John 7:31-53: “On The Last Day Of The Feast Of Tabernacles Jesus Cries Out Asking Any Who Are Thirsty To Come To Him And Drink”

By

Jim Bomkamp

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1.                  INTRO:

 

1.1.         In our last study on Christmas Eve we had a Christmas message but we stayed in our study in John and looked at verses 19-30 of chapter 7.

 

1.1.1.  Jesus was still there in the temple debating with the Jews. 

 

1.1.2.  We saw that the Pharisees on this day in Jerusalem did not recognize Jesus, and that all of us Christians would like to think that we are not at all like the Pharisees.  We would never mistake our Lord nor His mission if we saw Him today.  However I challenged us as to whether we would recognize Jesus if He were walking right amongst us?  Would we recognize Him because of what He was doing?

 

1.1.3.  We mimic the saying, “What would Jesus do?” (WWJD) but do you really sat down and thought about what that might mean?

 

1.1.4.  We saw from Isaiah chapter 61 what the mission of the Messiah was to be when He came.  We saw that He would be binding up the broken hearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives, freedom to the prisoners, etc.  In other words He would be helping out the poor, weak and helpless.  However, I challenged us as to whether these are the things that we do?

 

1.2.         In our study today, we are going to have a New Year’s Eve message but we are also going to stay in our study and look at verses 31-53 of chapter 7.

 

1.2.1.  We will see that it is the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, six months before the Passover when Jesus would be crucified, and Jesus stands up and cries out saying that if anyone is thirsty they could come to Him and drink, and then rivers of living water would from your innermost being.

 

1.2.2.  We saw previously that the Feast of Tabernacles was one of three feasts held each year in which all of the males in Israel were required to journey to Jerusalem and participate:  the others being the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Pentecost.  We will look more deeply into the Feast of Tabernacles so that we can see the full significance of what Jesus was doing on this day.

 

1.2.3.  The Feast of Tabernacles symbolized for the Jews a few things :

 

1.2.3.1.The Hebrew name for ‘Tabernacles’ is “Sukote” which is plural.  A ‘tabernacle’ (‘suka’) is a temporary shelter or tent and the feast was to be a remembrance for that time when the Israelites wondered for 40 years in the wilderness after their deliverance from Egypt, living in “tents” (‘tabernacles’).  Thus, when the Jews came to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast they stayed for eight days in a “tent” (‘tabernacle’).

 

1.2.3.1.1.Avram Yehoshua writes on a Messianic web page, “The Hebrew Sukote (plural for suka), signifies dwellings or huts made by interweaving branches and leaves together. Every year Yahveh commanded Israel to dwell in these make-shift 'tents' to remember that He was their Provider and Shelter in the Wilderness, and in this world. They were to exchange the security of their permanent homes for the frailness of the suka. The picture or concept that Yahveh was conveying to Israel in this was that they shouldn't put their trust in material possessions that offer no real security. Only allowing God to be our suka or protective covering is real security.”

 

1.2.3.1.2.Leviticus 23:33-36 commands this observance and purpose for the feast, “33 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the Lord. 35 ‘On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work of any kind. 36 ‘For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work.”

 

1.2.3.1.3.The feast began on a Sabbath day and ended on a Sabbath, and it was the last great day of the feast, the Sabbath, in which Jesus stood up and cried out.

 

1.2.3.2.Today, we are conscious that it is the last day of 2006, however realize that the events we are studying about in this feast also occurred at the end of the year in Israel, the end of the harvest.  This feast was also called the “Feast of Ingathering,” for it occurred at the end of the harvest.  The people thought about God’s provision for them throughout the previous year, they counted their many blessings. 

 

1.2.3.2.1.Leviticus 23:39-43 commands this observance and purpose for the feast, “39 ‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. 40 ‘Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 ‘You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 ‘You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, 43 so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ ”.

 

1.2.3.3.The feast has prophetic connotations because it caused the Israelites to remember and think about their coming Messiah, the one who would appear when the “spiritual harvest” was complete, and, the Israelites have even encouraged Gentiles to participate with them in the feast.

