The Bible is often hard for us to understand because it comes from a Hebrew-thinking mindset very different than our own. Many words translate one way into English, but actually have a richer meaning in Hebrew that sheds light on many passages.
It’s also important to have a sense of the spiritual imagery that the Bible uses, to get into the minds of the ancient Israelites and see how they experienced God’s presence in the world. They found pictures of theological concepts in the world around them, and God communicated with them through them. Jesus also uses these images to tell about himself, and we need to understand his culture to comprehend his message.
One prominent image that recurs from Genesis to Revelation is that of living water. In the Middle East, water is scarce and precious, and very much needed for survival. Only a few months of the year does rain fall in Israel, and the rest of the time the ancient peoples survived on stagnant water that was stored in cisterns in the ground. When rain does fall after many months of clear blue skies, it seems to be 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, covered in green meadows and flowers. Where there are rivers, lush vegetation surrounds them, while only yards away, all is barren.
Out of this arose the idea of living water, or mayim chaim (MY-eem KHY-eem), which refers to water in the form of rain or flowing from a natural spring, which has come directly from God, not carried by human hands or stored in cisterns. It also is a contrast to 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.
From Eden, where God dwelled with man, a river welled up that formed the headwaters of four mighty rivers. (Gen 2:10).
Psalm 29:10 pictures God sitting “enthroned over the flood.”
In Revelation, the river of life flows out from under the throne of God (Rev. 22:1).
In Jeremiah it says,
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water. (Jer. 17:13)
Even other nations understood this picture of the gods being associated with sources of living water. Pagans of the first century who worshiped Pan set up their shrines at the great cave from which the Jordan emerged at Caesarea Philippi, north of Galilee, and called it the “Gates of Hades”. This image was common to many cultures of that area, and God used that image to teach his people about himself.
Spiritual Lesson: Water in Israel and Egypt
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. In Deuteronomy 11:10 – 12 it says,
The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.
The difference between Egypt and the promised land of Canaan was that in Egypt almost no rain fell, and crops were entirely irrigated by the flooding Nile and by the labor of hand-watering, while in Canaan the land was entirely watered by rain from God. While Egypt didn’t feel the presence of God through rain, it achieved its secure food source through human effort. Egypt and Canaan, therefore, were a contrast of security of human effort compared to dependence on God. The Egyptians were even aware of the difference between their land and others – one Greek historian quotes them as feeling this way:
“If the gods shall some day see fit not to grant the Greeks rain, but shall afflict them with a long drought, the Greeks will be swept away by a famine, since they have nothing to rely on but rain from Zeus, and have no other resources for water.” (Heroditus 2:13)
And in fact, in Genesis we hear that Abraham and Isaac are forced to go to Egypt several times when a drought overtakes Canaan, and of course during Joseph’s time, that is what brings the entire family to Egypt to survive.
There was a spiritual lesson for the Israelites when they left the land of Egypt for the promised land of Canaan — that 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 living water of rain.
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.
In like manner, 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, as our “prosperity gospel” teachers may tell us.
Living Water as the Holy Spirit
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 for their sins. But God’s redemption was likened to him sending abundant rain, giving them living water to drink:
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. (Isaiah 35:5-7)
Because living water came directly from God, it was closely associated with God’s Spirit in the world. When God promised to redeem his people, he promised to send his Spirit:
For I will pour out water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants; and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water. (Isaiah 44:3 – 4)
In Joel, the outpouring of God’s Spirit in the last days is closely associated with living water:
Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before… Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be ashamed. And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:23, 27-29)
This image of living water is therefore 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,
Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. (John 4:13-14)
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, saying,
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” But this he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37 – 39)
An interesting rabbinic insight is that “living water” is also understood to mean 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 Jesus’ sacrificial love for us. It is in contrast with that of “brackish water” like that of the Dead Sea, which is a false knowledge of God, that false prophets and twisted doctrines yield. Although it looks fine to the eye, it is quite poisonous!
And, in Hebrew, the word for knowledge, da’at, carries the connotation 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 gives us.
