Spiritual Israelite
Well-Known Member
False doctrine results from not being able to differentiate between literal and figurative text. That is your problem. Why you would assume that any given text contained within highly symbolic books like Zechariah and Ezekiel are literal is beyond me.In Zech 14, there is are living waters going out of Jerusalem, to become two rivers flowing into two different seas, one of which is the Dead Sea to be healed in Ezek 47:
And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
Some teach that these living waters are the river of water of life on the new earth:
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.
That pure river does not go out of Jerusalem, nor from Jerusalem, but only from the throne of God and the Lamb onto the street of the New Jerusalem.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
There is no sea on the new earth, especially not two seas, where one of them is 'recreated' dead, and in need of healing from living waters.
The river of water of life on the new earth, cannot possibly be the living waters during Christ's earthly reign, that go out of Jeruslaem and flow into two seas.
There is always one or two Scriptures, that plainly expose all false doctrine, so that those Scriptures are plainly contradicted while teaching them.
I've often wondered why there is no sea on the new earth, and for now we at least sea one reason: God will have no sea on the new earth, nor any waters flowing out of New Jerusalem, just to make sure no one can teach the lie, that He will not being ruling on this earth for a thousand years.
The living waters of Zech 14 and Ezek 47 during Christ's earthly reign, are but a foreshadowing of the river of water of life in the street of New Jerusalem on the new earth.
That has no sea, nor seas, and especially not any dead sea in need of healing.
When determining what the living waters are about, why would you not take a passage like the following into account?
John 7:37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
By believing that passages like Zechariah 14 and Ezekiel 47 will be fulfilled literally in the future requires you to believe that animal sacrifices will be reinstated in the future since both passages talk about animal sacrifices and things related to that (such as the reference to observing the feast of tabernacles in Zechariah 14).
Why would any Christian be comfortable with believing in the reinstating of animal sacrifices in light of the fact that Christ made His "once for all" sacrifice long ago which ended the need for the old covenant animal sacrifices? Can't you see that it's an insult to what Christ already accomplished long ago to believe that animal sacrifices will one day be reinstated?