Jesus in the Old Testament 017: Jesus, the Living Water

Jesus in the Old Testament 017:

Jesus, the Living Water

Thesis: The Hebrews wandering in the desert are fed miraculously but run out of water.  Dying of thirst is incredibly painful, and they grumble again.  Again, God provides for their needs.  This miracle is meant to be a picture of the means by which God will meet a much more profound need, salvation, in Christ.  Jesus references this miracle and clarifies that it was about himself.

1. Nutshell with Kids (<5 min)
1. Have you ever been thirsty?  Tell me about it.
2. Summarize Ex 17. Why do you think they got so mad?
3. God met their needs in a unique way.  Striking a rock is not normally how you get water.
4. Picture of Jesus.
5. Jesus said he is the living water.  What do you think this means?
6. What kinds of needs has Jesus met for us?

2. Deeper with Adults
1. Mike’s Mountain story
2. Exodus 17: Hebrew Mike’s Mountain
1. Rephidim, modern Wadi Reyfayid. Nothing much there.
2. "They are almost ready to stone me!" (Ex 17:4). 
3. God’s instructions (vs 5-7)

a)      Go ahead (walking in pain)

b)      Follow me.

c)      God will stand on the rock.

d)     Moses strikes the rock.

e)      Water will come out, and the people will drink.

f)       Their needs are met when God is symbolically struck

(1)    1 Cor 10:1-5:

(2)   The rock is Christ

4. Again, the people grumble and doubt God’s presence, and again He demonstrates that He is with them.
2. A repeat of the miracle in Num 20
1. Similar setting (Wilderness of Zin)
2. Similar complaining (vs 2-5)
3. (vs 6-9)Moses and Aaron come to God, and he again answers, but with different instructions.

a)      Take the staff, but speak to the rock.

b)      Jesus was struck once for the forgiveness of our sins

(1)   Romans 6:10

(2)   Heb 9:26-28

(3)   1 Pe 3:15

c)      After this, only our confession is needed for forgiveness (1Jn 1:9-10)

4. (vs 10-13) Moses’ disobedience

a)      Struck the rock twice after an angry outburst.

b)      Water comes out.  People drink, cattle are saved. It works, but it isn’t God’s desire.

c)      The picture of sanctification was ruined.

d)     Moses’ punishment was that he would not enter the land. (brought behind the barn).

e)      Shocking.  God worked through Moses for so long in so many ways, but this outburst of anger disqualifies him.

f)       Water still named Meribah, quarreling

4. In John 4:13-14,
1. Speaking of the offering of his life to the woman at the well
2. The waters of Meribah satisfied momentary, physical thirst.
3. The water that flows from Jesus (his blood) gives eternal life.
5. John 7
1. Vs 1, Feast of Tabernacles.
2. Jesus doesn’t go up with his family as expected.  He sneaks in.
3. Lots of references to it not yet being his time (vs 6, 8, 30, 34).
4. Vs 37-38. On the last great day (explanation)

a)      During the water libation ceremony, Jesus steals the show.

b)      The water being poured out on the altar had several meanings:

(1)   Cleansing the altar: Jesus brings real cleansing (Heb 9:11-14).

(2)   A thanksgiving in advance for the rains which are about to come.  Jesus’ sacrifice was already promised, and it was appropriate to give thanks in advance (Mike’s Sermon upcoming).

(3)   Water and Wine to symbolize abundance supply for the crops (water) and an abundance of completed harvest (grapes, wine).  Jesus’ water and blood at the cross.

c)      Immediate context references the Holy Spirit, who comes at Christ’s bidding (Jn 14:25-26)

6. Invitation to come and drink. 
1. Jn 4 and 7 both include invitations.
2. Both also include parameters. 
3. Moses rejected for going outside the parameters.
4. God invites us to know him and to be satisfied within the terms He has set forth.
5. He has worked salvation once.  You cannot work it any other way. 
6. All that is left for you is to speak to the rock and be saved (Romans 10:9-10).

Discussion Questions:

1. God had a picture he wanted Moses to present to the Israelites about how He meets our needs through Jesus.  Moses messed that up.  As a consequence, he didn’t get to enter the Promised Land.  What does that show about how much God cares about us presenting Him well to others?
2. This whole story revolves around a basic need for life: water.  Do you trust God to meet your basic needs?  Or do you find yourself grumbling like the thirsty Israelites?
3. Jesus says that He is the living water.  What does that mean to you?
4. God is inviting you to trust Him to meet your deepest needs, including the need for forgiveness.  What needs do you need to let Him meet for you today?

