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Amen. Amen. Ezekiel chapter number 47, the Bible reads in verse number one, afterward he brought me again under the door of the house and behold waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward for the forefront of the house stood toward the east and the waters came down from under the right side of the house at the south side of the altar. Now, as we read on here, we just read the whole chapter, but we're going to get into some verses where it talks about how these waters that are flowing from the house, they get deeper and deeper until they become a giant river to where it's over the head of Ezekiel and he has to swim in it because it's so deep. And so what we need to understand though is that waters flowing out of the temple would not actually be something that could literally happen, okay? So this is a very symbolic passage. Now some people would try to connect this with the new heaven and the new earth and obviously this is a foreshadowing of that because as it talks about this river flowing with the trees growing by the side of it and bearing the fruit every month, obviously that's the same type of language that it uses in Revelation 22 talking about the new heaven and the new earth. But what we need to understand is that this is a foreshadowing of that, but this is not that. How do we know this is not that? Because of the fact that the Bible clearly says that in the new heaven and the new earth there's no temple there. Whereas the house here referred to in verse 1 is the temple. Also we need to get the actual context of the passage. We're not just jumping into Ezekiel verse 1 of chapter 47 just out of nowhere, but we've been reading chapter 40, chapter 41, chapter 42. We've led up to this point and it's all been about the return from the Babylonian captivity, rebuilding the temple, coming back to the promised land, building the temple and so forth. This is the Old Testament temple. The altar is of course a place where there have been a lot of animal sacrifices discussed over the last few chapters, even in chapters 45 and 46. Lots of animal sacrifices were talked about. We're clearly in the Old Testament. We're talking about back then, returning from the Babylonian captivity. Well, is it realistic that water would be gushing out of the temple literally that would become just this gigantic raging river? Obviously this is not something literal. This is a vision that he's seeing, something supernatural of water flowing out of the temple and becoming this big river. What this actually is representative of is the gospel going forth, God's word going forth. The Bible talks about how the knowledge of the glory of the Lord would fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. And the living water of eternal life preached through the gospel is going to flow forth from the house of God, from Jerusalem, and it's going to give life everywhere it goes. This is a foreshadowing of the New Covenant, the New Testament, the coming of Jesus Christ. So let's look for that as we read through this. So right away, let's just get it out of the way though. This is not a literal river because rivers don't just come gushing out of a physical temple in the Old Testament. That's obviously not something that actually happened. It's a vision. He's seeing this as a vision. And I've been emphasizing this as we've gone through this, starting in chapter 40, that none of this that he's seeing is actually real. He's actually in a vision. God is showing him all these things of what could be or a pattern or this is what you guys are supposed to do when you get back from the captivity. He's not seeing the future. He's not seeing things that really exist, but he's seeing a pattern. He's seeing visions. And so we need to make sure that we understand that this is not something real or literal that he's seeing, but it's symbolic. And so it says that there's water gushing forth. Look at verse two. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without under the utter gate by the way the looketh eastward, and behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 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. So basically he gets 1,500 feet, so there's water gushing out of the temple. And when he gets 1,500 feet away from the temple, now the water is up to his ankles. And then he measures another 1,000 cubits or 1,500 feet. And the Bible says in verse four, the waters were to the knees. Again, he measured 1,000 and brought me through. The waters were to the loins. So it goes up to his waist at that point. Afterward he measured 1,000 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. So notice that close to the temple, the water is shallow. Even though that's the source of the water, it's more shallow. As he gets further away from the temple, it actually gets deeper. And what this probably symbolizes is that the gospel started in Jerusalem, didn't it? Because of course the apostles, that's where they started, and they were supposed to preach the gospel and be witnesses of Christ, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and under the uttermost part of the earth. But where did they have the most success? Where was the gospel the most prevalent? Where was the word of God having the most depth and the most volume? It was the further away you got from Jerusalem. Because think about it, the apostles did not have as great of success in Jerusalem as they did among the Gentiles. As they got further out into places like Greece and Macedonia and Asia Minor, that's where the gospel really just exploded in growth and where just multitudes of churches are founded. And the gospel went all over the world, even in the first century A.D. It gets spread like wildfire, but notice how there's a shallowness at the source in Jerusalem and it gets better as you get further away. That's a foreshadowing of the fact that the gospel is going to go forth from Jerusalem and it's going to go into all the world and it's going to get better as it gets further away. Look what the Bible says in verse number 6. It