He measured yet another thousand cubits, resulting in a torrent I could not cross, for the waters of the stream had become deep and uncrossable. So it was that he measured a thousand cubits and I found it impossible to cross over, as the waters rushed forth uncontrollably.
These sacred waters issuing from the threshold signify a doctrine of our Savior, consistent with Scripture: "From Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3). Additionally, it is written: "All shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). The prophet Zechariah spoke of these waters, saying, "In that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the eastern sea and half toward the western sea" (Zechariah 14:8). Concerning these waters, the Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman, saying, "If you knew who it is that says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water" (John 4:10). Again, He declared: "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst again" (John 4:13). And at the temple, He proclaimed: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-39).
These are the waters the psalmist referred to: "From the waters of rest lift me up" (Psalm 22:2). Ezekiel prophesied, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be cleansed from all your impurities" (Ezekiel 36:24-25). The springs of water have arisen (Psalms 17:16). In Psalm ninety-two, it is sung: "You have raised up rivers, O Lord; You have raised up rivers with their voices from the sound of many waters. Wonderful are the heights of the sea" (Psalm 92:3-4). These or similar waters flow from Siloam, about which Isaiah said: "Draw water from the fountain of the Savior" (Isaiah 12:3). The psalmist encourages: "Bless the Lord from the fountain of Israel" (Psalm 67:27). Isaiah also states regarding the Lord: "He will dwell in the high cave of the rock of strength. Bread shall be given him, and his water shall be sure" (Isaiah 33:16).
Of the water in the wilderness, it is said: "As for the wilderness and the forest in the thirsty land" (Isaiah 35:6). Believers are assured: "Fear not, for I will redeem you; you are mine, and when you pass through the waters, I will be with you" (Isaiah 43:1-2). Additionally, "You who are thirsty, come to the waters" (Isaiah 55:1). Through Jeremiah, the Lord states: "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13).
While the waters flowing from the temple depict the Church's doctrine, there are also bitter waters that the prophet Jeremiah warns us against turning to: "What is that to you and the way of Egypt, that you should drink the waters of Gihon" (Jeremiah 2:18), which in Hebrew denotes muddy and dark waters. Consequently, in divine wrath against heretics, God declares: "Behold, I will feed them with bitterness, and give them poisonous water to drink" (Jeremiah 9:15). Here reigns the dragon of Egypt, who arrogantly claims, "My rivers are rivers, and they have made me" (Ezekiel 29:3), presiding over those in the waters. Thus, the faithful beseech the Lord saying: "Save me, O Lord, for the waters have risen to my soul. I am in the mire of the deep, where there is no foothold, and the tempest will overwhelm me" (Psalm 68:1-3). Once more, they plead: "Rescue me from those who hate me and from the depths of water, lest the flood drown me or the deep swallow me" (Psalm 68:15-16).
Another psalm expresses, "If the Lord had not been on our side, let Israel say: If the Lord had not been on our side, when men rose against us, they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger flared against us; the waters would have swept over us" (Psalm 123:1-3). In the Song of Songs, the bride proclaims: "Many waters cannot quench love, nor can floods drown it" (Song of Songs 8:7).
This water referred to by Hosea suggests: "Gilead is a city of vanity; its waters trouble" (Hosea 6:7-9). This water is also known as marah, denoting bitterness into which the tree of the cross is immersed, transforming bitterness into sweetness. Consider the Law of Moses, which is bitter when interpreted in a carnal sense by the Jews, such as the retribution of "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (Exodus 21), the incident with Tamar (2 Samuel 13), Hosea’s uniting with a harlot (Hosea 1), Jeremiah’s symbolic girdle (Jeremiah 13), the Cushite wife of Moses, and the killing of the Egyptian (Exodus 2), and countless other narratives. When these are understood through the lens of the killing letter, devoid of the life-giving Spirit, they may confuse rather than edify the reader.
