Today was the first day of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. A special guest at the Church of the Messiah was Dr. Lois Tverberg. Lois noted that she had enjoyed celebrating the Feast with the Church of the Messiah since 1998. (The same is true for me.) That year Dwight Pryor gave a wonderful in-depth teaching on John 7:37-38, where Jesus proclaims at Sukkot in Jerusalem:
On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’ ” (NET Bible)
Lois revisited the background of this verse, exploring the significance of water in Jesus' culture.
She noted that the Feast has traditionally symbolized both the abundance of the fall harvest and Israel's 40-year sojourn in the desert, an unusual juxtaposition. But this combination makes more sense when we realize that the Feast in Israel comes at the end of a lengthy dry season.
Because rain in Israel is both scarce and crucial, prayers for rain have always played an important role in Jewish festival observance. (Lois noted that modern Jewish festival liturgy stil includes prayers for rain, as does the Shema.) Drought has always come rather frequently in Israel, and in ancient times especially, drought often led to famine, disease, and death.
Today, an abundance of petroleum can make a nation wealthy. In ancient times, water played an analogous role. Babylon and Egypt, with their major rivers, were very well situated in this regard, Israel much less so. (Remember the reliance of the patriarchs on help from Egypt in times of famine.) Dr. Tverberg mentioned that Israel's annual rainfall is only one thirty-thousandth the amount of water in the Nile.
We may wonder why God led Israel from well-watered Egypt to the more vulnerable Promised Land. Lois pointed to a biblical answer in Deut 11:10-12:
"For the land where you are headed is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand like a vegetable garden. Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains, a land the Lord your God looks after. He is constantly attentive to it from the beginning to the end of the year."
In the Promised Land, Israel would be under God's direct care, receiving "living water" right from his hand. They would be living in his presence, depending upon him for survival.
Lois observed that when we are going through a period of "drought"--e.g., financial hardship--we often are especially reliant upon God and aware of his presence in our lives.
To show the importance of rain in Jewish tradition, Lois passed along some rabbinic sayings about rain. For example, it was said that there are three things to which God will not give up the keys:
- the womb
- the time of the resurrection.
- the date of rain.
Psalm 117:1 ("Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.").was said to refer to a time of rain, since that is a time when absolutely everyone rejoices. The day of rain was also said to be better than the day of resurrection, since the resurrection benefits the righteous, while rain benefits everyone (b. Taanit 7a). So rain is connected with God's mercy, as in Matt 5:44-45:
"But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."
Rain is also connected with the word of God. (Isa 55:1 is one passage where this connection is made.) Like water, the word of God
- is a source of life.
- cleanses and purifies.
- is best appreciated when one is "thirsty".
- is a great equalizer. Both water and God's word are available to all.
- builds up into something big over time. Water grows into a river, and God's word builds our understanding.
Rabbi Akiva (2nd century AD) once saw a trickling stream. Though the stream was small, it had hollowed out a large dent in the rock over time. Seeing this, he observed that if a think stream can make a large indentation in a rock, how much more can God's word transform us.
Rain and flowing water are also connected with salvation, the Holy Spirit, and the messianic age--see e.g. Joel 2. Understanding this background can help us pick up the full import of Jesus' words in John 7:37-38. Lois's remarks provided a great start for this year's Feast.
Tags:
church of the messiah, lois tverberg
Posted at: 11:52 PM | Add Comment
