The Feast of the Tabernacles along with Passover and the Festival of Weeks, was one of three major pilgrimage festivals of Judaism. One of three major festivals celebrated in Jerusalem each year, the Feast of Tabernacles was the happiest and most joyful. It was a festival of thanksgiving. It was a harvest festival. It fell at the end of the harvest season—thus a third name for the festival, the “Feast of Ingathering” (Ex. 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:39; Deut. 16:13–15). Fruit was gathered in and people dwelt in booths made of branches and boughs of trees (Lv. 23:39–43; Nu. 29:12–38).
Camped out in little lean-tos similar to pup tents, parents would tell their children how God miraculously provided for their fathers for forty years in the wilderness. They would tell of a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day; of bread from the sky and water from a rock. The priest offered a special burnt offering of 70 bullocks during the week. Two rams and 14 lambs were the daily burnt offering, and a male goat the daily sin offering (Num. 29:12–34). There was an extra day recognized by the religious leaders where was no water ceremony but only a solemn time of reflection and prayer and the Law of Moses would be read.
To commemorate the miraculous provision of water, a procession of priests would draw water from the pool of Siloam in a golden container filled and it was carried in procession by the High-Priest back to the temple. As the procession came to the Watergate on the S side of the inner temple court, 3 trumpet blasts were made to mark the joy of the occasion and the people recited Is. 12:3, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” At the temple, while onlookers watched, the priests would march around the altar with the water container while the temple choir sang the Hallel (Pss. 113–118). The water was offered in sacrifice to God at the time of the morning sacrifice.
The Feast of Tabernacles not only commemorated the past—it anticipated the future. On the last day, the great day of the feast, however, the priests would return from the pool of Siloam with an empty vessel, signifying that when the Israelites entered the Promised Land, water from the rock was no longer needed. The high priest would read Isaiah 44:3: “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”
The picture was unmistakably clear. “Siloam,” the name of the pool from which the priests drew the water, means “Sent One”— just as Messiah would be the Sent One who would pour out His Spirit upon a thirsty people. It was at this climactic moment of the week-long celebration that a thirty-three-year-old Carpenter from Galilee stood up and broke the silence as He cried out the following: John 7:37-39 – On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
It was unmistakeable that this man claimed to be the fulfillment of the Messianic anticipations of this feastival! What a powerful context it was that Jesus chose to preach his “Water Sermon.”
This is a great evangelistic sermon!
But I also believe that there is a profound truth nestled
here for believers today that should not be overlooked.
It is found in verse 39 which is the Apostle John’s
commentary of what Jesus said about “out of his heart will
flow rivers of living water.”
The water-pouring rite was also associated within Jewish tradition as a foreshadowing of the eschatological rivers of living water foreseen in Ezek. 47:1–9 and Zech. 13:1.
Now I believe that John gives us a great insight into understanding the prophecy of Ezekiel 47.
- Some believe that the Kingdom is piece of geographical land located in the Middle East.
- Some believe the Kingdom to be the physical geo-political nationalistic Israel.
- But John makes it clear that the kingdom is spiritual.
- John tells us that the river of living water that Jesus is speaking of is the Holy Spirit.
- And John alludes to the fact that this Spirit would be sent as soon as Christ was glorified! That happened at Pentecost.
- The Holy Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost thus the milliniel kingdom of God has come to the earth spiritually in the Spirit-indwelt Church.
- The water of life is flowing freely through those who come to Christ.
- The Holy Spirit is here, now.
I believe John’s statement about the Holy Spirit being the water the Jesus is speaking of can be understood in light of Ezekiel 47:1-5.
In a vision of the kingdom, Ezekiel saw a river flowing from the temple. “Walk with me,” a man said to him. And they walked fifteen hundred feet. “Step in,” the man said. And Ezekiel stepped into the river up to his ankles. “Walk with me,” the man said again. And they walked fifteen hundred feet further. Again, Ezekiel was instructed to step into the river. This time, the water came up to his knees. A third time, they walked together; and a third time Ezekiel stepped into the river, which came up to his waist. Finally, after walking further, Ezekiel stepped into the river once again—but this time, he could not stand. The water being over his head, Ezekiel was enveloped in the flow of the river. V.5, Ezekiel said this was water that you had to swim in!
We are now the temple of God, and His Spirit has been poured out in us!
Out of our inner beings flows the River of Living Water!!
May we bless His name upon the earth.
I also agree with Charles Haddon Spurgeon who said that the whole vision, though bearing other meanings, may be applied in several other ways to the Kingdom of God which is now upon the earth.[i]
First, to the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- It began at Jerusalem as a tiny rivulet. By our Savior’s preaching a few disciples, some of whom became apostles, were converted. These were the means of the conversion of a still larger number. But at the first the stream was very shallow, for the whole church could meet in one upper room. Even after the Pentecostal increase it was but as a brooklet. Herod thought that he could leap across it, or could dam it up, but his persecutions swelled the stream. Very shortly after the watercourse grew broader and deeper, till it attracted the attention of the Roman Emperors, and excited their alarm. They thought that it was time to drain the rivulet, lest it should become a torrent so great as to sweep them away. Their attempts to stay its course only added to its floods. Its current became more strong and wide than before, and on it went from age to age, till at last it had become a mighty river, watering the whole earth, and greatly blessing the nations. It is destined yet to grow until it shall be like the main ocean itself, for “the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.” We bless God that the day of small things which dawned at Bethlehem has already grown to a day of great things, and our faith fully expects to see greater things than these.