Jewish Feasts: The Feast of Sukkot

Jewish Feasts: The Feast of Sukkot

This is the BIGGEST PARTY of the year for Judaism.  It's Christmas and Thanksgiving wrapped into one with a block party thrown in for fun.  

The symbols of Concluding time, Light, Water, and Celebration permeate so much of our Christian faith, that you really don't understand all that the Bible means you to understand about Jesus' life without a knowledge of this feast.  We'll take two weeks to walk through the outline that follows.  I'll post the videos both on this blog, so check back next week for part 2.

My Handout

1. OT Instructions:
1. Lev 23:33-36
2. Num 29:12-28
1. For all the nations
1. Gen 12:3
2. Deut 28:10
3. Isa 56:7
2. Sacrificed 70 bulls across the 7 days, one for each of the original nations of men (Gen 10-11)
3. The branches that were waved before the Lord were from the 4 corners of Israel, symbolizing the four corners of the Earth, all the nations.
4. Greeting given during this feast: Peace to you and joy to the nations. It was to celebrate that God has blessed the whole earth through his residence among the Jews, Abrahamic covenant.
5. This joy, 5 days after the solemn Day of Atonement, was often called “wiping the tears from the eye.”
3. Deut 16:13-17
1. Fulfillment of time.
2. Precursor to thanksgiving as a harvest festival
3. The reading of the Torah  ended and began again on the eighth day (Simkat Torah)
4. Called the “First and the Last”
4. God with us
1. Tabernacles: temporary housing.  Israelite tents or the tent of meeting.
2. Isa 7:14
3. When the temple was dedicated (1 Kings 8:2)
5. Symbols:
1. Water
1. Everyone entering the temple needed to mikvah at the pool of siloam (be baptized).  Afterward, a white robe.
2. Libation ceremony
1. Every day, the priests would go down to the pool of Siloam, which signified cleansing to the Jews, and would gather about ½ L of water.  This would be poured out on the temple at sunrise each day.
2. It symbolized purification of their sins
3. It reminded the Israelites of their provision in the wilderness (The rock that was struck)
4. On the last day, they would pour the water into a silver bowl with a regulated hole in the bottom of it.  A similar bowl would be filled with wine.  The valves were opened and the water and wine would flow off the edge of the altar and strike the base of the altar at the same time.
5. This resulted in a huge celebration “You have not experienced joy unless you have participated in the water ablation ceremony.”
3. Rain Zech 14: 8, 16-20
2. Light
1. Birth of the Paschal Lamb
1. Lambs sacrificed at Passover need to be 1 year old.  Middle of the year, 1.5 years old. 18 months. (Ex 12:5)
2. Lambs to be sacrificed at a passover are born during Sukkot two years before (born now, sacrificed April 2017).
3. Lambs needed to be born near Jerusalem.  Biggest lamb-producing region was Bethlehem.
4. Shepherds kept pregnant Ewes in caves to protect them and would signal when the FIRST passover lamb was born.
1. Wrapped in linnen by a levitical shepherd if fit for sacrifice. Killed immediately if not.
2. It was the shepherd’s job to get word back to Jerusalem that the lamb had been born.
5. A unique location: Migdal Eder Genesis 35:21
1. Name means “Tower of the Flock”
2. Rachel dies near here, in hard labor.
3. Her child is named by her “Son of my Sorrow.”
4. Jacob calls the child, “Son of my Right Hand.”
5. Prophecy of the future suffering of Israel looks back to that moment, Jer 31:15.
6. This prophecy fulfilled in the slaughter of children 2 yrs old and under in Bethlehem and the surrounding area by Herod in an attempt to exterminate Jesus.  Quoted in Matthew 1:18
7. The land between the tower and Bethlehem was believed by the Rabbis to be the land that Boaz bought when he married Ruth.
8. This land would then have passed down to his descendants, including Jesse and David.
9. It is possible that David watched his father’s sheep from this tower, about 1Km out of town, which is why he was not present when his other brothers were presented to Samuel and why he had to be fetched.
10. Mica 4:8, just a few verses before the prophecy that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, states that he would be announced from Migdal Eder.
11. Several of the Rabbis taught that Messiah will announce his arrival from the top of the tower based on this verse.
2. Temple Candelabra The festival of lights Took place on the last day as well. Just as the day’s light was fading
