Two “Rivers of Life” in the Bible

There are two amazing sections in the Bible that describe a river bringing supernatural Life wherever it goes.

The first is in Ezekiel 47, and the second in Revelation 22.

I’ve only recently heard it taught that there are hundreds of Old Testament references throughout the book of Revelation. This is one of them, and probably my personal favorite!

I love water: rivers, lakes, oceans, waves, waterfalls. So it’s not surprising that the descriptions in Ezekiel and Revelation are so meaningful to me.

Have you ever noticed the parallels in these two passages?

Let’s take a look:

Ezekiel 47:1-12 “Everything will live where the river goes…”

These twelve verses are part of a several-chapter narrative of a dramatic and lengthy vision Ezekiel had.

The Lord took him in this vision from Babylon, where he had went with the other captives, to Jerusalem in Israel.

There, a man “whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze” started to show him a series of things about the temple (Ezekiel 40:3).

We’ll pick it up in chapter 47:

Ezekiel’s Vision of the River

“Then he [the man] brought me [Ezekiel] back to the door of the house [the temple], and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east.

“And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.

a fast-flowing river in Colorado in the spring

“He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side.

“When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles.

“Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins.

“Again he measured a thousand , and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded.

“He said to me, ‘Son of man, have you seen this?’ Then he brought me back to the bank of the river.

“Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river there were very many trees on one side and on the other.

“Then he said to me, ‘These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah [the geological depression where the Dead Sea is]; then they go toward the sea [the Dead Sea], being made to flow in the sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh.

(NOTE: My study Bible provides a lot of these extra tidbits.)

The River Brings Life

Verse 9, the man continues to speak:

“It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh, so everything will live where the river goes.

a small creek in a Colorado mountain valley with plant life on its banks — *A natural picture of this spiritual truth: everything will live where the river goes!*

“And it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to Eneglaim [on the western shore of the Dead Sea] there will be a place for the spreading of nets. The fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea [I assume the Mediterranean Sea], very many.

“But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.

“By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not whither and their fruit will not fail.

“They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.“

The Dead Sea

Have you ever been to the Dead Sea? I was there in 2018 during a trip to Israel.

I got to experience what it’s famous for: being able to float with ease due to the very high salt content (nine times higher than the oceans, I learned).

tourists wade and float in the Dead Sea in Israel — *A lot of tourist activity at the Dead Sea—take note of the arid landscape around it*

That high salt content also makes it very inhospitable to life.

But in this vision (that Bible scholars believe is talking about “the new temple, the new city, and the new people” of the last days, p. 1,417 of my study Bible), the river that flows from the sanctuary gives life wherever it goes by turning the salt water to fresh.

Remember what those last couple of verses say about the trees bearing fruit every month, and the healing in their leaves. You’ll see that again here…

Revelation 22:1-2 “The river of the water of life…”

Another vision, this time given to Jesus’ “beloved disciple” John, now as an old man. He was being guided in his vision by an angel (Revelation 21:9):

“Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of the street [this is in the New Jerusalem from chapter 21].

“On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

water spills over a ledge with tall trees along the banks in the background

John is describing this tree next to this river in the New Jerusalem after all the wars and judgments already depicted in Revelation.

The end of the end, and the new beginning so awesomely written about by CS Lewis at the closing of his book, The Last Battle [the final book of the Narnia series]:

“All their life in this world and all their adventures had only been the cover and the title page.

“Now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

The Bible describes this new life using objects we know so well here on earth: rivers, trees, fruit and leaves. All part of the natural world around us that He created in the first place.

Jesus Came to Give Us Life

For those of us who follow Jesus here and now, who call Him our Savior and Lord, we can access the life this river gives while we still live on earth.

It’s by coming into His presence. The river in Ezekiel flows from the sanctuary and the river in Revelation flows from the throne of God. His presence.

We won’t have all the astounding fruitfulness and healing here, because we still live in a cursed and sinful world.

But we live, as many have said, in an “already and not yet” reality. We can have a taste of this Life by welcoming and obeying the Holy Spirit in us every day.

a clear, green river flows through a gorge with trees all around and a tall mountain in the background

The Life of that river, I believe, offers us the same fruits today as Paul describes in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

Boy, having those fruits working in us constantly seems like heaven on earth!

Going back to Ezekiel’s vision of the river that’s rising every thousand cubits—we can look at that like this:

Each of us has a choice about how much of that river of life we experience in our daily lives. Is it only ankle deep? Knee deep? Thigh deep? Or are we swimming in that life? Are we be carried by it?

The St Louis River in Jay Cook State Park, Minnesota, in the fall at high water

How deep do you want it to be?

Sharon Brodin

Sharon is the principal author and publisher of the "Heaven and Nature Sing" devotional book and founder of this website. She loves how God created such an amazing world and is continually in awe of His goodness, wisdom and creativity.