Last Days Glory

David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

The prophet Ezekiel testifies, “He brought me through the waters” (Ezekiel 47:3). In a vision, God took the prophet on an amazing trip through water. Carrying a measuring rod, the Lord paced off 1,000 cubits, about one-third of a mile. The Lord and Ezekiel then began walking in the water, which was flowing about ankle high.

The Lord kept urging the prophet onward, deeper and farther into the river. After another 1,000 cubits, the water came up to the knees — and it was still rising. Do you see what’s happening here? Ezekiel was walking into the future, right into our time.

Christians today live in the final 1,000 cubits of the river in this vision. We’re in the very last measurement of water and Ezekiel says that when he stepped to the edge of this measure, the water was too deep for him, too overwhelming. “I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim” (47:5). In other words, the water was over his head.

All the Old Testament prophets had a limited vision of Christ. Jesus himself tells us, “Assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it” (Matthew 13:17). The Lord reveals in this prophetic vision that in the very last days, the church of Jesus Christ will be more glorious, more victorious, than in its entire history. The Lord’s true body isn’t going to weaken and sputter; it’s not going to dwindle in numbers or decrease in power or spiritual authority. No, his church will go out in a blaze of power and glory. And it will enjoy the fullest revelation of Jesus that anyone has ever known.

Ezekiel writes, “Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many” (47:10). Ezekiel is saying that a body of believers will swim in rising waters of the Lord’s presence and God’s presence among his people is going to increase until the very end.

In the midst of all the death and destruction we see happening, the Lord’s prophecy thunders, “My river is going to rise and everything will live where my river flows.” You see, the river of life, which will crest just prior to the Lord’s coming, brings life wherever it goes.