Brethren, have you ever asked yourself, if Jesus (Yahshua) is here on the earth today, in the flesh, what would be His message for us? What would He be discussing? What would He want us to know or learn? Thankfully, we don’t have to wonder because about 2,000 years ago, Yahshua gave a message on this same day, the Last Great Day or the Eighth Day.
So today, I want us to take a look at this message, learn from it, and most importantly, learn the great meaning of this day. The message is found in John 7:37-39:
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
On the last day, that great day of the feast
This is the setting of our story. This happened on the Last Great Day of the Feast. Now, if you’re just going to read John 7:37 without knowing the historical background of this passage, you won’t fully appreciate it. Once you know its historical background, I can tell you, you’ll be amazed at how impressive and powerful Yahshua’s message is on this day.
According to historians, during the time of Yahshua, there were a few highlights during the Feast of Tabernacles. One of these is the drawing of water from the Pool of Siloam and bringing that water to the temple.
So, every day of the feast, during the preparation of the burnt offering, there was a procession of priests accompanied by singing and flute playing. So, they will travel from the temple going down to the Pool of Siloam. The priest uses a golden flask pitcher to draw water from the pool while a choir in the background repeatedly sings Isaiah 12:3: Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.
The procession would then travel back to the temple until they reached the altar where one of the priests poured the water into the altar. This ritual was accompanied by great rejoicing and singing.
The ceremony reminds the Jews how Yahweh provided water to their ancestors while they were in the wilderness. What’s more, the Jews see the water as living water, which comes directly from Yahweh. The Pool of Siloam was most likely used as an ancient ritual bath for purification where people would clean and sanctify themselves before they go to the temple.
The most interesting part here is that this ceremony is only done in 7 days. On the Eighth day, the Last Great Day, there is no pouring of water anymore.
This is when Yahshua gave His message. We read:
Jesus stood and cried out
Yahshua stood. Yahshua had an important message the people needed to hear that sitting down or talking normally would be enough. He needed to stand and cry out with a loud voice. Then He said:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
For seven days, the people had seen the joyous ceremony of drawing water from the pool of Siloam. However, the water of that pool never satisfied them. There was still something missing. Look at the invitation of Yahshua, He said, “If anyone thirsts.” The crowd Yahshua addressed was a mixture of different types of people. They are male and female, rich and poor, young and old, and professionals and laborers. Now, if you thirst, you can drink the water this world offers. You can drink all you want, but it will never satisfy. You would still be left thirsty.
However, Yahshua invites us to come to Him. Are you thirsty? Then, drink any water, drink the living water coming from Yahshua! You come to Him and drink!
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
What a powerful statement. This could have amazed and perplexed the audience of Yahshua. All their lives, they thought that it was enough to simply rely on the ceremonies and the rituals of their religion. However, they know that it never satisfies them. They need to go to the real source of the living water and that is Yahshua.
But what is this water all about? John explained:
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
As you can see, the living water is the Holy Spirit that comes from Yahshua. Receiving the Holy Spirit would assuage our thirst. It will allow us to live this life with greater zeal and passion for doing the work of God.
Notice, that once we receive the living water, which is the Holy Spirit, out of our inner being, there will be rivers of living water flowing out. The main message of Yahshua is this:
Our lives should be filled with so much Holy Spirit that it flows out of us. This means that we should be overflowing and producing so much of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. During this feast, brethren, we received a spiritual boost. In the 7 days we are here together, we learned so many things and that is one of the ways we receive more of God’s Holy Spirit.
However, as we go back to the world, as we go on with our lives and we are bombarded with the influence of this world, we are losing a portion of the Holy Spirit. I’m afraid that some of us might be running on a half-empty tank of the Holy Spirit. It’s not empty but it’s not full either.
Living a life filled with the Holy Spirit
Who among you likes to drive a car with an almost empty gas tank? You want to drive a car that is always full so that you can drive with more confidence, power, and mileage. The same is true with our spiritual gas tank. We want to be always full of God’s Holy Spirit so that we can do more with God’s power. Who among you don’t want God’s Holy Spirit, which is God’s power — the same power that brought the world into existence, the same power that gave life to all of us, the same power that healed the sick, that stopped the storm, that rebuke evil spirit, that brought dead people back to life? Yet, most of us haven’t really thought of going back to our spiritual gas station?
That’s why, Yahshua was saying, if anyone thirsts, let Him unto me and drink! The problem is we don’t come to God and drink this special water. How many of us have really been faithfully doing Bible study every day? How many of us really spent deep and intimate time with God through prayer? How many of us have made it a point to fast at least once a month? How many of us have really taken the time to meditate upon God’s word?
Now, Bible study, prayer, fasting, and meditation are the most powerful tools for us to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. Yet, these are things that we neglect. Again, if anyone thirsts let him come unto me and drink!
Don’t rely on your own strength. Don’t rely on your own intellect. Don’t rely on your own abilities. If you do, you’ll eventually run out of power and you’ll surely fail.
Brethren, as we go back to the world, let us not forget the powerful message of Yahshua on this Last Great Day. This world is going to wear us out. It will rob us of our holy spirit. It will try to make us forget about the real source of the living water.
However, if we stay close to Yahweh the Most High and Yahshua His Son, we will have a constant source of the living water. We will be filled with the Holy Spirit so much more that we it will flow out from us.
With that brethren, my sincerest hope is that we don’t let the lessons we learned from the feast go to waste. Let it transform you. Let it inspire you. Let it help you strive to reach the Kingdom of God and I pray that when the judgment day comes, we will all hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord.”
