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Rhymney River, Bargoed.
As I came back, I saw trees in great profusion on both banks of the stream.
“This water," he told me, “runs out to the eastern region, and flows into the Arabah;
and when it comes into the sea,
into the sea of foul waters,
the water will become wholesome."
Ezekiel 47:7-8 (Tanakh)
At the end of His tether, the Lord decides to put an end to the havoc being wreaked by Israel's leaders:
[25] " 'O profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax, [26] this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low.
[27] A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin!'" (Ezekiel 21:25-27a NIV)
That 'time of punishment' came when the priests and experts in the law rejected their Messiah and demanded His execution. Paul et al were worse, for they attributed their evil new-covenant doctrine to the authority, power, and direction of the Lord Spirit - a Blacklistable offence:
[31] Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. [32] Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:31-32 NRSV)
Consequently, for the last two thousand or so years, there has been a famine:
11 A time is coming — declares my Lord GOD — when I will send a famine upon the land: not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the LORD. 12 Men shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12 (Tanakh))
Amos 8:11-12 (Tanakh) is apposite to the current discussion, for there has only been the House of Desolation and the new-covenant church in play since the time of Christ. The Messianic Amendment to the Mosaic Covenant has been conspicuous by its absence.
See: David's fallen Tent.
I open my eyes from sleep. And there before me is a steep hill.
My eyes are immediately drawn to the building skylined atop the hill: it stands alone; forlorn; ignored; in a state of serious structural collapse. It is without hope. No one lives there. No one can live there.
As if to emphasise that hopeless state, a stream flows down the hill, seeming to originate from that empty building - for there is no other source on the top of that hill.
The grounds of that house are extensive. And, as my eyes work their way down the hill, all I can see are weeds growing amongst a tangled undergrowth of nasty shrubbery.
As my eyes continue to work their way down the hill, the stream slithering down the hill becomes wider and more visible. By now it has grown to about half a metre in width - although I can't be certain of that because it is overhung by vegetation which holds neither beauty nor hope of life, and is best avoided.
The water is not the crystal water emerging from a Dartmoor spring. Like everything around it, it is murky and off-putting. Further downstream one might have looked for the carcases of dead sheep.
I close my eyes on that sad, dismal sight.
...
I return and re-open my eyes. The whole landscape has changed! In my absence, the whole hill has been transformed.
The house atop the hill is perfectly restored. The grounds have been cleared and replanted with beautiful, healthy plants and shrubs. The stream itself has been cleared and properly maintained, its source clearly that perfect house atop the hill. The water now runs clear and sparkling as it tumbles merrily down the hill, giving life to the vegetation on either side.
As my eyes behold the miracle, I know that the hand of the Lord has accomplished this.
1 He led me back to the entrance of the Temple, and I found that water was issuing from below the platform of the Temple—eastward, since the Temple faced east—but the water was running out at thesouth of the altar, under the south wall of the Temple. 2 Then he led me out by way of the northern gate and led me around to the outside of the outer gate that faces in the direction of the east; and I found that water was gushing from [under] the south wall. 3 As the man went on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and led me across the water; the water was ankle deep. 4 Then he measured off another thousand and led me across the water; the water was knee deep. He measured off a further thousand and led me across the water; the water was up to the waist. 5 When he measured yet another thousand, it was a stream I could not cross; for the water had swollen into a stream that could not be crossed except by swimming. 6 “Do you see, O mortal?" he said to me; and he led me back to the bank of the stream.
