I.　In the Scriptures the concept of the river of water of life, the divine stream, the unique flow, is crucial—Psa. 46:4a; John 7:37-39; Rev. 22:1:

A.　The Bible reveals the flowing Triune God—the Father as the fountain of life, the Son as the spring of life, and the Spirit as the river of life—Jer. 2:13; Psa. 36:9a; John 4:14; 7:37-39.

B.　In the Scriptures there is only one flow, only one divine stream; the divine stream, which has been flowing throughout the generations, is uniquely one—Gen. 2:10-14; Rev. 22:1.

II.　"A river went forth from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided and became four branches"—Gen. 2:10:

A.　The river here signifies the river of water of life, along which the tree of life grows—Rev. 22:1-2.

B.　The river going forth from Eden signifies the river of water of life flowing forth from God, indicating that God is the source of the living water for man to drink—v. 1; cf. John 4:10; 7:37.

C.　The number four signifies man, the creature (Ezek. 1:5); the one river becoming four branches signifies that the one river flows out of the unique God (signified by the number one) as the source and center to reach man in every direction.

III.　The seed of the river of water of life, the divine stream, is sown in Genesis 2:10-14, the growth occurs in the following books of the Bible, and the harvest is in Revelation—Psa. 46:4a; John 7:37-39; Rev. 7:17; 22:17b:

A.　Christ as the living, spiritual rock was smitten by the authority of God's law so that the water of life in resurrection could flow out of HimandintoHis redeemed peoplefor them to drink—Exo. 17:6; John 19:34; 1 Cor. 10:4:

1.　The living water is the water of life in resurrection, the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as the ultimate issue of the Triune God—15:45b:

a.　Resurrection denotes something that has been put to death and is alive again; resurrection also denotes life that springs forth from something that has passed through death—John 11:25; Acts 2:24; Rev. 1:18.

b.　Because the water of life is in resurrection, it is victorious and transcends every negative thing—Eph. 1:19-22;2:5-6.

c.　When we drink the water of life in resurrection, we be- come persons in resurrection and of resurrection—1 Cor.10:4; 2 Cor. 1:9; 4:14.

2.　We need to drink and flow the water of life in resurrection—John 7:37-39:

a.　When we identify ourselves with the smitten Christ, the divine life as the living water flows out of us—Exo. 17:6; John 7:38.

b.　If we drink and flow the water of life in resurrection, we will be "the brook" (signifying the overcomers) from which Christ will drink as He is taking the lead to fight in the day of His warfare—Psa. 110:7.

3.　In Numbers 20:8 God told Moses to "take therod" and"speak to the rock…so that it yields its water":

a.　To "take the rod" is to identify with Christ in His death and apply the death of Christ to ourselves and our situation.

b.　To "speak to the rock" is to speak a direct word to Christ as the smitten rock, asking Him to give us the Spirit of life based on the fact that the Spirit has already been given—John 4:10.

B.　The good land, a type of the all-inclusive Christ, is "a land of waterbrooks, of springs and of fountains"—Deut. 8:7:

1.　The fountain is the source, the spring is the issue of the source, and the waterbrook, or the river, is the flow.

2.　The water in the good land flows forth "in valleys and in mountains"—v. 7b:

a.　"Flowing forth in valleys and in mountains" indicates that Christ as the living water flows in different environments.

b.　The valleys are the experiences of the cross, the experiences of the death of Christ, and the mountains are the experiences of Christ's resurrection—2 Cor. 1:9; 4:11, 14.

C.　Psalm 72:8 reveals that, in His reigning, Christ "will have dominion…from the River unto the ends of the earth":

1.　The Lord's kingdom will spread to the ends of the earth by His flowingas a river; He will have dominion andwill flow as a river to the ends of the earth; where the flow is, there His dominion will be—Rev. 11:15; Joel 3:18.

2.　The Lord Jesus will recover the earth by means of the river that will flow from Jerusalem (Ezek. 47:1-12; Joel 3:18); this river will reach all the earth in four directions, as in Genesis 2:10-14.

D.　God's intention in His economy is to be the fountain, the source, of living waters to satisfy His chosen people for their enjoyment—Jer. 2:13:

1.　God wants us to take Him as the fountain of living waters, the unique source of our living—Rom. 11:36.

2.　God's goal in being the fountain of living waters is to pro- duce the church as His increase to be His fullness for His expression; this is the heart's desire, the good pleasure, of God in His economy—Eph. 1:5, 9, 22-23:

a.　God needs to be the fountain of livingwaters to His elect because He has an economy, and His economy is to produce a counterpart, a bride, for Himself—John 3:29a;4:14; Rev. 19:7-8.

b.　Our drinking of God as the fountain of living waters is for the church as His increase; our drinking is for the producing of His enlargement, His fullness, for His expression—John 4:14; 3:29a, 30a; 1 Cor. 12:12-13.

c.　Nothing apart from God as the fountain of living waters can quench our thirst and satisfy us; nothing apart from God dispensed into our being can make us His increase for His expression—Rev. 22:1, 17.

E.　In Ezekiel 47:1-12 we have the vision of the water flowing out from the house:

1.　The water here signifies the Triune God as the water of life flowing out from eternity to quench the thirst of His people—John 4:14; Rev. 22:1, 17.

2.　The deeper the water is, the more we abandon our self-effort, forsake our own direction, and allow the flow to carry us on—Ezek. 47:3-5.

F.　The Gospel of John portrays the flowing Triune God—4:14:

1.　The Triune God flows in the Divine Trinity in three stages: the Father is the fountain, the Son is the spring, and the Spirit is the river.

2.　This flowing Triune God is "into eternal life"; into speaks of destination, which is the New Jerusalem as the totality of the eternal life—Rev. 22:1.

3.　The Father as the fountain, the Son as the spring, and the Spirit as the river flow into us and with us into the New Jerusalem to be the New Jerusalem—21:10-11; 22:1:

4.　The Father as the fountain, the Son as the spring, and the Spirit as the river all take the New Jerusalem as Their eternal goal.

G.　Revelation 22:1 speaks of "a river of water of life":

1.　This river, typified by the rivers in Genesis 2:10-14, Psalm46:4a, and Ezekiel 47:5-9, signifies the abundance of life in its flow:

a.　It is one river, flowing to the four corners of the holy city, like the one river in Genesis 2:10-14, which parts into four branches.

b.　As indicated in John 7:38, this one river with its riches becomes many rivers in our experience of the different aspects of God's Spirit of life—Rom. 8:2; 15:30; 1 Thes.1:6; 2 Thes. 2:13; Gal. 5:22-23.

c.　The water of life is a symbol of God in Christ as the Spirit flowing Himself into His redeemed people to be their life and life supply.

d.　This water is typified by the water that came out of the riven rock and symbolized by the water that flowed out of the Lord's pierced side—Exo. 17:6; John 19:34.

e.　In Revelation 22:1 the water of life becomes a river, proceeding out of the throne of God andof the Lamb to supply andsaturate the entire New Jerusalem; thus, this city is filled with the divine life so that it may ex- press God in His glory of life—21:23.

2.　The river of water of life proceeds "out of the throne of God and of the Lamb"—22:1:

a.　In eternity God who sits on the throne is the Lamb-God,our redeeming God, from whose throne proceeds the river of water of life for our supply and satisfaction.

b.　This depicts how the Triune God—God, the Lamb, and the Spirit, who is symbolized by the water of life—dispenses Himself into His redeemed people under His headship (implied in the authority of the throne) for eternity.