Ezekiel's river is an illustration of the three sources of sin.
Ezekiel's river is an illustration of the three sources of sin.
As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep . He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep . He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist . He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. (Ezekiel 47:3-5)
In the first level, the Spirit of God is present to a minimal degree. The judgment (the measurement) is upon our participating in the antichrist world spirit.
In the second level, there is more evidence of the Spirit of God. The judgment is against the unclean spirits that reside in our flesh.
In the third level, the judgment is against people who have followed their self-will, not being careful to put to death the deeds of their sinful flesh. We have yielded to the alien spirits until the sins they promote have become part of our personality. They no longer are alien spirits. They are what we are!
Also, there are sins of personality we have inherited from our parents, such as lust, or hatred, or covetousness, or pride.
If we are to attain to the water to swim in, the Fullness of God, the realm of the life-giving spirits, we must abandon our self-will and obey Christ until we can state: "I am crucified with Christ. It is Christ who lives in me.
The life-giving spirits will be planted along the banks of the River of Life, as in the Book of Revelation:
He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" 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.(Ezekiel 47:6,7—NIV)
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1,2—NIV)
The "very many trees" are, of course, outgrowths of the one Tree of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then from these life-giving spirits, who constitute the Royal Priesthood, with Christ at the head, the Spirit of God will make alive those people of the nations who will accept the ministry of Christ—Head and Body.
Notice the description of the true worldwide evangelism:
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 47:8,9—NIV)
Can you see from the Book of Acts that the work of the ministry during the Christian Era is to call out from the world those whom God has ordained to be members of the Royal Priesthood, the trees of eternal life?
It is not that people are ordained to be saved. Whosoever will may come to the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved! Rather, it is the members of the Christian Church, the Royal Priesthood, who are ordained of God.
When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48—NIV)
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. (John 17:9—NIV)
Do the two passages above sound like God is calling out specially ordained people, or does it say that we are to ignore the guidance of the Spirit and try to get everyone into the church buildings as soon as possible?
If it is true that the calling of God in the present hour is to people whom He has chosen for the purpose of bringing eternal life to the world at a later time, then you can imagine the waste of time, money, and energy that occurs as we charge in one direction or another to build the Kingdom of God according to our own ideas.
If our concept is true, then we indeed should continue preaching the Gospel to every person, as Christ has commanded, and the Spirit of God will select those who are members of the Royal Priesthood. But much, much more attention than is true at the present time should be given to bringing the believers to maturity in Christ.
The River refers to the Holy Spirit of God. Every person, action, and thing of the plan of redemption and the building of the Kingdom of God depends on the Presence of the Spirit of God—to a far greater extent than is emphasized in our day.
There is a great deal of Christian activity, but there is little dependence on the Spirit of God for wisdom, guidance, and power. It is as though it is up to the talents and efforts of people to do the work of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
The result, or so it seems, is that the world is more sinful and more bereft of Christ than ever before.
Perhaps the main reason for the prevailing ineptness is that the Christian institutions do not seem to understand that the Christian Era is for the purpose of calling out from the world a people ordained of God to become royal priests. God plans on establishing His Kingdom on the earth, and His Kingdom will be installed and maintained by the Royal Priesthood.
There is no point in setting up the Kingdom before the royal priests have been selected and trained.