Know Pain – No Water
Have you ever been thirsty? I mean really thirsty. So thirsty you are to the point of genuine
loss of physical abilities. I personally had that unpleasant experience in the form of heat
cramps. It was in the middle of summer and during a Marine Corps exercise. Intense heat,
hard training, and no sleep made for the perfect combination. But mostly the main
contributing factor was from a lack of water.
I knew to drink lots of water, and thought I was doing a sufficient job at it. Apparently, it
wasn’t enough. We ended our three days of war games with a twenty-mile hike. I wasn’t
the only one overtaken by heat related issues. Every so often, someone dropped to the
side in some sort of extreme pain. They were all from the same problem – a lack of water.
My particular dilemma didn’t come until shortly after we arrived back at our base. Both of
my hands curled up into tight, disfigured claws. Looking very much as if I had withered
crows feet at the end of my arms. The only way I could straighten my fingers was forcefully
to pry them open. If I didn’t keep flexing them backwards they would once again curl up.
I was only one of a couple dozen men out of a few hundred that succumbed to this most
uncomfortable predicament. And honestly, it was all my own fault. I had two canteens on
me, and whenever they were empty, I could have filled them up. They had tanks of water
wherever we went. Water was in great supply. But yet, I didn’t have enough, because I didn’
t take the steps to drink what was available.
A Dry And Thirsty Land
Have you even been where water was not in abundance? With my time in the Marines, I
spent some time in the desert. It was easy to realize what would happen if I didn’t have the
never ending supply of water that was once again provided. Being in that parched and
desolate environment, you quickly learn to appreciate the simple and important things in
life; like water. If it wasn’t for the tanks of water, I’m sure I would have had far worse than
heat cramps.
My time in the desert was short, but there are those that live in that dry climate. To them
water is not only important, but it becomes part of the culture as well. Many civilizations
develop ceremonies that focus around water and rain. The value of rain for health,
livestock, and crops becomes paramount to those that wonder when, if at all, the next rain
will come.
The nation of Israel, in the celebration of the holiday Sukkot, brings the focus on water in
both a physical and spiritual level. With the current year’s crops harvested, thoughts turn
toward the needed rain to have a bountiful supply next year. During ceremonial events
within Sukkot, we can witness this physical need of the Hebrews. The pouring of gold
pitchers of water over the Altar acted as a reminder of that need. It also reminded the
people of Israel of the One that will provide for their need; the LORD and maker of all
things, including rain.
Israel just made it through a Summer of little or no rain. If this annual cycle were not
followed by the rains of Fall and Winter, famine and thirst would strike the land in the
coming year. God warns us of just such times. Amos 8:11a (NIV) “The days are coming,”
declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land… But of course
this is a warning not of a physical famine, but one of spirituality.
A Tall Green Tree I Shall Be
The rest of that verse states …not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of
hearing the words of the LORD. A spiritual thirst. Just as real and as deadly as a physical
thirst. In fact even more so. Continue reading in Amos. 8:12 Men will stagger from sea to
sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not
find it.” 13 In that day “the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of
thirst.”
Men and women will wander around with the spiritual equivalent of heat cramps. Sukkot
is not just a harvest festival; the acknowledgement of the thirst of the Soul is present as
well. The pouring out of water onto the Altar is also symbolic of the pouring out of the Spirit
of the Lord. The understanding that we all thirst for the one true God and that it is from Him
that we receive the quenching of our souls. Without His spiritual water, we will continue to
agonize within ourselves. We will wander and grow faint.
As it is written in Jeremiah 17 (KJV) 7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and
whose hope the LORD is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that
spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall
be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit. If we plant ourselves in His hope, we will never go thirsty – wither in the face of
adversity. In addition, we will never stop doing His work – that is, “yielding fruit”.
Jeremiah shows us that just as a tree by a river never shows signs of thirsting, so shall
the children of God never weaken from lack of spiritual renewal. The secret to this is that
the tree doesn’t just send its roots into the riverbank, but it continuously draws
nourishment from the flowing waters. I could have avoided my struggle with heat cramps if
I would have just followed the wisdom of Jeremiah. I had more gallons of water then I
could have ever drunk. The fault lied in that I didn’t take the steps to get the water from the
surplus and into my body.
The outpouring of God and His Spirit is always present. All we need to do is to drink it in.
We don’t need to walk around with agonizing pains in our souls. Isaiah 12:2 (KJV) Behold,
God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength
and my song; he also is become my salvation. 3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out
of the wells of salvation.
We simple need to drink from His deep wells and receive salvation.
Living Water
During one particular celebration of Sukkot – while the reading of verses from Isaiah
and others pertaining to water – God reveals an even deeper meaning to these scriptures.
John 7:37 (NIV) On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud
voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the
Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
Y’shua (Jesus) directly and unquestionable compares himself to Isaiah 12:3. The
priests have just gone to the Pool of Siloam to draw out pitchers of water. Envision the
procession of the Jewish leaders carrying golden pitchers from the pool to the Temple,
about a half mile away. The festive sounds of the crowds fill the air. A solemn but joyful
ceremony of the priest pouring the water over the Altar is performed. In the midst of all this,
but perhaps somewhat hidden in the shadows, Jesus is observing. He steps out and
punctuates the event with the words from John 7:37 & 38.
Jesus identifies not the Pool of Siloam, but himself as “the wells of salvation”. The
Hebrew word for salvation is Y’shua – the name of Jesus in His native tongue. Therefore,
Isaiah could be interpreted as saying to draw the water out of Jesus. He claims before the
crowds of Jerusalem that they have missed the Living Water before them. Although the
holiday of Sukkot is an important celebration, it is still just a ceremony using normal water.
They needed to reach out and drink in from the true well of salvation. The thirst for spiritual
fulfillment could only be obtained in consuming Heaven sent water.
During my training, if I had only taken advantage of the water that was available, I would
have never had to experience the cramps in my hands. In the same way if we would only
take from the living water – Y’shua ha-Mashiach – Jesus the Messiah, we would never feel
the pains of spiritual drought. He is there before us; all we need to do is take Him in and
be quenched. We then will not only be fulfilled but we shall be green and yielding fruit.
VoydPhil - Phil-ing #10
Raining Spirit
By Mark E. Benjamin
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