|
Living Waters The Water of
Life And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.—Revelation 22:17 David Christiansen How lovely the words of this text sound in our ears! As students of the Bible we believe this will happen in Christ’s kingdom when everyone who has ever lived will learn God’s truth and have the opportunity for everlasting life—right here on earth. We believe this because Revelation 22:17 says, just before the words quoted above, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come.” If the bride is speaking these words, then the church class must have already become a bride and, therefore, the description must be of Christ’s kingdom. This is also in direct contrast to the statement that Jesus made: “For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them” (Matthew 13:17). To understand the contrast one must understand that water in the Scriptures often symbolizes God’s truth. Two Scriptures help us understand this concept: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17); “To make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word” (Ephesians 5:26, NIV). Since the Book of John tells us that God’s word is his truth, we can readily see that one is cleansed and made holy by washing with the water of truth. Living Water Jesus brought this symbol beautifully to our attention when he spoke to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well: “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. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? ... Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:10, 11,13,14). Our Lord was not talking about literal water nor some fountain of youth. He was comparing the literal water in the well with the symbolic water of truth. He was connecting them metaphorically to show that the truth is what leads to everlasting life. This he called “living water.” Is “living water” different in the kingdom than it is in the Gospel age or before? No. God’s truth is God’s truth, and life everlasting is life everlasting. But we see from these Scriptures that in this “present evil world” (Galatians 1:4) many who are righteous, even prophets, were not able to comprehend all of God’s truth (cf., 1 Peter 1:10-12). This is in direct contrast to the statement at the head of this article: “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” The followers of Jesus were and are indeed a “little flock” (Luke 12:32). We see then that the water of truth is the same in the present evil world as it will be in the world to come, although it is understood only by a little flock now. Jesus’ little flock is refreshed, cleansed, and grows by the waters of truth. It is impossible to grow spiritually without it. Those in the little flock who make their calling and election sure will receive immortal life which will indeed be everlasting. The glorified church will pass the living waters of truth on to the resurrected world of mankind in the kingdom: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). Pure River “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” (Revelation 22:1,2). As we continue to compare and contrast living water in the Messianic age with earlier ages we note some interesting things. There was also a river in the Garden of Eden: “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden” (Genesis 2:10). In both Revelation and Genesis the river watered trees. In Eden the trees included those which were good for food, but there was also one called “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Eating the fruit of this tree led to “the curse” that mankind has endured to this day. But in the kingdom described in Revelation 22 there is no such tree; in fact in verse three we are told, “And there shall be no more curse.” This is another indicator that Revelation 22 refers to the kingdom, since the “curse” (Genesis 2:17) is still with mankind today. Tree of Life There was a tree in Eden called “the tree of life.” Whether it was one tree or one kind of tree is not important. However, it seems clear that it had life-sustaining properties. In Revelation 22:2 there is also a “tree of life.” The context seems to indicate that there is more than one tree: “On either side of the river, was there the tree of life.” The leaves of these trees of life were “for the healing of nations.” In the Garden of Eden, before sin, Adam and Eve needed no healing. The fruit of the tree of life was for sustaining perfect life. In the kingdom mankind will need a lot of healing from their previous experiences under the curse; once they reach perfection they will need the sustaining qualities as well. These trees of life are watered by “a River of Water of Life, bright as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1, Emphatic Diaglott). The water from this river will be perfect for the growth and maintenance of the trees and for the development of the fruit of the trees. This is important because a tree’s fruit is what human beings eat. Generally the percentage of water in fruit is about 80%. When we eat a piece of fruit, we also ingest the water as well as the nutrients in the fruit which are in the water. The leaves of the tree are also nurtured by the “pure river of water of life.” Water that comes directly from the throne of God and the Lamb will of course produce perfect food and healing for mankind as they approach and eventually reach perfection. The “river … bright as crystal” suggests not only that the water will be pure, it will be easily seen and discerned: “Let him that is athirst come” (Revelation 22:17). Fruit of the Spirit Fruit on the trees reminds us of the fruit of the spirit: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22, 23). These may be considered as subdivisions of love, something Paul mentioned at the beginning of this list. The word fruit is singular, as if Paul said the fruit of the Spirit is love; then he went on to list some of the characteristic components of love. In Revelation 22:2 we find twelve fruits and twelve months which, when multiplied together, produce 144; multiplying 144 by the kingdom’s thousand years produces 144,000. This is the number of the called-out ones who make their calling and election sure and receive the divine nature (Revelation 7:4). This suggests that the glorified church will play an important part in watering, feeding, and healing the world of mankind in the kingdom. Mankind in the kingdom will need to drink, eat, and be healed. God will supply pure water “clear as crystal” for drinking. The pure river also irrigates the tree of