Ezekiel 47

47:1 AND he brought me back unto the door of the house; and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward, for the forefront of the house was toward the east: and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar. Then brought he me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round by the way without unto the outer gate, by the way of the gate that looketh toward the east; and behold, there ran out waters on the right side. When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, upon the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah: and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea shall the waters go which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every living creature which swarmeth, in every place whither the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish: for these waters are come thither, and the waters of the sea shall be healed, and every thing shall live whithersoever the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that fishers shall stand by it: from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof, and the marishes thereof, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt. And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for meat, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall the fruit thereof fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for healing. Thus saith the Lord God: This shall be the border, whereby ye shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have portions. And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another; concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. And this shall be the border of the land: on the north side, from the great sea, by the way of Hethion, unto the entering in of Zedad; Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer-hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran. And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enon at the border of Damascus, and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side. And the east side, between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be Jordan; from the north border unto the east sea shall ye measure. This is the east side. And the south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, unto the great sea. This is the south side southward. And the west side shall be the great sea, from the south border as far as over against the entering in of Hamath. This is the west side. So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that ye 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 the homeborn among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord God. 48:1 Now these are the names of the tribes: from the north end, beside the way of Hethion to the entering in of Hamath, Hazar-enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath; and they shall have their sides east and west; Dan, one portion. And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side; Asher, one portion. And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side; Naphtali, one portion. And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side; Manasseh, one portion. And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side; Ephraim, one portion. And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side; Reuben, one portion. And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side; Judah, one portion. And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the oblation which ye shall offer, five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it. The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be five and twenty thousand reeds in length, and ten thousand in breadth. And for these, even for the priests, shall be the holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.

11. It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, which have kept my charge; which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.

12. And it shall be unto them an oblation from the oblation of the land, a thing most holy, by

13 the border of the Levites. And answerable unto the border of the priests, the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall

14 be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be alienated: for it is holy unto the

15. LORD. And the five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the five and twenty thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for suburbs: and the city

16 shall be in the midst thereof. And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.

17. And the city shall have suburbs; toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west

18 two hundred and fifty. And the residue in the length, answerable unto the holy oblation, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be answerable unto the holy oblation; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that labour in the

19, 20 city. And they that labour in the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall till it. All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.

21. And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation and of the possession of the city, in front of the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward in front of the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, answerable unto the portions, it shall be for the prince: and the holy oblation

22 and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof. Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.

23. And as for the rest of the tribes: from the east side unto the west side; Benjamin, one

24 portion. And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side; Simeon,

25 one portion. And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side; Issachar,

26 one portion. And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side; Zebulun,

27 one portion. And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side; Gad, one

28 portion. And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, unto the great sea.

29. This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their several portions, saith the Lord God.

30. And these are the goings out of the city; on the north side four thousand and five hun-

31 dred reeds by measure: and the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel; three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate

32 of Levi, one: and at the east side four thousand and five hundred reeds; and three gates:

33 even the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one: and at the south side four thousand and five hundred reeds by measure; and three gates: the gate of

34. Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one: at the west side four thousand and five hundred reeds, with their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of

35. Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one. It shall be eighteen thousand reeds round about: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.

Chap. 48. In this chapter, verses 1-12 record a precious vision of waters coming forth from under the temple; verses 13-20 give the boundaries of the land; and verses 21-23 provide for strangers who would fain affiliate with the people of God. H. C.

1-12. The Vision of the Waters. Ezekiel’s temple, with its ritual, ministers and congregation, symbolizes the presence of Jehovah in the midst of a loyal people. The waters are the blessings which flow from this source to animate and refresh all the inhabitants of the earth. Isaiah had employed this figure. I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring (Isa. 44:3). Compare Joel 3:18, All the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Ezekiel’s description is adopted and modified by Zechariah (13:1; 14:8), and in Rev. 22. Lightfoot (“Description of the Temple,” chap. 23) informs us that Hebrew tradition spoke of a spring of water, named Etham (said to be identical with the well waters of Nephtoah, Josh. 18:15), on the west of the temple, whose waters were conducted by pipes into the temple courts for the uses needed in the ministration of the priests. The waters of Shiloah (Ps. 46:4; Isa. 8:6) flowed from the rocks beneath the temple hill. It is quite in the manner of Ezekiel’s vision to start from an existing feature and thence proceed to an ideal picture whence to draw a spiritual lesson. The deepening of the waters in their course shows the continual deepening of spiritual life and multiplication of spiritual blessings in the growth of the kingdom of God. B. C.

