Readings for today: Ezekiel 45-48
In a few weeks, I will land in Entebbe, Uganda. As we drive north to our assignment, we will spend time on the shores of Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria is the world’s largest tropical lake and the second largest freshwater lake. It is a huge natural resource for three different countries - Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. As the world’s largest freshwater fishery, it sustains millions of people. I have taken tours of this lake. I’ve seen the fishermen with their nets. The birds that nest in the trees along its banks. The sheer abundance of life it produces. I have seen the underwater springs that form the headwaters of the Nile River, another body of water that provides life for millions of people. It’s incredible.
I have also been in desert places where there is no water. I have seen drought conditions that created starvation and famine. I have spent time with people who survive in these places, living off the small amounts of seasonal rainfall that take place every year. The population in these places is scarce. There is so little to sustain life. No animals. No birds. No trees. Nothing much grows from the ground. It’s a hard life. Perhaps that’s why I love the vision given to Ezekiel in our passage today. A life-giving river flowing from the Temple into the Arabah which is another word for desert place. The water starts as a trickle, much like the Nile starts as a spring, but soon becomes a river so deep and so wide, it cannot be crossed. This river flows down into the Dead Sea, turning what was once toxic into freshwater. Water that can produce and sustain life. Trees begin to spring up along its banks, bearing fruit and offering healing. It’s a beautiful picture of what God wants to do in our world.
The key to this vision lies in the restoration of the Temple. For several chapters now, God has been showing Ezekiel what will happen when true worship is restored in Israel. The Temple will be rebuilt. The priesthood purified and restored. The sacrificial system renewed. The people of God will worship God with a new heart and a new spirit and a new desire to follow His commands. As this happens, a river will begin to trickle out from the Temple. It will rise and soon turn into a flood, overwhelming all the death and destruction and devastation. The same holds true for us today. The same holds true for the church today. When the church worships God in spirit and in truth, life begins to flow into the community where it is planted. Fruit is produced. Healing takes place. Restoration and renewal takes root in the desert places where death once reigned.
Readings for tomorrow: Daniel 1-3