These waters emerge from the temple of the Lord, flowing eastward to the right side of the altar, where the bridegroom nourishes His servants. He guided me out through the northern gate, along the exterior path leading to the outer gate facing east. This illustrates that one cannot reach the eastern gate directly; rather, a lengthy detour through the northern gate is required. To enter through the east gate, from which the waters flow, one must conquer the chill of doubt with the warmth of faith, fulfilling the Apostle’s words: "But God will soon crush Satan under your feet" (Romans 16:20).
Notice that these waters, flowing from the east gate, are distinctly separated from the left side, as they flow from the right side of the altar towards the south. When it is said that the man with the measuring line led me through the north gate and along the path facing east, he too was positioned likewise, measuring a thousand cubits of the same water and guiding me through it as it reached my ankles. This was translated by Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion as "ankles," whereas the LXX described it as "passed through the water of remission," indicating the remission of the first sins upon entering the Lord’s waters.
These waters also symbolize the saving grace of baptism and denote the advent of extraordinary blessings. They rise up to the feet and heels, open to the serpent's strikes, as expressed: "You shall crush his head, and he shall bruise your heel" (Genesis 3:15). The psalmist notes regarding Judas the traitor: "He who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me" (Psalm 40:10), where "heel" translates the Greek term for the same idea.
After the thousand cubits that reached my ankles, he measured a further thousand and brought me to my knees. Thus, following the remission of sins and the path to success, one progressively ascends from earthly matters to divine heights, bowing the knee before the Lord, as the Apostle instructs: "Let every knee bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and let every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:10).
The third measurement of a thousand cubits led me through the water up to my waist. These progressive steps take us to a higher dimension: the loins signify the demise of all sinful desires within us, allowing for the sanctification of the body—an essential requirement to see God. Thus, Ezekiel witnessed God in fire, manifesting from the feet to the loins. The works of the loins necessitate purification through fire, reflected in the righteous declaration: "My loins are filled with anguish" (Psalm 37:8), as the enemy taunts us day and night.
From the loins to the head shines the brilliance of the finest gold, so that nothing here bears dishonor. Hence, the fourth measurement was up to the stream—though the LXX does not translate the cubits—indicating that I could not cross. This conveys a deeper understanding compared to the LXX’s depiction of inability to cross. After reaching the loins, a human can no longer navigate the torrent of thoughts and vices that arise within the heart. However, the man clad in linen, who led the prophet, was able to cross—He who committed no sin, about whom Isaiah prophesied: "Among those who are in covenant with Him, He shall not be deceived" (Isaiah 43:9).
The prophet clarifies his inability to traverse the last thousand cubits, declaring that the deep waters of the stream had risen high, making crossing impossible. But the prophet's exclamation, "the stream waters have crossed our souls," can indeed be reconciled when recognizing in Hebrew that it states differently about crossing the stream. Isaiah also states: "I will pour out upon him like a river of peace, and a flooding stream, the glory of those who are mine" (Isaiah 66:12). In the thirty-fifth Psalm, we read that the saints find hope in the shadow of His wings, drinking from the fountain of the Lord's house and drawing joy from the stream of His delight: "For with You is the fountain of life" (Psalm 36:8-10).
In the Hundred Twenty-Fifth Psalm we request: "Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the streams in the south" (Psalm 125:4). Of the Savior it is said: "He will drink from the stream in the way" (Psalm 109:7). Among men who can indeed declare they possess a pure heart (Proverbs 20), or who, through their eyes, have not been tainted by lust or, in lesser terms, by fleeting mirages of the spirit (Jeremiah 9). The world is rife with evil (John 5:19), and since the dawn of life, the human heart leans towards sin, thus remaining unrestrained by sin, even from birth (Job 14). David's confession emphasizes it well: "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm 51:5). This is not in reference to his mother’s sins but to the universal human condition.
Therefore, the Apostle states, "Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned in the likeness of Adam's transgression" (Romans 5:14). The term used for "elbows" is masculine—cubitus, and not neuter—cubita, as earlier mentioned, not out of ignorance but to serve those among the congregation who are less learned.
THEOSIS