THE LORD’S DESIRE FOR A RIVER
In order for the flow of life to increase within us, within the house, the Lord as the man of brass has to measure us. He is the testing One, the judging One, the examining One, and the possessing One because He measures us. The more He measures us, the deeper and the broader the flow will be. After He has measured us fully, the flow will become a river. In every city we need a river. The river comes out of the measuring of the brass man within the house. To be in the local church alone is not adequate. We all need to be measured by the Lord. We may be in a local church, yet the living water may not be so deep. The flow in the church may not yet be a river. When we are adequately measured by the Lord, we will have the river. The Lord is not content with only a flow of the living water. He desires a river because the river waters, heals, and produces. In 47:6 the Lord asked Ezekiel, “Son of man, hast thou seen this?” We all have to see this marvelous picture in Ezekiel.
THE RIVER WATERING THE DESERT AND HEALING THE DEAD SEA FOR PRODUCING LIFE
The Lord told Ezekiel in 47:8, “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.” The river in verse 8 goes down into the desert. The desert here in Hebrew is the proper noun Arabah, which means the wilderness, the dry land, the parched land that grows nothing; hence, the desert. This land needs the watering. The river is for watering the dry land and healing the Dead Sea. Arabah is close to the Dead Sea. Joshua 3:16 refers to the Dead Sea as the sea of the Arabah (ASV). The Dead Sea or the Salt Sea is near the Arabah. Because of the flow of the river into the sea, the salt waters in the sea are healed. The sea now becomes fresh water because the salt has been swallowed up. The river comes first to water the dry land that grows nothing and to heal the death waters. This watering and healing is for the purpose of producing life.
The two basic categories of life produced in Ezekiel 47 are the plant life and the animal life. Verse 7 tells us that “at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.” Trees are of the plant life. The river of water brings forth an abundance of fish (v. 9). Verse 10 says, “And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; 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.” According to the Hebrew, Engedi means “the fountain of kids” and Eneglaim means “the fountain of two calves.” Thus, the flow of the river produces trees, fish, and cattle. The fishers spread their nets on the land from Engedi unto Eneglaim. They spread their nets on the land between these two fountains. The trees, the fish, and the cattle in Ezekiel 47 are mentioned according to the order in Genesis 1. In Genesis 1 the plant life is first, the fish are second, and the cattle are third.
We need Engedi, and we need Eneglaim, the fountains of the kids and the calves. We must realize that the potential with the Lord’s recovery is with the young people. I am happy to see so many “kids” and “calves” in the church life. I am an older saint, and I am also very thankful for all the older saints among us. All the “kids” need the care of the older saints. Although I love and appreciate all the older saints, deep within me I realize that the future, the prosperity, and the potential of the Lord’s move is with the young ones, with the kids and with the calves. The many young people among us who are full of life are evidence that the local church is the fountain of the kids and the fountain of the calves.
All of us older saints should be so happy that we have so many kids. The kids are an indication of the freshness in the Lord’s recovery. How much we have to thank the Lord for so many young ones among us. We need to thank the Lord that Arabah, the desert, the dry land, the parched wilderness, has become the fountain of kids and of calves. We also need to praise the Lord that the Dead Sea, the Salt Sea, has become the living and fresh sea to produce a multitude of fish. By the flowing of the river there are also fishers (47:10). Fishing signifies increase in numbers. All the kids and the calves should be the fishers. The picture in Ezekiel 47 shows us that along with the river are the trees, the fish, the kids, the calves, the fishers, and their nets.
(The Crucial Revelation of Life in the Scriptures, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
