs, and the calves.
From all this, we see that the flow of the river produces trees, fish, and cattle. In the proper church life there are many trees that produce fruit; therefore, there is no shortage of fruit. If the church in your locality is living, there will be fruit-bearing trees. Trees that bear fruit are an indication that there is a flow in your church. The trees grow by the living water. If there is a flow in your local church, there will surely be trees bearing an abundance of fruit.
With the flow of the river, there is also fishing (v. 10). Fishing means increase in number. If the number of people in your local church does not increase year after year, this means that there is no fishing, and if there is no fishing, it means that there is no flow. If we want to have fishing, we must have the flow.
We need a place to cast and set our net. We need to fish in order to have an increase in number. In the church life we also need some springs of lambs and springs of young bulls for feeding. Thus, we need food, we need an increase in number, and we need feeding. This will bring the mending, the building up.
Oh, how we need the trees, the fishing, and the springs! All these matters depend on one thing: the flow of the river. Once again we see how much we need the flow of the river of God.
THE RIVER FLOWS TO THE DEAD SEA
Ezekiel 47:8 says that the river flows toward the eastern sea. According to the map, the eastern sea is the Salt Sea or the Dead Sea. By the flow of the river from the house, the salty water of the Dead Sea will be healed. This means that death will be swallowed up by life.
When there is a rich and deep flow of life in a local church, much death will be swallowed up by life. However, if there is no flow, that church in particular will become a “dead sea” full of salt. But if there is the flow of the river, death will be swallowed up by life, and then the “dead sea” will be enlivened.
THE RIVER IS UNABLE TO ENLIVEN THE SWAMPS
Although the Dead Sea and the dry places can be enlivened and death can be swallowed up by life, the swamps cannot be enlivened (v. 11). A swamp is a place that is neither dry nor of flowing water. It consists partly of mud and partly of water; a swamp is neither dry nor wet. A swamp represents a situation full of compromises. This means that wherever there is a compromising situation, there is a swamp.
We should never be involved in any “swampy” situation. The Lord Jesus rebuked the church in Laodicea for being lukewarm and neither hot nor cold. He told the Laodiceans that they should be hot or cold, but not lukewarm. He also said that if they remained lukewarm, He would spew them out of His mouth (Rev 3:15-16). To be lukewarm is to be in a compromising situation, to be in a swamp.
Our position regarding the church must be absolute. If you remain in a denomination, you must remain there in an absolute way. If you are with an independent group, you must be there in an absolute way. If you are on the ground of the church, you must be there in an absolute way. You must be either cold or hot, but never lukewarm. To be lukewarm is to be in a swamp. If you leave the denominations and the independent groups and yet are not absolute for the proper ground of the church, you will be in a swamp.
It is possible for someone to be in the church life without being absolute. Such a person is a swamp. Even the Lord cannot enliven a swamp. A swamp is a neutral place, a place halfway, a place of compromise.
Some saints are neither in Babylon nor in Jerusalem, but in a place halfway between Babylon and Jerusalem. This means that they are in a swamp, and even are a swamp. We need very much to be absolute in the flow or remain on dry land. If we remain in a “muddy” or swampy situation, the Lord cannot do anything with us.
It is very easy to enter into a swamp, but it is very difficult to get out of one. The church must be in an absolute place. Therefore, for the church life we need to be absolute.
The church must also be a place according to its kind. Genesis 1:11-12 says that the grass, the trees, and the plants bear fruit according to their own kind. An apple tree cannot produce a peach-apple. To produce a peach-apple, that is, something not according to its kind, is to be in a swamp. A man must be a man and a woman must be a woman; no one can be a man-woman.
If you are in a denomination, be there according to your kind. If you are in an independent group, be there according to your kind. Likewise, if a group of saints in a certain locality are the church there, they must be the church according to their kind.
If you are in the Lord’s recovery, be there in an absolute way, not just halfway. Come all the way back from Babylon to Jerusalem. If you stop halfway, you will become a swamp, and you will not have any flow, not even a trickle of water. Instead, you will have water only to become “muddy.” You will be a swamp, and a swamp cannot be enlivened.
Throughout all my years in the Lord’s recovery, I have never seen a swamp that has been enlivened. In Revelation 22:11 the Lord Jesus says: “He who is unrighteous, let him be unrighteous still; and he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he who is righteous, let him practice righteousness still; and he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
Here we see that the Lord Jesus desires and requires that we be absolute. We must learn to be absolute. By being absolute, we will be in the flow, and the flow will not be a trickle of water, but a river in which one can swim. Then everything will live wherever the river goes.
🌿Enjoy more:
Hymn: Fullness of the Spirit - “Like the Spirit of Life”
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