01.25. Fresh Water for a Dry Soul
Fresh Water for a Dry Soul
Have you ever been thirsty, really thirsty? When I was in the jungles of Panama during jungle operations training several years ago we were given some tablets to put into stagnant water to make it safe to drink. Notice I said safe not good to drink. My do you get thirsty for a good drink of water when all you have is that junk.
The one thing that we die the quickest from is not lack of food but lack of water? We know that you can live many days without food but only a few with out water. We are blessed in our nation with safe water to drink. What about the spiritual side of man? Is it possible for a man to be thirsty spiritually? Certainly it is. One of the things that we need to never forget is that Jesus did not begin to exist at Bethlehem. He is eternal and has always been. While most of our focus on the study of the parables and miracles, At the Master’s Side has been on the New Testament recording of Jesus life today we will shift focus and look at a miracle in the Old Testament. The pre-Bethlehem appearances of Jesus are known by theologians as Christophonies.
I- Water from the Rock Exodus: Exodus 17:1-6
The children of Israel were on the march in the wilderness. They were in a desert environment. When we stop and realize that there were perhaps over a million people on this journey we quickly realize the vast amount of water that would be need to sustain them. The scripture says they, "…pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink." Exodus 17:1
Face with this it did not take them long to complain. "And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?" Exodus 17:3
Not to worry when they needed fresh water God supplied the need with a miracle. Moses was instructed to strike a rock and water would come out to supply their need. Notice it was not Moses who supplied the miracle but God. "Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock…" Exodus 17:6 II- Speak to the Rock: Numbers 20:1-11
The second event of our story is found in Numbers 20:1-29. They are camped in the Desert of Zin. Again they face a time without water. They voice the same complaint in the same way they had previously. (Numbers 20:3-5) The instructions to Moses were clear. "Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. Numbers 20:8 God told him to only speak to the rock and not strike it. Notice what Moses does however. Numbers 20:10-11 "And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also."
III- Christ The Rock in Desert: 1 Corinthians 10:1-4
Now we might ask why is this significant and how does it relate tot he miracles of Christ? Notice with me Paul’s application. 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."
The application of this is that it was Christ who supplied the water for them in the desert. It was His miracle and not Moses’s. There was not need for Christ to be stuck but one time. There will never be another Calvary. Also the picture of striking the rock and the must "we’ism" pictures for us mans attempt to save himself.
Notice Paul says that the application is that we be not idolaters (1 Corinthians 10:6 ) nor fornicators (1 Corinthians 10:7 ). The reason is they do not satisfy. The world tries to tell us that sin will satisfy but it leaves us dry in our souls.
IV- Fresh Water for a Dry Soul So what will satisfy? The same thing that quenched the thirst of the children of Israel in the desert physically will quench the thirsty soul of men today, Jesus Christ. Jesus said to the woman at the well, "… 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 4:10 By this we see that Jesus is the source of the satisfying water for our soul. He goes on to say to her, "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." John 4:14
This is a promise that extents into eternity as well beloved. Notice Revelation 7:16-17 "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters…" So the question is simple. Are you spiritually dry and need freshness in your soul from the Living Water? Do you need to come to Christ for salvation and ask Him to save you for eternity? Notice the closing words of Christ in the Revelation. "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." Revelation 22:17 Yes my beloved there is "FRESH WATER FOR A DRY SOUL!"