Yeshu‘a – The Source, ... for who is thirsty...

Lessons from the last, great day of the Feast of Tabernacles

André H. Roosma
23 October 2014

The last, the great day of the feast

7: 37 On the last, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this He said about the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This is really the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Anointed One [The Messiah / The Christ].” But some said, “Is the Anointed One to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Anointed One descends from David, and comes from Beth-lechem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him.

Yeho-chanan (John) 7: 37 - 43

This passage speaks about the last, the great day of the feast. That feast is the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), which was also celebrated recently again (Wednesday evening 8 Oct. – Wednesday afternoon 15 Oct. 2014; in 2015: Sunday evening 27 Sept. – Sunday afternoon 4 Oct. 2015). Around the beginning of our era there were two important days near the end of it: the last day of the feast proper, and the next day, the eighth day. These two days were the climax of the feast. Every day the high priest in his impressive dress (see the drawing on the right) had walked with a great golden jar to the Siloam-waters – quite some distance downward from the temple – to get there a big jar full of fresh water – water that was led there from the Gihon well. Of course he was followed in that by a massive multitude, singing praise songs and songs of supplication to God. The priest then walked inside the temple around the altar before pouring it out in a container on the altar, as a libation or water offering to God, next to the wine offering. On the seventh day he walked seven times around the altar.¹ On the eighth day, people would think back of this and pray for rain in the new agricultural season. (Scholars differ in their opinion as regards which of these two days was referred to here, but clear is the focus on water.)

Water was absolutely vital for the people in the Middle-East, so also in Israel. It was due to God’s blessing of sufficient water that the Isra’elites had the rich harvest for which they were giving thanks and honor to God during the Feast of Tabernacles. Water was the source and basis for everything, especially for life. We still observe this in the Hebrew language, where mu - the original symbol for water, which later became the letter מ mem, as prefix still has that meaning of bringing forth.

And then, all of a sudden, Jesus (Yeshu‘a) stands there again. At first, when His brothers asked Him to join them in going to the Feast, on purpose He did not yet go, because for Him it was not yet time.² He did everything at God’s timing. Only half-way the feast He showed up. And now, after seven days of that water-ritual, He stands there. And He speaks, no, He shouts it out: “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.’”
In fact He says: “I am the Source of that water, the Source of all that abundance that you enjoy.” Thus, He says: “I am God!”

That must have been impressive, for now many recognize in Him The Anointed One. That Anointed One had already been promised in the Bible of those days (our First Testament). People looked forward to Him, for He would make everything new. They had studied about Him, what the Scriptures said about Him. So, they knew that He was to come from Bet-lechem (Mikhah 5:2). Of this Jesus some thought to know that He came from Galilee. So, they said: it doesn’t fit! There was division.

Yes, so it goes more often. Jesus reveals Who He really is, and division arises among the people... And it also happens more often, that division arises because some do not research the facts well and still think to be able to draw hard conclusions...

If someone thirsts...

Jesus does not waste Himself. He does not invite everybody to come. His invitation is directed to the ones who experience thirst.³ That is to say: to those who will acknowledge that they are thirsty. Many may be at least as thirsty – thirsty for value, thirsty for being seen, thirsty for true connectedness, thirsty for a real and full life – but they think they can manage their thirst and quench it by themselves. In antiquity that was not different from the way it is now. Via the prophet Yesha‘-yahu (Isaiah) God had spoken centuries earlier already the following very impres­sive message to Isra’el (Is.55; note the deeply moved tone!):

55: 1 “Hey, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in fatness. ...”

Many Jews and Christians worry about, or have worried about, whether they are or were good enough. But that doesn’t seem to bother God here. His prime grief or sorrow is that people work hard and exert themselves intensely... for nothing! In our times that seems more to the point than ever. I come across double income parents – ex­hausted and with far too little rest and time for God, themselves and their chil­dren. I see men – all in the same slick anthracite grey suits, the same dark, fast cars, never really well time for anything, always on the run from one job to the next, from appointment to appointment, from meeting to meeting. Slaves of the rat-race... And never is it enough. Never is there satiation. Never real shalom...

