The River of Living Water
• What is the River of Living Water?
• Where does it begin and where is it going?
• What does it do and what is its purpose?
• How can I be a part of it?
There are numerous passages of scripture where the Living Water is spoken about and in every instance it is something that brings life and blessing to those who jump in and allow the water to carry them along in its flow. One familiar passage is found in John chapter 4 where Jesus meets the woman at the well.
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? (Notice that it was a well that she was trying to drink from. It was stagnant water, a cistern. It may have been fed from the ground, but it didn’t have a constant flow of water filling it or it would have overflowed and caused a creed or river to form.)
We find the answer to the source of the River in John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
The “belly” found in this scripture refers to the heart. It would come from within Jesus alone, and it would be all-sufficient for every spiritual thirst. It was more than natural flowing water, which is what the world would call “living water”. This water was “spiritual, supernatural and of heavenly origin”. This Living Water came from God above to the earth and to men below, and later on we will see its origin and its destination more clearly.)
Sometimes, in reading the Bible, it is often hard for us to understand, and grasp the full meaning of certain phrases and object lessons because they come from a Hebrew mindset that is very different than our own. Many words translate one way into English, but actually have a richer meaning when seen in the Hebrew language, or even in the Greek.
It’s also important to have somewhat of an understanding of the spiritual imagery that the Bible uses; to get into the minds of the ancient Israelites and see how they saw things which helped them to experience God’s presence in the world.
The Jews often find pictures and object lessons that teach theological concepts in the world around them, and God often communicated with them through those things that they saw. Jesus also uses object lessons and images to tell about himself. Sometimes they are called Parables, which many believe are only stories, but which I personally believe are true stories that teach a moral. We need to understand his culture, and some things concerning Hebrew thought in order to comprehend more of Jesus’ message, both to Israel and to the church.
One of the things that can be much greater understood is this idea of what is meant by “Living Water”.
We will look at some of those images and ideas about water in the Bible and try to expand our understanding of what the River of Living Water is all about and in the process try to answer all of the questions that we had in the beginning.
In the Middle East, water is often scarce and precious. Water is necessary for survival and without it everything suffers and dies. But it only rains a few months out of the year in Israel, and the rest of the time the ancient Jews survived on stagnant water that was stored in cisterns in the ground, just like the one where Jesus met the woman at the well. Survival meant getting up early, walking perhaps miles to the well with a large empty waterpot, and then walking miles back carrying the water on your shoulder.
Some of us remember the time when there was no running water in the house. It meant going out in the heat, or in the cold, perhaps at night, priming the pump handle in the yard or the shed, filling up a bucket or two and them carrying them back in. It was outside, but at least it was close. There have been a lot of people who have had to abandon homes and move simply because the well ran dry and there was no water near enough to live on. So it was time to move and find a new well. And in some places they hired “Water Witches” with “Magic sticks” to find water when things got desperate.
In South Louisiana you can dig a well just about anywhere, but the further north or west you go, the harder it is to find water and the deeper you have to go. I remember my grandparents in Port Vincent digging their well with a pipe and a water hose with a nozzle that was pressurized from the well next door.
It was only about 30 feet deep, maybe less. It had the hardest water you’ve ever tasted. There were so much iron and minerals in the water that it turned everything brown, and tended to change the taste of whatever you cooked, but it was potable if you didn’t mind the taste. As far as I know that well was still in use until the house was abandoned back in the late 70’s.
Wells were scare in Israel, and they were often the site of arguments and social gatherings because everybody had to go there at some point. So when rain does fall after many months of clear blue skies, it is looked upon as a blessing and a miraculous gift from God.
The difference with or without rain in Israel is amazing – the hills can be barren and brown much of the year, but after a season of rain, they will be covered in green meadows and flowers. Where there are rivers, lush vegetation surrounds them, while only yards away, everything is dead and dry.
All you need to do is a little research to see how that the prophetic word of God over Israel is coming to pass through the irrigation projects, because the desert is blooming once again and Israel has become a major exporter of produce to Europe and the world.
Out of this natural phenomenon of water bringing life, arose the idea of living water, or mayim chayim (MY-eem KHY-eem), which means to obtain water in the form of rain or that is flowing from a natural spring. This is water has has come directly from God, not carried by human hands or stored in cisterns. It also is contrasted with sea water, especially that of the Dead Sea, which looks refreshing but is poisonous, and makes the land around it barren.
