As John gazes in wonder at the heavenly city that God shows him, he sees something that Ezekiel had seen before him (Ezekiel 47:1-12): A river of life flowing from God’s throne. Ezekiel had, in his vision, seen the river flowing from under the altar (the place of sacrifice) of the new temple and flowing to the east. It flows down into the arid region around the dead sea, bringing life wherever it goes and ultimately bringing the dead sea itself to life. As Ezekiel follows the river it gets deeper and wider the further, he goes until it is “a river that no one could cross” (Ezekiel 47:5). In other words, it is a river that will cover the whole earth. In John’s vision the symbol of the river is combined with that of the tree of life which grows on either side of the river bringing healing to the nations. In a stunning allusion to the vision of Ezekiel and anticipating this vision here in Revelation 22, Jesus declared: “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:38). The spring of the river of life, therefore, is in your heart, because your heart is the habitation of the Holy Spirit. This means that the effect of this river of life described both here in Revelation 22 and in Ezekiel 47 is an effect that you can have. How? Simply by speaking out the overflow of what is in your heart by the Holy Spirit. Don’t dam up the river of life. Let it flow from you to others.
Ask God to give you greater confidence to speak to others out of the overflow of your heart.
Read Revelation 22:1-5, Ezekiel 47:1-12
