Page 249 - Through New Eyes

The Worlds of Exile and Restoration 249

The most interesting aspect of Ezekiel’s Temple is its river. In
Chapter 47, Ezekiel sees a river flowing out of the Temple. As it
flows it becomes deeper and wider, until finally it comes to the
Dead Sea and restores the sea to life. This is, of course, a picture
of the cleansing of the land and of renewed life, since water has to
do with cleansing and life. It is a picture of the greatly increased
spiritual power of the Restoration covenant. Let us briefly trace
this river. We first met it in Eden, where it flowed out as four
rivers to water the whole earth. After the fall of man, the river
was cut off. Man’s sin cut him off from cleansing and life, and
eventually the world was destroyed in the Flood. After the
Flood, God called the patriarchs to minister to the world. The
patriarchs dug wells in the ground and set up oasis-sanctuaries.
For them, the water was down in the ground and had to be
brought up. They labored to provide it for their converts.
In the Mosaic heavens and earth we find a laver of cleansing
in the Tabernacle. There is still no outflow, but at least the water
is no longer underground. In the Temple of Solomon, we come
closer to a river. We have a huge bronze ocean, much higher and
fuller than the earlier laver, and we also have ten water chariots.
These chariots are fixed and do not flow out; but at least there is
much more water, much more spiritual power, in the Kingdom.
During the periods of the patriarchs, of the Tabernacle, and
of the Temple, God had His people placed at the center of the
world. Caravans from Europe and Asia to Africa had to go
through Palestine. God put His people at the center so that they
could be His evangelists. He brought the nations to them, as the
Queen of Sheba came to Solomon. The water stayed in the land,
in the Tabernacle, and in the Temple, and the nations came to it.
In the world of the Restoration, however, the bronze ocean is
tipped over. There is no laver or ocean in Ezekiel’s Te’mple. It
has finally become a river, flowing out. True, it only flows in one
direction, and not to the ends of the earth, but it still flows out.
For the first time, the Jews would begin to move out from Pales-
tine as missionaries, so that by New Testament times there
would be synagogues and Gentile converts in all the world.
We should conclude our survey by taking note of Revelation
22:1. Here the mountain has become so high that it pokes
through the firmament, with God’s throne at the apex of the pyr-