Ezekiel 47:3-6(NKJV)
3And 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. 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 that 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 brought me and returned me to the bank of the river.
This week we have been discussing the need our world has of healing. We have looked at 2 Chronicles 7:14 which puts the responsibility for opening the channel for healing on the church, not any other group. It’s important to remember that we are not responsible for the healing itself, God does that. We are responsible for the channel of faith that will enable the Lord to work. W have also learned from Ezekiel 47 that the source of this healing is the presence of God. There is nothing else that will do. Plans, programs and other things may build a church, but they will not bring healing to the world. The presence of God flowing from the temple of God is the only solution. The church is the temple from which this presence must flow.
I want to look at some keys to how we can cause this presence to heal our land. In the verses above we see a very familiar part of this prophecy. For years I read it one way, but recently I realized I was wrong.
It is popular to look at the depth of the river the way we would look at a natural river. I always thought that the angel was measuring from the bank of the river toward the center. The farther he got from the bank the deeper the rive got. Looking at it this way, it would seem that the angel is saying we need to get farther into the river to get into deeper water. This would make sense from a natural standpoint if we are standing next to the river at it’s widest point.
With this interpretation the message is that we need to wade deeper into the presence of God until we are swimming in the river. There is a truth here, but it is not the whole truth. This interpretation makes it about us and the river alone. It is an abstract spirituality that really has no affect on anything but us. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not the whole story nor is it the point of this scripture. This prophecy is about the healing of the land, not just about our own spiritual development or even our own healing. I believe that this will be one of the results, but it is not the point.
As I read this more closely I realized that the picture is not of us at the bank of the river at it’s widest, but it is a picture of us at the headwaters of the river. If you were to find the beginning of the Mississippi River you could walk across it. If you were to continue down the river it would get deeper and deeper until it contained “waters to swim in.” This river is flowing towards the east. It is eastward that the angel is measuring not north or south. He is measuring away from the temple and toward the world. Look at verse 3 in the New Living Translation.
Ezekiel 47:3(NLT)
3Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles.
He lead me across the river. Each of these verses say the same thing. He lead me across the river not into it. Why is this important? Because we must understand that if we want to go deeper into the presence of God we must take the presence of God into the world. As long as the focus is on us alone we will never see the fullness of the presence of God in our lives. We will never see this presence affect our world if we don’t get this presence into the world.
Don’t misunderstand me. I believe God wants us to enjoy His presence. I believe the scripture that says in His presence is the fullness of joy. However I also know that Christianity can never be fully lived if we stay “self focused.” If we want real joy and the fullness of His presence we must take that presence to the world. Jesus did not live for Himself but for the world. Paul said he died daily for the world that he was sent to. We need to take the presence of God into our world.
What does this mean. Well, we don’t have space to cover that completely here, but it certainly means that the presence of God in our lives cannot be limited to our time in church. We often think of the presence in terms of our time in praise and worship or prayer. We need to begin to understand that this presence goes with us at all times. We must let it dictate our behavior and expect it to affect our ministry to the world. We can’t do that if we separate our church life and our “regular” life.
In Mark 16 it says this.
Mark 16:20(NLT)
20And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.
The Lord worked with them as they went. This week make a real effort to become conscious of the Lord with you as you go. His presence is there right now. How would you act if Jesus was with you? That is how you should act realizing His presence is with you. Think of what is possible in terms of touching others since He is working with you. The more that sense dominates our thinking the greater we will be used in bringing healing to the world. The wonderful extra benefit of this kind of thinking is that you take “the fullness of Joy” with you as you go.
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