And amidst all that plodding, all that fruitlessness, God shouts here: “please, come to Me!” And is it expensive what He offers? No, on the contrary: it doesn’t cost anything... not a cent, no plodding... nothing!
The only thing He asks is: to come to Him and to really listen to Him. Well... that requires that we stand still for a moment. Still enough to hear what He has to s ay to us. Long enough to really hear how He loves us. Quiet enough to let our heart be fed by Him; to let it be satiated by Him. Quiet enough to rejoice in the abundance that He gives us. Via the prophet God continues:

3 “Incline your ear, and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, My steadfast, sure love for David. 4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and com­mander for the peoples. ...”

God’s plan with Isra’el, and especially with Yehudah (so, the Jews), was that they would be priests for the nations. That via them, the nations would discover how awesome, great and full of love He, YaHUaH, is. Yeah, also how awesome and revealing His glorious Name YaHUaH is. They would head the nations in serving and glorifying the Eternal One. They would lead them like a shepherd leads his sheep, such that they are well, protected and satiated.

Already long before that, their patriarch Isra’el had given a personal blessing to every one of his sons. To Yehudah he had said - among others - the following:

8 “Yehudah! your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. ... 10 The scepter shall not depart from Yehudah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until He comes ‘Who-is-out-of-him’ [Shiloh; ‘his Seed’, or: ‘to whom it (that scepter) belongs’]; and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples. ...”

Genesis 49: 8, 10

Till the coming of Yeshu‘a God intended that Yehudah would exert great influence. In David we did see this. In contrast to his contemporaries David believed in a great and grace-full God. Therefore, he could face any challenge. A fight with a hostile giant he did not fear. For His God was greater! A big slip, even a murder, was not a reason to give up in despair, for the God Whom David believed in was full of grace.
And because of that, a call went out over all nations in the environment: “Do you know YaHUaH, the Holy One of Isra’el? He is awesome! He is mighty and full of grace! And they came, offering their wealth – to David and to His God: YaHUaH (1 Chron.18:1-13; cf. 2 Chron.1:14-17; 1 Kings 10:1-13)!

Accordingly, God’s speaking via Yesha‘-yahu continued:⁴

5 “Behold, you shall call nations that you know not, and nations that knew you not shall run to you, because of YaHUaH your God, and of the Holy One of Isra’el, for He has glorified you. 6 Seek YaHUaH while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to YaHUaH, that He may have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. ...”

Alas, after David, faith in that great God was neglected and had become distant. So, God had to add:

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says YaHUaH. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it. 12 For you shall go out in joy [Hebr.: simchah], and be led forth in shalom; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to YaHUaH for a memorial [Name], for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off. ...”

The Word... That is fulfilled in Jesus, that is Yeshu‘a. He did what was agreeable to God. He sees to it that many nations will come with joy and glorify YaHUaH. To Him large multitudes have listened, and many still will come to listen... He does not return empty to the Father, but with a great multitude who have their thirst quenched by Him. Who did not fall for all the empty promises this world seemed to offer. Who have stood still and listened to Him, having their hearts and minds changed -drastically- by Him, and who found in Him joy and shalom, and hence also satiation. Even all of nature will finally join in, in that hymn of praise to her great Creator!

With joy, drawing water from the wells of Yeshu‘ah

Via that same prophet Yesha‘-yahu God had previously already said (Is.12:1-6; this passage was probably also read on that last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, where Jesus stood up and spoke about that He is The Source of the living water; compare also Is.42:6-12):

12: 1 “In that day, you will say: “I give thanks to You, YaHUaH, for though You were angry with me, Your anger turned away, and You comforted me. 2 Behold, God is my Yeshu‘ah [Salvation]; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for YaH YaHUaH is my strength and my song, and He has become my Yeshu‘ah [Salvation].” 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of Yeshu‘ah [Salvation]. 4 And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to YaHUaH, call upon His Name; make known His deeds among the nations, proclaim that His name is exalted. 5 Sing praises to YaHUaH, for He has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. 6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Tsion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Isra’el. ...”

This is one of those passages of which I say: actually you have to read the original text. Otherwise we miss the obvious link to Yeshu‘a that is there in threefold. Equally, you might miss that it is hard to distinguish here between YaHUaH and Yeshu‘a, just like Yeho-chanan (John) could later write down from the mouth of Yeshu‘a (John 10:30; 14:9).
Now, isn’t this passage heart warming and exciting to read? YaHUaH, the God of Isra’el is not a distant God or a harsh and demanding God, but He has become my - and hopefully your - Yeshu‘ah, my Salvation! And just because of that, He has become my strength and my song! And hopefully yours too! It makes me say: I want more of that! This is indeed like lovely cool water for a thirsty soul!

