Last week, we ended with Jesus saying, “You will seek Me and will not find Me.” In Matthew
7:7, when talking to His disciples, Jesus said, “You will seek Me and find Me.” Now He tells the crowd that they “will seek Him and not find Him.” The prophet Isaiah said, “Seek the Lord while He may be found.”
Isaiah 55:6 Jesus will soon go to the cross, be resurrected, and ascend to
the Father to His original glory. His time on earth was running out. Jesus
tells the crowd, “Where I am, you cannot
come.” There is only one way all can
come to the Father in heaven – through the shed sinless blood of Jesus. Jesus
will have to go to the cross and shed His blood so all can come to the Father
through belief in Jesus and His atoning sacrifice. If we who believe in Jesus
let our sense of needing Jesus die, we will not seek Him. “Wise” men will seek Him because without Him
they can do nothing.
Living Water
The
Feast of Tabernacles is taking place in Jerusalem. Two elements were prevalent
in the Feast of Tabernacles, water and light. The water drawing/pouring
ceremony took place in the morning, and the lamp lighting ceremony took place
at night (in the darkness). This Feast stands out among the other feasts
because it was a joyous occasion – a feast of thanksgiving to God for all of
the harvest. Jesus is standing in the court of the Temple on the 7th
day of this Feast. No doubt the water drawing ceremony is taking place. This
water drawing ceremony is the backdrop of Jesus’ spiritual revelation that He
is the One who gives the “living water.” “If
anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the
Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this
He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to later receive. Up
to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been
glorified. John 7:37-39 In Christ, we draw water from His well of salvation
and the gift of the living (eternal) water of the Holy Spirit and Word. What
happened in the “natural” at the Feast of Tabernacles becomes “spiritual”
through Christ.
Jesus,
whose flesh body came through the Jews, celebrated all of the Feasts perfectly
in order to fulfill them. The Law and all of its requirements had to be obeyed
perfectly and completely in order to complete it and trumpet in the New
Testament through Christ. Because God gave the Law to Israel, it would have to
be an Israelite who is also God who would fulfill it. Jesus is not only the
spiritual tabernacle of God who is with men, He also fulfills the water pouring
by the water and blood that flowed from the wound in His side at the cross for
the atonement of sin for the whole world. Jesus is also the fulfillment of the
lamp lighting as the Light of the world who shines in the darkness.
Let’s
take a closer look at the water drawing/pouring ceremony and how it symbolizes
Christ.
· This ceremony
took place at dawn – the light of a new
day – on each day of the seven-day feast. Seven is the number of completion/perfection. Jesus is the One God
sent to complete the Law and bring in the Light of a new day through the New
Testament sealed by His shed sinless blood. Keep in mind that God said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation
21:5
· On each of the
seven days the high priest would take a golden pitcher and fill it with water
from the pool of Siloam. Siloam means “sent one.” Gold is symbolic of the divine. Jesus our
Great High Priest was the Divine Sent One of God and the Perfect One (symbolized by the number 7) who would
complete us.
· Once the water
was drawn, the procession brought it to the court of the temple with the joyful
sounding of the trumpet. Daily they would walk around the brazen altar of
sacrifice once, but on the 7th day they would walk around the altar
seven times symbolizing completeness. When Joshua and the Israelites walked
around Jericho seven times, the wall came tumbling down giving them the victory
over evil. A trumpet in scripture symbolizes the Word of God. Jesus is the Word
of God from beginning to end. He is the One who was victorious over evil and
gives us the victory over our spiritual enemy.
· The high priest
would then go up the steps to the top of the brazen altar of sacrifice where
the flesh of the sacrificial lamb was burnt (consumed).
At the top on each side of the altar of sacrifice were two silver basins.
The high priest would pour out the water into the silver basin while another
priest poured out the sacrificial blood into the other silver basin on the
other side. The water and blood would mix and flow down to the bottom of the
altar on the ground. Jesus, our Great High Priest, who is the sacrificial Lamb
of God poured out the water and blood from the wound in His side onto the
ground to atone for sin. Silver is
the metal of atonement.
· The high priest
raised the golden pitcher high for all to see. Jesus was lifted up high on the
cross of suffering for all to see before He poured out His water and blood.
As we can see, Jesus fulfilled this water and wine pouring
ceremony. It was the Divine atonement of Jesus on the cross that poured out the
living water of the Holy Spirit, the blood of sacrifice for atonement for sin
and the wine of abundant life in Him. Jesus fully explained the water ceremony
and that He was the source of living water. “Living” because it is eternal
water that never dies. The living water that He gives will satisfy the thirst
of the heart.
The last book of the Bible says that all who are
thirsty can come to the river of life (Holy
Spirit) and drink freely. “To him
who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water
of life.” Revelation 21:6 The last chapter in Revelation shows us that the
water of life flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1) Revelation 21:22-23 shows us that there is no
temple in the Heavenly Promised Land because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb
are the temple, and that there is no sun or moon because the glory of God gives
it light and the Lamb is its lamp. Jesus reflects the glory of God as a lamp
just as believers in Jesus are to reflect His light and life. This was
foreshadowed in the lamp lighting ceremony in the temple.
Jesus in His statement about the living water that He
will give wants to take the crowd’s attention from the pouring of earthly water
in an earthly physical temple to their deep need of Him and the needs of their
soul. No human being can live without water and food. So too, we need Jesus and
the water of the Word and Holy Spirit to bring us to spiritual life. Jesus is
greater than the earthly water from the pool of Siloam. He will fill the empty
parts of your soul with His love, comfort and power. The indwelling of the Holy
Spirit is God’s “new” way of working and communing with His people. He wants
the water of the Word and the Holy Spirit to flow in and out of us – the Living Bread and the Living Water. Without
Christ, our souls are thirsty because we were created spiritual and fleshly by
our Creator.
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