By Bode Ayodele
Wells play a very vital role in the bible.
Many important bible characters located their blessings besides - or had something to do with wells.
Why are wells so important? What are the different kinds of spiritual wells in existence and what roles do they play in our lives today? How do you know the kind of wells in operation in your life? These are a few of the questions we will examine in this message. I pray that the Lord will give you understanding as you read on.
In order to put things in the right perspective we will start by defining a well. One dictionary defines a well as “a spring or natural source of water” Yet another definition refers to a well as a “hole drilled into the earth to obtain water, petroleum, natural gas, brine or sulphur.”
It is also referred to as “a place where water issues from, a spring or fountain.”
As regards the biblical usage of the word it is used in the same sense as pit or spring of water. However, according to Strong’s Bible dictionary, this should be distinguished from "a fountain on the surface of the ground or flowing from a rock."
With the foregoing definitions in mind let us examine wells in the biblical sense and their spiritual significance to Christians today.
A study of the bible will reveal that there are good and bad wells. There are wells of good fortune and wells of bad fortune.
In fact, every source is a well of some sorts. You will discover as you read further that the abundance of whatever you have in life (good or bad) is determined by the type of wells you are drawing from.
Let us proceed by examining some biblical characters and the roles wells played in their lives.
HAGAR
Hagar was given to Abraham by her mistress, Sarah, to bear a child on the latter’s behalf.
When she conceived and put to bed Hagar disrespected her mistress and was sent packing. She left with her son, a loaf of bread and a bottle of water. But an incident occurred - signifying the important role a well could play in ones life. The bible records in Genesis:
Genesis 21:15-19
(15) And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
(16) And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
(17) And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
(18) Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
(19) And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
God opened Hagar’s eyes to see the well of water. The well saved her life.
The well had been there all along but Hagar did not see it until her eyes were opened by the Lord.
Like Hagar, there could be wells of goodness and opportunity around us but we need the Lord to open our eyes to see them.
Unless our eyes are opened (spiritually in this sense) such wells may go unnoticed leading us to experience unnecessary lack and shame.
I think at this point we should pause to take these prayer points.
*Oh ord, open my eyes to see the wells of blessings around me.
*No well of goodness in my destiny shall go undiscovered in the name of Jesus.
Next let us examine the case of Abraham.
ABRAHAM
Abraham surely understood the importance of wells. The bible states that Abraham and Abimelech, the King of Gerar, disputed over the ownership of a well.
Genesis 21:25
(25) And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.
Here it is obvious both parties realised the importance of wells.
The well was their source of water. Water is the source of life.
Cattle and agricultural produce in those days were the main source of wealth. Without water the cattle and vegetation would die.
While member of Abraham’s camp laboured and dug up the wells in question, those in Abimelech camp were just waiting to forcefully take the wells away. They wanted to reap where they did not sow.
At this point let us pause to take this prayer point.
Any personality seeking to violently control the wells of my life die and release them in the name of Jesus.
Going further in the book of Genesis one will see another well playing a vital role in Abraham’s dynasty.
It was besides a well that his servant met Rebekah, the wife of Isaac. Genesis 24:13 records:
Behold, I stand [here] by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
Gen 24:14: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: [let the same be] she [that] thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.
Abraham servant realised that where there was water there was life. He knew that wells signify life.
God honoured the prayer of Abraham’s servant and Rebecca appeared. When you locate the well of prosperity ordained for your life your blessings will appear.
Food for Thought: When you get to the well of prosperity ordained for your life your blessing will appear.
As God would have it, when Abraham’s servant returned home with Rebekah it was besides a well, the well of Lahairoi, that Isaac met her.
Genesis 24:62-65: And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country.
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels [were] coming
And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.
Isaac’s meeting of his wife besides the well signified that the marriage would be a fruitful and prosperous one.
This fact is further seen in his story after the death of his father.
Isaac
The bible states that the Philistines envied Isaac and stopped all the wells that his father Abraham had dug.
Genesis 26:12-15:
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him
And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
The Philistines did not try to violently possess the wells; they stopped them, filling them up with sand.
They did not want Isaac to prosper like his father.
But God gave Isaac favour and he was able to dig out the wells his father gave him which the enemy filled with sand.
Genesis 26:18:
And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
Another fact we can deduce about wells from the forgoing passage is that wells have names.
What are the names of the wells in your life? Are they wells of goodness or wells of shame? Are they wells of embarrassment, or wells of prosperity?
If you notice that whatever you do or get involved in ends up in embarrassment and shame it means there is an evil source - an evil well - programmed by the enemy into your life that is responsible for such misfortune.
Or, on the other hand, if you notice difficulties where you easily experienced success before, it is likely that the wells of favour and goodness in your life have been blocked by the enemy.
In both cases you need to pray fervently to reverse the situation.
Please take the following prayer points:
I excavate every well of prosperity in my life that my enemy has filled with sand in the name of Jesus.
I fill up with sand every evil well the enemy has dug in my life in the name of Jesus.
Apart from the fact that Isaac inherited wells from his father, God also blessed him with wells.
We read in Genesis 26:19-22
And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
And the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, the water [is] ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
Here we read about a well of springing water.
There must have been something good about those wells for the Herdsmen of Gerar to strive, not just for one, but two of them.
When Isaac eventually dug a well that was not strived for he said that it was a sign that he would prosper in the land.
This statement indicates that he realised wells represent prosperity.
