47:1-5​—What is pictured by the water of Ezekiel’s visionary river? The water pictures Jehovah’s spiritual provisions for life, including the ransom sacrifice of Christ Jesus and the knowledge of God found in the Bible. (Jeremiah 2:13; John 4:7-26; Ephesians 5:25-27) The river progressively deepens to accommodate the influx of new ones who take up true worship. (Isaiah 60:22) The river will be flowing with the most potent water of life during the Millennium, and its waters will include further understanding obtained from the “scrolls” that will then be opened.​—Revelation 20:12; 22:1, 2.

47:9, 11. Knowledge​—a vital feature of the symbolic water—​has been accomplishing a wonderful healing in our time. Wherever it is taken in, it brings people to life spiritually. (John 17:3) On the other hand, those who do not accept the life-giving water will be ‘given to salt’​—destroyed permanently. How vital it is that ‘we do our utmost to handle the word of the truth aright’!​—2 Timothy 2:15.