A Beautiful Prophecy of Living Water
In Ezekiel 47, there is a wonderful picture of living water. The prophet Ezekiel is at the temple, and sees a little trickle of water flowing out from under the alter. The water flows out of the temple down the south stairs. A thousand cubits from the temple, the strange flow of 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 paradoxical river does a strange thing – it gets fuller as it flows away from its source. How can that be?
Moreover, 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:
On the bank of the river there were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then he said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh. “It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. “
And it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it; from En-Gedi to En-Eglaim there will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many. “But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. “By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.” (Ezek 47:7-12)
It is beautiful to see how 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 temple as they were worshiping there, as tongues of flame settled on them. It was as if the Spirit started trickling out of the sanctuary to that little “puddle” of believers.
Interestingly, 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 on that south stairs are the mikvehs (ceremonial baths), where 3000 people that day were baptized in living water. They have been excavated and are visible even today.
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 ultimate destination is that of the most desolate of wastelands, full of the poisonous, brackish water of the Dead Sea. This is the dark reality of a world devoid of a true knowledge of God. Anywhere it touches it gives new life and an intimate relationship with God where there was only death before.
We were all the more touched by the fact that one of the places where this river of life flows is En-Gedi, the image we chose for our name. We knew that En-Gedi is an oasis full of waterfalls that show the image of living water. But only after studying this passage did we realize that En-Gedi is fed by waters that come down from the mountain of Jerusalem, and are right at the edge of this “River of Life” of God’s Holy Spirit that he is pouring out on the world.
What is God’s final plan for this river that gets deeper and wider as it flows?
The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk. 2:14, Isaiah 11:9)
Lindy gribben says
This is such a beautiful picture of Gods abundance on those who love him and walk according to his ways because they love Him. I love that this is prophetic for Israel and will come to pass!!
Petra Koselak says
I’m always amazed by how different their way of thinking is! I think it’s more beautiful than ours. I’ve heard the story when they sent to the desert many times, but I had never really thought about the reason why. By reading this article I got a lot of answers, and I got another proof of God’s love towards us!
Jacob says
My teacher RVL is always telling us about how we need to try reading the bible with a eastern perspective because that is what it is written in. I agree with you that there is a lot of different images in the bible that people miss interrupt because they do not read the bible with an eastern perspective. Water is something that I take advantage of having quick access to it, but the people in that culture it would have a whole different meaning. When we look at the passages with that perspective living water takes a whole new meaning to us, and to me. Thank you for this great writing.
Rachel says
I love the idea that God calls us to places where we need Him–like he called the Israelites to the promised land–to provide for us, rather than to places where He knows we can provide for ourselves. It’s so great to know that God is always looking out for us!
Braden says
I thought this article was very interesting I thought it did a good job on explaining the importance of the meaning behind living water. I also thought it was interesting to learn about how Egypt got there source of water a totally different way from how the land of Canaan got the water.
Jennifer says
I love the idea of “living water”. I think that throughout the Bible it’s often referenced, and that’s likely because God want’s us to realize the importance of it. I think it’s true that when God chose land for his people, he picked a place they could depend on him in. That shows how much God wants in our lives. He doesn’t want to be forgotten, he wants us to have a relationship with him.
Dani says
I thought it was interesting how you talked about how they used images and pictures when telling stories because we’ve learned that in class this year. I also thought it was interesting when you talked about the promised land not being nearly as lush as Egypt. We we shown this year how the Nile provides abundant crops without much rain. It’s interesting to think about God not choosing an abundant land like by the Nile that so they depend on him. Thanks for the awesome insight!
Carter Favier says
This actually opened my eyes up to different viewpoints whenever someone mentions “Living Water.” I have experienced my own “Brackish Water” and “False Prophets” in my time and I’m only 18 years old. I love how God delights in us depending on him by bringing us out of comfort zone and into the unknown. This way we can experience God in a more intimate way, the way he really wants to get to us by.
Olivia says
God has been portrayed as the “living water” many times throughout the Bible. The Israelites would commonly view water, or the lack of, as the presence of the Holy Spirit, because if they were in a drought, they knew that God was upset with them. With a climate like theirs, oceans were tempting to drink from, but extremely deadly. Only water from a natural spring or rainfall was safe to drink from, which many struggled with in order to stay alive. I am extremely fascinated with this translation because it shows our dependence on God to stay alive, whether we believe he is the “living water” or not.
