John 7:37-38 (NLT) “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.”
Deuteronomy 11:10-12 (NLT) “For the land you are about to enter and take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain— 12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. He watches over it through each season of the year!”
The difference between Egypt and the promised land of Canaan was that in Egypt almost no rain fell, and crops were entirely irrigated by the Nile River, while in Canaan the land was entirely watered by rain from God. While Egypt didn’t feel the presence of God through rain, it achieved its secure food source through human effort.
In Canaan, God’s people had to trust God for their water. Their own efforts could not produce any water. The presence of rain in Israel was very much associated with blessing by God.
Because living water came directly from God, it was closely associated with God’s provision and his manifestation of his presence.
Isaiah 44:3-4 (ESV) “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. 4 They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.”
Joel 2:23 (NKJV) “Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you—The former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
John 4:13-14 (NKJV) “Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
John 6:35-37 (NKJV) “And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”
Believing is receiving him as water, food, and life for the soul. In order to come and drink, one must believe in Jesus–believe that He can satisfy our every thirst. Jesus is the giver of life and the source of life. He becomes a river of living water–a fountain that wells up deep inside of us.
