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RIVERS
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1993-10-02
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RIVERS OF LIVING WATER.
'And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt, (tabernacled), among us.
John 1:14.
The great theme of this Feast, called the Feast of Booths, is
the anticipation that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is now
imminent, and the seventh chapter of the Gospel according to John
emphasizes the fact that the gift comes through Christ.
In fact our Lord clearly said so, and John records His words
in John 7:37-38.
'In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried out, 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,' and that our Lord
meant the Holy Spirit to be given after His glorification is just
as clearly written in the next verse.
'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.' John 7:39.
Indeed many of those who heard Him there recognised at once
that He was the Christ.
One of the greatest problems for us here has been that despite
the words of our Lord, 'As the Scripture hath said', there is no
Scripture which actually says that and it has often been pointed to
with derision by the unbeliever!
However it is not really a problem and when we examine the
whole Feast, (as it was celebrated), it is obvious our Lord is
referring to the Scriptures which had been read out each day of the
seven day processional which was part of the Feast.
The Jewish readings, even for today convey the same message
and, when we put them into the context of the celebration, it is
clear what our Lord is saying.
He is saying, 'All the scriptures you have heard these last
seven days during the Feast, and all that you have seen enacted by
the Priests, tell of this one great theme. When the Messiah comes,
He will give to all the gift of the Holy Spirit as you have seen it
enacted during this week of festival.'
The readings at the Feast of Tabernacles, although they vary
from Feast to Feast are of the same content and, at the time of
writing this article, were those from the Jewish Year Book.
Isaiah 44:2-3. 'Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed
thee from the womb, who will help thee. Fear not........For I will
pour water upon him who is thirsty.......I will pour my Spirit upon
thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring.'
Isaiah 43:19-21. 'Behold will do a new thing, now it shall
spring forth; shall ye not know it?......... I give waters in the
wilderness........to give drink to my people, my chosen. This
people have formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.'
Jeremiah 2:13. 'My people have committed two evils: they have
forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns,
broken cisterns, that can hold no water.'
Deuteronomy 8:10.15.16. 'When thou hast eaten and art full,
then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He
has given thee....Who led thee through that great and terrible
wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought
where there was no water, who brought thee forth water out of the
rock of flint; who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy
fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that He might
prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end.'
************************
Beginning on the second day of the Feast and each day, as
these different Scriptures were read, the Priests carried around
the city pitchers filled with water from the Pool of Siloam,
(Siloam.'sending forth'), and poured them out to signify their
expectation of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.
And then on that 'Last day. That great day of the Feast', John
7:37-39, when the golden pitchers which held the water were poured
out, it signified the giving of the Holy Ghost itself, in the hope
it would no longer be 'broken cisterns' they drank from, but from
the Christ Himself as He gave them the 'living water.'
No wonder that many heard and understood that day when Jesus
cried out, 'If any man thirst let him come unto me!"
************************
The Priests spent the first six days of the Feast gathering
water from the Pool of Siloam in golden pitchers, (Isaiah 12:3-4),
which they carried back through the 'booths' that had been erected
as part of the Festival, to the Temple which was less than a
Sabbath day's journey from the pool and, after entering 'through
the water gate', they circled the altar singing from the Psalms
and, whilst the wine of the 'drink offering' was being poured into
a silver basin on the altar they poured the water into another
silver basin which was there.
This also signified their expectation that the Holy Spirit was
about to be poured out, and then, on that 'last day,' that 'great
day of the feast,' the Priests drew the water from a golden vessel
which had been previously filled with water from the Pool, circled
the altar seven times singing psalms of praise, and poured out the
water at the base of the altar in the hope that the Holy Spirit
would now be poured out as the Feast began to close.
It was at this moment that our Lord stood and cried out!
'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 7:37-38.
What a dramatic moment!
And Scripture confirms it was such a moment!
'Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying
said, Of a truth this is The Prophet. Others said, this is the
Christ.' John 7:40-41.
Of course there were doubters but even the officers, whose
responsibility it was to arrest those who made trouble, believed
and when asked why they had not brought him to the chief priests
said.
'Never man spake like this man!'
John 7:46.
And when the Pharisees condemned Jesus Nicodemus was called a
Galilean when he defended Him by saying, 'Doth our law judge any
man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?'
John 7:51.
Of course the next morning our Lord left no one in doubt and
after dealing with the Pharisees who tried to confuse the issue by
bringing before Him the woman caught in adultery, He taught in the
Temple again.
Those words He spoke there that day have the power to thrill
us again today!
'I am the light of the world.' He said. 'He that followeth me
shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life!' and,
at a loss to answer Him in the discussion which followed, they took
up stones to stone Him!' John 8.12-59.
Isaiah 43 and 44 hold the same theme of fulfillment and
restoration for Israel God's chosen people also and speaks of the
opening of their eyes through the Chosen One, the one through whom
the Spirit of Truth would be given as our Lord Himself declares in
John 15 and 16.
*************************
NOTES ON THE FEAST.
The first characteristic of the Feast is the 'Ingathering'.
'The ingathering of the work of thy hands in which the Lord
thy God hath blessed thee.'
No one was to appear before the Lord 'empty.'
Deuteronomy.16:13-17.
It was a day of joyous festivity and they were to remember with
gladness the Lord who gave this increase to them with all who
gathered with them that day and with all those who were scattered
abroad from them.
The second was contained in the dwelling in booths.
This they were expected to do, and in doing so were to
remember that even though they were 'strangers and pilgrims' in the
earth they were, above all, the Lord's.
It was a thought they were to remember as they dwelt in the
booths at this time and, in doing so, they were to recall the
deliverance from Egypt by God who now dwelt with them in promise.
And, above all, they were to remember the Feast foreshadowed
'that day' when they would dwell with Him in reality.
Leviticus 23:42-43.
The third was in the sacrifices which were of a particular
number and significance. Numbers 29.
The sin offering for each of the seven days was 'one kid of
the goats.'
The burnt offerings were bullocks, rams, and goats with the
meat and drink offerings which applied to them.
The number of rams and lambs was double that of those offered
for the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The number of the bullocks was fivefold.
The number of rams and lambs offered each day must be constant
but the number of bullocks offered had to decrease by one each day,
from 13 on the first day to 7 on the last day, 70 in all, and in
all this the number of the burnt sacrifices must always be
divisible by seven.
********************
What freedom came with the Coming of The Christ and the giving
of the Holy Spirit.
It gives new meaning to the words of our God when He said.
'For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of
God more than burnt offerings.' Hosea 6:6.
Hebrews 9 and 10 beautifully reveal the difference between the
many sacrifices demanded by the Law which still could not satisfy,
and the one sacrifice Christ made in obedience and love, which is
sufficient for all.