Note that this is reason to freely use God’s glorious Name YaHUaH to call on Him, glorify and sing to Him! There is no reason whatsoever to conceal or to replace that great Name any longer; on the contrary! He has to become known over the entire earth! All people must hear of His glorious deeds, His message of joy! His greatness and mercy should be appreciated everywhere!

Yes, and He is the Beginning and the End, the ’Aleph and the Tav, of everything! Like we read in the last Bible-book (where we see that ’Aleph and Tav translated into their Greek equivalent: Alpha and Omega):

6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. 7 He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. ...”

Revelation 21: 6 - 8 (cf. also Revelation 22: 17)

The victory, that keeps us away from all from verse 8, begins with being thirsty and drinking of Yeshu‘a! He is truly the One Who makes us whole; that’s also in that Name Yeshu‘ah. He, Who Saved us in the first place and Who has begun a good work with and in us, will also finish it to the very end, such that we reach our destination completely!⁵

Next to the passages quoted above about our thirst I could put still many more.⁶ From all one thing comes forward:

God searches for people who admit that they are thirsty and are willing to be filled by what He gives:
Himself!

By His Spirit He wants to live with and in us, unremittingly in connection with us !

Hallelu YaH !

Notes

This article is a reworking of the basic material, used for an extended sermon on 15 Oct. 2014, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, in the Dutch Messianic Fellowship Mayaan Yeshua, under the same title: Yeshu‘a – The Source.

Note that Jesus turns things completely upside down here. Key in the Jewish religious tradition of Simchat Beyt Ha-Sho’ebhah - the water-offering-ritual (based on the Talmud/Mishna; not on the Bible!), was the water, that people offered to God, hoping that He would then give suffiicient rain. Or to enforce in a mystical way that rain and underground sources might give their water in a sufficient measure.
In what Jesus says, key is the water that He wants to give. He is The Source; The Well! God’s goodness is not a reaction to our offering. The goodness of God is there and asks to be received. That is the big difference between religion - where man is at the center - and the relationship with YaHUaH, the God of Isra’el, Who is at the center and offers His Life via Himself, and asks that we just receive Him.
So, in all of this, Jesus implicitly delivered great criticism on the human fabrications and way of thinking of the pharisees.

With the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, there is something peculiar. Some passages say that this Feast lasted for seven days, and/or that the Israelites had to live in booths for seven days (e.g. Lev.23:34,42; Deut.16:13). In other places we see being written about the eighth day (Lev.23:36,39; Num.29:35; 2 Chron.7:9). Anyhow this eighth day is a special day. It was, just like the first day, a shabbat on which no servile work was to be done; one should be completely involved in rest and the relationship with God and each other. There were different rules for this day concerning the sacrifices. In Hebrew this day is referred to as ום הַשְּׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת - Yom ha-Shemini ‘Atseret - eighth day of assembly (Num.29:35; 2 Chron.7:9) or יֹּום הַשְּׁמִינִי - Yom ha-Shemini - eighth day (Lev.23:36, a verse in which further on the word ‘atseret - (day) of assembly is already present: “Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire unto YaHUaH: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire unto YaHUaH: it is a solemn assembly; and you shall do no servile work therein.”).
The eighth day was special in general. The eighth day was the day on which firtborns among man and animals were to be surrendered to God YaHUaH (Exodus 22:29-30; Lev.22:27), it was also the day on which children were given their name and boys were circumcised (and redeemed by and animal that was offered to God YaHUaH; Lev.12:3; Luke 1:59; Acts 7:8).
Here, too, we see that aspect of fully surrendering oneself to God at day eight. No longer are there shelters or another cover to hide yourself behind; you stand before God YaHUaH like you are. Therefore it is important is that we seek Yeshu‘a - the Redemption by YaHUaH - as people who are thirsty and let Him fill us, by allowing Him to change our hearts and cloth us in a white garment.
Therefore it is remarkable that on this day there was offered only one bull - symbol of Yeshu‘a, the Great First. He is at the center, here. We see that also already in that word ‘atseret, in the letters from the time of Moses. Those read:  = to see - righteous (/oppressed) one - God - cross (/completion).

Hallelu YaH !

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