Noel Thomas says
I really enjoyed reading your article and the insight it gave me. In my discipleship class RVL recently touched on God’s “living water” and its significance. I found it really interesting how the words “living water” hold so much when you look at them from a Eastern perspective instead of Western. I always just read over the passages about water and thought nothing of it, but now I can see the connections and understand some of the meanings behind the words “Living water”; I read the passages entirely different and feel like I have a whole another piece of the puzzle that I was missing.
Joe Mazzoni says
The lord wants to fill you with living water and over flow. He loves his people. Jesus is the source of living water. The lord baptizes you with his spirit! You drink from this spirit! Jesus talks about this at the well with the Samaritan women. You receive this water once you totally surrender to Jesus and ask for his forgiveness. You come to the realization that god has seen everything you have ever done and that he has always been there for you and showed you so much mercy , grace, and a never ending love. He fills you with his spirit and when you worship him and be still you drink from this spirit and it rises and rises inside of you to the point that he over flows inside of you like a well overflowing over and his living water cascades over you. This is drinking of the spirit. The holy spirit is beautiful and if you would taste and see you will agree. Remember. Surrender, forgive, worship, be still and watch the visions dreams and fire fall!!! God is so amazing. This is something that is spiritual and you can’t truly understand unless the spirit of the Lord reveals it to you and even then the peace and love and beauty is past understanding with our minds but i must say this reading was very good and does make it easier for someone to understand after they experience the love of God! Bless you all! Joe M
Mark S. says
I understand totally what you have shared. Everyday I wake up and spend 1 1/2 -2 hours alone with my Lord, basting in His presence. I feel drained of the Spirit when I don’t get the opportunity to do this. My favorite part of this was the words, “In like manner, 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, as our “prosperity gospel” teachers may tell us.” Prosperity is of the worldly thirstings of man in their own dealings, from the teaching of the “prosperity teachers.” They truly are teachers from the dead sea, with waters that will kill all that drink from it. God bless you my dear brother.
Randy Collins says
I have been a Christian for over 50 years; however only the last couple of years have I dwelved into the Jewishness of Jesus. I am currently teaching an adult bible class on this subject and I welcome reading your informative articles.
George Kollanoor says
I glorify myGod for giving this new revelation concerning the Living Water.Excellent exposition. God bless you dear comrade in Christ.
Boddu Samuel Sham kumar says
Excellent
Shirleynoel says
That was really informative, it opened my eyes more to the meaning of eternal life. Thank you
amos says
I really enjoyed this article teach me more about the living waters
Christian B says
Very helpful – many thanks
Ralph says
I love this. I was first filled with the “Living Water” studying Ezekiel. This has answered some questions for me. I know I can’t fill anyone but he can use me. Praise God.
Russell Witham says
Great teaching.
Lynn Hall says
Living waters is the word of Yeshua,The truth everlasting.
James says
Very much blessed by this article, well explained and it helps in expanding my understanding. God bless you real good
Onayemi victor Olawale says
jesus christ is a truly living water he first me from the place and i believe in the living water of God
VERNICE MAZ says
Amen well said
Dwight Newby says
The River of Life that Ezekiel witnessed, and testified about was on my mind for the last several days. I’ve been reading and seeking Yeshua for answers, and now I’ve found more to what he has revealed. I’m grateful for this insight; we need to think with this Hebraic mindset, not the Greek interpretation. May YHWH bless you and keep you forever!!!
Dwight Newby says
This revelation about the river Ezekiel, the Prophet witnessed and testified about, has enriched my life. I love the Hebraic mindset of perceiving the scriptures. Thank you so much for this insight, this chapter has been on my mind for the last several days, and now I’ve found greater understanding. May YHWH bless you and keep you; may you forever walk in His ways.
Shalom!!!
