Come to Understanding

Come to Understanding

They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding,

and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. — Isaiah 29:24

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense,

and caused them to understand the reading. — Nehemiah 8:8

December 1, 2009
Volume 8 Number 23

A Man Bearing a Pitcher of Water

When Yahshua (Jesus) spoke in prophetic parables, He knew that not all could understand what He was really saying. Therefore, He said:

15 He that has ears to hear, let him hear. -Matthew 11

While His words often sound very simple, they have a much deeper meaning for those who can understand beyond what His words seem to say. In one such example, Yahshua sent Peter and John to prepare the final Passover meal before He was to be crucified. They then ask Him where they should prepare it:

8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.

9 And they said to him, Where will you that we prepare? -Luke 22

Yahshua then gave them these very specific instructions. He told them to follow a man bearing a pitcher of water:

10 And he said to them, Behold, when you have entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he enters in.

11 And you shall say to the master of the house, The Master said to you, Where is the guest room, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? -Luke 22

These were very strange instructions because, in that culture, women, rather than men, carried water!

A woman bearing a pitcher of water was a common sight. Abraham’s servant asked Yahweh to show him such a woman when he went to Mesopotamia. If she offered him, as well as his camels, a drink of water, then he would know she was to be the wife of Isaac:

13 Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:

14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down your pitcher, I pray you, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give your camels drink also: let the same be she that you have appointed for your servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that you have shown kindness to my master. -Genesis 24

Yahweh answered his prayer. He sent Rebekah, who bore a pitcher of water:

17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray you, drink a little water from your pitcher.

18 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hurried, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.

19 And when she had finished giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.

20 And she hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. -Genesis 24

Isaac’s son, Jacob, also found his wife at a water well in Mesopotamia. This time, however, instead of carrying water, Rachel brought her father’s sheep to the well. However, because the mouth of the well was covered with a stone, Jacob "rolled the stone" away so that her father’s sheep could drink the water:

9 And while he yet spoke with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them.

10 And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. -Genesis 29

Isaiah prophesied that God, Yah Yahweh, has become his salvation. Yahweh’s wells of salvation shall be the source of water for His people:

2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for Yah Yahweh is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.

3 Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. -Isaiah 12

At the Feast of Tabernacles, Yahshua, whose name means Yah is salvation, said He is the source of the "Living Water," which is the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit):

37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Yahshua stood and cried, saying, If any man thirsts, let him come to me, and drink.

38 He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

39 (But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Yahshua was not yet glorified.) -John 7

When Yahshua came to Samaria, He sat on Jacob’s well and asked a woman for a drink of water:

7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water: Yahshua said to her, Give me to drink. -John 4

The woman was perplexed. How could a Jew, who had no dealings with the Samaritans, ask her for a drink of water? He then said He could give her "Living Water:"

10 Yahshua answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give me to drink; you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water. -John 4

Unlike the physical water in the well, those who drink of the spiritual "Living Water" will never thirst again. Those who drink it will have in them a "well of water springing up into everlasting life:"

13 Yahshua answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whoever drinks 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

When the woman asked Him to give her that water, she really confessed that she believed He was the bearer of the Holy Spirit, which is the "Living Water:"

15 The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come here to draw. -John 4

Isaiah prophesied of a coming King. He would be "a man" who, in addition to being as a "hiding place" from the stormy winds and as the "shadow of a great rock," would also be as "rivers of water in a dry place:"

1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

2 And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. -Isaiah 32

Yahweh calls His people a "woman forsaken" and He is her husband. He will, He says, gather her back to Himself:

5 For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

6 For Yahweh has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were refused, says your God.

7 For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you. -Isaiah 54

The women had become as "careless daughters:"

9 Rise up, you women that are at ease; hear my voice, you careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. -Isaiah 32

Therefore, their lands would be made desolate and their palaces forsaken, until the Spirit is finally poured out from above. Then it will bring judgment and righteousness as the rain would create a fruitful field in the wilderness:

15 Until the spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness is a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted for a forest.

16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. -Isaiah 32

The Man bearing the Living Water has poured it out as the Spirit of God upon His bride, the woman, fulfilling Joel’s prophecy. Peter explained:

16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God Yahweh, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: -Acts 2

We are, however, cautioned that there is also another water bearer. The serpent, the great red dragon known as Satan, will also send out his water (spirit) like a flood to carry the woman (God’s people) away:

15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. -Revelation 12

Satan appeared to the woman in the Garden as a serpent (see Genesis 3:1). He can also become an "angel of light:"

14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. -2 Corinthians 11

Such a great imitator may even appear as a "woman," sitting not as a bride, but as a whore, upon the multitudes of the waters (spirits) of the people all over the world who drank of the water (spirit of Satan) that he cast out of his mouth:

15 And he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. -Revelation 17

Therefore, rather than appearing as the King, Satan may appear as a "Queen," who glorifies herself:

7 How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. -Revelation 18

We need to be sure that we follow the Man bearing the pitcher of water. His water is the "Living Water."

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Scriptures are taken from the Proper Name Version of the King James Bible.