 

1.2.3.3.1.There are some Messianic Jews who believe based upon the dates when the scriptures tell us that Zacharias had the angelic vision in the temple and the distance stated between the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus, that Jesus was born during the Feast of Ingathering.

 

1.2.3.3.2.Zechariah 14:16-19 tells us that even throughout the Christ’s Millennial Reign that the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) shall be observed, “16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.”

 

1.2.3.3.3.Deut. 16:14 contains a command to rejoice and be filled with joy during this feast, and concerning this feast Avram Yehoshua again writes, “The Rabbis say, 'If you have not seen Jerusalem at Sukote, you don't know what Joy is.' Of course, this is an ancient saying that would have been true in the days of Yeshua. In His time, a million Jews would come to Jerusalem and dwell in tents. It must have been quite a sight. With the Temple of Yahveh in as the central Reality.” 

 

1.2.3.4.John Hanneman of Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino writes on his web page, “Tabernacles was also associated with adequate rainfall. The water rite symbolized fertility and fruitfulness that only rain could bring. God provides spiritual “rain” in the messianic age, and Jesus fulfills this expectation. Recall what he said to Nicodemus in chapter 3:5: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Jesus was saying that he was the water and Spirit that are linked together in the O.T. Nicodemus must enter into this water and Spirit to be reborn. He must enter into Jesus’ so that he can enter into Jesus’ life. Speaking to the woman in Samaria, Jesus said: “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14).” 

 

1.2.3.4.1.Many scriptures tell us of how that water has prophetic connotations in the Old Testament, including :

 

1.2.3.4.1.1.Isaiah 44:3-4, “3 ‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants; 4 And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.’” 

 

1.2.3.4.1.2.Isaiah 55:1, “1 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.” 

 

1.2.3.4.1.3.Zechariah 14:8-9, “8 And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. 9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.” 

 

1.2.3.4.1.4.Isaiah 12:3, “3 Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation.”

 

1.2.3.4.1.5.Revelation 22:1, “1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

 

1.2.3.4.2.Each day of the Feast of Tabernacles (but the last) included a water rite ceremony at the temple, and Avram Yehoshua again writes about this rite that was performed :

 

As the priest with the gold picture of water approached the Temple steps, another priest with a gold pitcher of wine met him and together they went to the Altar amid hundreds of thousands of Jews singing Hallel (Psalms 113-118; praise to Yahveh). They were waving the branches (palm, myrtle and willow), and the fruit (like an orange), which pictured Yahveh as both the One who gave them shelter and who provided for them. This is certainly a picture of joy. Their hands and hearts were lifted up in praise to Yahveh for what He has done in providing food and protection for Israel.

The Levites led the People in singing and were playing musical instruments. The shofars blasted along with the trumpets and other musical instruments. Sacrifice was offered and the contents of the pitchers mingled together as they were poured out into the silver basin pipeline at the base of the Altar.

This was an expression of thanks for past rains. No rain, no food. No food, no life. Their prayers that day were for future rain. The wine mingled with the water pictured life with joy!

It was a picture of Messianic hope. As Moses supplied water in the Wilderness so Israel could live, Messiah would provide Living Water for Israel. Jeremiah speaks of this Living Water. Israel had gone after other gods but the water those gods gave them was no good. Israel could not contain it. It was all illusion. Worship of another god was a deception:

 

'Has a nation changed gods when they were not gods? But My People have changed their Glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, Oh Heavens at this and shudder, be very desolate, declares Yahveh. For My People have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of Living Waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.' (Jer. 2:11-13)

 

Isaiah 55:1-3, 6 also speaks of God's Waters and His desire that Israel come to Him for heavenly Food. This of course speaks of the Body and Blood of Messiah Yeshua:

 

1.2.3.5.The context then for Jesus crying out at this feast for all to who are thirsty to come to Him and drink is developed very well on the Messianic World Site (www.messianic.ws), where the following is stated about this feast, “On each of the seven days of Sukkot, the High Priest took a golden pitcher and filled it with water drawn from the Pool of Siloam. It was brought into the Temple through the Water Gate (hence the name), and poured into a bowl at the Altar, alongside the pouring of the wine, during the daily burnt-offering (Talmud: Sukkah 4:9).  This water libation was performed only during Sukkot. 

