Which Would You Rather Have?

I live in Minnesota and it's state motto is "Land of 10,000 Lakes". So one could say that we have an abundance of water in our state. However in Israel, they aren't so fortunate as there aren't many lakes or streams for them to get water from. On top of that it only rains for approx 3 months out of the year. Back in biblical times, people stored their water in what was known as a cistern. A cistern is a pit that is dug out of a rock and is plastered to prevent leakage. Now the photo below shows you what a 'cistern" looks like and to me it doesn't look much better than the basement of an old house I used to own.



Much like our houses of today where gutters drain the water off the roof during the rainy season, their houses had gutters also but these were used to channel the water into the cistern for storage. Now they had a lot of problems with this system, the cisterns had to be kept cleaned and plastered and they had to keep the stagnant water from getting diseases. The water itself was dirty as it flowed off the roofs or streets in to the cistern. It was also not very dependable as sometimes it might not rain during the season or the cistern might leak and all the water would seep out. The other problem they had was the water was considered "ritually impure" and was not used for religious ceremonies.


Running water, especially spring water, was different. It stayed fresh and clean. And most springs were dependable, providing water year round. This constant fresh source of water was called "living water," probably portraying its life-giving qualities as well as its constant freshness. God provides (and is described as) "living water". Living water is cleansing, The ritual bath of Jesus' day, "the mikveh" used before coming into the presence of God at the Temple or to the synagogue worship service?contained flowing water, or living water. John the Baptist's choice of the Jordan River for his symbolic cleansing likely was based on the need for fresh, moving water to symbolize cleansing. Near the shores of the Dead Sea, deep in the Judean Wilderness, fresh water gushes out of the desert floor creating an oasis called En Gedi. It was here that David hid from Saul and it is likely one of the places of inspiration for the king-poet, David. The water that brings forth life at En Gedi is a picture of how God meets his children's thirst in the desert.



Jesus described himself as living water (John 4:13-14, 7:37-38), and the people of his day understood the meaning. Only God could provide living water. It would not fail to satisfy any thirst. But it was the connection between living water and the feast of Sukkot that gave Jesus' image of living water the clearest meaning. He chose that feast day to reveal that he was living water. So my question for you is, which would you rather have?


Thanks to John Ferret for the photos and for Ray Vanderlann whose articles on Living Water and En Geddi were used for parts of this