1. Huge lamps with bowls of oil containing 10 gal of oil each were attached in groups of four to one pillar that raised them 75 feet in the air. The wicks were made of worn-out priestly garments.  There were four of these in the temple courtyard.
2. When they were lit, it was said that there could be no darkness in the whole temple square. Shadows were driven away.
3. One set of these lamps would be kept lit from the time of Migdal Eder’s signal.  The others would be lit on the last twilight.
4. This would be the moment at which “Simkat Torah” occurred. The last passage from the Torah would be read in the fading moments of daylight, and Genesis 1 would be read after sunset.
3. God as light:
1. Zech 14:6-7
2. Rev 21:23
2. NT pictures
1. The Birth of Christ (luke 2)
1. Timing:
1. “Those days,” The days of Herod (1:5) Herod died in 4 BC
2. Decree that the world should be taxed, given by Cesar Augustus in 8 BC.  Herod resisted, fearing a riot by the Jews. Herod’s resistance pushed the execution of the census back until at least 6BC.
3. “Quirinius was governor of Syria,” Bible vindicated. He was in power and functioning as governor under Varus, who was a drunkard.  Then, he came to full power in AD 6, after spending some time in Rome.
4. Joseph fled Israel during the slaughter of the children under Herod and stayed in Egypt for a time, so the Birth of Christ must have been before 4BC.
5. The best guess is that Jesus was born in 5 BC.
6. We know the timing during that year.  Zacharias was in the 8th course of priests, which serves during the 10th week of the year.  Elizabeth conceived shortly after his return from service.  40 weeks later, John was born.  Six months later, Jesus was born.
7. This puts his birth at the feast of Tabernacles, 5BC, which was Sept 14-22 on our calendar.  He was born during this week.
2. Swaddled him, normal.  Manger, unusual.  Parallel to newborn sacrificial lambs. He was fit for sacrifice!
3. Shepherds—levitical shepherds waiting for the birth of the first Passover lamb on top of Migdal Eder
4. Cognate Accusatives: Use of the adverbal and verbal forms of a word to express a deeper meaning than the verb alone carries, almost always used to describe extreme emotion.  2x in this passage:
1. Watchfully watching
2. Fearfully gripped with fear Mega!
5. Glory to God.  This is the ever-true situation of the universe.  God seeks to magnify his own glory, and Creation sees to it that this is done.
6. The Angels don’t have to tell the Shepherds where Jesus is.  Perhaps they knew that his mother had been forced to use a nearby “birthing cave.”
7. They spread the news of the birth of Jesus, the last and greatest Passover Lamb.
8. Light the fires? Perhaps. The star was God’s trump card there.
9. The shepherds left their post, left their “watchful watching.”  They had found what they had been looking for all along, and they returned rejoicing.
10. Jesus came to Tabernacle among us Jn 1:14
2. Jesus at the feast: John 7-8
1. At the peak of the final day’s water libation ceremony, Jesus cries out that he is the source of living water and the light of the whole world!  
2. Water: John 7:37-38 (Exek 45:25; 47:1-10)
3. Light: John 8:12 (While reading Ps 118?)
3. Jesus at Transfiguration:
1. Mark 9.
2. Peter’s outburst is not only characteristic speaking before thinking.
3. Peter is recognizing that God is among his people, and his mind goes to this feast.
4. Celebration of Sukkot in heaven! Rev 7
1. White Robes
2. Palm branches
3. All nations
4. In the presence of God (rather than God among men), vs 9, 15
5. Shelter them: verbal form of the greek word used to translate the hebrew Sukka in septuagint.  “build a tabernacle over them.”
6. No more sun.  God is light (16)
7. No thirst, living water (vs 16, 17)
8. Lamb and shepherd (vs17)
5. Rev 21-22. The ultimate fulfillment of the feast.  THE GREAT DAY!
1. The dwelling of God is with man
1. 21:3 He will tabernacle (verbal form)  with them.
2. No temple (21:22) Perfect intimacy. No mediation
2. 21:4 Wipe away every tear from every eye.  Universal joy, not just for a few any longer.
3. Water
1. 21:6- living water for everyone.
2. River of life, 22:1
3. Water of life without price 22:17
4. Light, radiance, glory
1. 21:10-11.
2. 21:23. No sun or moon.  God is light (also 22:4)
5. For all the nations: 21:24-26
6. Jesus “first and last, beginning and end” Rev 22:12-13
7. Washed robes 22:14