Fountain of Living Waters
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
God is the Fountain of Living Waters
Jeremiah 2:13 KJV:
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
God is the fountain of living waters, but He’s also like a spring because the water never runs dry.
Psalm 36:8–10 KJV:
8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. 9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. 10 O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
When we have our roots planted where the source of our life is this life-giving water, then we will flourish and bear fruit.
Psalm 1:2–3 KJV:
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
This shows three key things:
- Delight yourself in the Lord.
- It’s God’s job to make you like a tree.
- Then you bear fruit.
In the culture at the time, this picture is of a garden that is fed by a life-giving spring. They would plant the trees in the garden and then dig irrigation ditches to water all the trees (and everything else) in the garden with the right amount of water. The gardener would fine-tune the flow of the water to ensure that nothing got too much or too little water.
It’s the job of the gardener to take care of the tree, and the source of life is the water.
Proverbs 14:27 KJV:
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
The condition is: delighting yourself in the Lord (remember Psalm 1?). In the Old Testament, water always symbolized spiritual life.
John 4:6–14 KJV:
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar [shekem], near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 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. 11 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? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 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.
During the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, each morning, a priest would scoop water out of the pool of Siloam and take it back to the Temple. The people would sing Psalms 113–118. It was as they were finishing this that Jesus cried out, the following:
John 7:37–40 KJV:
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
The belief part comes before the drink. You should read it like this: “Let him come to me, and let him who believes, drink.” The person must drink. Until you believe and desire to drink, nothing will happen.
Verse 38 says “as the scripture hath said,” but it’s not a clear reference to any one specific scripture. E.W. Bullinger explains this well.
Zechariah prophesies that in the end times, when the New Jerusalem is set up, there will be a river of life that will flow; its source will be from a spring coming up from underneath Jerusalem. It will flow out to the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean. That river will be healing for the nations. It will enable the trees to produce a different fruit every month. A living river that everyone in Jerusalem can drink from.
Zechariah 14:8 KJV:
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.
According to Bullinger, John 7:38 contains an ellipsis (words missing that must be understood).
John 7:38 KJV:
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said [concerning Jerusalem and the end times], out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
After the traditional scriptures had been read aloud, Jesus Christ spoke up. Quoting from E.W. Bullinger:
It will be noted that a comparison is suggested by the word καθώς (kathōs), like as, and that there is an Ellipsis which must be supplied….. But in “the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried,” with evident reference to the Scripture which had been read, “He that believeth on me (as the Scripture hath said [concerning Jerusalem: so shall it be]) out of his heart rivers of living water shall flow.” What the Scripture had said concerning Jerusalem in Zech. 14:8 was this:—“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,” &c. To this agree the words of the prophecy in Ezek. 47:1–11. These prophecies shall yet be literally fulfilled with regard to Jerusalem: and what will then actually take place illustrates what takes place now in the experience of every one who believes in Jesus. Even as those rivers will flow forth from Jerusalem in that day, so now the Holy Spirit, in all His wondrous powers, and gifts, and graces, flows forth from the inward parts—the new nature of the believer. — Ethelbert William Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (London; New York: Eyre & Spottiswoode; E. & J. B. Young & Co., 1898), 50.
Out of the belly, out of the inner part of a person—where the Spirit is—will flow rivers of living water. It’s like a fountain or spring. The Spirit overflows in many different ways. It’s a fountain of living waters, and God gave it to us already! It’s never not there when you need it.
When that Spirit overflows in our lives through manifestations or other means, here’s what happens:
Galatians 5:22–23 KJV:
22 But the fruit [singular] of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Because this fruit is a fruit of the spirit, it can come into our lives regardless of any circumstances.
This audio file is also available from the Acts Now Fellowship website.
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