THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

The Hope of Israel: What Is It? 133
shall live ;
and there shall be a very great multitude of
fish, because these waters shall come thither ;
for they
shall be healed. And everything shall live whither
the river cometh" (Ezek. 47:9).
It is easy to see in this passage the familiar scriptural
figures of the Gospel, and its life-giving and healing
ministry. So we note with interest that the
Temple the House of God was to be the source
of the stream of living waters.
Therefore, we cannot fail to see in this prophetic
vision a spiritual foretelling of the issuing forth of
the Gospel for all mankind from God's appointed center,
which broadly was Israel, and more definitely Jerusalem,
and still more definitely the Temple. Other portions
of Ezekiel's prophecy have clearly a spiritual fulfilment
in this dispensation of the Holy Spirit, as we
have sought to show.
In this connection we would call attention also to the
prophecy of Joel. Inasmuch as the Apostle Peter quoted
from the second chapter of Joel, as having its fulfillment
in the coming of the Holy Spirit, and in those
miraculous events whereby His presence was manifested,
it is significant that, in chapter 3, of Joel's
prophecy, there is the promise that "all of the rivers
of Judah will flow wth waters, and a fountain shall
come forth of the House of the Lord". (3:18). We
believe that those who are spiritual will be able to
see in this verse and its context much that is applicable
to this present dispensation, though it may be
that the complete fulfilment of this passage, and also
of that quoted by Peter from chapter 2, awaits the coming
again of the Lord from heaven.