Susan says
Had this put to me in my sleep: He gives living water take a drink.. Was not sure want it meant, however after reading this I now understand what God was saying to me. You will never know how much you have impacted my life. May God bless you and keep you teaching His word.
Charlene Elliott says
Loved this!!!! It ties in perfectly with the Woman At the Well story. He is the container!
Esther says
This was very informative
JB says
I had this question pop in my head tonight and wondered if tears would be considered as living water?
Lois Tverberg says
No, sorry, but tears aren’t living water. It’s a creative idea, but living water is pretty well defined already.
Jim McCollom, Jr. says
Be a little more creative and metaphorical, Lois. Jesus wept.
Thess says
Thanks for bringing us to the mindset of ancient Israelite.
Can i have more copy of your new articles Sir..
Thanks and God bless you more
Temitope Folorunsho says
Wow! May God be praised. Indeed Living water is pretty much explained. Many thanks, Sir.
Mark S says
Thank you so very much. I always look for teachings from the Hebraic understanding, for you get such greater understandings from them of what the word is truly saying. Too many of us Americans have too shallow of understanding because we are always being taught from an American viewpoint instead of a Hebraic one. God bless and many thanks.
Thorn Hedge says
You are suggesting that; “The house” in which they were sitting when the Spirit came upon them was the Temple? If this were the case then why would it have required that: “Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.” Surely if they were in the Temple the Multitude would already have been present and scripture would not have referred to it as “the house”.
Though I agree with most of your outline here; I find this part of your narrative difficult to swallow.
Lois Tverberg says
Yes, referring to the Temple as the “house” is exactly what was going on – I’ve written more than one article about it. At 9 AM on the feast of Pentecost/Shavuot, Jews would most definitely been at the Temple for worship.
The Temple is called the “house” in many places in the Bible. Jesus refers to it as the “house” (oikos, in Greek) in Matthew 12:4 and Matt 21:13, “My house is to be a house of prayer…” Even now in Hebrew the Temple Mount is called “ha-Har ha-Bayit” which means, the mountain of the house.
The Temple grounds are the natural place where you would find 3000 people congregating, not in any ordinary house or in the narrow, winding streets of Jerusalem.
See this post for more details: https://ourrabbijesus.com/what-really-happened-at-pentecost/
Steve Spruill says
Living Waters makes sense now thank you. It is a glimmer of hope in this sinful and totally corrupt world. The transformation process is exhausting. Dying to self by surrendering then taking it back when offended by satanic ploys that awaken the darkened recesses of the soul. That’s where the battle is, if not for the promise of and the imbued existence of the Holy Spirit all would be lost. He can do it we cannot. By persevering, failures diminish and victories increase but it is a slow slow process.
Linda Simcox says
I heard this story about “living water”many years ago and it has stuck with me:
A friend of mine owns a small ranch not far from Houston, TX. Some years ago there was a serious drought in SE Texas, and her grass was dying. She knew she couldn’t save it all, but she continued to water the grass in front of her house. One day the old farmer up the road saw her outside with the water sprinkler, and he stopped his truck and walked over to her.
“What’re you doing with the sprinkler?” he asked. She explained her strategy. “Well,” he drawled, “I hope you understand that you’re only giving this patch ‘sustaining water,’ which certainly helps the grass but won’t make it grow, but what it needs is ‘living water’ in the form of rain. When the rain comes again, notice the huge difference on the land between your sustaining water and God’s living water.”
Well, it wasn’t but a few days later, she said, that the rains finally came, and she noticed that the grass she’d been sustaining was now growing and turning a vibrant green!
She then told us the lesson she’d learned from that experience. The Bible tells us we are to feed the hungry, minister to the sick, take care of the poor, and offer cups of cold water to the thirsty, and we know that these acts of ministry are very important. In fact, we can liken them to the “sustaining water” she was giving the grass in her front yard. However, it is the “living water” provided by God’s Holy Spirit that results in transformed, vibrant lives.
Mark Hermes says
Thank you for your article. I am studying living water and wells in the bible in order to teach people at our outdoor living nativity. This has helped with insight that I will use.
Mary Wellman says
SUKKOT & the SHMITA were given to demonstrate His provision ALONE is sufficient.