 

The Talmud states, "Why is the name of it called the Drawing Out of Water? Because of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, according to what is said: ‘With joy shall ye draw out of the wells of salvation’ " (Isaiah 12:3).”

 

from:  www.messianic.ws  
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1.2.4.  The Candlestick Ceremony during the Feast of Tabernacles:

 

1.2.4.1.The Messianic World Site quoted above continues:

“At the end of the first day of the Feast, three eighty foot high golden candlesticks were set up in the Temple’s Court of Women. Four golden bowls were placed on each candlestick, and four ladders rested against each. A youth of priestly descent stood at the top of each ladder, pouring oil from a ten-gallon pitcher into the bowl (Talmud: Sukkah 5:3)  The worn-out liturgical garments of Priests were used for wicks. The light from these candlesticks was so bright that it was state, "There was no courtyard in Jerusalem that was not lit up with the light at the water-well ceremony" (Talmud: Sukkah 5:3).

Yeshua spoke publicly on Sukkot, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)”

 

1.2.4.2.Avram Yehoshua again writes :

 

“…the ceremony involving the lighting of the Lampstands in the Temple in the evenings. In the days of Yeshua, 1500 years after the Cloud in the Wilderness, the Lampstand ceremony pictured the Fire in the Cloud by night. In the Courtyard of the Temple, the Temple Mount platform, were placed four huge lamp stands for Sukote. These were shaped in the form of a menorah. Ladders were needed to climb to the top of them and the pants of the priests served as wicks for the oil. All of Jerusalem and the countryside would be lit up for miles around.

This fire or light was symbolic of Creation Light and of Salvation or Freedom Light. Israel was saved from the darkness of Egyptian slavery. This was literally pictured in the Ninth Plague. There was darkness in Egypt but light in Goshen for the Hebrews. But it was especially seen of the Light of the Shekinat Yahveh, the Shekinah Glory Cloud (Pillar of Fire), that was the Holy Spirit. This was the visible Presence of the Invisible God. This Cloud with the Fire of God in it was a special reference to God's guidance of Israel in the Wilderness for 40 years:

 

'Then the Cloud covered the Tabernacle and the Glory of Yahveh filled the Tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the Tabernacle because the Cloud had settled on it and the Glory of Yahveh filled the Tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys whenever the Cloud was taken up from over the Tabernacle, the Sons of Israel would set out but if the Cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys the Cloud of Yahveh was on the Tabernacle by day and there was Fire in it by night in the sight of all the House of Israel.' (Ex. 40:34-38)

 

The light from the Lampstands were a Picture of God's Light of Creation and Salvation, provision, shelter and guidance, going forth from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:3 proclaims:

 

'And many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the Mountain of Yahveh, to the House of the God of Jacob. That He may teach us concerning His ways.’

 

1.2.5.  John Hanneman again writes, “During the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus is proclaiming at the very place where the water was poured out that he is the fulfillment of all these O.T. promises. The day that Israel had been reading about, the day of the Messiah, had finally dawned. Jesus is the rock in the wilderness, he is the new temple, and from him come springs of salvation. Then the church became the temple in Christ. Ever since Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out, the church is the source of the water of life that blesses the nations.”

 

1.2.6.  Jesus’ crying out on this day occurred because He was trying to communicate to those Jews (and perhaps Gentiles) present that He was the fulfillment of this Feast of Ingathering.  Now, if men would just come to Him and drink that they would receive the incredible promise of eternal salvation and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

 

1.2.7.  Ever since 1980, the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem has held a Feast of Tabernacles ceremony and approximately 5,000 Christians for over 100 hundred countries have attended.

 

2.                 VS 7:31-34  - “But many of the multitude believed in Him;  and they were saying, ‘When the Christ shall come, He will not perform more signs that those which this man has, will He?’  The Pharisees heard the multitude muttering these things about Him;  and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him.  Jesus therefore said, ‘For a while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me.  You shall seek Me, and shall not find Me;  and where I am, you cannot come’.” -  John tells us that many in the multitude were believing in Jesus at this time and were asking whether when the Messiah comes if He will not perform more signs than Jesus was performing, but the Pharisees sent men to seize Jesus

 

2.1.         Because many in the crowd were beginning to deduce that Jesus must be the Messiah, for the Messiah would not do any greater works than Jesus did, the Pharisees and chief priests sent officers to seize Him.  But, no one was able to lay a finger on Him because of the power of God present to restrain them. 

