The River

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ezekiel, flowing, living, river, Temple

Rev 22:1  And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,

In the Old Testament this was seen.

Ezek 47:1-12

Eze 47:1  And he brought me back unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward (for the forefront of the house was toward the east); and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar.

Eze 47:2  Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round by the way without unto the outer gate, by the way of the gate that looketh toward the east; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 

Eze 47:3  When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles.

Eze 47:4  Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the loins.

Eze 47:5  Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

Eze 47:6  And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river.

 

In the back of  the “house” is a issue of water from the right side at its gate. The waters head east.

These waters will run through the “Arabah” to the sea.  It is to “heal” the rivers and the sea…   Now if perchance this is the resting place for Jerusalem the Great City….  This rivulet that deepens ever thousand Reeds or 8000 Feet give or take, has trees….. on both sides of the bank…  the fruit is yielded every month the leaf is for healing… This is an irregularity for an interim Temple to the book of Revelation.  Is it possible that this Temple is a layout to the Great City itself?  It does talk about housing for the priests…

But our primary goal is to look at the river.  In Ezekiel’s passage it talks about Trees whereas in Revelation it mentions one tree of Life.  Both scenarios have leaves for healing.  But how is it that this healing leaf tree with its 12 kinds of fruits each bearing in its month so to speak is found there?  Moreover where is the Arabah today?  According to a bible map it lists the Arabah as being the Salt Sea.  So then this river of Ezekiel’s Temple flows from possibly Jerusalem to the east to the Salt Sea making it FRESH.  Now that sea connects to the  “sea of Chinnereth” or what looks suspiciously like the Galilee Sea of Jesus day.  It connects by way of the Jordan from the Salt Sea to Galilee to a little area called lake Huleh which might have been around in Jesus day or might have been dry bed.  On this map it then comes to a junction splitting five ways and all along the Jordan and after the split this waterway wends itself out eastward into the desert and westward to the Mediterranean sea.  Now if this is the same river and all the text implies that it is, the need for healing of the waters both fresh and salt is because of Wormwood.  It is also because the seas became blood.  Also the swarms of fish and teeming life will return as the waters “heal”.

Eze 47:7  Now when I had returned, behold, upon the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.

Eze 47:8  Then said he unto me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea shall the waters go which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed.

Eze 47:9  And it shall come to pass, that every living creature which swarmeth, in every place whither the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters are come thither, and the waters of the sea shall be healed, and everything shall live whithersoever the river cometh.

Eze 47:10  And it shall come to pass, that fishers shall stand by it: from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

Eze 47:11  But the miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt.

Eze 47:12  And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not whither, neither shall the fruit thereof fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for healing.

Rev 22:2  in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

When we compare the texts Ezekiel’s text seems to go into greater detail.  But they talk about the same thing.  A River bright and clear as crystal…  Have you ever been to the Bahamas and seen the clear bright blue shoal inlet waters?  This is the idea.  You can see to the bottom of the river bed.  It is LIVING or FLOWING water.  It starts very small and gradually deepens to an un-fordable river. It is a place for catching fish of all kinds.

If this is the same River then the place in the back of the Temple where the Holy of Holies should be is where the Throne of God and of the Lamb will sit.

 

It might be a very interesting study to actually compare the two.

 

Rev 22:3  And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants shall serve him;

 

No more curse…  When Adam fell the universe was condemned to be twisted as it were, because the Order was upset.  Even though it was destined to be that Christ might be the recipient of all the glory and eventually lay even all that He has at The Father’s feet.  Paul says this in Romans 8

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God.

Rom 8:20  For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope

Rom 8:21  that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

Rom 8:23  And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

This groaning of Creation and our groaning or straining at bonds as it were it the curse, but He creates again and in this the curse is NO MORE.

Rev 22:4  and they shall see his face; and his name shall be on their foreheads.

Rev 22:5  And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

This is the sketched out edges of the portrait painted in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  This is how we will spend eternity, and notice that there is a mark on the forehead.  The reason the enemy wants his mark on our foreheads is because then God wont place His mark on us, for we are His possession.  When He said He is the Light of the World, He may have spoken, in our understanding, as “spiritual” but He truly meant it because, He is the Source of Light to Illumine everything for us all. This shows us an aspect of the scope of His power.

 

So ends the vision.

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Second Act

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armies, battle, defense, ezekiel, gog, joel, magog, unwalled

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

Rev 20:8  and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Now we have these passages all over the Old Testament about this day.

Eze 38:1  And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

Eze 38:2  Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

Eze 38:3  and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:

Eze 38:4  and I will turn thee about, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;

Eze 38:5  Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;

Eze 38:6  Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with thee.

Eze 38:7  Be thou prepared, yea, prepare thyself, thou, and all thy companies that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

Eze 38:8  After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.

Eze 38:9  And thou shalt ascend, thou shalt come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy hordes, and many peoples with thee.

Eze 38:10  Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall come to pass in that day, that things shall come into thy mind, and thou shalt devise an evil device:

Eze 38:11  and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;

Eze 38:12  to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn thy hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people that are gathered out of the nations, that have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the middle of the earth.

Eze 38:13  Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take the spoil? hast thou assembled thy company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?

Eze 38:14  Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In that day when my people Israel dwelleth securely, shalt thou not know it?

Eze 38:15  And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost parts of the north, thou, and many peoples with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army;

Eze 38:16  and thou shalt come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring thee against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

Eze 38:17  Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Art thou he of whom I spake in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, that prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring thee against them?

Eze 38:18  And it shall come to pass in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils.

Eze 38:19  For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

Eze 38:20  so that the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

Eze 38:21  And I will call for a sword against him unto all my mountains, saith the Lord Jehovah: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

Eze 38:22  And with pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him, and upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

Eze 38:23  And I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

This in so far as I know is also part of it.

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of Jehovah cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

Joe 2:2  a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.

Joe 2:3  A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and none hath escaped them.

Joe 2:4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run.

Joe 2:5  Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

Joe 2:6  At their presence the peoples are in anguish; all faces are waxed pale.

Joe 2:7  They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and they break not their ranks.

Joe 2:8  Neither doth one thrust another; they march every one in his path; and they burst through the weapons, and break not off their course.

Joe 2:9  They leap upon the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter in at the windows like a thief.

Joe 2:10  The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.

Joe 2:11  And Jehovah uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Amo 5:18  Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.

Amo 5:19  As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

Amo 5:20  Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

The Ezekiel passage is the best indicator of the play by play that is performed once the Adversary is loosed.

Rev 20:9  And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them.

Now here is the difference between the first and second battles in Revelation.  Jesus shows up astride His white horse all blood soaked and furious, opens His mouth and they drop like flies.  Jesus doesn’t even bother to show up.  They come at the camp of the saints and the fire falls.  There is but one Beloved City and that is the place wherein God chose to put His name… Jerusalem. Israel by this time is without walls or DEFENSES and DOESN’T NEED THEM.  We the saints are there and when the vast armada comes… that real estate and its inhabitants are DEFENDED FROM ABOVE.

Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Now the Dragon joins the other two.  There will be NO MORE BATTLE and in so far as this book indicates that is an Eternal Fact.