Living water was strongly associated with the presence of God. Many times in the scriptures, God is called the source of living water.
Genesis 2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. (The source of 4 rivers; Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel and Euphrates)
What’s so important here is that Eden is where God planted a garden, and it’s where He walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of evening. God’s presence in Eden was the source of its that Living Water that sprang from the ground like artesian wells. It wasn’t rain, but it was the God of Heaven, coming down to personally create life, forming man out of the dust of the ground with water to form clay, and then God breathed his own breath of life into the clay to give it life.
Wherever the Presence of God could be found, the Living Water would flow, but wherever men would forsake him, the blessings would stop and the judgment would begin.
Jeremiah 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
It wasn’t just Israel that knew of the source of Living Water. Other nations, and worldly cultures understood that water was associated with the presence of their gods.
Pagans of the first century, who worshiped Pan, set up their shrines at the great cave from which the Jordan River began to flow at Caesarea Philippi, north of Galilee, and called it the “Gates of Hades”.
This image of God’s presence wherever living water was found was common to many cultures of that area, and God used that image to teach his people about himself.
One lesson that the ancient Hebrews would have learned about God’s ways came from the contrast in the water sources of Egypt and Israel. God used the power of water to give his promises to the Children of Israel concerning the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 11:10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
Deuteronomy 11:11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:
Deuteronomy 11:12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
Deuteronomy 11:13-15 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.
The difference between Egypt and the promised land of Canaan was that in Egypt almost no rain fell, and crops depended upon irrigation by the flooding Nile River and by the labor of men who carried water by hand, or dug irrigation canals. In Canaan the land was entirely watered by rain from God.
The Egyptians had their gods of the Nile like the crocodile and they built temples along the Nile, but they didn’t have the presence of the God of Israel in order to get the rain from heavens. Egypt achieved its food source through human effort to bring water where it was needed and built their dynasties. Egypt and Canaan were a contrast of human effort compared to being fully dependent on Yahweh.
There was a spiritual lesson for the Israelites when they left the land of Egypt for the promised land of Canaan. And it’s a lesson that we still need to learn today.
When God chose a land for his people, he didn’t choose a place where they could have security because of their own efforts, he chose a land where they would be far more dependent on him and would need his presence watching over them to send them the rain of living water. They would be far better off depending fully upon God, than upon the arm of the flesh.
Many Christians have seen God do the same thing in their own lives, when they step out to follow him and he takes them from security of their own effort and brings them to a point of dependence on him, which doesn’t always include prosperity as the world sees it.
Even though Israel is the “Promised Land,” in many places the land is not nearly as lush as Egypt. It is interesting that God often desires dependence for his people rather than abundance. That flies in the face of the message of the “prosperity gospel”. The “greener grass” of Egypt isn’t always what it appears to be and can become a deadly trap. But the presence of Jehovah in our midst is better than the price of rubies and brings greater blessings than anything this world has to offer. Only in His presence can we find eternal life.
For the Israelites, the presence of rain in Israel was very much associated with blessing by God, and its absence with his disapproval. Almost every prophet decreed that drought would come as a punishment when Israel would sin. But God’s redemption was like the blessing of an abundance of rain, giving them living water to drink.
Israel often came to the place where they were much like so many in the church today. They were fearful, doubting, living in worry about what the future held and whether they can really be the overcomers that the Bible tells us we should be. But look at what God had to say to them through Isaiah’s prophetic words. If God said this to Israel, He does not change, and the same promises are for the church today.
Isaiah 35:4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
Isaiah 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Isaiah 35:6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
Isaiah 35:7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
God’s promise is that the River of Living Water will flow in the midst of his people and he will heal, He will deliver, He will give new life and faith; and those who dwell in the place where the devil seems to reign, and where the demons and powers of hell seem to be in control, New Water shall break forth and there will be streams of Living Water flowing to provide for God’s people.
Because living water came directly from God, it is easy to see that it also is a picture of the moving of God’s Spirit in the world. When God promised to redeem his people, he promised to send his Spirit.
Isaiah 44:2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.
(Jacob is Israel and Jesurun is a transliteration of the Hebrew word "Jeshuruwn"—simply meaning "upright, blessed and supremely happy". It is a symbolic name for all of the ecclesia, or the Children of God and the position of honor JEHOVAH God desired for her.)
