Ochendo: An African Journal of Innovative Studies

Environmental degradation and public health crises increasingly converge across contemporary Africa. Water pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change, and poor sanitation reveal the interdependence of ecological wellbeing and human health. This article offers an African diaspora interpretation of Ezekiel 47:1–12 as a biblicaltheological framework for addressing these challenges. The study employs a qualitative interdisciplinary design combining biblical exegesis, documentary research, and African diaspora theological interpretation, with ecological hermeneutics as the principal interpretive lens. The exegetical analysis examines Ezekiel 47:1–12 within its historical, literary, and canonical contexts, while documentary analysis engages scholarship in Old Testament studies, African biblical hermeneutics, environmental theology, and public health, alongside reports on water security and biodiversity. The study argues that, although the river flowing from the restored temple has traditionally symbolised Israel's restoration after the Babylonian exile, the passage carries profound ecological and public health significance when read through African diaspora hermeneutics. The analysis shows how biblical faith, cultural memory, and indigenous ecological knowledge illuminate the healing waters as symbols of environmental renewal and communal wellbeing. It further places Ezekiel's vision in dialogue with public health ecology, demonstrating that environmental restoration contributes to disease prevention, food security, biodiversity conservation, and communal resilience. The article argues that churches can advance ecological restoration through environmental education, water conservation, sanitation initiatives, and public advocacy. Ezekiel's vision thus provides a theological paradigm for integrating environmental ethics and public health policy in Africa.

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