The River That Flows

Here's a puzzle for ya. How can something that is dead be brought back to life again? No, this isn't a story about the resurrection of Jesus. Well, it kind of is, but it isn't. This is a prophetic story about the Dead Sea. And how it will one day be "born again."

The Dead Sea is pictured above. And it IS truly dead. Nothing lives in it. And that isn't snow you're seeing in the picture. It's salt. It is SO salty that nothing can live in the sea or even near it.

If you look at a map of Israel you will notice that the Dead Sea is east of Jerusalem. The Jordan River flows southward into the Dead Sea. Water flows in but it just evaporates, leaving all the mineral deposits behind.

There are intermittent streams that do flow eastward from the area around Jerusalem but nothing permanent or continual.

I was reading in the Book of Ezekiel and came across this prophecy about the Dead Sea.

"The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east)." - Ezekiel 47:1

A couple of interesting things to note here. 1.) There is currently no temple in Jerusalem. 2.) Water flowed eastward. How is that possible when the Jordan River (east of Jerusalem) is flowing north to south?

Are you ready for this? This is from the prophet Zechariah. It hasn't happened yet. None of this has.

"On that day His feet (the feet of Jesus) shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward." - Zechariah 4:14

Hmm. Suddenly there will be a valley running east and west out of Jerusalem. Ezekiel tells us, again in chapter 47 verse 1 that the water came out from under the temple on the south side then flowed to the east.

"The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar." - Ezekiel 47:1

Later in Chapter 47 Ezekiel is still with this "man" and his measuring rod. As they walk eastward the water keeps getting deeper and deeper. And then we read this about the Dead Sea.

"Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters 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 476-9

This is all prophetic. This will all happen in the future, and some say that it will happen soon. But this is also a picture of a nonbeliever coming to faith in Christ. And "The River" is Jesus. When Jesus enters us it is WE who become clean and fresh.

"Where the river (Jesus) flows, everything will live."

“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” - John 4:10

“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.” - John 7:37-38

Is there living water flowing out of you?