7 As I came back, I saw trees in great profusion on both banks of the stream. 8 “This water," he told me, “runs out to the eastern region, and flows into the Arabah; and when it comes into the sea, intothe sea of foul waters, the water will become wholesome. 9 Every living creature that swarms will be able to live wherever this stream goes; the fish will be very abundant once these waters have reached there. It will be wholesome, and everything will live wherever this stream goes. 10 Fishermen shall stand beside it all the way from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it shall be a place for drying nets; and the fish will be of various kinds [and] most plentiful, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11 But its swamps and marshes shall not become wholesome; they will serve to [supply] salt. 12 All kinds of trees for food will grow up on both banks of the stream. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail; they will yield new fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the Temple. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel 47:1-12 (Tanakh))
5 I looked up, and I saw a man holding a measuring line. 6 “Where are you going?" I asked. “To measure Jerusalem," he replied, “to see how long and wide it is to be.” 7 But the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him. 8 The former said to him, “Run to that young man and tell him:
“Jerusalem shall be peopled as a city without walls, so many shall be the men and cattle it contains. 9 And I Myself—declares the LORD—will be a wall of fire all around it, and I will be a glory inside it." (Zechariah 2:5-9 (Tanakh))
There is hope, for the Lord promised to restore David's fallen Tent:
[11] "In that day I will restore David's fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, [12] so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name, " declares the Lord, who will do these things. (Amos 9:11-12 NIV)
However, restoration is conditional upon Israel's acknowledgement of Jesus:
[37] "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. [38] Look, your house is left to you desolate. [39] For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" (Matthew 23:37-39 NIV)
But what about the new-covenant church? What will be their fate?
Having embroiled the Lord Spirit in sin and error, they will be cut off forever, without hope of forgiveness in this life or the next. There is a parallel with the fate of the Ammonites:
33 Further, O mortal, prophesy and say: Thus said the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites and their blasphemies: Proclaim: O sword! O sword unsheathed for slaughter, polished to the utmost, to a flashing brilliance! 34 Because they have prophesied falsely about you and have divined deceitfully concerning you, you shall be wielded over the necks of the dishonored wicked ones, for their day has come, the time set for their punishment.
35 Return it to its sheath! In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. 36 I will pour out My indignation upon you, I will blow upon you with the fire of My wrath; and I will deliver you into the hands of barbarians, craftsmen of destruction. 37 You shall be fuel for the fire, your blood shall sink into the earth, you shall not be remembered, for I the LORD have spoken. (Ezekiel 21:33-37 (Tanakh))
Jerusalem (Zechariah).
Mount Zion.
Is. 62
[10] On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
[11] On that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.
[12] He will raise a signal for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isaiah 11:10-12 NRSV)
Thanks to the work of the Twelve and Paul, Jesus' name has been spread far and wide (cf, Is. 11:10).
Is. 11:11 is a restatement of the promise found in Amos 9:11-12.
Then, in Is. 11:12, the Lord gives notice of a signal (some translations 'banner') which will become a rallying point for Israel's return.
What will this banner look like?
Cedar of Lebanon.
The Cedar is the metaphor for the banner/signal which the Lord God said He would set up!
But where will this Cedar be found?
It is to be found deep-rooted in God's Place...
The Cedar is also a metaphor for the Covenant as it will be in the Last Days:
Micah 4:1-2
The Covenant and the Cedar together, are a rallying point which will endure until the ending of the age:
Micah 4:1-2 and Cedar side by side.
[2] Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. [3] Thus says the LORD: I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts shall be called the holy mountain. (Zechariah 8:2-3 NRSV)
Of course, Mount Zion/Jerusalem is where God's Name, Eyes, and Heart, are to be found; it is His dwelling place:
[1] When Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the king's house and all that Solomon desired to build, [2] the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. [3] The LORD said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you made before me; I have consecrated this house that you have built, and put my name there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. (1 Kings 9:1-3 NRSV)
The Lord will plant the Cedar on Mount Zion:
[22] Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will set it out. I will break off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
[23] On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind.
[24] All the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD. I bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the LORD have spoken; I will accomplish it. (Ezekiel 17:22-24 NRSV)
And with the shift to the Spiritual Level:
[17] So you shall know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it. (Joel 3:17 NRSV)
(Context v17: Spiritual Level (see Zech. 2:4-5).)
The Law will go out from Zion, the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem, right up until the End of the Age:
[1] In the last days
the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.
[2] Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Micah 4:1-2 NIV)
Because these exist at the Spiritual Level, they out of the reach of those attacking the faithful.
[Dissertation: Support for the faithful in the Last Days.]
To clear the site:
And there we must leave things for now, as we await the Lord's instructions.
Version: 16-Feb-2024