| ¶ | And it shall be in that day, [that] living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. |
There are several layers of metaphor
and symbolism in these verses concerning
the Messianic Kingdom of New Jerusalem,
but, there are also LITERAL meanings.
Living waters is a famous metaphor
for Jesus Christ, and ALSO the believer.
"Chay Mayim" Living Waters.
| [that] living |   chay | |||
| waters |   |
Jer 2:13 For my people have committed two evils;
they have forsaken me the fountain of living water,
[and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water.
Jer 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
Rev 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of
the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them
unto living fountains of waters : and God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes..
| A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. |
bride, (believer) is the well of living
waters.
Jhn 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
Jhn 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture
hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water ..
Christ reinforces the bride's connection
to his immortality by this parable.
Zechariah was a contemporary of Ezekiel the
prophet. His metaphor and prophecies line
up nicely with Ezekiel's more elaborate description
of the latter day advent of Christ's throne in
Jerusalem where a river proceeds:
Ez 47:
| ¶ | Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house [stood toward] the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south [side] of the altar. |
| Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. |
*********
| ¶ | And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen [this]? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. |
| Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river [were] very many trees on the one side and on the other. |
| 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. |
| 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 |
| 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. |
These magnificent images are reaffirmed in
Revelations:
| ¶ | And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. |
| In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations. |
Rev 22:14 Blessed [are] they that do his commandments,
that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter
in through the gates into the city.
I love how the tree of life and the living waters
of the river that proceeds from Christ's throne
are intertwined.
"Seas" is a common metaphor for
people.
But, water, in itself, is a vital element
in prophetic language, both literally
as well as figuratively.
With the technology of our age, we've been
able to discern the probability of a vast
water table under Jerusalem which we
wouldn't necessarily assume, given it's
geographical location proximal to
more desert conditions than Paradise.
Where Saudi Arabia was 'blessed with
CRUDE oil,' you can't drink oil, but,
a fountain of rushing water under
Jerusalem has more intrinsic value
in the future, especially with all the
pollution on the planet.
I know it's been a big joke that Israel
was denied crude oil, but, I think we
can understand why this is. While our
culture depends on it, it has become
the root of all evil, as well as pollution.
We will soon inherit a technology
that has no need for it.
If precious olive oil is the metaphorical
symbol for the Holy Spirit, then crude
oil could easily be the symbol for the
counterfeit unholy spirit.
Water is life. Scientists jumped for
joy at the prospect of signs of water
on Mars, for hope that it would yield
clues about other life forms.
Our body composition is mostly
water. We can survive weeks without
nourishment from food, but, a fraction
of that time without fluids.
Ancient civilizations were formed around
viable potable water, even went to war
for it.
WATER = Mayim מים
| | ||
2, washing 1, watercourse + 04161 1, waterflood 1,
watering 1, variant 1
Water can be life-sustaining, but, it
has a flip side of being life-endangering.
The only record we have of life on Earth
being extinguished was the great flood.
Our current age has real fears concerning
global climate changes which can increase
the ocean volumes and threatens to drown
coastal cities of the world. Tsunamis in
Indonesia and India in 2005, took more
lives than all other natural disasters in
25 years combined.
God promised that the world will never
again be destroyed by floods...(That
doesn't cover nuclear weapons and
fire, though...)
Gen 9:11 And I will establish my covenant
with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off
any more by the waters 04325 of a flood ;
neither shall there any more be a flood
to destroy the earth .
In Exodus, the power of water over
civilization is demonstrated by the
desecration of the mighty Nile by
YHWH. The Nile was the life blood of
this arrogant civilization, and because
of their cruelty and oppression, their
source of life literally is turned into
blood and of no value.
| And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour [it] upon the dry [land]: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry [land]. |
| And the fish that [is] in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river. |
Water and thirst were used to test the
children of Israel, who murmured against Moses
during their initial flight from Egypt. These people
who saw the mighty hand of YHWH accomplish
miracles, couldn't sustain their faith when given
their first challenge, even though the pillar of the
LORD's presence was literally before them.
This is a spiritual principle that applies to us
as those who are called to follow Christ, too.
We eagerly praise God for our blessings, but,
when we are forced to endure hardship, loss,
bereavement or any other test of our finite
lives, we often fall into despair, blame God,
and resent being out of our comfort zone
even knowing tests of faith will prove us
to God, and strengthen us...
While they thirsted in the physical sense,
thirst can also be spiritual. We're given the
physical narrative of Moses and the Israelites
trudging through the wilderness, with the
hope of reaching Zion, but, we are in the
same juxtaposed situation. While we follow
Christ, we often go through droughts of
spiritual dearth. We lose a loved one, or
suffer other losses, and begin to feel
desperately forsaken. It is like a thirst
to long for mystical connection with God,
but, to endure physical and spiritual
suffering in the interim and long journey
of our hard lives.
But, Christ told us that we are blessed
when we hunger and thirst for righteousness.
This makes us children of the Most High
God, especially when we can do it without
losing our hope in redemption and salvation.
| ¶ | So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. |
| And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? |
| And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I [am] the LORD that healeth thee. |
| ¶ | And they came to Elim, where [were] twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters. |
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