“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. 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. 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.” (Ezekiel 47:3-5 KJV)
This is a scene from near the end of a vision Ezekiel has concerning a series of measurements from the temple. The measurement of the depth of the water flowing due east from the temple is very curious. Every 1,000 cubits (about 4,500 feet or 85% of a mile) the depth of the water in checked and found to have significantly increased. While this may not seem odd to us as we would expect the further you go down a river the deeper it gets; this river has no tributaries. There are no other streams, rivers, or lakes feeding this one. We would expect the water to decrease as it evaporates, drains away, or simply disperses as it goes along. Literally the water that flows from under the threshold of the temple was increasing on it’s own in volume! Where did this water come from? “…Under the threshold of the temple…” (Ezekiel 47:1 KJV) What was going on in the temple to cause water to leak? Perhaps two sets of kitchens? To boil the guilt offering and sin offering (inner court) and to boil the sacrifices the people brought (outer court). Regardless if it came from these activities or not, how wonderful is it that the water that flows from God’s temple actually grows and multiplies? It needs no other stream, river, or lake to feed it. It needs no other rain or deeper well to increase it. To top it off, this river makes an otherwise salty destination fresh (see Ezekiel 47:8). When Jesus offers living water, we can individually behold spiritually what Ezekiel was shown in a vision physically. When we present our sacrifices in complete surrender of heart before Jesus, there is great richness in the fulfillment to overflowing of a cleansing stream that grows as it flows to overflowing.
“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13-14 KJV)