Ezekiel 47:9, commentary and pictures

The river issues from under the threshold of the sanctuary eastward from the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, beginning as a very small rivulet toward the east country and the desert and the sea and growing deeper and wider as it advances until it spreads over all the earth. Whithersoever it comes the waters are healed and made life-giving, so that everything that lives and moves shall live with a very great multitude of fish, and trees on both banks bear monthly fruit for food and unfading leaves for medicine because their waters issued out of the sanctuary. It is the gospel of Christ going out from Jerusalem to all countries, not a stagnant pool but a constantly flowing river for blessing the world. Its increase comes not by display or human devising but by the working of the Holy Spirit on hearts, growing from a small beginning as Christ worked. Wherever it is received its grace heals the maladies of sin and gives life, bringing sanctification, comfort, victory, light and refreshing, so that many souls are reached and the work advances until the whole earth is warned. Sanitariums and medical missionary work are appointed to be that river of healing for body and soul, with out-of-door life in open air and nature as its health-restoring blessing, carried not by strength concentrated in one place but by independent institutions and by hearts and homes opened as channels, each person plunging in and drinking for himself.

River's Source and Course

The river flows out of the sanctuary, from the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness. It issues from under the threshold of the house eastward at the south side of the altar. It begins as a small, very small rivulet flowing toward the east country and going down into the desert and into the sea. As it advances it grows deeper and wider, extending east and west and north, to the islands of the sea and to all parts of the world, until its life-giving waters spread over all the earth.

Whithersoever the rivers come the waters are healed and made healthy. They carry medicinal, life-giving properties that heal both physical and spiritual infirmities, with a secret sparkling spring in their depths that cures disease and restores vigor. Everything that lives and moves whithersoever the river comes shall live, and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, with abundance and life in the sea because these waters come thither to heal it. On both banks grow trees for food whose leaf does not fade and whose fruit is not consumed, bearing new fruit every month because their waters issued out of the sanctuary, with fruit for meat and leaf for medicine.

Gospel's Spreading Life

The river is the gospel of Christ going out from Jerusalem to all countries. It is the truth for this time to go, growing from a small beginning into a large work that gives life wherever it comes. God's chosen kingdom is not a stagnant pool but a river constantly flowing, growing deeper and wider as it advances until its life-giving waters spread over all the earth. It pictures the work God designs to accomplish through His church for the glorifying of His name, working through His people from the beginning to bring blessing to the world. So Joseph was made a fountain of life by which the whole Egyptian people was preserved, and Daniel saved the life of all the wise men of Babylon, object-lessons of the spiritual blessings offered to the world through connection with God.

Its increase comes not through display and not through any devising of man or worldly plan. It comes through the working of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of human agencies, with the Word accompanied by the gifts and power of the Spirit bringing life and healing and abundant results wherever it reaches. It grows from a small beginning, for this is the way the Saviour worked. When His methods become the methods of His followers His blessing attends their labors, so schools and other work are not to be conducted after the worldly plan.

Wherever the gospel is received its grace heals the maladies that sin has produced. It brings sanctification, comfort, and victory over the world, with the Sun of Righteousness arising with healing, giving light, strength, and refreshing. The good fruit that is borne bears witness to a work of righteousness. Wherever the river comes everything lives, and the very great multitude of fish means that many souls are reached and made to live. The gospel as a stream of living water is to be given in its purity and to deepen and widen in its course, proclaimed in clear, unmistakable language under the overruling guidance of the Holy Spirit, with a series of events revealing that God is master of the situation. In all fields, nigh and afar off, men will be called from the plow and from the more common commercial vocations and educated in connection with men of experience, and as they learn to labor effectively they will proclaim the truth with power. Through most wonderful workings of divine providence mountains of difficulty will be removed and cast into the sea, the message will be heard and understood so men will know what is truth, and onward and still onward the work will advance until the whole earth shall have been warned and then shall the end come.

Channels of Healing Today

Sanitariums are designed by divine power to be a river of life and healing, and medical missionary work itself is that life-giving river, for the mighty stream flows from the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness and its waters carry medicinal properties that heal both physical and spiritual infirmity. Wherever those rivers come the waters are healed and everything that lives and moves shall live, giving life and healing to all they touch. Christ came as the Great Physician to heal the wounds sin made in the human family, and His Spirit working through His servants imparts to sin-sick, suffering humanity a mighty healing power efficacious for body and soul. Everyone in whose heart Christ abides becomes a worker together with God for the blessing of humanity, receiving grace from the Saviour to impart to others, so that from the whole being flows forth a tide of spiritual life for the blessing of humanity and the glory of God's name.

Out-of-door life is the health-restoring, life-giving blessing for the sick taught by the mighty river issuing toward the east country and going down into the desert and into the sea, whose coming heals the waters and gives life to everything that lives and moves with a very great multitude of life. Encouraging the sick to leave their rooms for open air, to tend flowers and engage in other light pleasant work, calls the mind from self to something more health-giving, and open-air exercise is a beneficial, life-giving necessity, so that the longer patients remain outdoors the less care they require. Cheerful surroundings in nature, seeing flowers grow and hearing birds sing, make patients hopeful and bring hearts to sing, uplifting the soul consciously and unconsciously and bringing relief to body and mind, while shutting them indoors in rooms makes them fretful and gloomy. This return to God's original design, connected with the trees on both banks grown for food whose leaf does not fade and whose fruit is not consumed but bears new fruit monthly because their waters issued out of the sanctuary, with fruit for meat and leaf for medicine, is infinitely better than drug medication, and all physicians should be wise to learn healing from God's life-giving provision in nature.

Because life is given everywhere the river comes, strength and efficiency are not to be concentrated in any one place or brought under one management. The work begins as a small, very small rivulet issuing from under the threshold of the house eastward at the south side of the altar, flowing toward the east country and down into the desert and into the sea where the waters are made healthy and give life to every living moving creature with abundance in the sea, and as it advances it grows deeper and wider, extending east and west and north, to the islands of the sea and to all parts of the world until there are great interests to be managed. Each institution is therefore to remain independent working out God's plan under His direction, and schools and other work are not to be conducted after a worldly plan or after any devising of man or display, but through the working of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of human agencies. Carrying responsibility gives strength and development of character, while freedom from responsibility leaves character undeveloped and powers repressed and weakened, so individuality and personal responsibility must be preserved and spread abroad. The increase to a large work that reaches many souls and makes them live comes when Christ's methods become His followers' methods and His blessing attends their labors, as illustrated by the work at Madison begun in a small way and carried to many places by learning of Christ, not being daunted, being free in the Lord, and going forward.

Hearts and homes open to divine principles become channels of that life-giving power, so that healing, life, beauty, and fruitfulness reach places marked by barrenness and want wherever the river comes. The river holds in its depths a secret sparkling spring of clear water that cures all manner of diseases and restores health and vigor with a fair and natural appearance, a sure remedy even where many are dying around. That cure must be obtained personally, for no one can obtain it for another, but each must plunge for himself at a venture into the water and drink.