The River

The constellation Eridanus, the River, stretches over 60 degrees—the longest constellation on our sky maps. It was identified as a constellation from earliest times, from the Middle East to China.

People have argued that Eridanus pictures the Nile or the Euphrates, but that would hardly be the Chinese thought. The ancients considered the River to extend indefinitely, and that gives us a clue as to its true signification.

Achenar, the brightest star in Eridanus, means latter part of the river, which helps identify Cursa, the second brightest star, as the head of the river. Cursa is the Hebrew word for throne. The Arabic name is Chair of the Central One. The Chinese called it the Golden Well.

How did a throne or a well get connected to a river—a river that goes on forever? It’s not a natural image. No, the constellation figure is supernatural in origin, and used later in the Bible.

God gave Ezekiel a vision of a future temple and had him measure it. “Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the temple faced east.” (Ezekiel 47:1) The water flowing from the temple became deeper until it was “a river that could not be crossed,” (v. 5). It was full of life and lined with fruit trees whose leaves never withered.

The Apostle John describes it in The Revelation: “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Rev. 22:1-2)

The water of that river is available. Jesus spoke of when He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)

I love this hymn by Anne Ross Cousin:

O Christ, He is the fountain,
The deep sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I’ve tasted,
More deep I’ll drink above!
There, to an ocean fullness,
His mercy doth expand.
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.