Week 32 Day 5
Psalms 137 describes some of the captive Israelites this way:
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
Ezekiel
on the other hand
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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