says, And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issued 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. And it shall come to pass that everything that liveth which moveth whithersoever the rivers shall come shall live. And there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither, for they shall be healed. Everything shall live whither the river cometh. So again, this is a special river that brings life everywhere it goes. It heals every barren land. It turns salt water into fresh water, right? And it brings life wherever it goes. Again, this pictures the gospel. The Bible says in John chapter seven that whosoever believeth in Jesus, out of his belly would flow rivers of living water. And that river of living water that would flow out of the belly of those who believe on Christ, the Bible says is the Holy Ghost, it's the Holy Spirit. We used to sing a song when I was a kid in Sunday school, I've got a river of life flowing out of me. Who knows the song? Who's ever sung it? It's beautiful. And this is that same idea of this river of life representing the Holy Spirit of God, the gospel going forth, the word of God being preached, the earth being filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And of course, to be saved is to be quickened or made alive, because before we're saved, our spirit is dead, we are dead in trespasses and sins, and it's the entrance of God's word that brings life. It's the Holy Ghost that quickens us. It's salvation that brings us back to life. It's like a spiritual resurrection that takes place when we believe on Jesus. Also, it talks about how on the sides of the river are all of these fruit trees. And of course, the Bible says, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise. Those who preach the gospel are trees that bring forth good fruit, and they win people to Christ, they multiply and bear fruit, and so forth. And so that's more of the symbolism. And it says there should be a very great multitude of fish. And again, that's another thing that's symbolically used about getting people saved, right? Jesus said, come with me, and I will make you fishers of men. And so the fishes that are out there are the people that are one to Christ, the people that get saved. And so this is not talking about a literal river that's going to flow and just heal everything wherever it goes, but rather it's a symbolic river talking about the gospel being preached, the Holy Spirit going forth and getting more successful as it gets farther and farther away from Jerusalem. Now, in Revelation 22, we do have a literal new heaven and new earth. And so everything's going to be totally different in that new heaven and new earth. There's no more sea there, and they have no need of the sun because the lamb is the light thereof. You know, that's a whole other world that's way off in the future after the millennial reign of Christ. It's hard for us to really fully imagine what that new heaven and new earth is going to be like, but it's going to be very different than the world that we live in now. And so I do believe that in the future, when we're talking about the new heaven and the new earth, that there will be a literal river like this and literal trees like this that bear fruit every single month and so forth. I do believe that in the end times, that's appropriate, but understanding this passage, we're talking about the temple. We're talking about in the period of the context of the book, and we're actually talking about the fact that Jesus Christ is going to come, and when He's glorified, the Holy Spirit of God is going to be this river of water that's going to flow forth from Jerusalem and bring life everywhere it goes, and there's going to be a multitude of fishes, there's going to be a multitude of people saved, there are going to be a multitude of soul winners that are represented by these fruit trees, and so forth. So there's a symbolic fulfillment in Christ when He comes the first time and the gospel goes forth. This is obviously also a foreshadowing of something way off in the future of the new heaven and the new earth, but again, this isn't the new heaven and new earth because there's no temple in the new heaven and new earth, it's that simple. So let's keep reading here. It says in verse number 11, but the my replaces thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed, they shall be given to salt. Let me ask you this, is everybody going to be saved wherever the gospel goes forth? I mean, the Bible said, you know, everything shall live whether the river cometh. Everywhere this river goes, it brings life, right? It's going to bring life in Greece, it's going to bring life in Macedonia, Asia Minor, India, the uttermost parts of the earth, but the Bible talks about, you know, there are going to be some marshy places, there are going to be some places that are given over to salt, and there are going to be places that don't accept the gospel and people who don't receive the word of God, and those people are not going to be healed. And so the idea that everybody's going to heaven someday is a false doctrine. You know, there are people who believe that, they want to believe that, they have this universalist doctrine that says, you know, love wins, and in the end, God's just a great big softy up in heaven, and he's going to say, you know, all that stuff about hellfire and damnation, I was just trying to scare you, but now that it's all over, I'm just going to kind of give everybody a pass, everybody gets forgiven, everybody goes to heaven. You know, there are a lot of people who believe that, and it's not because of anything written in the Bible, because there's nothing like that in the Bible, but rather it's a wishful thinking, and I can understand why people would want to believe that, because you know what, I would love to believe that. I would love to believe that every single person, God's going to heal them, God's going to make them normal, God's going to save them, God's going to let them into heaven, and we can all just go to heaven and be in paradise, and it's going to be great, but it's a lie. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. Many there be which go in their eye, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. And so, yes, God's word has power. Yes, the Holy Spirit has life-giving power. The Gospel has the power to bring life, but you know, when it falls on that bad ground, no life is produced. It's just like the parable of the sower, it's got to fall on the good ground in order to spring up, and in some places, yeah, it'll spring up, but then the thorns choke it, it doesn't really accomplish much or bring forth fruit. But then there are some places where it was stony places, where the seed falls, and it's eaten up by the birds before it can even come to life at all, or do anything. You know, here we have an example of some bad ground, some marshy, salty places where nothing can grow, and this river coming through, even this powerful, healing river can't fix certain places. I mean, let's read it again, verse 11. But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed, they shall be given to salt. So again, not everybody, not every place gets healed. And it's not that the water is different, it's that the ground is different. You know, it's a bad receptacle for this river of life, and so not everybody who hears the gospel is going to get saved. Not every person who the Holy Ghost works in their heart and convicts them, and they hear the gospel or they hear preaching, you know, it's not always going to heal them, because they have to believe on Christ to be saved. And the Bible says that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life, but he that believeth not shall be damned, you know. He that believeth not is condemned already. And so that's what we see here, that some places aren't going to be healed. It says in verse 12, and by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for me, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed, it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary, and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. This is a special tree because it doesn't just bear fruit once a year, it bears fruit every month. It's a different fruit each month. It's just a continually productive tree. Now again, this tree represents the Christian, who is one who brings forth fruit, one who wins people to Christ, some 30, some 60, some 100. And this is also, of course, reminiscent when it says the leaf shall not fade, it's reminiscent of Psalm 1, when it says bless this man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor siteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but alike the chap which the wind driveth away. For the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. So yeah, there are wicked people that are not so. The godly Christian brings forth fruit, and his source of life is that flow of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, the Gospel, what the river represents there, specifically the Holy Spirit. And so it says, by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed, meaning, when it says it's not going to be consumed, it's not saying nobody's going to eat it, because obviously the fruit tree is to be eaten. But when it says it's not going to be consumed, it means it's not going to be completely consumed, like it's not going to run out. It's not going to be consumed like we're out of fruit. By the time it's all eaten, it's already growing the next batch. It's just a continual production that's going on. It shall bring forth new fruit, right? It's not going to be consumed. It's going to bring forth new fruit to replace whatever is taken. According to his months, because their waters, they issued out of the sanctuary. So again, the source of bringing forth fruit is the waters that issued forth from the sanctuary. That's what gave the ability to bring forth fruit. So again, we could take this illustration over to the New Testament. The sanctuary in the New Testament is not the temple, but rather it is the house of God, the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And so God's word, the Holy Ghost, soul winning, flows forth from the house of God. You know, Christians are hearing God's word, they're filled with the Holy Spirit, and they bring forth fruit. Without Christ, we can do nothing. And so we need to walk in the Spirit. We need to be constantly reading our Bibles, praying, speaking to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs so that the Holy Ghost can be constantly flowing into us. We can constantly have the fullness of the Holy Ghost. Obviously, we're permanently involved by the Holy Ghost, but we also want to have the fullness of the Holy Ghost. We want to be filled with the Spirit, and that is the source of our productivity of winning souls to Christ, bringing forth fruit, thriving. In order for the tree to thrive, according to Psalm 1, the man that's like the tree planted by the rivers of water is that his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law that he meditate day and night. And then he's like a tree planted by the rivers of water, because it's like he has that water source flowing in. The Bible talks about in Ephesians 5, the washing of the water of the word. So the word flowing into us is going to keep us fed and keep us nourished like a tree needs that continual moisture coming in so that we can produce fruit and win souls to Christ and be productive and heal others. The fruit thereof shall be for meat and the leaf thereof for medicine. Of course, in Revelation 22, it says the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. So it says, and so then it kind of changes gears in verse 13 and says, thus saith the Lord God, this shall be the border whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the 12 tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. Now here's another important thing that we need to understand as we interpret this, is that when we see the word shall in the Bible, this is not always telling us what is going to happen in the future, but it is often a command. It's often prescriptive, not descriptive, okay? And this is one of those cases where God is