“OUT OF HIS HEART WILL FLOW RIVERS OF LIVING WATER” 2000 years ago, Jesus upset and confounded the religious establishment of His day during their most important holiday of the entire year: The Festival of Tabernacles. They had been joyfully worshipping the Lord God, extolling His Word for an entire week through elaborate ceremonies of water and lights, when a mere mortal among them challenged their religious “beliefs”.
“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:37-39
What ensued was pure religious bedlam, the kind that has been popping up like clockwork all through the centuries: division over who Jesus is…and isn’t. “When they heard these words, some of the people said, ‘This is really the prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’ But some said, ‘Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?’ So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.” John 7:40-44
They should have really paid attention to Jesus’ words, and so should we. He said if they drank, they would be opening up the floodgate of God Himself through their belief in Him, which would literally transform them into vessels pouring out the living water of the Almighty on those around them. He explained in verse 39 that the “water” referred to the previous verses was the Holy Spirit, which those who believed on Him would receive.
“Living water” is a biblical term used in both the Old and New Testaments. The picture illustration on this post expresses the thought pattern of streams of living water that literally sprang up from desert rocks during the sojourn of the Israelites. 1 Corinthians 10:4 gives us a spiritual picture. “...They drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.”
In Jeremiah 2:13 the prophet describes God as the spring or fountain of living water, who has been forsaken by his chosen people Israel. “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
Here we have a scripture description of the group celebrating the Last Great Day of Tabernacles. It’s not a pretty picture. This is a group of folks who had experienced God’s deliverance firsthand, enjoyed all the festivals, and attended every worship opportunity they could. But here they are, thinking the whole point of Tabernacles is to celebrate “Living Water” at God’s appointed time of the year, instead of realizing they have been rehearsing, millennia after millennia, for the time when they could become conduits FOR His Living Water by believing in Jesus as their Messiah. And just further envision the reaction of these folks if Jesus had revealed to them God’s plan all along was to graft Gentiles into their midst THROUGH that same Living Water as it flowed through them!
But first, they had to be cleansed of their sins of religiousness and spiritual piety and so do we. And this is exactly what our High Priest Jesus did when He tabernacled in our midst. He cleansed us of all unrighteousness when He became the sacrificial Lamb slain on the cross, the ultimate sacrifice that enabled heaven to dwell on earth. “Christ's death was also a one-time event, but it was a sacrifice that took care of sins forever. And so, when he next appears, the outcome for those eager to greet him is, precisely, salvation.” Hebrews 9:27-28 More on the Day of Atonement: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=589068910110013&set=pb.100070207268018.-2207520000&type=3
On our 2024 Gregorian calendar, the Feast of Tabernacles began October 18 at sunset under a full harvest moon and continues to sunset October 25, with an unusual 8th day continuing to sunset October 26. "Shemini Atzeret" is Hebrew for the "Eighth Day of the Assembly". It is appointed in God's 7th month named "Ethanim", which refers to steadily flowing waters, constant rivers that do not run dry.
Of course there is scriptural discussion over whether Jesus’s promise of “rivers of living water” occurred on the 7th or the 8th day. Leviticus 23:29 states that Tabernacles was appointed by God as a 7-day feast with and 8th day added. “Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.” More on Festival of Tabernacles: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=593487829668121&set=pb.100070207268018.-2207520000&type=3
Biblically, seven symbolizes perfection or completion, as we first see in the Creation account. The Festival of Tabernacles was appointed by God in His 7th month for 7 days, which certainly seems to signify completion-upon-completion. The number eight is the number after completion. Seven-plus-one seems to indicate the start of a new creation, a new order of existence.
Indeed, Jesus Himself was resurrected from the dead on a seven-plus-one day. “When the Sabbath was over… very early on the first day of the week… He has risen!” Mark 6:1,2,6
The ultimate celebration of Shemini Atzeret, the seven-plus-one day of Tabernacles in the seventh month of Ethanim, points us to the eternally flowing water of life that Jesus offered the Samaritan woman at the well: the eternal joy of life together with Him in His coming kingdom.
“Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty. The water that I give him will become a fountain of water within him, springing up to eternal life!” (John 4:13-14)
It’s almost like God appointed us to stay and celebrate longer this time—maybe forever?!?
“…OUT OF HIS HEART WILL FLOW RIVERS OF LIVING WATER.”