 

2.2.         Jesus then tells the Jews, that He would only be on this earth a short time longer.  Then, there will come a time when they shall long for a Messiah, and wish that one were present, yet none will be found. 

 

2.3.         Finally, Jesus tells them one of two things.  He either tells them that they will not be able to ascend up to heaven where He will be when they go to search for Him, or that they were not able at that very present time to approach Him because they were being restrained by God’s power.  The Greek present tense in this clause seems to support the latter interpretation!

 

3.                 VS 7:35-36  - “The Jews therefore said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we shall not find Him?  He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He?  What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me;  and where I am, you cannot come’?’” -  The Jews begin to question among themselves where Jesus might be thinking that He will go, a place where they cannot find Him

 

3.1.         The Jews were confused by Jesus’ statement that He was going away after a little while and they would not be able to find Him.  They think that Jesus will either go to the Jews in Greece who were dispersed in the exile of the Assyrians, or that He will go to a place where the Greeks themselves had been dispersed.

 

3.2.         Sometimes in the scriptures the word “Greek” actually means “Gentile,” and the New Testament writes considered that there were two different types of people Jews and Greeks (or Gentiles).

 

4.                 VS 7:37-39  - “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water’’.  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive;  for the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.” -  Jesus stood up on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles and cried out saying that if any man was thirsty that he could come to Him and drink for the one who believed in Him, from his innermost being would flow rivers of living water

 

4.1.         As we saw, on the first seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles, the people would go and fill jars of water from the Pool of Siloame, and then go into the temple and pour them out with joy.  The ceremony was to celebrate two things : 

 

4.1.1.  First of all, it celebrated how God provided water miraculously for the Israelites in the wilderness when the water flowed out from the rock which Moses’ rebelliously struck with his staff.

 

4.1.2.  Secondly, the water ceremony celebrated that future time prophesied in Joel and Ezekiel, when the Spirit would be poured out on their sons and daughters. 

 

4.1.3.  However, the water ceremony was not carried out on the last day, the Sabbath, because the time of the outpouring of the Spirit had not yet happened.  This brought about a somewhat somber mood to the feast because the Israelites knew so well that their hope and not yet arrived and they had great need for their Messiah to arrive. 

 

4.2.         So, when the water rite ceremony was not carried out on this last day and the mood was somber, Jesus could not contain Himself and stood up (when all of the other teachers sat to teach) and ‘cried out’ with a loud voice so that all could hear Him. 

 

4.3.         Jesus is in essence telling the multitude that these prophetic Messianic passages were now fulfilled in those who believed in Him.  From believers would flow not a trickle, not a stream, but rivers of living water.  ‘Living water’ is that water that bubbles up from within the earth through artesian springs.

 

4.4.         Jesus invites anyone to come to Him for salvation for there is a general calling and invitation that is given to each and every man and woman upon the earth to not perish in the fires of eternal hell for the unbelieving but to receive the free gift of eternal life through faith in Christ and His death upon Calvary which was full payment for all of our sins.  The call goes out to all who are spiritually ‘thirsty’ for Jesus, thirsty for a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Do you thirst for Christ?

 

4.5.         It is not enough though to merely ‘come’ to Jesus in order to receive the free gift of eternal salvation either, one must come to Him and ‘drink’ (or partake) of Him, in order to receive the gift of salvation and the resulting indwelling and overflowing of the Holy Spirit. 

 

4.6.         The full promise of the reception of the Holy Spirit will be future for those who are hearing the Lord Jesus on this day.  The Holy Spirit had not at this point begun to dwell within believers as He would when Jesus breathes on the twelve in the upper room after His resurrection, saying, ‘receive the Holy Spirit.’  Also, some forty days after this experience of breathing on the disciples, on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit would fall on the church in power and baptize them and distribute gifts for the work that they were to do in evangelizing the world with the gospel.

 

5.                 VS 7:40-44  - “Some of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, ‘This certainly is the Prophet’.  Others were saying, ‘This is the Christ’.  Still others were saying, ‘Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?  Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?’  So there arose a division in the multitude because of Him.  And some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.” -  The Jews that day began to debate among themselves as to whether or not Jesus was the promised Messiah

 

5.1.         This teaching and crying out of Jesus had produced many and different responses from the crowd :

 

5.1.1.  Some thought that He was the ‘prophet’ that Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy, yet they didn’t think that that prophet was the Messiah. 

 

5.1.2.  Others were saying that He was the ‘Messiah.’  Some were saying that He couldn’t be the Messiah because He came from Galilee. 

 

5.1.3.  Others knew that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, and since they were ignorant of the fact that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, they thought that He couldn’t be the Messiah. 

 

5.1.4.  And some of the multitude wanted to come and seize Jesus for His blasphemy, yet were paralyzed to inaction by His power.

 

6.                 VS 7:45-49  - “The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, ‘Why did you not bring Him?’  The officers answered, ‘Never did a man speak the way this man speaks’.  The Pharisees therefore answered them, ‘You have not also been led astray, have you?  No one of the rulers of Pharisees has believed in Him, has he?  But this multitude which does not know the Law is accursed’.” -  The officer came to the chief priests and Pharisees and asked the officers why they did not arrest Jesus, and the only defense they can off is that a man never spoke as Jesus spoke

 

6.1.         Amazingly, the only reason the officers of the Jews could give for not arresting Jesus was because of the way in which He spoke.  They were paralyzed by His speech, and could do nothing to arrest or stop Him. 

 

6.2.         The reason the Pharisees give the officers for not being led astray into believing in Jesus is because that no one of the rulers of the Pharisees had believed in Him. 

 

6.3.         In fact Nicodemus (the man who came to Jesus by night), who was one of their rulers, did in fact believe in Jesus (as we will see in the next verse), and though his faith is small at this point in time he does succeed in keeping the Jewish leaders from having Jesus killed on this day.  It is likely that another of the rulers of the Pharisees was a secret believer, and that was Joseph of Aramathea who will take Jesus body down from the cross and bury him in one of his own tombs. 

 

6.4.         The Pharisees tell the officers not to listen to the multitude because they are accursed children (second class at best and condemned by the Law—nothing like a religion of condemnation!) for not knowing the law as they believed that they knew it.

 

7.                 VS 7:50-53  - “Nicodemus said to them (he who came to Him before, being one of them), ‘Our Law does not judge a man, unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?’  They answered and said to him, ‘You are not also from Galilee, are you?  Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee’.  [And everyone went to his home.” -  Nicodemus stands up for Jesus to the Jews and states that the Law does not judge a person except if first hears his testimony

 

7.1.         Nicodemus doesn’t come right out and confess his personal belief in Jesus, but by this statement he stops the Pharisees from seeking to kill Jesus, and thus demonstrates the faith in Jesus that he has come to possess. 

 

7.2.         Nicodemus simply refers to what the Scriptures say is the lawful manner to handle all civil cases, and for this he gets quite a bit of flack.  A fair trial and testimony by accusers and accused was required by the Law.

 

7.3.         Before the Pharisees leave to go to their own homes, they tell Nicodemus to search and see that in all of the Old Testament, there was not a prophet that came from Galilee. 

 

7.4.         The last verse here is not found in most of the oldest manuscripts, and it may actually be part of the story of the woman caught in adultery (which is also not found in those manuscripts) which is told beginning in the first verse of the next chapter.

 

8.                 CONCLUSIONS:

 

8.1.         As we enter this New Year and consider how that we may apply this teaching to ourselves, lets pray for the Lord to fill us with the Holy Spirit so that we may know all of the fullness of the “rivers of living water flowing from our innermost being.” 

 

8.2.         In this feast, Jesus was the prophetic fulfillment of the waters that provided for the harvest to be full, of which the daily ceremony pointed, lets pray that He fill us and overflow in us through the Holy Spirit so that He might use us for this end times harvest that is proceeding His soon return.

 

8.3.         Lets pray, “Lord, use me through all of your mighty empowering for the harvest of souls of this world through the shed blood of Calvary’s cross.”

 

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