Rivers of Living Water (John 7:37-38)

2024-04-16

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. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:37-38)

Jesus spoke of living water before with the woman at the well. There, the Lord showed her the need of salvation, and that only His water would quench that need. “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” (John 4:14). Surely, this water would bring about great healing within this broken woman. This well of living water can heal us also.

Here in John 7:37-38, we see that salvation is accompanied by this outflowing of rivers of living water. This refers to the Holy Spirit, for in the following verse, we read, “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” (John 7:39). Note the use of the word “rivers” in the plural. This is no mere trickle. This is a massive abundance of water. The Spirit within is not some meek force.

The Spirit to us is as a well that eternally springs up from within us forever. He is also rivers that flow out of us. The ministry of the Spirit in this sense, then, is both within and without. He satisfies us, but also outflows to satisfy a world of thirst. He equips us and nourishes us with whatever we need, but He also uses us to nourish others.

Solomon said of his wife that she is like “a spring shut up, a fountain sealed” (Song of Solomon 4:12) and “A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon” (Song of Solomon 4:15). When typifying Christ and the church, we see how the church is a well-watered garden with living water producing beautiful fruit to the Lord.

The sin of Israel in the Old Testament was that they rejected God: “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” (Jeremiah 2:13). They accepted something inferior to the Lord Himself. This is not a warning to Israel alone; we must also take this to heart. Note that we see a reference to the deity of the Holy Spirit, since He, being the living waters, is clearly God in this passage.

Again, we read, “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters” (Jeremiah 17:13). The LORD, our source of living waters, is “the hope of Israel.” He is our hope as well. We must depend on Him every moment seeing there is not hope anywhere else.

Though we see a lot of turmoil in Israel today, we know the future of Jerusalem in the end: “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” (Zechariah 14:8).

These living waters are the reality of every Christian. If you are a Christian today, having faith alone in our Lord Jesus Christ, you have access to the eternal well of living water and the gushing rivers that should flow freely from us. Do not neglect this gift from God. By faith, ask Him to water the parched world of sin in which we live.