Page 269 - NOTES ON EZEKIEL

CHAPTER XLVII. 263
“ And he brought me back unto the door of the
ho use; and, behold, waters issued from under the
threshold of the house eastward; for the front of the
house [was toward] the east, and the waters came
down from under the right side of the house, at the
soutli of the altar. And he brought me out of the way
of the gate northward, and led me about the way with­
out unto the utter gate by the way that looketh east­
ward ; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right
side. And when the man that had the line in his hand
wont, forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits,
and he brought me through the waters; the waters
were to the ancles. Again he measured a thousand,
and brought me through the waters ; the waters were to
the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought
me through ; the waters were to the loins. Afterward
he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I
could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters
to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.”
(Yers. 1-5.) The remarkable fact here seen is the
striking increase of the waters, without the least hint,
but rather to the exclusion, of the thought of accession
from tributary streams as in ordinary nature. It is an
astonishing manifestation of God’s gracious power: all
gushes forth from His house, yet the waters deepen
rapidly, instead of growing shallower, as they recede
from their source—to the ankles, to the knees, to the
loins, and, lastly, till they are a river to swim in that
could not be passed over.
“ And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen
[this] ? Then he brought me, and caused me to return
to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned,