During the Feast of Tabernacles (aka the Feast of Booths, or Sukkot), Jesus would have found plenty of rooms available at the local inns. One of the key features of the feast was that the people camped outdoors in booths or canopies made of organic material. All the meals were eaten outdoors. This was in celebration of God’s provision in the wilderness (see Exodus). But in Jesus’ day, some other traditions had been added to the Mosaic instructions (Leviticus 23:40-43). One of these was a procession each morning of the Feast, in which the crowd would follow the high priest from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple for the Water Libation Ceremony (Simchat Beit HaShoevah). A priest would fill a golden pitcher with water from the Pool of Siloam, walk the Jewish pilgrim road (a trail of stairs used as a ‘Mikveh’ – a purification ritual) to the Temple. They would enter the Temple courtyard through the Water Gate on the south side. There the water would be ceremoniously poured into a silver basin on the altar, while another priest poured a daily drink offering of wine into a second basin, with both draining out through perforated tubes at the base of the altar. The exact origin of the water libation is unclear, but traditionally it appears to have perhaps served several functions:

  • It memorialized God’s provision of water in the wilderness when Moses struck the rock at Horeb and water issued forth (Exodus 17:6);
  • It looked to God’s provision of the Messiah (Zechariah 13:1 – “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.”
  • It sought God’s provision of rain for the land; (The imagery of failing rain was used in the Old Testament for the blessings poured out by God in the Messianic kingdom – see Ezekiel 47:1-7)

Interestingly, the source of the waters of the Pool of Siloam is the Spring of Gihon, commonly known as the “Virgin’s Fount”. Even more fascinating is that during the procession as well as the libation, the crowd would chant from Isaiah 12:3—”With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” and Isaiah 55:1 (ESV) — “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

It is against the background of this ritual which looks to the coming Messiah, that Jesus makes a proclamation . . .

John 7:37–39 (ESV) — On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.‘ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Rabbis normally sat when they taught, but here the Rabbi Jesus stood to drive home his message . . . He was the Messiah to whom this ritual looked and the crowd longed. Just as God (Jehovah Jireh) had met the physical needs of the Israelites for water at Horeb, God had also provided for the true spiritual needs of His people. And His people were “anyone” – Jew, yes, but also Gentile. Anyone who will believe in Jesus as the Messiah, will receive the Holy Spirit who leads them into all truth. But note that there is a condition. We must thirst for Him, for righteousness. We must come to the Pool to drink. “Peace like a river” (Isaiah 66:1) will be yours who trust in the life-giving gift of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Notice it’s not a vessel, but an unending spring or refreshment.