God brought Ezekiel, in a vision, from the House of God through a river flowing beneath it. I believe that Ezekiel saw the Paradise of God in that vision. The key verses to that vision are as follows:
KEY VERSES: It (the
River of God) was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were
risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. And he said
unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to
return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank
of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said
he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the
desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters
shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which
moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a
very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they
shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it
shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto
Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be
according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. (Ezek
47:5-10)
First off, the two cities need to be defined. En-gedi is a place of vineyards (Song of Solomon) and palm trees. Someday its waters will be made sweet. David hid there on its craggy rocks from King Solomon. The name means, “fountain of the kid.” Its location is at the southern tip of the Dead Sea on the sea coast.
En-eglaim likewise was on the Dead Sea, possibly at the Jordan River’s entrance. According to Ezekiel’s prophecy, someday the Dead Sea would be teaming with life. That time represents the Resurrection. The name means “fountain of the circle.” Of course, the circle represents wholeness, perfection, and life itself. In other words, the waters of Naral ha-Yarden (The River of the Garden) is the Jordan River which empties into the Dead Sea. Indeed, it must be the River of God because it brings life to the dead waters. I suppose that represents the “drinking of living waters” that Jesus produced (conversation with the woman at the well).
Now let’s consider the end of times:
And he shewed me
a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne
of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of
the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and
yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing
of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of
the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see
his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night
there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God
giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Rev 22:1-5).
Ezekiel perhaps saw the river running from the House of God:
He brought me
again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the
threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward
the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house,
at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate
northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that
looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
(Ezek 47:1-2)
Note the similarity in the description of the vision that Ezekiel had with John’s vision – they both saw water flowing from the House of God. Ezekiel defined the source. It was the Jordan River. The water for the Jordan River comes from three underground springs in the old northern kingdom of Jerusalem. It must be the Gihon River of Genesis 2, “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads… And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia” (Gen 2:9,13). The Gihon River flowed from God’s first Temple (the Canopy of the Garden) to Ethiopia. The Gihon Spring to this day flows from the Old City of Jerusalem. It seems that Old City is the “midst of the Garden of Eden” (Gen 2:9) where the Tree of Life existed.
The Tree of Life is symbolic of Jesus Christ; in fact, all the Godhead. The unseen root of the Tree is God the Father, the main Branch Jesus, the branches are the Christians, and the tree was watered from below by a spring. Living waters symbolizes the Holy Ghost. The Tree of Life represents God in One and the Holy Trinity! It is known by its twelve fruits (Rev 22:2) for the healing of the nations.
The Gihon flowed to Ethiopia which represented the nations, along with the other three rivers. Of course, the pre-continental drift world was much different than afterwards, so set the present-day map aside. [1] As such, I believe that Ezekiel saw the Jordan River as the “River of the Garden” and also the River of God from John’s vision! I also believe the Jordan is the Gihon River of the Garden of God. With that said, Ezekiel seems to be describing New Jerusalem as Jerusalem, and John identifies New Jerusalem as the midst of the Garden of Eden!
God’s final House is same one that He built in the beginning. In the beginning, the House was a canopy of trees, and in the end the City of God.
Ezekiel saw the River of God (the Jordan/Gihon) as living waters: “The waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live.” He was perhaps referring to the living waters flowing from God Himself from the midst of the Garden of Eden. That place was originally Salem – the place of peace and now is Jerusalem – the foundation of peace. New Jerusalem is a return to Paradise. With that in mind, God’s House was where it always was, and ironically, tabernacle worship was along what may have been the Gihon River in the beginning – from the Nile to the Sea to the Jordan as portrayed on the map in figure #1.
The question remains? Is the heavenly Paradise the original Garden Paradise, and is the location present-day Israel. From the evidence in Scripture, it is! Perhaps “Heaven” (the Garden in the invisible realm) is the same as Ezekiel saw in the visible realm. Perhaps going to Heaven is just a matter of translation from one realm to another at the same place! Perhaps Paradise is ON Earth but IN the heavenly (supernatural) realm!
During the rapture, the dead and those alive in Christ shall meet him in the sky. Where would that location be? From where Jesus ascended and his Holy Ghost descended; that place is Jerusalem. I envision dry bones arising from their graves and obtaining tissue. Perhaps that was Ezekiel’s vision of the Christian soldiers who come from all over the world to be buried at the celestial axis in Jerusalem, at the Mount of Olives so they will be nearer to Paradise when Jesus comes again for the dead!
Obviously, this is commentary and speculative, but God’s Word makes my speculation plausible. I focus on the beginning and the end because my hope in the beginning was that I be generated a living creature. My hope in the end is that I will be regenerated a new living creature! Both were by grace, and I perceive that I am symbolized by the palm tree in the Garden of Eden as a potential living soul, and as I was watered by the River of God, that I was made in the image of God. The river flowed from the midst of the Garden from the Tree of Life in the beginning, and it will in the end!
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Proposed Gihon River Path based on modern geography
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[1] I
have included a rendition of the Gihon River in the beginning, but unfortunately
it is based on today’s geography. With that aside, the point is that the Gihon
River may correspond with today’s Jordan River, or the “River of the Garden.”
(Map from mikode.net).
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