Read: Ezekiel 47:1-12
Water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east. (v. 1 NRSV)
It rained and thundered and lightninged for almost ten hours. The wind was so strong it snapped a large tree off a few feet from our tent. Another tree fell on our canoe, buckling the hull from bow to stern. After the storm subsided, my daughter and I did emergency first aid on our canoe and made our escape. The portage trails had turned into knee-deep, fast-flowing streams. Even in a land of endless lakes—the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness of northeastern Minnesota—it seemed that water was everywhere. It seemed that all was one vast river.
So too in this vision from the prophet Ezekiel it seems that water is everywhere. Water flows from the Temple toward the east and toward the south and toward the north. And while at first the river is shallow, it quickly rises until it cannot be crossed.
But this river is no ordinary river. It is the river of life. It nourishes every living creature. Where this river goes everything lives. It is a fisherman’s paradise, with fish aplenty. And its waters nourish all kinds of trees growing along its banks—trees that bear fruit all year long so there is always enough to eat. And the leaves of these trees are for healing. This is a sacred river. A river of life. A sign of God’s love.
As you pray, thank God for his overflowing love, and ask him to nourish you with the river of life, so that you are filled with God’s mercy and grace.
Steve Bouma-Prediger is the Leonard and Marjorie Mass Professor of Reformed Theology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. A graduate of Hope College, his Ph.D. is in religious studies from The University of Chicago. His most recent book is Earthkeeping and Character: Exploring a Christian Ecological Virtue Ethic.
When not teaching or writing, he spends as much time as possible canoeing or backpacking in his favorite places in North America or simply hiking among the magnificent trees in southwest Michigan parks.
