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Matthew Henry |
E Z E K I E L.
CHAP. XLVII.
In this chapter we have,
I. The vision of the holy waters, their rise, extent, depth, and
healing virtue, the plenty of fish in them, and an account of the trees
growing on the banks of them,
II. An appointment of the borders of the land of Canaan, which was to
be divided by lot to the tribes of Israel and the strangers that
sojourned among them,
| The Vision of the Holy Waters. | B. C. 574. |
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1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house;
and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the
house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the
east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of
the house, at the south side of the altar.
2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and
led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that
looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right
side.
3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth
eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me
through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.
4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the
waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a
thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.
5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I
could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim
in, a river that could not be passed over.
6 And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then
he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.
7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river
were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east
country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which
being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.
9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth,
which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live:
and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these
waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every
thing shall live whither the river cometh.
10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand
upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place
to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their
kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.
11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall
not be healed; they shall be given to salt.
12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on
that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not
fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring
forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters
they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be
for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.
This part of Ezekiel’s vision must so necessarily have a mystical and
spiritual meaning that thence we conclude the other parts of his vision
have a mystical and spiritual meaning also; for it cannot be applied to
the waters brought by pipes into the temple for the washing of the
sacrifices, the keeping of the temple clean, and the carrying off of
those waters, for that would be to turn this pleasant river into a sink
or common sewer. That prophecy,
may explain it, of living waters that shall go out from
Jerusalem, half of them towards the former sea and half of them
towards the hinder sea. And there is plainly a reference to this in
St. John’s vision of a pure river of water of life,
Rev. xxii. 1.
That seems to represent the glory and joy which are grace perfected.
This seems to represent the grace and joy which are glory begun. Most
interpreters agree that these waters signify the gospel of Christ,
which went forth from Jerusalem, and spread itself into the countries
about, and the gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost which accompanied it,
and by virtue of which it spread far and produced strange and blessed
effects. Ezekiel had walked round the house again and again, and yet
did not till now take notice of those waters; for God makes known his
mind and will to his people, not all at once, but by degrees. Now
observe,
I. The rise of these waters. He is not put to trace the streams to the
fountain, but has the fountain-head first discovered to him
(v. 1):
Waters issued out from the threshold of the house eastward, and
from under the right side of the house, that is, the south side
of the alter. And again
(v. 2),
There ran out waters on the right side, signifying that from
Zion should go forth the law and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem,
Isa. ii. 3.
There it was that the Spirit was poured out
upon the apostles, and endued them with the gift of tongues, that they
might carry these waters to all nations. In the temple first they were
to stand and preach the words of this life,
Acts v. 20.
They must preach the gospel to all nations, but must begin at
Jerusalem,
Luke xxiv. 47.
But that is not all: Christ is the temple; he is the door; from him
those living waters flow, out of his pierced side. It is the water that
he gives us that is the well of water which springs up,
John iv. 14.
And it is by believing in him that we receive from him rivers of
living water; and this spoke he of the Spirit,
John vii. 38, 39.
The original of these waters was not above-ground, but they sprang up
from under the threshold; for the fountain of a believer’s life is a
mystery; it is hid with Christ in God,
Col. iii. 3.
Some observe that they came forth on the right side of the house
to intimate that gospel-blessings are right-hand blessings. It is also
an encouragement to those who attend at Wisdom’s gates, at the posts of
her doors, who are willing to lie at the threshold of God’s house, as
David was, that they lie at the fountainhead of comfort and grace; the
very entrance into God’s word gives light and life,
David speaks it to the praise of Zion, All my springs are in
thee,
Ps. lxxxvii. 7.
They came from the side of the altar, for it is in and by Jesus
Christ, the great altar (who sanctifies our gifts to God), that
God has blessed us with spiritual blessings in holy heavenly
places. From God as the fountain, in him as the channel, flows the
river which makes glad the city of our God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High,
Ps. xlvi. 4.
But observe how much the blessedness and joy of glorified saints in
heaven exceed those of the best and happiest saints on earth; here the
streams of our comfort arise from under the threshold; there
they proceed from the throne the throne of God and of the
Lamb,
Rev. xxii. 1.