giving commands. Again, context is so important. Over the last several weeks, what have we seen? In chapters 44, 45, 46, God was continually giving commands. The priest shall do this, the priest shall not do this. He shall take this kind of wife, he shall not take this kind of wife, he shall offer this sacrifice on this day, and he shall burn this burn offering over here, right? Those are commands. They're not just like a prediction about the future. Hey, guess what? This priest just is going to marry this kind of... It's saying like, no, he's going to. It's a command. Sort of like, thou shalt not steal. It's not like, hey, let me make a prediction about you. You're not going to steal. I can see the future and I can see that you're the kind of guy that's not going to steal. Is that what that means? No, of course not. That would be descriptive, just describing the future. But often in the Bible, that future second person verb of thou shalt, right, that future shall here in the third person is often prescriptive. It's a command. So when the Bible says, and this is very important, when the Bible says in verse 13, thus saith the Lord God, this shall be the border, he's not making a prediction about the future saying, let me tell you where the border is going to be. He's saying, no, no, no, here's where you put the border. Does everybody see the difference there? Because remember, this whole passage that we've been reading from Ezekiel through 48 has been instructions for the children of Israel. I'm not going to prove that to you tonight because I've already proved it over and over again in previous sermons. I showed you where he said, show the pattern to the children of Israel that they may do according to all the forms thereof and the ordinances thereof, right? And he told them, you need to show this to them so that they do it. So he's saying, build this temple, priests, this is how you're going to operate. He's still continuing that by saying, this shall be the border whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the 12 tribes of Israel. He's saying, okay, here's how you're going to inherit the land. It's a command. And he says, Joseph shall have two portions. This is not a prediction. This is a prescription saying, give Joseph two portions is what he's basically saying. And ye shall inherit it one as well as another. Again, that's telling you how things are supposed to go. You shall inherit it one as well as the other concerning the which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers and this land shall fall onto you for inheritance. And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side from the great sea, the way of Hethon as men go to Zedad, Hamath and Barotha, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath, Hazar-hatakon, which is by the coast of Howron and the border from the sea shall be Hazar-inan. And on and on, he explains all these towns and everything to just tell you where the border is going to be. Verse 18 toward the end, it says from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border under the east sea, this is the east side and the south side southward and he lists more towns. Verse 20, the west side also shall be the great sea from the border till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side. So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. Now obviously, historically, we know that for the most part, the 10 tribes did not show up and inherit the land when they came back from Babylon. It was mainly just the southern kingdom. It's mainly just Judah and Benjamin and the Levites that end up coming back and inheriting the land. But God has a plan for all of the tribes to come back. So he's saying, hey, wouldn't it be great if these 10 tribes can come back and let's bring everybody back. So he has an allotment for anybody who wants to come back from all of the 12 tribes. If these other tribes get right with God, they can come back too and they can inherit the land too. And so it's just basically a pattern of the way that things should ideally go. But historically, this didn't happen. The reason I'm making a big deal about this is a lot of people will look at something like this and say, well, when did this happen? I don't remember this happening exactly like this. And so that means it must have to happen like this sometime in the future. And then they get this idea that this is the millennium and all the stuff that we've been debunking six ways to Sunday over the last however many weeks. But they're just flat out wrong. God is just saying, here's the land that I've allotted for you. Here's how you're supposed to inherit it. Think about the first time they possessed the land. He did the same thing. He said, OK, this is going to be this guy's portion. This is going to be this guy's portion. This is going to be for this tribe. But what happened in reality? Did they take all that land that they were supposed to? No. Because what actually happened when you read Judges Chapter 1 is, oh, but then, you know, Judah was supposed to inherit this area, but they couldn't drive out these people. And, oh, you know, Dan was supposed to be here, but they didn't finish the job over here. They were constantly talking about how this is what God had given them and had planned for them, and then this is what they actually came and possessed. So when the children of Israel came back to the Babylonian captivity, it was predominantly the southern kingdom that came back. There were some people from the northern kingdom who came back. That's why in the New Testament, you have a couple people. You have a woman from Asher. You know, you have exceptions of a few handful of people that had come back, but the majority of the northern kingdom didn't come back. That's just the reality of it. Some of them did, but not so much, okay? But God had a plan for them to inherit and for the land of Israel to be a certain size, but just as they didn't possess all of it the first time, well, guess what? They didn't possess all of it the second time anyway, and that shouldn't really come as too much of a surprise to us