I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple...The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar...He said to me, “This water flows toward the...Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.
Ezekiel 47:1, 8-9
Did you know that the Dead Sea is nearly ten times saltier than the ocean? It's so salty that only microscopic bacteria and microbial fungi can live in it. No fish or aquatic plants live in the Dead Sea at all. This, of course, is how it got its name. It is a dead sea, a harsh environment in which nothing can live.
I don't know about you but there were times in my life when my soul felt just this dead and inhospitable. Scripture assures us that this is true of all who are apart from Christ. Until Christ enters our lives we are completely and utterly dead in our trespasses and sins. But just like the Dead Sea, we are not beyond God's reviving touch.
In Ezekiel 47 we read in the prophet's vision that one day a river will flow from God's temple into the old Dead Sea and bring a revival of new life! This sea that is so famously inhospitable to life will one day teem with fish. The shores will bustle with activity as fisherman stand along the shores. And fruit trees will grow there on its shores year round without fail (v. 9-12). What a beautiful image of God's ability to breathe fresh life into dead people and things!
Whether this passage is metaphorical or whether we should look for a literal fulfillment in the future, I don't know. Either way the prophet's point has been made. We serve a God who can breathe new life and spiritual vitality into the most dead of places and human hearts.
But how can we gain access to this living water? Only through Jesus! Notice that this river originates from the temple. This temple was where heaven and earth overlapped. It was where God dwelt on earth. But when Jesus took on flesh that changed. Now it's in Jesus that we find heaven and earth intersecting, and it is only through His atoning blood that we access this reviving, living water. Consider Jesus' words in John 7:37-38: "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them."
No matter how dead, parched, or soul-thirsty you may feel today, God can revive you. Look to Jesus! Even believers can begin to feel a bit thirsty for God, especially during periods in which we are neglecting our relationship with the Savior. Jesus is the spiritual rejuvenation you need! So spend time with Him today. Read His Word, pray to Him. Seek hard after Him and be revived!
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