Ezekiel 47:1-11 “Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. (2) He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side. (3) And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. (4) Again 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. (5) Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. (6) He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. (7) When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. (8) Then he said to me: "This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. (9) And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. (10) It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. (11) But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt."
We have already mentioned that after the rapture of the church, God’s wrath will be poured out on the earth for a period of approximately three years. The book of Revelation teaches us that there will be fourteen judgements in total poured out on the earth during that time, i.e. the seven trumpets of God and the seven bowls of God’s wrath. These judgements are discussed in detail in my book “The Seventh Seal”. And so during the outpouring of God’s wrath, the earth will be almost completely destroyed. For example, one of the last judgements that God will bring on the earth, is that He will turn the sea into blood and every living creature in the sea will die as a result (Revelation 16:3). And so we see that during our Lord’s millennial reign, the earth will need to be restored to make it habitable once again. The above quoted passage of scripture gives us one account of that restoration process, for it describes the fact that when the Lord Jesus is seated in the temple, that the river of life will begin to flow from the temple, bringing healing and life to the oceans of the earth once again. This passage is very informative, for it reveals several truths about what life will be like during the Lord’s millennial reign. For example, many have thought that no meat will be eaten during our Lord’s reign, but clearly that is not the case, because this passage reveals to us that fish will be included in men’s diet, just as it is today.
Zechariah 14:8-9 “And in that day it shall be-- That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. (9) And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be "The Lord is one," And His name one.”
The same river of life shown to Ezekiel the prophet was also shown to Zechariah the prophet. The only difference being that, as revealed in the above quoted passage of scripture, the Lord showed Zechariah that the river of life would not only flow toward the eastern sea (Red Sea), but that it would also flow toward the western sea (Mediterranean Sea). The river of life flowing into both seas will obviously speed up the restoration of the various oceans of the earth.
Michael E.B. Maher
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