Week 28 Ezekiel
In chapter 47 Ezekiel’s guide takes him outside the city to a shallow trickle of water flowing out of Jerusalem’s temple toward the east. I look at a topographic map. Jerusalem is in green but going east the colours soon change: green-to-yellow-to-white – no growth. The contour lines close in heading down toward the Dead Sea. Sea-level…and then still farther down. 400 metres below sea level. Hot-dry-hypersaline.
Outside Jerusalem’s east wall Ezekiel’s river started ankle-deep but within a couple of kilometres he can’t ford it.
His river hurries down to the Dead Sea. It will eventually turn the sea into a fresh-water lake. People will catch fish from water where no fish have ever lived.
The stream is magical: everything that touches the water of this river will live.
Ezekiel looks around and sees that: suddenly, to my surprise, many trees were now growing on both sides of the river. All kinds of fruit trees…and there will always be fruit in their branches…a new crop every month…The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing.
As of today Ezekiel’s temple hasn’t been built. And so far no one’s ever fished the Dead Sea. So these visions describe a couple of unusual longshots. They will either actually happen in reality some day in our future. Or they describe something unusual and unexpected that won’t happen in our future material reality – but will happen in some way or other.
Note: quotes from Ezekiel 47:9, 7 & 12 (NLT)