"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:38 NIV
Several years ago, my son joined a new soccer team. While most of the teammates were new to him, the coach had been a familiar friend for several years. My son and this coach enjoyed joking with each other and communicating through dry sarcasm that is instigated by the coach. One of the parents on the team interpreted my sons responses to the coach's directions as a disrespectful and rude attitude toward the coach. After one practice this father pulled my son aside in an effort to provide advice regarding my son's attitude and how he would need to adjust his behavior in order to be successful on the team. My son listened, but inside was furious. He tried to explain that to the parent that he and the coach had an understanding, but the father took the explanation as prideful behavior and unwillingness to submit to authority.
The next day, I approached the father and asked about his interaction with my son the previous day. He recounted the events as my son had described. I explained that while I appreciated his intent, the outcome was unsuccessful because he did not have the kind of relationship with my son that would allow the correction to be positive.
You may be asking what connection these events have to Living Water... Each day I receive a Bible word study lesson from the author Chaim Bentorah. Below is an excerpt from the June 17th lesson: [Side note - Hebrew is read right to left] "In the Aramaic you can see something about living waters that you cannot see in the English. You see in the Aramaic living waters is mia chia, it sounds like a little jingle. The words are spelled the same but the first letters are different. Water is spelled with a Mem [מ] and living is spelled with a Cheth [ח]. As a rabbi once said, in the Hebrew Alphabet the Cheth comes before the Mem, hence life comes before the water. That kind of roughs up the evolutionist as they teach water came before life. But spiritually, the Cheth represents a bonding with God and the Mem is a knowledge of God. So what the rabbi was saying was that the proper order is the order of the Alphabet where the Cheth comes before the Mem and thus bonding with God (the Cheth) comes before knowledge of God (the Mem)."
Over the next several years my son became very close friends with a boy on his high school team. For two years they spent hours together in and out of school playing soccer and other school projects. The young man's father has a vast knowledge of soccer, business and many other things and has been a great encourager of my son. This man could give my son instruction on just about any subject, and it would be accepted. Why? Because he and my son have built a friendship during time my son has spent at this man's home.
The application between the Word study and my soccer story is the correction (or knowledge) from the first teammate's father was not positively accepted because the relationship was not established. Although the father had years of soccer experience, he did not have a relationship in order for the knowledge (correction) to be well received, nor did he have the understanding of my son's humor to realize the joking was fine with the coach. As Paul Harvey used to say, "and the rest of the story" is both teammate's fathers are the same man. Now that my son and this man have learned each other's hearts, they are able to communicate with more effectively with understanding. What is really just like our God, is my son and this father also communicate jokingly with sarcasm.
There are many well intentioned people spending time and money on various Bible Studies by the endless number of authors publishing worthy materials. These students desire a deeper relationship with God and sincerely want to know Him more, to have a better understanding. Unfortunately, some of these people are coming up empty, or not seeing results from their efforts because the genuine relationship with the Savior has not been well established. Personal understanding of the LORD God Almighty's heart must improve before they can receive a deep understanding of His word.
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." Jeremiah 2:13 NIV
As a side note: living water comes from springs or aquifers, cisterns were man made to catch rain water and could become contaminated like water from a river with pollutants from up stream. The best water comes from a living source like knowledge that comes from Yehweh. Be careful of your sources for Bible Study to make sure the message has come from the LORD, and that it has not been corrupted by man.
Chaim concluded the June 17th study with the following statement: "Remember the Cheth comes before the Mem, the bonding with God before the knowledge of God. You put the Mem before the Cheth, the knowledge of God before the bonding with God and you will appear as a fool, but if you put the bonding with God before the knowledge of God you will confound the wise."
Loving LORD and Savior, I humbly lay aside all my efforts to attain knowledge and understanding. I desire to know You more deeply, to understand Your heart. Help me be still at Your feet, so You may open the eyes of my heart to what You desire for me. May You use my Bible Study time to reveal Yourself more clearly while taking me toward a deeper love for You. Be my eternal fountain of living water. Amen
To read more of Hebrew Word studies, visit Chaim Bentorah's website at www.chaimbentorah.com