Week 32   Day 5

     1By the rivers of Babylon,

     There we sat down, yea, we wept

     When we remembered Zion.

     2We hung our harps

     Upon the willows in the midst of it.

     4How shall we sing the Lord's song

     In a foreign land?

Then the Psalm goes on

            with the prayers of the captives

            asking for revenge upon their captors

They sat

            and wept

            and vented to their rage

was experiencing the mighty presence of God

            seeing visions

            of the glory of God and

            a healing river flowing out

            from a temple and an altar

            which did not presently exist

Ezekiel believed the vision God gave him 

            received it by faith

            and it was life to him.

                          GOD'S GLORY AND A RIVER
         God's healing water gives life wherever it goes.
                                    Ezekiel 40, 43 & 47

     1 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, the hand of the

Lord was upon me.  2 In visions God took me into the land of

Israel and set me on a very high mountain; on it toward the

south was something like the structure of a city.

     1A man brought me to the gate that faces toward the east. 

2And behold, the glory of God came from the east.  His voice

was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with

His glory. 

    4The glory of the Lord came into the temple by the gate. 

5The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court;

and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.   6Then I heard

Him speaking to me, while a man stood beside me.

     1He brought me to the door of the temple; and there

was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple;

the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple,

south of the altar.  2He brought me out by way of the north

gate, and led me around on the outside that faces east; and

there was water, running out.

     3The man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he
measured one thousand cubits [about 1/3 of a mile], and he
brought me through the waters; the water came up to my
ankles.  4Again he measured one thousand and brought me
through the waters; the water came up to my knees.  Again
he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water
came up to my waist.  5Again he measured one thousand,
and it was a river I could not cross; for the water was too
deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not
be crossed.  6He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen
this?"  Then he returned me to the bank of the river.

     7Along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one

side and the other.  8Then he said to me:  "This water goes

down into the valley, and enters the sea.  When it reaches the

sea, the waters of the sea are healed.  10Fishermen will stand

by it, spreading their nets.  Their fish will be of the same kinds

as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many.   

    12"Along the banks of the river will grow all kinds of trees

used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will

not fail.  They will bear fruit every month, because their water

flows from the sanctuary.  Their fruit will be for food, and

their leaves for medicine."
         _{This Bible passage was condensed from the NKJV}

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