because they're constantly coming short. That's why they end up getting replaced in the New Testament. Now that replacement is already being foreshadowed in this passage because remember, what did we talk about for verses 1 through 12? Verses 1 through 12, we talked about this river of life coming forth from Jerusalem, and the further away you get, the more depth it has, the more life it brings, the more trees, the more fishes, the more fruit is born as you get further away, and again, this is a foreshadowing of the fact that the gospel is going to go forth from Jerusalem unto the uttermost parts of the earth, and it's going to have the most success the furthest away. Arguably, the United States has been a place of the most success for the gospel in the history of mankind. I would argue that the gospel has probably done the most work in the United States of any place that you could think about through history. I think that the greatest evangelism and soul winning has come out of the United States, has been based in the United States, has come out of the United States, and we're pretty far away from the source at this point, aren't we, both chronologically and geographically, and so even now we can see that this is true, you know, that the further away you get from Jerusalem, the more saved, Bible believing Christians you're typically going to find. There are more on this side of the world than there are on that side of the world. You know, you think of other places where there are a lot of saved Christians. What about like the Philippines or something? That's pretty far away from Israel, isn't it? You know, there are all kinds of places where the gospel is thriving, but Israel is not really one of them, okay? It's just about to the ankles over there, whereas over here we're swimming in it, okay? That's the difference. So we already have the first 12 verses telling us about how, you know, the gospel is going to go forth, the Holy Spirit is going to be like a river of life, bringing life, fishes, fruit trees, et cetera. Well, at the end of the chapter, we have another thought that actually ties in with that as well, because look at verse number 22. It says, and it shall come, because in verse 21 it said, so shall you divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. Verse 22, it shall come to pass that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you, and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel. They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. So now we're seeing this idea of people coming from other places that are not of the physical seed of Abraham, and they're not physically of any given tribe, but they're coming to sojourn among the children of Israel, and God says they're going to be Israelites and you're going to treat them as if they were born in the land. They shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel. They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And again, even in the Old Testament this was true, because you already have examples of a lot of people being proselytes in the Old Testament, where people would come from other countries and join the nation of Israel, get circumcised. Guys like Caleb, for example, if you look at his genealogy, he's one that comes from the Kenites, I believe, and so he's from another ethnicity, but his family comes and joins and he's recognized as being of the tribe of Judah. Why? Because that's the tribe that he sojourned among. And we have the book of Esther where it says that many people became Jews because the fear of Mordecai came upon them. How do you become an ethnicity? You can't. How do you become a certain gene pool or family? You can't. But according to the Bible, you could become an Israelite. You could become a Jew. You could be... How? By coming and being circumcised, keeping the Passover, worshiping the Lord, that's how you got in under the Old Covenant. Well, let me tell you how you get in under the New Covenant. By believing in Jesus. And so those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are God's chosen people. They are spiritually Israel. They are not Jews outwardly, but Jews inwardly, and they're not circumcised outwardly in the flesh, but they have the circumcision of the heart and the spirit. The Bible's crystal clear on that in the New Testament. Now whenever you preach the clear biblical doctrine in the New Testament, that those who believe on Christ have been graphed into Israel, and that the unbelieving branches have been broken off, and that Israel in the New Testament consists of saved Christians, whether they be Jew or Gentile, whether they're the natural branches, or whether they are the graphed in wild branches, that we are one in Christ Jesus. There's no difference between the Jew and the Greek. That we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. When you show this clear doctrine, the Judaizers don't like this, the Zionists don't like this, the dispensationalists don't like this, and so they'll scoff at this doctrine because they want to worship Christ rejecting Israel, and exalt Christ rejecting Israel as being God's chosen people. Chosen for what? To split hell wide open? Because you're only chosen if you're saved in the New Testament. Yeah, in the Old Testament, God chose a physical nation. In the New Testament, the elect are those who are justified by the blood of Jesus Christ. So we're the elect, we're the chosen people, we're the spiritual Israel, we're the olive tree, they're broken off, they're not part of it. When you show people this clear doctrine, I've heard some of these dyspies actually scoff at this, and here's what they say, oh, you're spiritual Israel, huh? Well, what tribe are you, huh? And they think that that's kind of like a gotcha. Like well, how can you be spiritual Israel, because which tribe? But yet the Bible has the answer right here in Ezekiel 47, and whenever one of these people has ever pulled that on me, this is where I always take them. I always take them to Ezekiel 47, and I say, well, Ezekiel 47 says in verse 23, look down at your Bible, it shall come to pass