Ezekiel 45-48

“Their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing” (47:12).  Jerusalem had been destroyed, and the Jews longed for the return of Israel’s glory days.  God gave Ezekiel a vision of restoration, but it was far more than nostalgia.  This glorious new Temple would have a river flowing from under the altar (ch 47), giving life to creatures and plants.  Not least, there would be trees with “leaves for healing.”

Ezekiel’s vision, like the book of Revelation, gives us hope.  Jesus’ resurrection was the “firstfruits” of God’s desire for us: joy, health and peace, and everything made new (Rev 21:5).