life which brings forth twelve manner of fruits for eating, and leaves for healing. Just as Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, for Christians today the water of truth is the key to everlasting life. Water Flows From the Temple Another interesting picture of the river of the water of life is found in Ezekiel 47:1-12.1 There the “waters issued forth from under the threshold of the house eastward” (Ezekiel 47:1). We can identify some things in this picture that match with the picture of living waters in Revelation 22. First, the “house” is the Temple (see Ezekiel 43:4-7). The water comes from God. We also see from Ezekiel 47 that the waters increased as they moved away from the Temple. This tells us it is a picture of Christ’s earthly kingdom, for we know that only in the kingdom will God’s truth reach all mankind, not just the little flock. The waters flowed from the Temple eastward toward the Dead Sea, so called because its extreme saltiness makes marine life impossible. It is a good representation of Adamic death. What a marvelous contrast we find in Ezekiel 47:8 where we read, “the waters shall be healed.” This shows the prison house of death being opened and an opportunity for life given to all mankind. Adamic death will have been conquered. However, there is a slight problem in Ezekiel 47. If the waters from the Temple flow due east, they will run directly into the Mount of Olives. This seeming oversight by Ezekiel is rectified quite nicely by Zechariah: “And the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south” (Zechariah 14:4). Recently the Geological Institute of Tel Aviv discovered a major fault line running directly through the Mount of Olives to the Dead Sea.2 No obstacle will stand in the way of God’s healing waters of truth being dispersed in the kingdom. “It shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many” (Ezekiel 47:10). In the Gospel age the Lord told his followers to be “fishers of men.” However, now there is just one here, one there. In the kingdom the “fish” will be abundant as will be the “fishers.” En-gedi is centrally located on the west shore of the Dead Sea in Judah. Eneglaim was “apparently as on the Dead Sea; but whether near to or far from Engedi, on the east or the west side of the sea, it is impossible to ascertain” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary). After the waters from the Temple heal the sea there will be “exceeding many” fish living where now there are none. There will be so many fishermen that they extend from the middle of the sea on one side to places on the sea that are not even known. What a contrast to the end of the Gospel age when “the harvest truly is great [the quality is great and the work is great], but the labourers are few” (Luke 10:2; see also Reprints, p. 2674). “It shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former [margin: eastern] sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be” (Zechariah 14:8). The eastern sea is the Dead Sea and the “hinder sea” is the Mediterranean Sea. Thus another river has been added to the one mentioned in Ezekiel 47. In the days of Ezekiel the Mediterranean Sea was the hub of commerce for the world. This might picture that the healing extends even to the way the world does business in the kingdom. When everyone loves his neighbors as himself, commerce will certainly be different than it is today. So we see that Ezekiel 47, along with Zechariah 14, is an appropriate picture of the kingdom, and once again we find that the key is the “waters of life.”
“Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. And the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek [“Strife”]; because they strove with him. And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah [“Opposition”]. And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth [“Room”]; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”—Genesis 26:17-22 Isaac first dug a well which the “Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham.” Then Isaac’s servants dug a well in the same place and found a well of “springing water” [margin: living water]. This time the “herdsmen of Gerar” strove with them saying “the water is ours.” A third well was dug and the same herdsmen “strove for that also.” But the fourth time Isaac dug a well he went to another place. So a total of four wells were dug. The four wells might well represent the four different times the Lord has given springing or living waters to his people: 1. The well of Abraham pictures the water of life given to Adam in the garden to sustain his perfect life. After Adam sinned he was no longer permitted in the garden, and this is pictured by the Philistines taking over the waters and changing the name. 2. Isaac dug in the same area and found a well of “springing water” or living water. This might represent God giving the Law to Israel and offering the Israelites life through it. They would be blessed in basket and in store if they obeyed God’s commandments (Deuteronomy 28:5). However, the herdmen of Gerar strove with them and the name of the well came to be called “Esek” (meaning contention). How aptly this pictures the strivings of the Israelites and how their house was eventually left to them desolate. 3. Isaac dug another well and the herdmen of Gerar strove with him again. This time the well was named “Sitnah” (meaning opposition, hatred). This pictures the false church hating the true church and almost destroying it. The false church usurped the position of the true church and claimed the living water for itself. It soon polluted the water with its false doctrines. 4. Finally Isaac went to another place to dig the well and there was no striving. This well was named “Rehoboth” (meaning room). Isaac said the LORD had made room for them and they would “be fruitful in the land.” Where the “living waters” of Christ’s kingdom flow, all shall have room to reap its benefits; there will be no striving, contention, or hatred: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). The first two “water(s) of life” were provided by God to Adam and Israel. The second two “water(s) of life” could only be offered after Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. This is pictured in what came out of Jesus’ body when he died: “One of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). Water comes directly from Jesus, but only associated with his blood which he gave freely for the life of the world.
______________ 2. See http://www.abbaswatchman.com/PAGE%2023%20DEAD%20SEA%20PAGE%202.htm |