that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, dare shall you give him his inheritance, saith the Lord God. So in the Old Testament, strangers can join, am I right? Red, yellow, black, and white can join in the Old Testament even. Why don't we even talk about the New Testament, even in the Old Testament, red, yellow, black, and white could join the nation of Israel. But what tribe are they, hmm? Here's what tribe they are. Whatever tribe they want. Literally whatever tribe they want. I mean, look, if they end up setting up shop in Dan, well, they're the tribe of Dan. If they set up in Judah, it's just wherever they sojourn, that's where you give him his inheritance. I mean, does everybody see that? They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel, it says at the end of verse 22. But which tribe? Well, it shall come to pass that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, dare shall you give him his inheritance, saith the Lord God. And guess what's going to happen? Some stranger shows up. I don't care if he's as black as the night. I don't care if he's the blackest African that ever walked Africa. If he joins the nation of Israel and he sojourns there and he lives there long enough, pretty soon his descendants are going to be so mixed with everybody else, nobody's even going to know the difference. Nobody's going to know that this guy ever came from Africa. Does everybody understand what I'm saying? Because that's the way genetics work, my friend. People have been mixing for thousands of years. And so we think, oh, there's white people. You just think you're white, like all your ancestors are white. And you think if you're black, all your ancestors are black, that's crazy. It's not true. You think about Mexico, for example. Mexico, we sometimes have an oversimplified view that says, oh, the people of Mexico, they're half Spanish and half Indian. They're mestizos. The Spaniards came over, they mixed with the indigenous natives, and boom, that's a Mexican. But what about all the black people who came to Mexico? If you actually look at the history of Mexico, you'll find that a lot of black people came over to Mexico. And they did. They also married Indians. They also married white people. And so actually, people from Mexico are part black after hundreds of years of mixing. And here we are in the United States of America. You want to talk about a melting pot. I mean, we've had all kinds of ethnicities over the last 500 years of Europeans living on this continent, and the last 400 years of English people coming over and setting up the colonies that would eventually become the United States of America. And there's been so much mixing. And guess what? The children of Israel, they existed for centuries. And I guarantee you that there were some pretty white people that showed up and joined, and there were some pretty dark people that showed up and joined. And after a couple generations, everybody just gets mixed in. And pretty soon, you're not even going to remember that this family was ever not part of the tribe of whatever, because they're just there. They've always been there. God said, give them an inheritance. So they've got their set up. They've got their land. They've got their tribe that they're affiliated with. And you're not. I mean, look at Obama. Obama's a great example, because Obama's mother is snow white. She's snow white. But then Obama is married to a black woman, if you believe that it's a woman. I don't want to open that can of worms. You know, Michael. But the thing is, let's just go with the official narrative for a moment. You know, Obama is married to a black woman, Michelle, and they have kids, and the kids are black. Am I right? What if they marry black dudes? The kids are going to be black. And you think you're going to look at them and think that their grandma or great grandma is snow white? Because Obama's mom is really white. Who's seen a picture of Obama's mother before? She's really white. But a couple generations go by, you're never even going to remember if they all married black people. Whereas if you did the opposite, if let's say Obama had married a white woman and had kids, and then they married white dudes, you're going to forget that anybody in that family was ever black. Does everybody see what I'm saying? So how many generations does it take to get rid of the whiteness, to get rid of the blackness? It happens very quickly. And so the point is that the nation of Israel was never about being this certain pure ethnicity. Because God was always willing to allow people to join and be a part of the nation just so long as they would get circumcised, keep the Passover, worship the Lord. You know, when he didn't want them to mix with the Hittites and the Canaanites, it's not because God was teaching some kind of a racial purity. And I've heard people try to preach against interracial marriage, because, you know, well, the Israelites are not supposed to marry the Philistines, okay? But folks, it was about religion. You know, we ought to learn from that is just don't marry someone of a different religion. Don't marry someone who's worshiping false gods. It's not saying, oh, don't marry people of a different ethnicity, okay? Because let's face it, a lot of the ethnicities that were surrounding the children of Israel were actually related to them, biologically. That's not the point, okay? The point was he doesn't want you worshiping their gods and going after their idols and everything, right? It wasn't about, oh, they're a different color. They're probably all the same color, because they're all kind of living in the same region. So that's never what it was about, okay? And so it amazes me how sometimes the old IFB or, you know, people with Zionist tendencies, they're so hung up on race. They're so hung up on ethnicity. That's why they think that somehow Israelis are special, even though they reject Christ. They're special because of their ethnicity? That's stupid, okay? That's ridiculous. You know what's funny is that, like, you know, people get all freaked out and call you anti-Semitic if you speak against