Second, the vision might equally well be applied to the growth of Christian experience.
- It’s a perfect illustration of life in the Spirit. That is, you get saved. You step in. And you’re up to your ankles, standing on the promises of Jesus Christ. As you head down the road toward heaven, you go a little deeper in your walk, and you become aware of spiritual impotence in your life. So you call upon the Lord, and you’re up to your knees in prayer. A little further on in your pilgrimage, you want to see others saved. You start witnessing and ministering, and you’re up to your waist—a picture of the reproductive life of the Spirit. Finally, you get to the place where you say, “I just want to be over my head in You, Lord, immersed in Your Spirit. I no longer want to control my ministry or my destiny. Take me, Lord. Sweep me off my feet. Fill me, use me. Do with me as You wish.”
At the same time, the vision might be applied to our knowledge of the gospel.
- When one is saved he doesn’t understand everything about his new life in Christ at once. There is a daybreak before the fullness of noon: there is a blade — a tender green blade — before the full corn in the ear. The babe cries in penitence before the perfect man in Christ Jesus sings the song of assurance. Perhaps we have not yet come to know the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the love of Christ; neither have we yet discovered how exceeding broad the gospel is, but what we know not now we shall know hereafter. Contracted notions we shall leave behind as the bird casts off the shell in which it was imprisoned; dim ideas will vanish, as the trees walking were seen no more when the blind man’s eyes were fully opened. Childish knowledge makes us dream of comprehending the gospel in the hollow of our hand, but when we become men and put away childish things, we shall find in it “waters to swim in.”
[i]Spurgeon, C. H. 1998. Vol. 18: Spurgeon’s Sermons: Volume 18 (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; Spurgeon’s Sermons. Ages Software: Albany, OR
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.
Jason, that the kingdom presently exists does not in any way rule out a premillenial view of eschatology (which I gather you are trying to put forth).
Without being a classic dispensationalist, the case for being premillenial is airtight my friend.
Irenaeusii, your puerile confidence worries me sometimes. But it is typical of a student… I remember well my own brazeness. And I am not surprised at your failure to get the end right since you have gotten confused about the beginning (the covenants, law, and grace) based on your comments on previous posts. Nevertheless, brother, I am glad you are engaging in theology. The reward is worth more than our suffering and repentance.
But now, concerning the issue of the Second Advent, I wish to remind us that the glorious Second Coming impacts our worldview in numerous ways, completes our theology, and concludes the great story of Redemption.
First, the Second Coming exalts the victory of Christ in redemption. When Christ came in the incarnation, it was to suffer in humiliation by dying for the sins of his people: “being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8; cp. Matt. 1:21; Luke 19:10). But Scripture does not leave him on the cross or in the tomb; it teaches his consequent glorification through four steps: resurrection, ascension, session, and return. Christ’s return in glory is necessary to complete his redemptive victory, for then he returns as a All-conquering Redeemer-King. “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). But as Hebrews notes: “Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him” (Heb. 2:8b). So then, Christ’s Second Coming is necessary to conclusively demonstrating his redemptive victory for all to see.
Second, the Second Coming completes the plan of God for history. Though Christ legally secured the defeat of sin, death, and the devil in the first century, all three evils remain with us (Rom. 7:18-25; 1 Peter 5:8-9). They have been vanquished legally before the judicial bar of God (Col. 1:13-14; 2:13-15). They are being vanquished historically through the continuing progress of the gospel (Acts 26:18; 1 Cor. 15:20-23). They will be vanquished eternally at the Second Advent of Christ (Rom. 8:18-25; Rev. 20:10-15). Scriptures teach that history will be concluded with a final, permanent vanquishing of evil: “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13). This occurs when Christ returns: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. . . . Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matt. 25:31-33, 41; cp. 2 Peter 3:3-15). “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:26), which results at his return (1 Cor. 15:23-25, 54). Thus, Christ’s Second Coming brings history to an appropriate conclusion.
And third, the Second Coming balances the theology of God in Scripture. This glorious doctrine not only finalizes Christ’s redemptive victory (pouring eternal glory on his redeeming love) and completes the plan of God (demonstrating divine wisdom in his creational plan). But it also provides us with a full-orbed system of doctrine balancing out majestic biblical truths. Were it not for the Second Advent:
• We would have a creation (Gen. 1:1; Heb. 11:3) without a consummation (Acts 3:20-21; Rev. 20:11), resulting in an open-ended Universe (1 Cor. 15:23-24; 2 Pet. 3:3-4).
• We would have a world eternally groaning (Rom. 8:22; 2 Cor. 5:1-4), without any glorious perfection (Rom. 8:21; 2 Pet. 3:12-13).
• We would have a Savior quietly departing (Luke 24:50-52; 1 Cor. 15:5-8), without any victorious demonstration (Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:10-11).
• We would have a redemption spiritually focused (Rom. 8:10; Eph.1:3), without a physical dimension (Rom. 8:11; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).
• We would have a Redeemer bodily ascended (Acts 1:8-11; Col. 2:9), without any physical family (1 Cor. 15:20–28; Phil. 3:20-21).
• We would have a gospel continually necessary (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8), without any final completion (Matt. 28:20; 1 Cor. 15:24).
Truly, the Second Coming is a “blessed hope” upon which we must carefully focus. I am glad that God’s plan is airtight!
Jason, I did appreciate the historical perspective.
As to my being confused, well, I am neither confused about now or the end. I am premillenial, like John’s disciples were.
Am I brazen about it? No. Am I convinced? Yes. Am I so convinced that I am convinced you are wrong? Definitely.