Dear Friends,
As Jesus has been teaching in the temple against the backdrop of the Feast of Tabernacles, the usual festivities were taking place in the background:
At night, the people would look up at the night sky. The roofs of their sukkahs were made of nothing more than a few palm branches, allowing them to see the stars. As they gazed up at stars, the fathers would tell the children about how their forbearers slept under the stars in their wilderness wanderings, how God provided for them with manna from heaven and clothing that never wore out. The lighting of the four 75’ tall candlesticks, each having four jumbo oil lamps, was accompanied by the blowing of trumpets and acrobatic performances by the temple priests. People carried torches as part of the ceremony and the temple mount was brightly lit. The flames commemorated the pillar of fire that led them in the wilderness. Like many things embedded in Jewish ceremonies, the flames were also symbolic of Jesus, the light of the world. (John 8:12)
In the daytime, there was a ceremonial procession of priests fetching water from the Pool of Siloam (lit Sent—by implication the Sent One) in golden pitchers. The water was poured out on the granite floor of the temple before the altar. This ritual commemorated how God supplied water from the rock in the wilderness. As the water was poured out, splashing on the rock floor, Isaiah 44:3, 4 were read out loud: For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
All this has been leading up to the moment Jesus, the Sent One, has been waiting for. On the last day, that great day of the feast, the 75’ tall menorahs in the Court of the Women were extinguished. There were no acrobatic performances, no trumpets. There was no water carried from the Pool of the Sent One. All was silent as they again read Isaiah 44:3, 4. A dry pitcher was symbolically poured out as they prayed for the ‘Sent One’ to come.
Give us understanding, Father, as we read your precious word, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
John 7:37-53
37 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.
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Haggai prophesied, The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: (Haggai 2:9a) This was fulfilled in part the very first time Jesus set foot in the temple, then in greater measure when Jesus cried out for the thirsty to come to Him and drink; the prophecy of Isaiah 44 was fulfilled, as was the prophecy of the Sent One that had been dramatized every year through the ceremony of the water from the Pool of Silom. These prophecies will be completed in full measure in the kingdom age when Jesus is finally worshiped in the Temple. (Ez 41-46) At this time, the shalom that Haggai 2:9 promises will fill the earth. For now, peace fills the hearts of all those who will come to Jesus and drink the living water. They in turn offer living water to others, as it flows from their innermost being. In the Bible, water is symbolic of both the Holy Spirit and the word of God. (John 7:38-39; Eph 5:26)
39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
40 ¶ Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
[T]he Prophet was to be One like Moses (Deut 18:15), who drew water from the Rock by hitting it. The Rock was a type of Christ (1 Cor 10:4). Moses hit the Rock twice, but God rebuked him because the Rock was only supposed to be hit once. After hitting the Rock the first time, the running (living) water could be drawn from the Rock simply by speaking to the Rock (Num 20:8), or singing to the Rock that followed them as an underground stream (Num 21:17). In other words, that spiritual Rock followed them was the person of the Holy Spirit, the living water.
41 Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
43 So there was a division among the people because of him.
44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.
45 ¶ Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?
46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.
47 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?
48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?
This is what is called arguing from authority, which is a form of circular reasoning. ‘We are the Pharisees and we do not believe on Him. Therefore, He must be an imposter’. Yet, the answer to the Pharisees’ question was yes. Nicodemus believed on Jesus.
We see the same thing taking place in our world today. Anthony Fauci has claimed that personal attacks on him are “attacks on science.” Yet, there are other scientists far more qualified than Fauci who have been telling the truth. However in both cases, then and now, the establishment clings to their method of arguing from authority, along with ad hominem attacks as well:
49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.
Of course, the opposite is true. Those who chose to believe on Jesus were blessed. It was the Pharisees who rejected Him that were cursed. The same could be said of Fauci and his supporters. They are cursed. Those of us who trust the leading of the living water and real science are blessed. Given all the information we now have on the origin of COVID, I asked myself if the Spanish Flu, which broke out during WWI, could have possibly been created in a lab. This stunning article from 2018 which is thoroughly annotated says yes, and the usual suspects were involved.
50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)
51 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?
52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.
Their only attempt at a reasonable argument is patently false, as the prophet Jonah, who Jesus cited as a type of Himself, was from Galilee (2 Kings 14:25).
