May 7 | Bible in a Year: 2 Kings 1-3; Luke 24:1-35

Going Deeper

Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Ezekiel 47:12

READ Ezekiel 47:1–12

With pandemic restrictions lifted, our local leisure centre reopened—finally! My wife and I immediately took our young sons swimming, and we were amazed to see Toby, our five-year-old, cutting through the water like a fish.

All was not as it seemed, however. “I’m running!” he laughed. Toby had grown sufficiently during lockdowns for his feet to touch the bottom. If he was going to learn to swim, we would need to take him into deeper water.

Sometimes we too need to be out of our depth if we’re to grow and mature. That’s the ‘swimming lesson’ God had in mind for the prophet Ezekiel as well. Ezekiel saw a river of living water (Ezekiel 47:9–12). He stepped into the “ankle-deep” water, which then became “knee-deep”, then “up to the waist”, and finally “deep enough to swim in” (vv. 3–5).

Our journey with God is a bit like that. We start out dipping a toe in the water; our feet stay on the ground as we begin to follow His currents. Then, slowly, we go deeper with Him, surrendering to His leading. Like Ezekiel, that’s when we recognise abundant life as being “wherever [God’s] river flows” (v. 9).

We may be more comfortable trying to control everything with our feet firmly on the ground. But when we stop running in our own strength and learn to flow in His, we discover the rich, fruit-bearing life which the Lord provides (v. 12).

By Chris Wale

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

The prophet Ezekiel (whose name means “God will strengthen”) was one of the major prophets of the Old Testament, and his season of service was during one of the most turbulent times in the nation’s history. He was of the priestly line (the son of Buzi, Ezekiel 1:3), which may contribute to his clear knowledge of the temple. As a human being, Ezekiel wasn’t immune to tragedy, as he was one of the Jewish exiles carried away to Babylon (probably with Jehoiachin in 597 BC), and he also endured the sudden death of his wife (24:18 ). Filled with symbolism and apocalyptic expectation, Ezekiel’s message forms a good parallel to his contemporary Daniel—whose message contained those same elements (Daniel 7–12). He was also a contemporary of Jeremiah. Aside from the vivid imagery he employed, Ezekiel’s writings are characterized by a significant use of the Pentateuch (Genesis–Deuteronomy).