There is a river
whose streams make glad the city of God
5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.
"The streams"of the river is an image
of the strong current of grace, in the river of living water.
The New Covenant gift of the Spirit is what Jesus calls
"Rivers of living water"
John 7:38 ESV
Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said
"Out of the heart will flow rivers of living water"
Christians from the whole body of Christ form the new holy temple
in which dwells the presence of the living God.
Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,
but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the
household of God. 20 built on the foundations of the apostles
and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21
in whom the whole structure , being joined together, grows into
a holy temple of the Lord 22 In him you are also being built
together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Ezekiel 36:27 ESV
I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my
statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
The History of Israel has been a troubled history; marked by internal
crises and enemy invasions. Yet it is not a chaotic history. This history
is guided by an invisible hand, powerful and tender-- the hand of God.
A river brings joy to the city of God. To the upheavals mentioned in
the first stanza of Psalm 46, the psalmist contrasts a vision of
tranquility, the Holy City, Jerusalem, the church.
The pool of Shiloah, where the water entered through a tunnel in
the interior of the ramparts, assured the life of the city at the time
of siege: symbol of the secret protection of God.
Ezekiel recalls the source which flows out of the temple,
symbol of life and birth of new life.
Ezekiel 47:1
Then he brought me back to the door of the temple,
and behold , water was issuing from below the threshhold
of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east)
Zechariah 14:8 ESV
.....living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem
Joel 3:18 ....and a fountain shall come forth
from the house of the LORD.......
Revelation 22:1-2
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life
bright as crystal , flowing from the throne of God and
of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city,
and on either side of the river, the tree of life with its
twelve kind of fruit yielding its fruit each month.
The leaves of the trees were for the healing of nations.....
Q Gregory Beeale
God's holy presence flowed out of
the holy of holies of Israels temple on the mount
and now spreads throughout the earth . and can now be found
wherever God's presence extends, in the person of
Christian believers. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
The river which makes glad the city of our God (Ps45:6)
flows out through you and me.
Hebrews 12:22-24 ESV
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the
Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable
angels in festal gathering 23 and to the assembly of the
firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the
judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made
perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word
than the blood of Abel.
