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Session 11 Video

The final two chapters of the book of Ezekiel are a continuation of Ezekiel’s visionary tour of the
new temple. The focal point is a river flowing out from the threshold of the temple. This water flowing from the temple points ahead to Jesus and the life he grants to believers.

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The final two chapters of the book of Ezekiel are a continuation of Ezekiel’s visionary tour of the new temple. The focal point is a river flowing out from the threshold of the temple. This river flows out of the city and brings life to the desert and refreshes the Dead Sea so it can support living creatures. Wherever it goes, things flourish.

This water flowing from the temple points ahead to Jesus and the life he grants to believers. In John 4 he offers a woman at a well “living water” that will quench thirst forever and spring up to eternal life. In John 7:37-39 it says, “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the
Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” Jesus offers believers eternal life, and then they in turn become a source of refreshment for others through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

The final chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22, begins with a description of a river flowing out from the throne of God. It gives us an incredible picture of the eternal flourishing we will have in the presence of God. In the meantime, God has commissioned us to be his messengers holding out the hope of eternal life found in the Gospel.

At the end of the book Ezekiel we learn that though this visionary tour of a temple that would be built in Jerusalem, the name of the city is “The Lord is There.” The greatest part about the new heavens and the new earth is that the Lord is there. We will be with him in perfect peace with God and one another.

**Questions for Discussion/Reflection:**

- The image of the river flowing from the temple symbolizes the flourishing that God provides His people and those they come in contact with. What does true flourishing look like in contrast to the natural worldly definition of success?
- What excites you about eternal life in the new heavens and earth?
- How does your conception of God mesh or contrast with the picture in Revelation of God on the throne as the main attraction in heaven? Is your idea of God as magnificent as he is pictured there?

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