Part 1: The Deposit Of Water
Every soul is thirsty for something.
Some try to drink from money, others from pleasure. Some try to drink from reputation, while some drink from cistern after cistern their whole life and still wake up thirsty in the morning.
But God has a river and every soul that has ever been satisfied has been satisfied at that one river.
The water of life is the picture God gives His people over and over throughout the Bible to show them where the satisfaction is. It runs through the Old Testament and the New. It is spoken of by prophets, it is offered by Christ, and it is described by John in the last chapter of the Bible.
Before we can talk about the direction of the water, or the depth of the water, or how the water delivers us, you need to know what this water is. Because the water is either going to reach you, or you are going to spend your life drinking from cup that cannot hold it.
The Water John Saw
At the very end of the Bible, in the closing scenes of Revelation, John sees a new heaven and a new earth. He sees the new Jerusalem coming down from God. And in the middle of that vision, an angel shows him a river.
Revelation 22:1-2 “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
A pure river, water of life and as crystal coming out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
One chapter earlier, that same water is offered.
Revelation 21:6 “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”
This water is not for sale! It’s given freely to anyone who is thirsty.
The Water The Prophets Saw
John was not the first to see this water.
In fact, six hundred years before Christ, Zechariah saw it.
Zechariah 14:8 “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.”
Living waters going in and out of Jerusalem in summer and in winter, meaning the river never dries up. It never has an off-season. Which means the water God is offering you is not seasonal. It is always flowing.
Jeremiah saw it too. And he watched God’s people forsake it.
Jeremiah 2:13 “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.”
God calls Himself the fountain of living waters. And He calls anything you build instead of Him a broken cistern (a large man made water taken) that cannot hold water.
Isaiah saw it the river too and he called out to everyone who was thirsty.
Isaiah 55:1 “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
The Water Christ Offered
Then Christ came, and the picture became a Person.
At a well in Samaria, Jesus sat down and offered this water to a woman who had come to draw from a broken cistern of her own life.
John 4:10 “Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”
John 4:14 “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.”
And then, at the great feast in Jerusalem, He stood and cried out publicly.
John 7:37-38 “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.”
The Water Ezekiel Saw
Now go back six hundred years before Christ said those words. Ezekiel is in exile, the temple has been destroyed and the city is in ruins. God gives him a vision of a river.
Ezekiel 47:1 “Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.”
The same water deposited by God under the threshold of the sanctuary, flowing past the altar, moving out into the world.
Ezekiel had a guide who walked him into the water. And you have a Guide too. Yours is Christ Himself. He is the One who leads His people into the river, measures the depth, and shows you what you are meant to see.
For now, one question needs an answer before you can go any further.
What is the water?
Six answers from the Bible itself.
1. The Water Is Salvation
The water is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the good news that God saves sinners. It is the message that brings the dead to life and it is being offered to you!
Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
The Bible ends with an invitation to drink the water of life. That water is salvation.
2. The Water Is Christ Himself
The water is not just from Christ. It IS Christ.
John 7:37 “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”
He is the fountain; He is the water. Everything about this river is pointing to a Person, and His name is Jesus. Which means when you drink from this water, you are not drinking from a church, or a program. You are drinking from Christ Himself.
3. The Water Is Living
There are two kinds of water in the world. Stagnant water and living water. Stagnant water sits in a container and slowly goes bad. Living water is moving, flowing, alive.
Jeremiah 2:13 says God is “the fountain of living waters.” His water moves, flows and is alive.
Every man-made religion is a cistern. It might be beautiful, ancient, or intelligent, but it does not move. It simply just holds. And eventually it cracks, grows old with moss and leaks. God’s water is different! It is alive and that means when it reaches you, it does not just sit in you. It flows through you and does something very special when it flows out of you!
4. The Water Is Free
You cannot buy or earn this water. You do not deserve it.
Isaiah 55:1 “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
Revelation 22:17 says “whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
The only cost is your thirst. If you know you are thirsty, come. That is the whole price. Come thirsty.
5. The Water Quenches
The water works. It ends the thirst.
John 4:14 “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.”
The reason so many people are still spiritually thirsty is because they are still drinking from cisterns. They have not really come to the river.
When you drink from the water of life, it satisfies.
6. The Water Runs Through The Whole Bible
The Bible opens with a river.
Genesis 2:10 “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.”
The Bible closes with a river.
Revelation 22:1 “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb.”
It is mentioned all throughout the Bible:
* Ezekiel saw it.
* Zechariah saw it.
* Jeremiah spoke of it.
* Isaiah called out to it.
* Jesus offered it.
* John saw it flowing forever.
The same water flows from the garden of Eden to the throne of the Lamb. Every believer who has ever been saved has drunk from that same fountain. And when you drink from it today, you are drinking from the same river Ezekiel saw and John will see and Christ Himself offered at the well.
The Water Ezekiel Saw Is The Same Water
Now you can read Ezekiel 47 and you will notice what Ezekiel saw coming out from under the threshold of the sanctuary.
Ezekiel got to see where it was deposited. He got to watch it come out of the sanctuary and start moving out into the world. That is why we call this first blog The Deposit. Before you can talk about the direction of the water, or the depth of the water, or what the water does when it arrives, you have to know what the water is.
Every religion in the world will hand you a cistern. Only God offers a river.
The fountain is open and the water is free. And the Guide who leads you in is Christ Himself.
Come and drink.