1. Joel and Zechariah agree with Ezekiel in declaring that this river of blessing issues from the sanctuary; John the beloved is able to show us its very fountain-head, for he points to it as “proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” U. R. Thomas.

The house is the temple itself; the waters issued from beneath the southeast corner, and flowed along the south of the porch which projected into the inner court. The house looking eastward, the south is at the right hand. The Mediterranean is the hinder sea. The source of the Gospel blessings may be traced up to the presence of God among the descendants of Abraham, which presence was expressed outwardly by the temple at Jerusalem, the seat of Jehovah, who, through the Mosaic law and ordinances, communicated His Spirit in measure to those who lived under the first covenant. In Rev. 22:1, the pure river, the spiritual blessing of the new covenant, proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. So long as the stream is confined to the temple courts, it is merely a small rill, for the most part unseen, but when it issues from the courts it begins at once to deepen and to widen. So on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the little company of believers, and communicated to them the gift of tongues, as a token that they should go forth and carry the Gospel into divers lands. The first marked step was the conversion of three thousand at the preaching of Peter (Acts 2:41), which was followed immediately by the organization of the infant Church in Jerusalem.

2. The seer passes out of the courts by the northern gates of the inner and outer courts, and then round about the boundary wall to the east gate of the outer court, and there sees the stream issuing from beneath the wall at the south side of the eastern gate. B. C.

His angel guide now leads him to the outer gate—i.e., of the wall which enclosed the court of the temple. Here the same waters appear, issuing forth on the right side of the eastern gate. The Hebrew word in the last clause, rendered “ran out,” means—they distilled, came in drops, oozed forth. The amount of water at this point—the distance of the first half mile—seems therefore to have appeared small.

3-5. The remarkable fact shown here is the rapid increase in the volume of these waters. At the distance of one thousand cubits by measure, the prophet is led through the waters and finds them only to the soles of his feet, which is the sense of the word rendered “ankles;” at the distance of the second thousand cubits, they have risen to his knees; at the third thousand, to his loins; and at the fourth thousand it was a deep river.

As to the general significance of these symbols as seen in this vision, there can be no ground for reasonable doubt. Water is the well-established symbol for the cleansing, life-renewing work of the Spirit of God on human hearts. Even David has it, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow; renew a right spirit within me; take not thy holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:7, 11). Isaiah also, “Pear not, O Jacob My servant, for I will pour water on him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed and My blessing upon thine offspring” (chap. 44:2, 3). Joel also, “I will pour out My Spirit (as if it were water) upon all flesh,” and “all the rivers of Judah shall flow with water, and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim,” or of the acacias (a plant at home in the sterile desert), “for I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed; for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.” The reader will notice the striking analogy between this passage of Joel and Ezekiel as in our text. In both, waters are the symbol of God’s gift of His Spirit; in both, the fountain is in the temple where God of old dwelt among His people; in both, these waters are freighted with blessings wherever they go. As we have already seen, Ezekiel himself has the same figure in chap. 36:25-27, a case the more in point because in the same writer. And finally, Zechariah (14:8) has a passage closely analogous: “And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the former” (front) “sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea” (the Mediterranean); “in summer and in winter shall it be.” The peculiar feature here of a division in these waters, making two rivers, one running eastward to the Dead Sea, the other westward to the Mediterranean, serves to show that these rivers are only symbols, and were never thought of as actual rivers in real life. As symbols, it matters not whether they run in both directions or only in one. It scarcely needs to be said that this symbol of water to represent the agencies of the Spirit appears throughout the New Testament, especially in such passages as John 3:5: “Born of water and of the Spirit;” and John 7:37-39 and Acts 2:17, 33; also in the