II. The progress and increase of these waters: They went forth
eastward
(v. 3),
towards the east country
(v. 8),
for so they were directed. The prophet and his guide followed the
stream as it ran down from the holy mountains, and when they had
followed it about a thousand cubits they went over across it, to
try the depth of it, and it was to the ankles,
v. 3.
Then they walked along on the bank of the river on the other side, a
thousand cubits more, and then, to try the depth of it, they waded
through it the second time, and it was up to their knees,
v. 4.
They walked along by it a thousand cubits more, and then forded it the
third time, and then it was up to their middle–the waters were to
the loins. They then walked a thousand cubits further, and
attempted to repass it the fourth time, but found it impracticable:
The waters had risen, by the addition either of brooks that fell
into it above ground or by springs under ground, so that they were
waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over,
v. 5.
Note,
1. The waters of the sanctuary are running waters, as those of a river,
not standing waters, as those of a pond. The gospel, when it was first
preached, was still spreading further. Grace in the soul is still
pressing forward; it is an active principle, plus ultra–onward
still, till it comes to perfection.
2. They are increasing waters. This river, as it runs constantly, so
the further it goes the fuller it grows. The gospel-church was very
small in its beginnings, like a little purling brook; but by degrees it
came to be to the ankles, to the knees: many were added to it
daily, and the grain of mustard seed grew up to be a great
tree. The gifts of the Spirit increase by being exercised, and
grace, where it is true, is growing, like the light of the morning,
which shines more and more to the perfect day.
3. It is good for us to follow these waters, and go along with them.
Observe the progress of the gospel in the world; observe the process of
the work of grace in the heart; attend the motions of the blessed
Spirit, and walk after them, under a divine guidance, as Ezekiel here
did.
4. It is good to be often searching into the things of God, and trying
the depth of them, not only to look on the surface of those waters, but
to go to the bottom of them as far as we can, to be often digging,
often diving, into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, as those who
covet to be intimately acquainted with those things.
5. If we search into the things of God, we shall find some things very
plain and easy to be understood, as the waters that were but to the
ankles, others more difficult, and which require a deeper search, as
the water to the knees or the loins, and some quite beyond our reach,
which we cannot penetrate into, or account for, but, despairing to find
the bottom, must, as St. Paul, sit down at the brink, and adore the
depth,
Rom. xi. 33.
It has been often said that in the scripture, like these waters of the
sanctuary, there are some places so shallow that a lamb may wade
through them, and others so deep that an elephant may swim in them. And
it is our wisdom, as the prophet here, to begin with that which is most
easy, and get our hearts washed with those things before we proceed to
that which is dark and hard to be understood; it is good to take
our work before us.
III. The extent of this river: It issues towards the east
country, but thence it either divide itself into several streams or
fetches a compass, so that it goes down into the desert, and so
goes into the sea, either into the dead sea, which lay
south-east, or the sea of Tiberias, which lay north-east,
or the great sea, which lay west,
v. 8.
This was accomplished when the gospel was preached with success
throughout all the regions of Judea and Samaria
(Acts viii. 1),
and afterwards the nations about, nay, and those that lay most emote,
even in the isles of the sea, were enlightened and leavened by it. The
sound of it went forth to the end of the world; and the enemies
of it could no more prevail to stop the progress of it than that of a
mighty river.
IV. The healing virtue of this river. The waters of the sanctuary,
wherever they come and have a free course, will be found a wonderful
restorative. Being brought forth into the sea, the sulphureous
lake of Sodom, that standing monument of divine vengeance, even those
waters shall be healed
(v. 8),
shall become sweet, and pleasant, and healthful. This intimates the
wonderful and blessed change that the gospel would make, wheresoever it
came in its power, a a great change, in respect both of character and
condition, as the turning of the dead sea into a fountain of gardens.
When children of wrath became children of love, and those that were
dead in trespasses an sins were made alive, then this was fulfilled.
The gospel was as that salt which Elisha cast into the spring of the
waters of Jericho, with which he healed them,
2 Kings ii. 20, 21.
Christ, coming into the world to be its physician, sent his gospel as
the great medicine, the panpharmacon; there is in it a remedy
for every malady. Nay, wherever these rivers come, they make things
to live
(v. 9),
both plants and animals; they are the water of life,
Rev. xxii. 1, 17.
