THE SACRED RIVER
Ezekiel 47:1-12
Water—it is essential to life.
Jacques Cousteau, the famous oceanographer,
observed that, “the water cycle and the life cycle are one.” Anthropologist Loren Eiseley wrote, “If there
is any magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”
All of the explorations into outer space, in
efforts to detect signs of life elsewhere in the universe, are looking
for
evidence of water. If water can be found
on another planet, or in another solar system, there is at least the
possibility
of life out there, somewhere. But
without water, there can be no life.
That is especially true of life here on earth. Throughout history people have clustered
around sources of water. Most cities
throughout history have been founded near rivers, because rivers
provide a
source of water—for drinking and agriculture and manufacturing and
transportation and other uses. Here in Maryland most of the population centers are
located along
four major rivers—the Potomac, the
Patuxent,
the Patapsco, and the Susquehanna. Here
in the metropolitan Washington area,
our water
comes from two major rivers—the Potomac
and
the Patuxent. Some people here in Bowie,
about 25,000 customers, get their water from the City of Bowie Water Treatment Plant,
which uses
groundwater as it primary source. But
the rest of us get our water from WSSC, which has filtration plants on
the
Potomac and Patuxent
Rivers, and stores
over
10 billion gallons of water in reservoirs.
The Potomac Water Filtration Plant can treat up to 285 million
gallons per
day, and the Patuxent Filtration Plant can treat up to 70 million
gallons a
day. That’s a lot of water.
Just about every major city in the world is
located on a
river, or rivers. Washington, D.C. is
located on the Potomac River; New York City is located on the Hudson
and East
Rivers; London is on the Thames; Paris is on the Seine; Rome is on the
Tiber; Cairo
is on the Nile; Kinshasa is on the Congo; Baghdad is on the Tigris;
Buenos
Aires is on the Rio de la Plata; Delhi is on the Yamuna; Hong Kong is
on the
Pearl River; Seoul is on the Han River; Tokyo is on the Sumida;
Melbourne is on
the Yarra. Rivers are essential to most
cities
here in the United
States. The
major U.S.
river system, of course, is
the Missouri-Mississippi-Ohio. Consider
how many cities are located along those rivers:
New Orleans, Memphis,
St. Louis, Minneapolis,
Kansas City, Omaha,
Louisville, Cincinnati,
Pittsburgh,
and
more.
Rivers were the lifeblood of most cities in America. But about the middle of the nineteenth
century,
many cities began to turn away from their riverfronts as railroads
became the
more important means of transportation.
Plus, as many urban rivers became conduits for waste, little
more than
open sewers, living alongside a river became less desirable. In the twentieth century development in many
cities was directed away from the rivers, because manufacturing plants
along
the rivers were eyesores and emitted pollutants and foul odors. Only in the last twenty or thirty years have
many cities begun to reclaim their rivers, to clean up the trash, and
reduce
the pollution, and restore the wetlands, and redevelop the waterfront.
If you’ve ever been to the Riverwalk in San Antonio, you
know how vital the
riverfront has become to the downtown area of that city.
And many other American cities have followed San Antonio’s lead in
revitalizing their riverfronts. Cities
like Chicago, and Denver,
and Portland, and even the Bronx in New York City,
have
discovered that downtown river renovations can be a boon to economic
development and the quality of life.
There are plans in this county to revitalize the Potomac
riverfront in Ft.
Washington,
just south of the Woodrow Wilson Bride.
The Potomac River has been
dramatically
improved over the past thirty or so years, although the Anacostia still
needs a
lot of work. We who live in this part of
Prince George’s County, and across the
river in
Anne Arundel and Calvert Counties are very concerned about the health
of the Patuxent
River.
There is still much work yet to be done.
The non-profit organization, American Rivers, has identified the
Susquehanna River as one of the most endangered rivers in America. Because the Susquehanna empties into the Chesapeake Bay, its health is of vital
importance to our
whole region. Unfortunately, aging sewer
systems upriver in Pennsylvania and New York
discharge
poorly treated sewage into the Susquehanna, to be carried downstream
into the
Bay. All of us should be concerned about
the welfare of our rivers, because ultimately our quality of life,
indeed life
itself, depends upon the water the rivers provide.
Oddly enough, the city of Jerusalem was not built on a river. The main water supply for the ancient city of
Jerusalem was the Gihon Spring, just outside the east wall of the city,
that
gushed fresh water for about 40 minutes three or four times a day. There were other springs around Jerusalem, but
the Gihon
was the major water source. It was so
important that King Hezekiah built a 533 meter underground tunnel to
bring water
from the Gihon Spring into Jerusalem. The underground water tunnel was completed in
701 B.C. and it continued to feed the pools of Siloam in Jerusalem for
centuries after that.
