Gospel Doctrine OT 44-Where the Water Flows
Show a map, indicate Jerusalem, Dead Sea and Judean Wilderness. Temple faces East.
Judean Wilderness is a barren desert, and the Dead Sea is too salty to sustain animal life.
Ezekiel 47: 1, 6-12
What did Ezekiel see coming from the east doors of the temple?
Water. What do we know about water? What about trees?
John the Beloved had a similar vision of the throne of God – Rev 22:1-3
The Water:
What is the water of life? John 4:10-14
In Ezekiel’s vision -
What happens to everything the water touches?
How is that like the influence of Jesus Christ / Temple in our lives?
How does the water of life that is available in the temple heal and give life to marriages? Families? Our ancestors? The Church?
What flows from the temple that gives spiritual life and healing? (truth, wisdom, revelation, covenants, perspective, peace)
The Trees - Rev 22:2, Eze 47:12. Other references to trees. 1N8:10-11; 1N11:25
How does the love of God heal and give life?
What are the life-giving effects of temple participation?
Ezekiel 47:2-5
What happened to the depth of the water? What truth do these verses suggest about the temple?
What might being ‘ankle deep’ in the influence of Jesus Christ represent?
How would that be different from being ‘knee deep’ or ‘immersed’ in the influence of Jesus Christ?
How could these blessings affect your life?
How would they impact the Church?
Howard W. Hunter said:
“I invite the Latter-day Saints to look to the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of your membership. It is the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church worthy to enter the temple. It would please the Lord if every adult member would be worthy of-and carry-a current temple recommend. The things that we must do and not do to be worthy of a temple recommend are the very things that ensure we will be happy as individuals and as families” (Conf Rep, Oct 1994)
Pres. Monson said:
“My brothers and sisters, temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service.”
10:45
CLIP11:00“Why are so many willing to give so much in order to receive the blessings of the temple? Those who understand the eternal blessings which come from the temple know that no sacrifice is too great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive those blessings. There are never too many miles to travel, too many obstacles to overcome, or too much discomfort to endure. They understand that the saving ordinances received in the temple that permit us to someday return to our Heavenly Father I an eternal family relationship and to be endowed with blessings and power from on high are worth every sacrifice and every effort.”
“If you have been to the temple for yourselves and if you live within relatively close proximity to a temple, your sacrifice could be setting aside the time in your busy lives to visit the temple regularly. … If you have not yet been to the temple or if you have been but currently do not qualify for a recommend, there is no more important goal for you to work toward than being worthy to go to the temple. Your sacrifice may be bringing your life into compliance with what is required to receive a recommend, perhaps by forsaking long-held habits which disqualify you. It may be having the faith and the discipline to pay your tithing. Whatever it is, qualify to enter the temple of God. Secure a temple recommend and regard it as a precious possession, for such it is.”
“Until you have entered the house of the Lord and have received all the blessings which await you there, you have not obtained everything the Church has to offer. The all-important and crowning blessings of membership in the Church are those blessings which we receive in the temples of God.
- Polish rocks
- Irrigate crops
- Change the face of the land
- Create a pathway
- Provide means for speedy transportation
- Cleanse
- Provide meat (fish) and vegetation for nutrition
- Soothe with sound
- Deposit fertile soil in a new place
- Quench thirst
- Provide shade trees and fruit trees
- The water in a river remains pure because it is constantly flowing
· The surface of the Dead Sea is over 1,300 feet below sea level. The very bottom of the sea, in the deepest part, is over 2,300 feet below sea level. The Dead Sea has some of the most saline water on earth; as much as 35% of the water is dissolved salts! That's almost six times as salty as the ocean! The Dead Sea is completely landlocked and it gets saltier with increasing depth. Near the bottom of the Dead Sea the salt concentrations are so saturated that salt crystals precipitate out of the water and settle to the sea floor. The surface, fed by the River Jordan, is the least saline. Down to about 130 feet (40 meters), the seawater comprises about 300 grams of salt per kilogram of seawater. That's about ten times the salinity of the oceans. Below 300 feet, though, the sea has 332 grams of salt per kilogram of seawater and is saturated, which means the water can't contain any more dissolved salts.
·
There are no fish or any kind of swimming, squirming creatures living in or near the water. There are, however, several types of bacteria and one type of algea that have adapted to harsh life in the waters of the Dead Sea. What you'll see on the shores of the Sea is white, crystals of salt covering everything. And this is no ordinary table salt, either. The salts found in the Dead Sea are mineral salts, just like you find in the oceans of the world, only in extreme concentrations. The water in the Dead Sea is deadly to most living things. Fish accidentally swimming into the waters from one of the several freshwater streams that feed the Sea are killed instantly, their bodies quickly coated with a preserving layer of salt crystals and then tossed onto shore by the wind and waves