the Jewish state or Israel. But, you know, wouldn't the real racist be the ones that are saying that Israelis are somehow superior when all we're saying is that they're just the same as everybody else? I don't believe that Israelis are inferior. I don't believe that Jews are inferior. I'm saying that we're all the same. We're all human beings, we're all the same, we should be treated the same, everybody should be judged on their own individual merits and not on their ethnicity. And the people that I want to hang around with are people who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I don't care what color they are. You know, I have more in common with people of another ethnicity who love Christ than white people who don't love Christ. And so my tribe is saved Christians, not, like, white people, you know. And so it's a racist doctrine to say, oh, well, they're the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so they're superior thousands of years later. It's absurd because they're a bunch of white Europeans anyway, so they're really no different than, you know, the rest of us, you know, white people. Sometimes they're even a little whiter than I am, you know. And I'm pretty white, but they're whiter. And so we need to understand that even in the Old Testament, you could join up and be a part of whatever tribe you show up at, as long as you're willing to serve the Lord and follow him. But I would submit to you that Chapter 47 in general is foreshadowing also a replacement that's going to happen. Why do I say that? Because think about it. Put the whole chapter together. The first 12 verses have this evangelistic symbolism. I mean, I would find it hard to believe that anybody would disagree with what I've explained about verses 1 through 12 and say, no, darn it, it's just a physical river. It's like, no, come on. It's got too much in common with so many things that Jesus taught and everything about the Holy Ghost and the river of life and bringing life and everything. It's clearly a parable about salvation, okay, and about evangelism. And so if we've got this evangelistic portion, this evangelistic symbolism in verses 1 through 12, then what do we talk about? Then we talk about how, hey, there's room for 12 tribes to come back, and here's where we can do the borders, and let's bring back the 12 tribes. But then we also know that that didn't happen. Historically and biblically, we know that didn't happen. God's prescribing it. God's saying, hey, here's the plan. Here's what I've made available. Here's where the borders should be. Here's where Ephraim could be. Give Joseph two portions. Come on in, Joseph. Come on in, northern tribes. But we know they didn't show up, and then what do we end on? We end on, hey, strangers are welcome. Foreigners welcome. If they obviously come to you, and in the context of the rest of scripture, we know it's talking about people who would convert unto the Lord, that would be proselytes unto the Lord. So put it all together. We have the gospel going out in verses 1 through 12. Then from verses 13 to 21, we have this idea for the 12 tribes to come back to the promised land and worship the Lord, and then we see them not accepting that invitation. And then we see strangers being invited in to fill the gap. And what do we see happening with the advent of the New Testament? We have the gospel going forth, most of the Jews in general rejecting it, even of the southern kingdom, most of the Jews rejecting it, and most of the Gentiles receiving it. And being graphed in and taking the place of the 12 tribes as being God's chosen people. And so I think when you put this all together, this is a powerful foreshadowing of the New Testament when it's not going to be about the ethnic Israelites at that geographic center, but it's going to be about giving more depth as you get further out and bringing strangers in, bringing in the Gentiles to be saved. I believe that's what this passage is getting at more than anything else. And that's a common thread that could actually tie this entire passage together. And we today ought to be that fruit tree that's planted by the rivers of water, plugged into the Holy Spirit and God's word flowing in. And the reason I use those interchangeably is because to be filled with the Spirit is to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly with all wisdom. Those are used interchangeably by God. And the river of life is the Holy Spirit. One of the ways that we're filled with the Spirit is by meditating on God's word day and night and being that tree planted by the rivers of water. The river of water is the Holy Spirit. If we meditate on God's word, we're plugged into that flow. And so we as Christians need to be plugged in by reading our Bible, praying, going to church, the water flows from the sanctuary, want to be in the house of God, hearing the preaching of God's word, speaking to ourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and then turning around and bringing forth fruit so that there could be many fishes, right? Many people that are reached with the gospel. We bring forth much fruit. You know, that's a lot more theologically rewarding of an interpretation of this passage than to sit there and just get hung up on everything being physical. And where it's, well, it's just a physical river, physical fruit trees, and physical temple, and physical Jews, and physical sons of Abraham, and you know, you replacement guys, you tend to spiritualize everything. Well, I guess we're just kind of spiritual guys, you know? I guess we're just plugged into the Holy Spirit and we just keep spiritualizing stuff. Well, I say that dispensationalist keeps carnalizing everything. You know, I'd rather be guilty of spiritualizing things than taking a super carnal explanation of everything like Nicodemus or something like, hey, I got to go back in my mother's womb and be born again. You know, take the Bible literally, folks. You know? Oh, I drink this water and never be thirsty again? Great. Then I can cancel my bottled water subscription. Now that I'm saved, we can cancel the bottled water because we're never going to be thirsty again. That's absurd. What we see here in Ezekiel 47 is about the gospel. It's about salvation. It's about the Gentiles. It's about people far off, red, yellow, black, and white, being brought nigh by the blood of Christ and being graft in to God's chosen people. Let's bow our heads in our board of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and help us to be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Help us to be reading your word every single day, Lord. Help us not to slack off on our Bible reading and let days go by without reading it, Lord, because we're going to get all dried up if we do that. Help us keep singing the hymns and reading the Bible and praying and going to church and keep on going out and preaching the gospel so that we can be a living, thriving, fruit-bearing tree. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Let's go to hymn number 308 in your psalm, looks number 308, I Surrender All. Hymn number 308, let's sing it on that verse together, 308. I surrender all to Jesus, I surrender all to Him, I freely live. I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live. I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all. All to Jesus, I surrender all, Thee at His feet I crown. Worldly pleasures all forsaken, Bravely Jesus gave me now. I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all. All to Jesus, I surrender, May we save Your holy life. Let me feel the Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine. I surrender all, I surrender all. God's prescribing it, God's saying, hey, here's the plan, here's what I've made available, here's where the borders should be, here's where Ephraim could be, give Joseph two portions, come on in Joseph, come on in, northern tribes. But we know they didn't show up, and then what do we end on? We end on, hey, strangers are welcome. Foreigners, welcome. If they obviously come to you, and in the context of the rest of scripture, we know it's talking about people who would convert unto the Lord, that would be proselytes unto the Lord. So put it all together. You know, we have the gospel going out in verses 1 through 12, then from verses 13 to 21, we have this idea for the 12 tribes to come back to the promised land and worship the Lord, and then we see them not accepting that invitation, and then we see strangers being invited in to fill the gap. And what do we see happening with the advent of the New Testament? We have the gospel going forth, most of the Jews in general rejecting it, even of the of the southern kingdom, most of the Jews rejecting it, and most of the Gentiles receiving it, and being graphed in and taking the place of the 12 tribes as being God's chosen people. And so, I think when you put this all together, there's a powerful foreshadowing of the New Testament when it's not going to be about the ethnic Israelites at that geographic center, but it's going to be about giving more depth as you get further out and bringing strangers in, bringing in the Gentiles to be saved. I believe that's what this passage is getting at more than anything else, and that's a common thread that could actually tie this entire passage together. And we today ought to be that fruit tree that's planted by the rivers of water, plugged into the Holy Spirit and God's Word flowing in. And the reason I use those interchangeably is because to be filled with the Spirit is to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly with all wisdom. Those are used interchangeably by God. And the river of life is the Holy Spirit. One of the ways that we're filled with the Spirit is by meditating on God's Word day and night, and being that tree planted by the rivers of water. The river of water is the Holy Spirit. If we meditate on God's Word, we're plugged into that flow. And so we as Christians need to be plugged in by reading our Bible, praying, going to church, the water flows from the sanctuary, want to be in the house of God, hearing the preaching of God's Word, speaking to ourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and then turning around and bringing forth fruit so that there could be many fishes, many people that are reached with the gospel. We bring forth much fruit. You know, that's a lot more theologically rewarding of an interpretation of this passage than to sit there and just get hung up on everything being physical. And where it's, well, it's just a physical river, physical fruit trees, and physical temple, and physical Jews, and physical sons of Abraham, and, you know, you replacement guys, you tend to spiritualize everything. Well, I guess we're just kind of spiritual guys, you know. I guess we're just plugged into the Holy Spirit, and we just keep spiritualizing stuff. Well, I say the dispensationalist keeps carnalizing everything. You know, I'd rather be guilty of spiritualizing things than taking a super carnal explanation of everything, like Nicodemus or something, like, hey, I got to go back in my mother's womb and be born again, you know, take the Bible literally, folks, you know. Oh, I drink this water and never be thirsty again? Great, then I can cancel my bottled water subscription. But now that I'm saved, we can cancel the bottled water because we're never going to be thirsty again. That's absurd. What we see here in Ezekiel 47 is about the Gospel, it's about salvation, it's about the Gentiles, it's about people far off, red, yellow, black, and white, being brought nigh by the blood of Christ and being grafted in to God's chosen people. Let's bow our heads in our board of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and help us to be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, help us to be reading your word every single day, Lord. Help us not to slack off on our Bible reading and let days go by without reading it, Lord, because we're going to get all dried up if we do that. Help us keep singing the hymns and reading the Bible and praying and going to church and keep on going out and preaching the Gospel so that we can be a living, thriving, fruit-bearing tree, and in Jesus' name we pray.