It is quite likely that Nahum was also from Galilee based on the etymology of Capernaum (Heb: כְּפַר נַחוּם, romanized: Kfar Naḥūm, lit ‘Nahum’s village’).
53 And every man went unto his own house.
John 7:37-53
Jesus breathed on his disciples after He rose from the dead and they received the Holy Spirit (John 20:22), but on the Feast of Pentecost the Holy Spirit fell on them and filled them to overflowing. They received spiritual gifts (Rom 12; 1 Cor 12) and were empowered for the work of the ministry. Jesus does not just want us to be sealed with the Holy Spirit; He wants us to be immersed in the living water and so completely filled that He comes flowing out of our innermost being. The glorious good news is all we have to do to receive the Holy Spirit is ask. (Luke 11:13) Yet many Christians resist, and refuse to ask. Like a child who refuses to try pizza because she does not like the way it looks, they will not ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit because they do not like the way it sounds. There is an old saying that ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’. The only way to know whether or not the promise is true is to ask and experience it for yourself: O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Ps 34:8) Once you are immersed in the living water, He can then lead you into the more excellent way of 1 Corinthians 13, the way of agape, which is the touchstone of the Holy Spirit. (John 13:35; Gal 5:22; cf Eph 5:9)
The Feast of Tabernacles not only pointed back toward the Exodus, but forward to the millennium. Ezekiel prophesied that a river will flow from the temple in that day, a river that will get deeper and deeper as it flows from Jerusalem. This river is both literal and figurative, as the good news of the gospel will be ubiquitous in the kingdom age. The gospel will flow out into all the earth. The Holy Spirit will unite people the world over in love, brotherhood, and fellowship with God. 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. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. … And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. (Zech 14)
As for now, we are still living in the church age. If we are to be overcomers as we await our Lord’s return, we are going have to do it in the power of the Holy Spirit:
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. … And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. … And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost. …There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. … And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. … Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Father, thank You for the precious blood your Son shed for me on Calvary. Thank You for the living water He offers, so pure and precious, so delightful to the soul. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, that He may transform my wicked heart and mind and make me into a vessel of honor meet for your use; that He may flow from my person and change the hearts of others as well, for your glory, not mine. All glory and honor is yours Almighty Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Prophecy Update: One of the greatest achievements of the Trump Administration was the defeat of ISIS and a drawdown of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the multiple peace treaties between Israel and her neighbors. Following the stolen presidential election of 2020, I wrote that we will soon see a return of the failed policies of the Obama Administration. Right on cue, Washington has been busy rebranding Mohammad al Jolani, the founder of al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, as a legitimate head of state dressed in Western business attire. In Dragon Slayer Jesus Christ, I wrote about how this shell game is played with al-Qaeda, blaming them for terrorism while at the same time using them to fight proxy wars. Now, they are being presented as our new ally, the legitimate government in Syria.
Several weeks ago, I mentioned a Canadian pastor, Artur Pawlowski, who refused to be bullied by unlawful COVID restrictions. Unfortunately, Pastor Pawlowski was subsequently arrested, tortured, and his church was seized. This is the trend in Canada, where pastors Tim Stevens of Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary and James Coates of GraceLife Church near Edmonton have had similar experiences. Meanwhile in America, the creeping liberation theology and Critical Race Theory that has corrupted mainstream Christianity was finally met with some pushback at the annual gathering of the Southern Baptist Convention. This is exactly what I said I was praying for in last week’s prophecy update. The gathering concluded on Wednesday with limited results. This meeting was a sign of the times. Those resisting Marxist preachings are of the bride of Christ; those promoting them are of the emerging one-world church of Revelation 13. As believers, we need to occupy and trust God. (2 Tim 1:7) Pray for pastors everywhere who are being arrested because of COVID policies the war on Christianity.
The bottom line is that the new world order is all in and going for broke. They have drained the water reserves in California to create artificial scarcity. Reporters who tell the truth are not only getting suspended, but killed. The Department of Justice is still holding many of the January 6 protesters in solitary confinement — those who were arrested by illegal means of entrapment after the Feds orchestrated the ‘insurrection’. The new world order means business. Do we? Are we willing to take what Jesus has been telling us about being filled with the Holy Spirit seriously? Jesus is our only hope. If we want Him to help us, we must do as He asks.