Isaiah 44:3-4 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
In Joel, the outpouring of God’s Spirit in the last days is closely associated with the idea of living water that rains down from the Lord himself.
Joel 2:23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
And what are the results of this Living Water - the former rain and latter rain accompanied by the presence of the Lord!
God is causing the rain of two seasons to fall at the same time, and I believe these rains are falling right now. The spiritual rain is falling, and it is accomplishing it’s work that is meant for two things.
There are two seasons of the year in which rain was given to the Jews; the former rain fell in Mar-Chesvan, which is during our months of September and, October. It was to soften the ground and make it fertile for Israel’s seedtime for planting. Then the latter rain was known as “Nisan”, the first month of the ecclesiastical year of Israel, which occurs during our March and April. This rain would cause the harvest to grow, to ripen and produce a plentiful harvest. Now they were promised to come at the same time.
What does that mean? It means that the rain of the Holy Spirit that prepares the hearts of men for the planting of the seed of the gospel is doing it’s work while the rain of the Holy Spirit to bring forth the harvest of souls for the Kingdom of God is happening at the same time! The preaching of the Word and the Greatest Harvest that the world has ever known are happening right now as the Living Water comes from the presence of the Lord!
The promise of Joel chapter 2 is happening now, but it began on the Day of Pentecost, during Nisan
Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Joel 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
On Mount Sinai, the Presence of God rested upon the mountain and he began to speak to Moses.
This is what the Hebrew historians in the Targum say about the voice of God:
When a word had issued from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be His Name, it appeared in the form of sparks or thunderbolts or flames like torches of fire … then a flame on the right and a tongue of fire on the left would fly through the air and return and hover over the heads of the Israelites, and then return and cut or burn itself into the tablets of the Law.
The ”tablets” were the stones of an altar, according to the Jews. In their Mishnah it is written, “On the stones of the altar on Mount Ebal were inscribed all the words of the Torah in seventy tongues, meaning that it was inscribed in all the languages of mankind.”
God had called Moses to the top of the Mountain to give his Law, or the teachings of the Torah to Israel, and this time eventually began to be called Shavout, which is the beginning of the wheat harvest. The harvest time was already underway, having begun at Passover or the time of the Barley harvest.
Now lets travel forward in time to see what happens in Acts chapter 2 on the Day of Pentecost in an upper room in Jerusalem where the New Born church was gathered and praying, expecting something from God. It was at the time of the beginning of the harvest in Israel.
Acts 2:1-3 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Many nations, languages and tongues were there to hear as the Spirit fell and gave the utterances. God spoke once again to every language, and what was his message being given? It was the wonderful works of God including the way of salvation!
What God was saying to Israel when the Holy Ghost Rain fell was that this was the fulfillment of his promise from the Prophet Joel.
The imagery is the same; the tongues of fire, the multiple languages, the sound from heaven; as the very presence of God speaking to his people, occupying his people and enduing them with his own power to bring in the harvest! It’s the former rain and the latter rain together. It started that day as a downpour, that is still growing!
This image of living water is an important feature of the ministry of Jesus. In the book of John, he explains that he is the one who truly brings living water into the world. He says to the Samaritan woman,
John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 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.
And later, during the feast of Sukkot, on the last and greatest day, when the prayers of Israel were an impassioned plea for God to bless them with rain, Jesus stood up and shouted.
John 7:37-38 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. 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.)
An interesting rabbinic insight is that “living water” is also understood to mean that we can have a true knowledge of God. Certainly this is associated with the Holy Spirit, who teaches us God’s will and guides and directs us. And certainly it is associated with Jesus’ ministry of revealing God’s true character by giving himself in the act of sacrificial love for us.
Living Water is a contrast to the “brackish water” like that of the Dead Sea. That water which contains no life, is representative of a false knowledge of God, that false prophets and twisted doctrines yield. Although it looks fine to the eye, it is very deadly and poisonous!
In Hebrew, the word for knowledge is “da’at” and it carries the meaning of intimacy and care, as when we know a person, we care for them. So, living water as knowledge of God really means an intimate relationship with him, which is what the Spirit leads us to do.
Now look quickly with me at another wonderful prophecy that is connected to the flowing of the Living Water. In this prophecy you will gain a clear view of what the Living Water is doing in our time.
