Comments on Ezekiel 47 This chapter deals with the fulfilment of the promises of the Abrahamic covenant dealing with land, cf. Gen. 15:18, Gen. 17:8. Verses 1-12 present a miraculous water flow which turns all of the surrounding region into a garden and heals the waters of the Dead Sea. Verses 13-23 deal with parceling up the land for inheritance according to the Twelve Tribes of Israel. v1-6 Ezekiel, inside the Temple precinct, is brought by the angel to the eastern side by the east gated entrance. Ezekiel sees water flowing out from under the foundation of the Temple and notes it runs out under the east gate (v. 1). The angel escorts Ezekiel around through the north gate, since the east gate is closed per 44:1-2, and back up to the outside of east gate and he sees water gushing out from under the south wall (v. 2). The angel measures off 1000 cubits of distance (~ 1500 feet) a number of times and each time has Ezekiel walk across the ensuing river. Each time it gets deeper to the point where he can no longer cross without swimming (v. 3-6). Regarding this stream we have two options: a miraculous water source from a single fountainhead, or a general abundance of water of which that at the Temple mount is exemplary. The text only references a single fountainhead beneath the Temple (v. 1, 12), thus the water depth should be diminishing as it travels away from the source. That the water deepens as it gets further from the source implies a miraculous source, if we assume there is only a single fountainhead. If we do not assume there is only a single fountainhead under the Temple, then the water sources need not necessarily be miraculous. We would then assume the relative abundance of water at the Temple mount was indicative of the now well watered condition of the area. And the river has many tributaries feeding it, one of which is the Temple fount, then we would expect it to naturally grow deeper as it went along. I would tend to favor the latter over the former as there are passages referring to the well-watered condition of the Promised Land in a Millennial setting, cf. Isa. 51:3, Isa. 58:11. While the text only cites a single fountainhead, that does not necessarily preclude any others. Ezekiel was present at that site so it would be natural that would be the one he sees and recounts in specific. He never explicitly states there were no others, that the river had only a single source, or that the water was miraculously increased. For us to assume that is perhaps presumptuous. So, I would go with the more natural explanation which can be buttressed by external sources. Naturally, the spiritual figurative reading on the water would represent the waters of life issuing forth from the House of the Lord. v7-12 This new source of flowing water transforms the surrounding land from a relative desert to a veritable garden. Trees grow and bear fruit year round and their leaves are medicinal, fishermen fish along its banks, and it transforms the Dead Sea into a freshwater lake. And this river is so provident that it leaves the swamps brackish so as to supply the people with a source of salt. This description is similar to those in Isaiah and elsewhere of the Millennial Eden, cf. 36:35 for Israel's desolate land being made like Eden. See also Isa. 33:21, Isa. 41:18-19 for it being well watered like Eden, cp. Gen. 2:10-14, Hosea 14:5-7. For a spiritual parallel cf. Isa. 44:3-4, Joel 2:28. v12 "the leaf thereof for medicine", cp. Alma 46:40, D&C 42:43, D&C 80:10. After the Fall there were thorns and briars (cf. Gen. 3:18), but there were also plants that heal. In this Millennial setting the plants revert back to their idyllic state. v13-23 At that time, the tribes of Israel will divide up their inheritances equally with Joseph getting a double portion as He is considered firstborn (v. 13-14). And the Abrahamic covenant is fulfilled as the ancestral lands promised to him in Gen. 17:8 are divided up among Israel (v. 15-20). Furthermore, the Gentiles among Israel are granted inheritances as well (v. 21-23). With regard to the divisions of the inheritance, cp. Isa. 49:8, Isa. 60:21, and ct. Micah 2:5. v21-23 obviously imply that in an eschatological setting the Gentiles and the Israelites will no longer be divided with respect to the Abrahamic Covenant, cp. Isa. 56. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.