In the scripture passage that we read this
morning, Ezekiel
had a vision of a restored Jerusalem
and a
rebuilt Temple. Ezekiel had this vision after the actual Jerusalem had
been
destroyed. Ezekiel and 10,000 of his
fellow Jews were in exile in Babylon,
but the
word had come that Jerusalem had fallen
to the
Babylonians, and the Temple
itself had been laid waste. This was
painful for all the Jews, but particularly painful for Ezekiel, who was
himself
a priest, as well as a prophet. His
whole life had been directed toward serving as a priest in the Temple
in Jerusalem, and now that the Temple was
destroyed, the purpose of his life
was no longer apparent. Ezekiel must
have wondered what God had in store for him and his people with no Temple and no Jerusalem
to go home to.
But in this passage near the end of the book,
Ezekiel had a
vision of a new Temple, and this new Temple was to
become a
sign of hope for all the people. For in
the vision, Ezekiel saw water flowing from beneath the threshold of the
Temple,
water that began
as a trickle, then became a stream, then finally became a mighty river. In the vision Ezekiel was guided by an
angelic figure to follow the water as it flowed out of the Temple toward
the east. As Ezekiel and his angel guide
moved along
the channel of the water, Ezekiel would stop every thousand cubits to
step into
the water to measure its depth. At first
the water was ankle deep, then it was knee deep, then it was waist
deep, until
finally the water was so deep that it could not be crossed; it was deep
enough
to swim in.
Along the banks of the river Ezekiel saw trees,
many trees, growing
on either side. This was an amazing
sight because groves of thriving trees are rare in the desert
topography of
that part of the world. Then the angel
told Ezekiel that the water from the Temple
that
had become a mighty river would flow into the Dead
Sea. That in itself would not
be all that shocking. Water does flow
downhill. The city of Jerusalem
was located about 24 miles west of the Dead Sea
on a ridge, about 2500 feet above sea level.
The mount on which Jerusalem was
built
was surrounded by valleys, and to the east were valleys that led down
to the Dead Sea, 1292 below sea
level, the lowest depression on
earth. So, it would not be strange to
envision the water from Jerusalem being
pulled
by gravity all the way down to the Dead Sea. But when the water from Jerusalem
reached the Dead Sea, something
amazing took
place. The water from Jerusalem
brought the Dead Sea back to life.
Just as the sacred river had caused trees to grow
on either
bank, now it brought life to the sea where before nothing could live. The mineral content of the Dead Sea is 24-26%. Compare
that
with normal sea water, which contains 4-6% salt and other minerals. Because of this extreme mineral content, no
fish or other aquatic life could survive in such an environment, hence
the name
Dead Sea.
But as the water from the sacred river flowed into the Dead Sea, the sea became alive, teeming with
aquatic life and
fish. Everything lives where the river
goes. People stand on the banks of the Dead Sea and catch fish!
Not only that, the trees on both banks of the sacred river will
not
wither, nor will they ever fail to produce fruit. Indeed,
every month their branches will bear
fruit for food, and their leaves will be good for healing.
Six hundred years later a man named John also had
a vision
of a sacred river flowing from the new Jerusalem. In
the book of Revelation John wrote, “Then
the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal,
flowing
from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street
of the
city. On either side of the river is the
tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each
month;
and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations”
(Revelation 22:1-2).
Jerusalem
was not built upon a river, but out of the new Jerusalem a healing
stream will
flow, a trickle that becomes a torrent, giving life to all that it
touches. The desert will bloom, and even
the waters of the Dead Sea will be
made fresh
and pure.
That was Ezekiel’s vision.
Now what does it mean? The sacred
river, the water of life, New Jerusalem
itself, are all symbols of the healing, renewing, life-giving power of
God. Only God is the source of life, and
only God is the source of new life. Only
God can provide living water to quench the deepest thirst of the human
soul. The flood of grace that flows from
the throne
of God brings healing to the sick, fruitfulness to the barren,
forgiveness to
the fallen, salvation to the lost, and life to those who were dead. “Living water, healing stream, brings new
life, new hope, new dreams” (Ken Medema).
There is a strange detail in the Gospel of John
about the
death of Jesus. John wrote that after
Jesus had died on the cross, one of the soldiers pierced his side with
a spear,
and at once blood and water flowed from the wound (John 19:34). I’ve understood that the blood represents
Jesus’
sacrifice for our sins, but I never understood the water, until now. The water from Jesus’ side was like the
sacred river, that began as a trickle and flowed down through the
centuries
until it became a flood of redemption for all who believe.
From the threshold of God, even upon a cross,
was poured forth a mighty river, giving healing and life to all that it
touches.
“Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the
nation,
come, the new Jerusalem” (Carly Simon)
Bruce Salmon, Pastor,
Village Baptist
Church, Bowie, Maryland
January 29, 2006
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