In Ezekiel 47, the prophet Ezekiel is at the temple, and sees a little trickle of water flowing out from under the altar. The water flows out of the temple down the south stairs. A thousand cubits from the temple, the flowing river of living water has grown ankle-deep, and a thousand more cubits it is knee-deep, and a thousand more it is waist deep, and finally it becomes a stream so deep and wide that it can’t be crossed.
This little stream from the temple is flowing southeast out of Jerusalem toward the Dead Sea, twelve miles away. The land to the east of Jerusalem is arid, and the area near the Dead Sea is a poisoned salt wasteland where absolutely nothing can live.
But this stream has a marvelous affect that continues in the vision of Ezekiel. It continues to grow and to change things wherever it flows! On the banks of the river there were very many trees on the one side and on the other, so it carried the power to give life to the barren land wherever it went.
In the vision God spoke to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 47:8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. (That which is dead and cannot give life will be healed and life shall spring forth)
Ezekiel 47:9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.
Ezekiel 47:10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.
Ezekiel 47:11 But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. (Notice that death will reign wherever the River of Living Water does not flow)
Ezekiel 47:12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.
The image of this river of life flowing from the temple in Ezekiel 47 describes the outpouring of the Spirit that occurred at Pentecost.
Of course, the Spirit first fell on the people in the upper room, those first members of the Body of Christ, who were the temple of the Lord. As they were worshiping there, tongues of flame settled on them. It was as if the Spirit started trickling out of the sanctuary to that little “puddle” of believers.
It is said that when Peter preached to the people at the temple at Pentecost, he was probably standing on the south stairs, where the water in Ezekiel’s vision flowed! That is a large public gathering place where the worshippers entered the temple, a common site of public teaching. Also at the south stairs are the mikvehs (ceremonial baths), where 3000 people that day were baptized in living water.
The trickle of God’s Spirit became ankle deep as the first believers shared the gospel and many in the city believed, and then knee deep as they carried the gospel to the surrounding countries. Instead of running out of energy as it flowed, the river of God’s Spirit got deeper and wider as it flowed, and its still flowing today, growing ever deeper and ever wider!
Do you begin to see the picture? Oh what a time to be alive: to see the River of Living Water coming to the fulfillment of its journey that began in the Book of Genesis in the Garden of Eden; picked up depth and width as it continued past Mt. Sinai; swept over Israel during the time of Christ; then began to burst forth even more on the Day of Pentecost in the upper room, and now it has grown wide and deep and it’s still growing!
And its ultimate destination is that of the most desolate of wastelands, full of the poisonous, brackish water of the Dead Sea, pointing to the dark, deadly, dying world that knows not God. Anywhere it touches it gives new life and an intimate relationship with God where there was only death before.
One of the places where this river of life flows is En-Gedi, which is an oasis full of waterfalls and shows the image of Living Water fed by waters that come down from the mountains of Jerusalem where it began to flow. These waterfalls are part of that “River of Life” of God’s Holy Spirit that he is pouring out on the world. There are a lot of waterfalls, telling us that the River of God is flowing in many directions and falling in many places. (The gospel will be preached to every nation and tongue as the river flows in these last days)
What is God’s final plan for this river that gets deeper and wider as it flows?
That answer is found in both Habakkuk chapter 2 and in Isaiah chapter 11 where the scriptures declare: “The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
I know that I’ve given you a lot this morning, but let me leave you with this:
The River of Living Water is flowing right now! It has come to you and to me. It’s flowing all over the earth as the presence of the Lord and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost is happening in a multitude of places. We are in the time of the Former and the Latter Rain falling together bringing forth the greatest harvest of all time!
Are you flowing with the River? Are you moving along with the Living Water? Is the Holy Spirit within you telling you to rise up and work and help bring in the harvest?
That’s a question that only you can answer, but I don’t want any of us to be left out! Let’s jump in and flow with the Living Water and allow the presence of God to lead us wherever he desires. I want to be where the River of Living Water is flowing and growing to cover the earth!
There’s an old song that says:
There's a river of life flowing out of me,
It Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see.
It Opens prison doors and sets the captive free,
There's a river of life flowing out of me.
If you’re a part of the River of Living Water, filled with the Holy Ghost and Fire, and you’re allowing the River to flow through you, then that’s your testimony!