Christian rite of baptism. I hold therefore most fully that this vision looks to the glorious effusions of the Spirit in the latter days. That these waters proceed from under the temple develops a great central truth in the Christian economy—viz., that the Divine Spirit attends and blesses human agencies when these agencies work in the line of His appointed Gospel institutions and instrumentalities. Human hands build God’s temples; God Himself fills them with His presence and makes them living fountains of water to fertilize the great deserts long wasted by sin; to restore life and life-giving qualities to the dead seas of human depravity, and so to cleanse and clothe with beauty the moral face of all the earth. H. C.

I discover in this richest of allegories a most comprehensive and delightful exhibition of the scheme of redemption, from its inception to its final and glorious consummation. There is good Gospel, and much sound and even profound theology in it. Every incident is suggestive, every allusion instructs. The waters flowed out from under the altar, intimating, not darkly, that the stream of Divine mercy—the river of life—has its source in sacrifice and death. Until justice is satisfied by the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God upon the altar, the waters of life cannot flow forth from beneath it. There can be little doubt but that the prophet borrowed the drapery of his allegory from the physical features of the temple area, and that of the country east and southeast of it. Though the waters first appeared issuing from under the altar, yet we need not suppose that the fountain-head was there, but farther back, under the Holy of Holies, beneath the ark and mercy seat, where abode the Shekinah of God’s presence, intimating that the true fountain-head of the river of life is in the heart of infinite love, but on its way out and down to ruined man it must pass under the altar of Divine justice. There is, therefore, no other place in the universe whence these emblematic waters could flow forth so appropriately as under the altar.

Again, this river was small at first, but increased rapidly as it flowed onward, and thus it has been with the river of life. It was a mere rill from Adam to Noah—the waters were to the ankles. From the deluge to Moses it grew broader and deeper—the waters were unto the knees, and patriarchs with their flocks reposed in green pastures along the verdant banks. From Moses the lawgiver to David the sweet singer, it rolled onward, ever gathering breadth and power, and its shady groves became vocal with psalms and hymns to the God of salvation. And thus it continued to swell, and expand, and deepen, by the addition of many a rill of prophecy and promise, until He who is the true Fountain came, sending forth a mighty river of unfathomable depth which cannot be passed over; a river to swim in; all the world may bathe in it and be cleansed—may drink of it and thirst no more; and ever since the Advent, it has rolled onward farther and farther into the desert, and thus it will continue until its most distant borders shall blossom, and the great dead sea of sin shall be swallowed up of life. The Divine allegory foreshadows the millennium in its amplest acceptation. W. M. Thomson.

The progressive establishment of the Messiah’s kingdom is declared by some of the later prophets under the most striking and lively representations. In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, related by the prophet Daniel, and by him expounded of successive kingdoms, that last kingdom set up by the God of heaven was at first no more than “a stone,” but “it became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” (Dan. 2:34, 35). In other prophecies the gradual increase of this new dispensation is beautifully represented by the growth of a tender plant. (See Ezek. 17:22, 23.) And here again the several steps of this growth are pointed out to us by the same prophet Ezekiel, under the image of a stream receiving continual accessions in its progress. The waters were at first extremely shallow, reaching only “to the ankles.” At the next ford they came up “to the knees;” afterward “to the loins;” and at last they were risen to a great height; “waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.” (See verses 3, 4, 5.) The increasing blessings of the Messiah’s kingdom are wont to be expressed under the figure of waters in prophetic language (see Isa. 35:6, 7); and elsewhere the same figure is used with a peculiar resemblance to this place. (See Joel 3:18.) Such a sense also best suits that healing and beneficial influence attributed to these sanctified waters, which are said to have power to “heal the waters of the sea,” and to give life wherever they flow; “everything shall live whither the river cometh.” And of the trees nourished by this stream it is said that “their leaf should not fade, nor their fruit be consumed; but their fruit should be for meat, and their leaf for medicine” (verses 8-12). Bp. Bagot.

