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.
"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has
said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living
water."
John 7:37-38
(NKJ)
What prompted Yeshua to say
these words? Was He just using a metaphor or
was he referring to a custom His followers as well
as His detractors were very familiar with?
What would be the connection between "living
water" and the 7th day, the last great day of
the feast, 'Hoshana Rabbah' - 'The Great
Salvation'?
According to Jewish historical
records, those who
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century Jerusalem observed a special ceremony on each
day of the festival in addition to the various
sacrifices and libation offerings commanded in the Torah
(Num. 29:12-40). Sometime prior to the first century
this special ceremony, the
water libation offering was added to the festival
offerings in order to give thanks for the previous
year's rain, to petition God for more rain, and to
picture the great outpouring of God’s Spirit that was
to come during the 1000 year reign of The Messiah.
This ceremony was connected to a very joyous evening
celebration, the "Festival of Lights".
This evening festival was so joyful that it was said
that "He who has
not witnessed the rejoicing at the water-drawing huts
has, throughout the whole of his
life, witnessed no real rejoicing.“ (Sukkah
53b).
Each day (except for the first day) of
the festival, a group of priests would set out to gather
large willows that they would wave back and forth as
they proceeded toward the temple, thus making a
"swooshing" sound, the sound of the wind or
the 'ruach', Holy Spirit. While this was going on,
another group of priests would proceed to the Pool of
Siloam from which the High Priest would gather a flaskr
full of "living water". Both groups
would then return to Temple and while the group with the
willows would circle the altar waving their willows, the
High Priest with his flask of water and his assistant
with a flask of wine would both empty their pitchers on
the southwest corner of the altar, thus picturing
the coming of the Holy Spirit as 'living water'.
Shortly
after the end of the first day of Sukkot, the priests
would light four huge lamps in the Court of the Women,
each with four huge bowls on each.
Each bowl held 7 – 8 gallons of oil each.
Each bowl had wicks made from the worn out
undergarments of the priests (swaddling clothes). When
the lamps were all lit, it was said that they lit up the
entire city of Jerusalem. All the men would then
begin dancing and singing in a great celebration. This
rejoicing would last late into the night.
These
ceremonies and celebrations continued throughout the
festival. On the last (7th) day, a change was made
to the ceremony. On this day the priests, instead
of circling the altar one time, would circle it seven
times; this time singing with a loud voice a song of
redemption and salvation - "Save now, I pray, O
LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the LORD. . ." Psalm
118:25-26
These ceremonies are no where
commanded in the Torah or the Tenakh, but the rabbis
believed that because of some spelling inconsistencies
in Numbers 29 that seem to spell the Hebrew word 'mayim'
or 'water', there was an underlying justification for
them.
It appears that Yeshua had no problem
with this additional ceremony and celebration.
From His childhood He would have become very familiar
with these festivities as His parents made the pilgrimage
from Nazareth to Jerusalem each year to observe the
Festival of Sukkot. It seems evident that He used the
occasion of the last day (the 8th day is a separate
festival) of His last Feast of Sukkot to teach that He
was the light of the world and the source of the 'Living
Waters' of salvation for all Israel and ultimately all
mankind.
At the Season of Our Joy festival
site, we re-enact this ceremony and festivities near the
last day of the festival so everyone can build a mental
picture of what it may have been like when Yeshua
observed the festival just as we do today.
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