Anyone Thirsty?

By Hazel Holland

The Feast of Tabernacles, also called Booths, began on the 15th day of the 7th month, and was the last of the divinely appointed feasts of the Old Testament.  This was Israel’s Thanksgiving feast in which they acknowledged the fall harvest and God’s provision for them.  It was a celebration of great joy.

During this feast the Jews were required to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and were commanded to make  booths to dwell in for the week of the feast.  These temporary shelters were made out of branches and leaves that were woven together.  At night they could look up and see the stars through the spaces in the thatched roofs, and feel the wind blow through the spaces in the walls.  This was a reminder to them of how their fathers were exposed to the perils of the wilderness for forty years, and yet were miraculously preserved by God. 

During New Testament times, for each of the seven days of the feast, the priests would go down to the pool of Siloam in a religious procession with large water jugs.  They would fill the water jugs with water, and then walk up the many steps to the Temple mount commemorating the long expected anticipation of the promise given by the prophet Isaiah.  

“And in that day you will say: "O LORD, I will praise You; though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; 'For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.'" Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And in that day you will say: "Praise the LORD, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted” (Isaiah 12:1-4).

As the priests approached with the water jugs the people would burst forth in singing the marvelous “Hallel Palms” (Psalm 113-118) which conclude with these verses:  “You… have become my salvation.  The Stone which the builders rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone.  This was the Lord’s doing.  It is marvelous in our eyes.  This is the day the Lord has made.  We will rejoice and be glad in it… Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 118:21-26).

Then as the people were praising the Lord the priests would pour out the water from these jugs upon the pavement.  It was a reminder to them of how God miraculously provided water for their fathers in the wilderness out of the Rock, and that one day He would pour water from heaven upon their thirsty souls through the coming of the Messiah.  In Judaism water was always used as a symbol of that which “comes from above” and was identified with the coming of the Messiah.

However, on the eighth day, or last day of the feast which was called, “the great day of the feast”, the priests made no procession and poured no water.  This eighth day was a reminder to them that God had fulfilled the promise to their fathers by bringing them out of the wilderness.  They no longer needed the miraculous supply of water from the Rock, because God had brought them into a well-watered land flowing with milk and honey.

Imagine the people’s surprise on this eighth day, this last day of the Feast of Tabernacles when Jesus stood in their midst and cried out: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38).

Jesus was standing in their midst as they were performing this joyous ceremony, but their hearts didn’t recognize Him.  The Word who became flesh and dwelt (“tabernacled”) among them (John 1:14) for three and a half years WAS fulfilling the promise spoken through the prophet Isaiah, but their minds were blinded by tradition.  Many wouldn’t see that the Reality had replaced the shadow until the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would be poured out.  On that day three thousand people would recognize their Messiah, acknowledge that they were thirsty, and the Lord would become their salvation.

The Lord wants to become your salvation, too.  Are you thirsty?  Then come and drink the Living Water.  If you believe in Jesus you will never thirst again.  For He has come to "tabernacle" in your heart through His Spirit so that out of your heart will flow rivers of living water.♥