6,7. The angel guide says, Hast thou carefully noted the wonderful increase of these waters? Do not lose sight of this fact while we pass on to other scenes. Then he returns to observe that all along the bank of the river on either side were very many trees, flourishing in verdure and beauty, being fertilized by these living waters. The revelator John has the same symbols of surpassing beauty and verdure in his paradise (Rev. 22:1, 2). H. C.

8. The waters shall be healed. This finally represents the tendency of the Gospel to heal the corruptions of human nature. Abp. Newcome.

10. The fishers. The mention of fishers does indeed appear to determine this increase of religious knowledge and practice to Christianity. Our Saviour Christ told His disciples that He would make them “fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). Abp. Secker.

8-12. The last allusion to the Dead Sea found in the Scriptures. The passage records the vision of the holy waters seen by the prophet Ezekiel, yet the glowing prophetic description does not disdain to mention the humble names of geographical localities. The implication of this vision is precisely such as to sanction a modern popular teaching derived suggestively from the same materials. All the sweet waters of the Jordan and its neighbor streams, forever pouring into the Dead Sea, do not materially or permanently abate its bitterness. The fact is often considered emblematical of the inefficiency of all merely natural agencies for the radical reformation of human character and the regeneration of the human race. Set before a depraved character your examples of truth and honor; inculcate upon it your lessons of right and justice; pour upon it the sweet influences of educated and refined society, and what is the result? So, attempt without religion truly to civilize a barbarous race, and how will you succeed? Human character has its permanent qualities, like the bitter waters of the Dead Sea. All merely natural influences are utterly inoperative to change these qualities, such influences being quickly exhaled, leaving the character as depraved as ever. The prophetic vision implying this truth teaches further, that the correction of human depravity and the ultimate regeneration of the human race are to be expected from a power outside of humanity—from the source of Omnipotent Divinity.

The prophet Ezekiel, dwelling in captivity by the river Chebar, saw in vision, under the type of a restored and perfected Palestine, a regenerated world. And in this vision the waters of the Dead Sea became changed to sweetness and teemed with life. And how was this result seen to be accomplished? Why, by the flowing into the sea of a great river, having its origin in the new sanctuary at Jerusalem. This river, which the prophet saw issuing from the threshold of the temple eastward—its waters swelling and widening, until rising first to his knees, and then to his loins, they became at length too deep to walk in—this river went flowing down into the desert plain, through the wilderness of Judah—its banks lined with all “trees for meat,” bearing unfading leaves and perpetual fruits—and having passed the desert plain and emptied into the sea, the waters of the sea were thereby healed. And the prophet declares that the fishers shall stand upon the shore of the sea, “from En-gedi to En-eglaim,” or around its great northern basin, spreading their nets for the fish which now swarm the sweet waters. May we not accept this vision as truly prophetic? Has not the Gospel of God proved its power to regenerate human character and to make desert spots of humanity “blossom as the rose”? And may we not expect that, when the time for the full accomplishment of God’s merciful purpose shall arrive, the stream of God’s salvation will be so augmented, that, in the fulness of its saving power, the Dead Sea of our corrupt humanity will be turned to sweet purity, and “the earth be filled with the glory of God?” N. C. Burt.