Many of us have had our wells of prosperity blocked by spiritual Philistines. Such wells shall be dug out today.
Jacob.
Jacob, in a similar fashion to his father, located his wife, besides a well.
The bible says that the well was covered with a great stone. Rachael the daughter of Laban who came with her father’s sheep could not move it.
The Lord used Jacob to help her roll the stone away.
Genesis 29:8-10
(9) And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them.
(10) And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.
If you read the preceding verses you will realise that there were others at the well that wanted to, but could not fetch water from the well, because of the stone.
Is there a well of blessings before you that has been blocked by the stone of the enemy? The angel of God will roll away the stone today in the name of Jesus. Please take the following prayer point.
Oh Lord, help me to roll away any stone at the mouth of my well of goodness in the name of Jesus.
When Isaac was to bless his children he described Joseph, the inheritor of his blessings, as a bough by a well.
(Gen 49:22) Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
“Branches run over the wall” signifies that his wealth shall be a blessing to others.
Indeed the wealth Joseph acquired in his lifetime was a blessing to many.
Furthermore about Joseph, remember his brethren prior to this prophecy had thrown him into a pit, a well without water!
The Lord however took him out of the bad pit and placed him, according to what we read in Genesis 49:22, besides a good well.
I pray that the Lord shall cause you to be transferred from any evil well to the well of goodness and blessing in the name of Jesus.
Moses
Another example of a person in whom a well played a significant role in his life was Moses. When he fled before the presence of Pharaoh the bible records that he sat besides a well.
Exodus 2:15
(15) Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
Why did he sit besides a well? Because he knew that wells attract good things. He realised that wells were the source of water, the source of life.
Food for thought: Have you noticed the grass (turf or vegetation) around sources of water (wells) is always greener than the grass elsewhere.
Moses action soon paid off, for his wife-to- be and in-laws came to the well.
Exodus 2:16-18
(16) Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
(17) And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
Subsequently Moses was introduced to the Priest of Midian and married into the latter’s family. By the locating the right well he discovered a wife, shelter and a source of income all at once.
Please pause to take this prayer point:
I shall locate the wells of my blessing in the name of Jesus.
As we indicated earlier, there are both negative and positive wells, let us examine some negative wells mentioned in the bible.
A negative well is a well without water, or, as the bible puts it, a pit.
Numerous pits are referred to in the scriptures.
In 2 Peter 2:17 Peter refers to those who have gone astray as "wells without water.” Psalm 55:23 refers to "pits of destruction" while proverbs 23:27 mentions "narrow pit."
In Proverbs 28:10 the bible refers to the “own pit" while Zechariah 9:11 speaks about "pits for prisoners."
Dwelling on the fact that wells are sources from which you draw from, it is safe to conclude that the source from which the enemy draws ammunition to attack you is an evil well that must be blocked.
This is one of the reasons why God told the children of Israel to fill up the wells of the Moabites with sand.
(2Ki 3:19) And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.
By stopping the wells of the Moabites the Israelites would stop the source of their wealth and strength.
I decree let every evil well the enemy is using to attack you be blocked by the angels of God in the name of Jesus.
Brethren, there are wells and there are wells. This is why David said he longed to drink water from a particular well - the well of Bethlehem.
He had drunk water from this well in the past and was able to distinguish its qualities from other wells.
As we saw in 2 Peter, the people you come in touch could serve as a well - either good or bad.
The church you attend could serve as your well of blessings.
David recognised the fact that people served as wells. When he was informed that Ahithophel had joined forces with Absalom to overthrow his kingdom he recognised the former as a well of wisdom whose advice Absalom could count on. This is why he prayed that the Lord would make the counsel of Ahithophel amount to nothing before the eyes of Absalom.
(2Sa 15:31) And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
In other words a good friend who gives you good advice serves as a well of blessing. While a bad friend whose advice when followed leads you astray is a bad well that must be done away with.
In conclusion, one will recall that our Lord Jesus Christ revealed who He was to the Samaritan woman besides Jacob’s well. This was the same well inherited by Joseph. It is no coincidence brethren that the subject of discussion between the Lord and this woman besides the well was "living water."
(John 4:6) Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
(John 4:7) There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, give me to drink.
(John 4:8) (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
(John 4:9) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, how is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
(John 4:10) Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
(John 4:11) The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
(John 4:12) Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
(John 4:13) Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
(John 4:14) But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
(John 4:15) The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Jesus made it clear to this woman that a physical well could only provide her with physical water. He however pointed out that he could turn one into a well of spiritual water- living water- that never goes dry.
Likewise, the Lord said that if any thirst he should come unto him and out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
(John 7:37) In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
(John 7:38) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
(John 7:39) (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Once again the pledge to make one a well of living water is repeated.
May I ask what kind of well are you? After spending an hour in conversation with you what will a person leave with insults and foul language or love and inspiration to serve God?
The kind of stuff that comes out from your inner being depends on the kind of well within. May the Lord fill your life with wells of blessing, love and goodness in the name of Jesus.
Please take these prayer points:
Oh Lord, turn my life into a well of living waters.
Lord Jesus purify the wells of my life.
I shall locate my well of prosperity and wealth in the name of Jesus.
I shall draw from the good wells in this land in the name of Jesus.
Any friend serving as a well of misfortune and ill-advice in my life be cut off in the name of Jesus.
Postscript: Repent and believe, remember hell is real, heaven is real. No matter how long we spend here on earth it cannot be compared to the time we shall spend in eternity. Hebrews 12:14 states: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
