Ezekiel 47

This chapter forms the closing section of the vision of the new temple that begins in Ezekiel 40. The guide who in Ezekiel 46 showed Ezekiel the regulations for the worship of the prince and the people, as well as the temple kitchens, now shows him the water flowing out of the temple. The chapter then begins the allotment of the land, which continues in Ezekiel 48.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 Water issues from beneath the threshold of the temple, which faces east, and flows south of the altar. Ezekiel is led out by the north gate to the outer east gate, where he sees the water trickling out.
• Verses 3–5 The man with the line measures a thousand cubits four times. The water rises to the ankles, then the knees, then the loins, until at last it becomes a river too deep to cross, waters to swim in.
• Verses 6–12 Many trees stand on both banks of the river. The water goes down into the Arabah and reaches the sea, where its waters are healed. Fishermen spread their nets from En-gedi to En-eglaim, but the miry places and marshes are left as salt land. The fruit trees along the river bear fruit every month, and their leaves serve for medicine.
• Verses 13–20 The land is to be divided among the twelve tribes, with Joseph receiving two portions. The northern, eastern, southern, and western boundaries are then set.
• Verses 21–23 Strangers who sojourn among Israel and have begotten children there are also to receive an inheritance within the tribe in which they live.

Key Verses

• Ezekiel 47:9 "every thing shall live whither the river cometh": the central image of the chapter, in which the water flowing from the temple gives life.
• Ezekiel 47:12 "the leaf thereof for medicine": this connects with the depiction of the river of the water of life and the tree of life in Revelation 22.
• Ezekiel 47:22 "they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel": the provision that strangers also receive land as an inheritance.

People and Places

• Ezekiel: the prophet who sees the vision. The guide addresses him as "son of man."
• The man with the line: the figure who has guided Ezekiel and measured the temple since chapter 40.
• The Arabah: the valley region extending south from the Jordan Valley.
• En-gedi and En-eglaim: places on the shore of the Dead Sea. The exact location of En-eglaim is uncertain.
• The twelve tribes of Israel and Joseph: Joseph's two portions go to the tribes descended from his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
• Boundary place names: Damascus, Hamath, Hauran, Gilead, the Jordan River, the waters of strife in Kadesh (Meribah-kadesh), and the river of Egypt. "The great sea" is understood to refer to the Mediterranean Sea, and "the east sea" in verse 18 to the Dead Sea.

Points for Reflection

• Dispensationalist interpretation reads this vision as a depiction of a temple and land that will actually exist during the millennial kingdom. Interpreters in the covenant theology and Reformed traditions generally regard it as a symbolic portrayal of the life that flows through Christ and the Holy Spirit to the church and to the whole world.
• The image of water flowing from the temple or from Jerusalem also appears in Joel 3 and Zechariah 14. In the New Testament it reappears in Revelation 22:1–2. Some interpreters also read it in connection with the "rivers of living water" in John 7:38.
• The provision granting an inheritance to strangers is often cited in discussions of the inclusion of Gentiles in the community of Israel.

In the Korean Church

The scene in which the water deepens from the ankles to the knees, then the loins, and finally becomes a river to swim in is frequently used as a sermon text to illustrate the work of the Holy Spirit, revival, or growth in faith.