The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. – Ezekiel 47:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 9, 2014): Ezekiel 47

Alexander Pope’s poem “An Essay on Criticism” (1709) warns that bad criticism is responsible for doing more harm than bad writing. According to Pope, a critic who refuses or is unable to understand what the author is speaking about should also refuse to be a critic of the work. Pope maintains that bad writing may “tire our Patience,” but a bad critic “misleads our sense” – in essence a bad critic challenges our intelligence.

Part II of Pope’s poem contains the famous couplet –

A little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.

For Pope, it made absolutely no sense to learn a little about something – if you wanted to learn, then spend the time and the effort to know as much about it as you can. It would seem that for Pope, this is the danger of the critic. The temptation of the critic is to know a little and yet criticize – often criticizing things that are beyond what they know. The reference to the Pierian spring is from Greek mythology. The spring was a holy place – a place where writers came to celebrate their art and to get in touch with the inner muses – the imaginative center of every writer. There are a few holy springs in Greek mythology. And there have been a few in Christian history – especially during the Middle Ages. These springs were often Pagan springs that were eventually Christianized. Strictly speaking, a sacred or holy spring is any water source of limited size that has some significance in folklore.

As Ezekiel begins to close of his prophecy, he speaks of a holy spring. And this is something new. Neither of the temples that have been built (Solomon’s and Zerubbabel’s or Herod’s) had a spring under the temple. Ezekiel describes the temple facing the east, and the spring flowing under the temple from the west side of the building. That would place Ezekiel’s holy spring directly under the Holy of holies which would have been opposite the main entrance to the temple. So maybe it is appropriate that the holy water of Ezekiel’s temple flows directly from the seat of God.

Both of the first two temples required an aqueduct that would carry water into the temple so that the sacrifices and the various cleansings could be carried out. According to Jewish law, ritual cleansing had to be done with naturally pure and unused water that was clear in color, and it must be poured in order to be effective. And Ezekiel’s spring would take care of all of these requirements of God –with water that flowed directly from the throne of God. The water that flows from the Holy of holies is water that God hopes we will drink deep from – not so that we can get in touch with our muses, but rather so that we can experience the very Holiness of God.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 48