The gradual increase of the stream issuing from the sanctuary, from the Holy of Holies, is a vivid representation of the progress of the waters of eternal life, which, deriving their source from the hidden counsels of mercy and wisdom of the triune Jehovah, at first presented, as they gushed forth from the cross of the despised Galilean, an appearance so humble as to be most distasteful to the pride and foolishness of man, but yet did rapidly and irresistibly overspread nation after nation, and shall continue to flow on with increasing might, until the whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. Nor are the inestimable benefits which the Gospel conveys to a ruined world less forcibly portrayed. “These waters,” says the prophet, “go down into the desert, and go into the sea.” “Everything shall live whither the river cometh.” It traverses the desert, and its barren sands are overspread with verdant and fruitful trees. It flows onward to the sea whose bitter waters had destroyed all life, and the poisonous waters are at once healed, and teem with a great multitude of fish. The influence also of these typical waters is as permanent and extensive as it is beneficial; for it is written: “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; 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.” Such, too, have ever been the blessed results of the everlasting Gospel of the grace of God. Whenever the waters have indeed issued from the sanctuary, whenever the pure Word of God has been preached, the Holy Ghost has accompanied that Word with His soul-regenerating power. The poisonous and dead sea of the world has been healed of its destructive influence. Its inhabitants, with no spiritual life in them, but dead in trespasses and sins, have been quickened by Divine grace. The barren desert of this earthly existence, which sin has made desolate by its withering blasts of sickness, and disappointment, and separation, and death, is gladdened through the Gospel of life and immortality with resignation, patience, peace, hope, joy in believing, and all the varied fruits of the Spirit. Nor are these life-giving blessings of the Gospel exhausted or diminished by the lapse of time. They are trees whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed; but as months, and years, and ages pass, they shall still continue to yield new fruit. The Gospel of Christ is like Him who brought it down from heaven to man—the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever. The revolutions of nations have only manifested that the kingdom of Christ is one that cannot be shaken. The lapse of ages has only accumulated fresh evidence that the waters of life are inexhaustible. The discovery of new lands and people has added fresh trophies to the power of the cross, and proves that wherever human beings are found, however differing from ourselves in habits and knowledge, the Gospel is needed, is adapted, is intended for those human beings. Bp. C. Baring.

These waters of the vision were fed by no tributaries—and herein is a marvellous thing. Those waters had but one source—just those drops at the gate of the temple, and that was all. They issued out of the sanctuary; they grew and they grew. They were inherently developed. Those drops of the temple walls became a river only a few thousand cubits away. Their ever-increasing volume came, therefore, from their seemingly exhaustless capacity of unfolding. This is true of the Gospel spel stream coming out of the sanctuary. No other religions have swelled its waters with their inflowing tide. Nor wealth, nor learning, nor art, nor government has contributed one drop to its volume. Sometimes it has been claimed that these things have helped to make the tide of influence coming out from the Christian Church and sweeping far and wide over the world’s waste places, but the subsidence of the waters that have been formed by wealth, and learning, and art, and government, has proved that the claim is false. The influence of the Church to-day, and the secret of its depth and power, is the pure Gospel stream, accompanied by no adjunct and fed by no tributary. Issuing out of the sanctuary, it widened and deepened, until now the waters are waters to swim in, that cannot be passed over. These waters transform whatever they touch. Everywhere they spread in their onward flow, they make a place of beauty. Trees grow up along their banks; the desert blossoms at their coming. Beauty and fertility were everywhere. This is the picture. What are the actual scenes marking the course of the Gospel stream down through the world? Where do you find the world’s moral garden to-day? Where are the high places of the earth? Places high in cleanliness and conscience, in charity and forgiveness? They are here, by the banks of the River of Life, flowing from the sanctuary.

This picture of prophecy is the reality of history. From the time of the descent of the Holy Spirit at the day of Pentecost, whenever God has been in the Church, her influence has been immediate and beneficent. Nothing has made her influence a track of fragrance throughout the world but this presence. Nothing transformed deserts into fertility but this. The one sole condition of power on the part of the Church is that she be filled with the Spirit of God. If the Lord God come down and dwell in His sanctuary, out of His sanctuary will issue the waters of salvation.

The practical lesson is that the Spirit of God is the spirit of missions. A sanctuary with no outflowing waters is a church that accomplishes no saving results. A church that does not let its influence go down into the moral deserts and the Dead Seas of sin; that sends not the healing flood of the Gospel out from its gates, making a track of greenness and beauty; that does not go, with its sympathies and prayers and alms, into all the world, is a church with a name to live, but dead. A church cannot exist

long that fashions for itself a beautiful temple and repeats an orthodox creed, but that has not the Spirit of God in its sanctuary. H. Johnson.