Christ came, that we might have life and for that end he sends
his gospel. Every thing shall live whither the river comes. The
grace of God makes dead sinners alive and living saints lively;
everything is made fruitful and flourishing by it. But its effect is
according as it is received, and as the mind is prepared and disposed
to receive it; for
(v. 11)
with respect to the marshes and miry places thereof, that are
settled in the mire of their own sinfulness, and will not be healed, or
settled in the moisture of their own righteousness, and think they need
no healing, their doom is, They shall not be healed; the same
gospel which to others is a savour of life unto life shall to them be a
savour of death unto death; they shall be given to salt, to
perpetual barrenness,
Those that will not be watered with the grace of God, and made
fruitful, shall be abandoned to their own hearts’ lusts, and left for
ever unfruitful. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still. Never
fruit grow on thee more for ever. They shall be given to
salt, that is, to be monuments of divine justice, as Lot’s wife
that was turned into a pillar of salt, to season others.
V. The great plenty of fish that should be in this river. Everything
living moving thing shall be found here, shall live here
(v. 9),
shall come on and prosper, shall be the best of the kind, and shall
increase greatly; so that there shall be a very great multitude of
fish, according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea,
exceedingly many. There shall be as great plenty of the river fish,
and as vast shoals of them, as there is of salt-water fish,
There shall be no great numbers of Christians in the church, and those
multiplying like fishes in the rising generations and the dew of
their youth. In the creation the waters brought forth the
fish abundantly
and they still live in and by the waters that produced them; so
believers are begotten by the word of truth
(James i. 18),
and born by it
(1 Pet. i. 23),
that river of God; by it they live, from it they have their maintenance
and subsistence; in the waters of the sanctuary they are as in their
element, out of them they are as fish upon dry ground; so David
was when he thirsted and panted for God, for the living God. Where the
fish are known to be in abundance, thither will the fishers flock, and
there they will cast their nets; and therefore, to intimate the
replenishing of these waters and their being made every way useful, it
is here foretold that the fishers shall stand upon the banks of this
river, from En-gedi, which lies on the border of the dead sea,
to En-eglaim, another city, which joins to that sea, and all
along shall spread their nets. The dead sea, which before was
shunned as noisome and noxious, shall be frequented. Gospel-grace makes
those persons and places which were unprofitable and good for nothing
to become serviceable to God and man.
VI. The trees that were on the banks of this river–many trees on the
one side and on the other
(v. 7),
which made the prospect very pleasant and agreeable to the eye; the
shelter of these trees also would be a convenience to the fishery. But
that is not all
(v. 12);
they are trees for meat, and the fruit of them shall not be
consumed, for it shall produce fresh fruit every month. The
leaf shall be for medicine, and it shall not fade,
This part of the vision is copied out into St. John’s vision very
exactly
(Rev. xxii. 2),
where, on either side of the river, is said to grow the tree of
life, which yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves
were for the healing of the nations. Christians are supposed to be
these trees, ministers especially, trees of righteousness, the
planting of the Lord
(Isa. lxi. 3),
set by the rivers of water, the waters of the sanctuary
(Ps. i. 3),
grafted into Christ the tree of life, and by virtue of their union with
him made trees of life too, rooted in him,
There is a great variety of these trees, through the diversity of gifts
with which they are endued by that one Spirit who works all in
all. They grow on the bank of the river, or they keep close
to holy ordinances, and through them derive from Christ sap and virtue.
They are fruit-trees, designed, as the fig tree and the olive,
with their fruits to honour God and man,
Judg. ix. 9.
The fruit thereof shall be for meat, for the lips of the
righteous feed many. The fruits of their righteousness are one way
or other beneficial. The very leaves of these trees are for
medicine, for bruises and sores, margin. Good
Christians with their good discourses, which are as their leaves, as
well as with their charitable actions, which are as their fruits, do
good to those about them; they strengthen the weak, and bind up
the broken-hearted. Their cheerfulness does good like a
medicine, not only to themselves, but to others also. They shall be
enabled by the grace of God to persevere in their goodness and
usefulness; their leaf shall not fade, or lose its medicinal
virtue, having not only life in their root, but sap in all their
branches; their profession shall not wither
(Ps. i. 3),
neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed; that is, they shall
not lose the principle of their fruitfulness, but shall still bring
forth fruit in old age, to show that the Lord is upright
or the reward of their fruitfulness shall abide for ever; they bring
forth fruit that shall abound to their account in the great day,
fruit to life eternal; that is indeed fruit which shall not
be consumed. They bring new fruit according to their months,
some in one month and others in another: so that still there shall be
one or other found to serve the glory of God for the purpose he
designs. Or each one of them shall bring forth fruit monthly, which
denotes an abundant disposition to fruit-bearing (they shall never be
weary of well-doing), and a very happy climate, such that there shall
be a perpetual spring and summer. And the reason of this extraordinary
fruitfulness is because their waters issued out of the
sanctuary; it is not to be ascribed to any thing in themselves, but
to the continual supplies of divine grace, with which they are
watered every moment
for, whoever planted them, it was that which gave the
increase.
