Dutch Sheets: Stay in the River Until the River Stays in You (Ezekiel 47:5)
Dutch speaks at Riverside Church in Clarksville, TN, on August 27, 2022. Quotes: “One of the things that touched God’s heart about Abraham was the fact that he was willing to cross over to the other side. When God said, “Go,” even when he didn't know where he was going, he went. He literally became, “the Hebrew,” the one who crosses over. God is saying, at every level, "be a Hebrew." At every level, immerse yourself into this water. I think he does that because, at some point, if we get in the river enough the river gets in us.
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We go from glory to glory, and we go from revelation to revelation. The path of the righteous is what? "Brighter and brighter until the full day." (Proverbs 4:18) We're about to experience another level of the river. The word river in Ezekiel 47:5, is not the typical word for river. It is the word "Nahal" (Strongs 5158) which literally means a winter torrent. A winter torrent or a winter river, but it's not called a winter river, because it flows in winter, it's called a winter river because it's created by winter. It's the ice and snow melt in the spring, that starts in the mountains and as the fall (snowmelt) begins, the water becomes first a little rivulet, and then it's ankle deep.
I lived in Colorado for 20 years, I have seen Ezekiel 47:5, because when it begins to warm up, you go up on the side of a mountain, you see these little things, running down the mountain ankle deep. But down the way a little bit several of them come together and now they're knee deep. Some of those come together the lower they get, and it's waist deep stream, and by the time you get to the bottom of the mountain, it's a rushing river. It's all snowmelt. So, he's saying in that passage, I'm causing the spring fall (snowmelt) to begin, and the level is rising. I'm going to do something.
I'll do a little play on words for a minute because I don't know where I'm going with this message, then I'm trying to navigate my way through this. I'm like a beagle right now, because I know I'm on a trail but I'm trying to figure out where he wants to go with this. There's a fascinating word in Hebrew, "abar," and it means Hebrew. Abraham... I don't want you touching me back there... No sticking your hand in my back pocket.
When, in the book of Genesis, Abraham is called a Hebrew, it's the word "abar." we're never told why God called him that. It just said Abraham the Hebrew. The word means to cross over, or to cross out of, or can even mean to cross into. It means to go from one place to another, and penetrate a new place. It's actually one of the words for impregnate, because it means penetrate.
Sometimes I'm convinced that when it is used to describe, the word of the Lord coming to someone, and, for example, God "passed by them," a better translation, would be he impregnated them with his words, but in this passage... this word is so fascinating. I once did I think it was a 10-week series, on the word abar and how it's used in the scriptures, because even when it's used in term say crossover,
it's often very significant.
And God was saying about Abraham, one of the things that has touched my heart about this man, is the fact that he's willing to cross over to the other side. When I said, “Go,” even when he didn't know where he was going - he left. He became to me the Hebrew, the one who crosses over.
But back to Ezekiel 47, at every level of the river, we are told, when it got ankle deep, he led the prophet through it. That's abar. He put him into the river and made him cross it. Did he sit in it? Did he walk through it? Did he stand in it? We don't know but we know he had to get in it. [God is saying], at every level, "be a Hebrew." At every level, immerse yourself into this water. I think he does that because, at some point, if we get in the river enough the river gets in us.
When I had the vision that led to writing the book, that Randy talked about, "The River Of God", one of the things the Lord did was hold me under the water. He held me under the water for a while, until I couldn't hold my breath any longer, and I swallowed a bunch of the river. I expected to cough and gag and choke, but when the water went into me it went all through my body, and brought refreshing and healing to my body. Because everywhere the river goes everything lives.
God is saying to us, I am increasing the level of the river right now, and I need for you to get in it. through worship, the word and honoring and hosting my presence - that's getting in the river.