| The Borders of the Land Appointed. | B. C. 574. |
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13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby
ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of
Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.
14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another:
concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your
fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.
15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north
side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;
16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of
Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazar-hatticon, which is by
the coast of Hauran.
17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enan, the border
of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath.
And this is the north side.
18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from
Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by
Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east
side.
19 And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the
waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And
this is the south side southward.
20 The west side also shall be the great sea from the border,
till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the
tribes of Israel.
22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot
for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn
among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall
be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel;
they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger
sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the
Lord GOD.
We are now to pass from the affairs of the sanctuary to those of the
state, from the city to the country.
1. The Land of Canaan is here secured to them for an inheritance
(v. 14):
I lifted up my hand to give it unto your fathers, that is,
promised it upon oath to them and their posterity. Though the
possession had been a great while discontinued, yet God had not
forgotten his oath which he swore to their fathers. Though God’s
providences may for a time seem to contradict his promises, yet the
promise will certainly take place at last, for God will be ever
mindful of his covenant. I lifted up my hand to give it, and
therefore it shall without fail fall to you for an inheritance.
Thus the heavenly Canaan is sure to all the seed, because it is what
God, who cannot lie, has promised.
2. It is here circumscribed, and the bounds and limits of it are
fixed, which they must not pass over to encroach upon their neighbours
and which their neighbours shall not break through to encroach upon
them. We had such a draught of the borders of Canaan when Joshua was
to put the people in possession of it,
&c. That begins with the salt sea in the south, goes round and ends
there. This begins with Hamath about Damascus in the north, and so goes
round and ends there,
Note, It is God that appoints the bounds of our habitation; and
his Israel shall always have cause to say that the lines have fallen
to them in pleasant places. The lake of Sodom is here called the
east sea, for it, being healed by the waters of the sanctuary, it
is no more to be called a salt sea, as it was in Numbers.
3. It is here ordered to be divided among the tribes of Israel,
reckoning Joseph for two tribes, to make up the number of twelve, when
Levi was taken out to attend the sanctuary, and had his lot adjoining
to that
(v. 13, 21):
You shall inherit it, one as well as another,
v. 14.
The tribes shall have an equal share, one as much as another. As the
tribes returned out of Babylon, this seems unequal, because some tribes
were much more numerous than the other, and indeed the most were of
Judah and Benjamin and very few of the other ten tribes; but as the
twelve tribes stand, in type and vision, for the gospel-church, the
Israel of God, it was very equal, because we find in another vision an
equal number of each of the twelve tribes sealed for the
living God, just 12,000 of each,
&c. And to those sealed ones these allotments did belong. It
intimates likewise that all the subjects of Christ’s kingdom have
obtained like precious faith. Male and female, Jew and Gentile,
bond and free, are all alike welcome to Christ and made partakers of
him.
4. The strangers who sojourn among them, who shall beget
children and be built up into families, and so help to people their
country, shall have inheritance among the tribes, as if they had
been native Israelites
(v. 22, 23),
which was by no means allowed in Joshua’s division of the land. This
is an act for a general naturalization, which would teach the Jews who
was their neighbour, not those only of their own nation and religion,
but those, whoever they were, that they had an opportunity of showing
kindness to, because from them they would be willing to receive
kindness. It would likewise invite strangers to come and settle among
them, and put themselves under the wings of the divine Majesty. But it
certainly looks at gospel-times, when the partition-wall between Jew
and Gentile was taken down, and both one in Christ, in whom there is
no difference,
Rom. x. 12.
This land was a type of the heavenly Canaan, that better country
(Heb. xi. 16),
in which believing Gentiles shall have a blessed lot, as well as
believing Jews,
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