Living Water in the Midst of Famine

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“A lake of gold in the desert sand is less than a cool, fresh spring and to one lost sheep a shepherd boy is greater than the richest king.” These are the lyrics from the animated film “The Prince of Egypt.” Quite rightly so! To a lost sheep, a shepherd to lead him is needed the most. To a traveler in a vast desert, it is water that is needed most urgently.

If there is not even a single drop of water because of a drought, what is the use of gold or power? Life cannot be sustained without water.

It is the same with the life of our soul. Unless our soul is supplied with the water of life, God’s word of truth, we will suffer spiritual famine and the punishment of eternal destruction. Today the whole world suffers from a spiritual famine. Now let’s confirm through the Bible that whoever receives Mother, the heavenly Jerusalem, will receive the water of life.

A famine of hearing the words of God

In the Old Testament, the prophet Amos prophesied that there would be a famine of hearing the words of God throughout the world.

“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it. In that day the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.” Am 8:11-13

Famine is a disaster caused when there is no water. All living creatures in the world can’t live without water.

God’s word is spiritual living water to give mankind eternal life and salvation. This famine of hearing the words of God has come upon the whole earth. Only God can relieve the famine. It is not a thirst for actual water. Since people do not receive Christ, who has come to give them the water of life, and do not accept His words, a spiritual famine has come upon them.

Many wander about, seeking living water, but they fail to find it because they do not recognize God, the “spring of living water” (Jer 2:13). Whoever recognizes and receives God will never thirst or hunger. God freely gives mankind the water of life.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.” Rev 21:4-6

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. Rev 22:17

God is the only one who can give us the water of life. At the end of the Book of Revelation written by the Apostle John, God appears as the Spirit and the Bride and calls mankind to come to take the water of life.

In the light of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is God Almighty, our Father. Then, who is the Bride that has come together with the Spirit and gives the water of life? We live in an age of spiritual famine; our desperate task is to seek the Spirit and the Bride who give us the water of life, as a traveler finds water in the desert.

If you knew who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him for living water

If we know God who gives us living water, we can come to Him and ask for living water. Jesus, who came to this earth to give us living water 2,000 years ago, emphasized this fact when He talked to a Samaritan woman whom He met at a well.

So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar … When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” … The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? …” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jn 4:5-15

At first, the Samaritan woman misunderstood what Jesus said because she took His words just literally—from a physical point of view. Nowadays, whenever we turn on the tap, water comes out. But in the past, people had to draw water from a well outside, far away from their houses. The Samaritan woman wanted to save herself the trouble of drawing water from the well, and when Jesus said He would give her living water and whoever drank the water would never thirst, she thought it was physical water and asked for it. However, after talking with Jesus some more, she came to realize that Jesus is the Christ who gives living water, and was amazed. Then she left her water jar and ran back to the people in her village and told them about Jesus (Jn 4:16-30).

This is the main point of the passage in Jesus’ words: “If you knew who it is that asks you for a drink …” In those days, most of the Jews didn’t know that Jesus was God Himself, the spring of living water, and they rejected Him. If they knew who Jesus was, they would have asked Him for living water. However, they didn’t accept Jesus as God because He came as a man. Jesus was born into a poor carpenter’s family, and it was at the young age of thirty that He appeared to them. To the Jews, Jesus seemed too ordinary, no different than them; they didn’t find anything honorable about Him. So, they crucified Jesus, ridiculing Him with all kinds of insults.

However, the saints, who recognized who Jesus was through His words of eternal life and received Him like the Samaritan woman, were able to drink living water and never experienced spiritual thirst again.

The water of life flows out from Jerusalem

It is the same now. “If you knew who I am, you would have asked Me for living water, a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Let us pay attention to these words. The Bible says that the Spirit and the Bride give us the water of life in the age of the Holy Spirit, and that the Bride is the heavenly Jerusalem, our Mother.

One of the seven angels … said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Rev 21:9-10

But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. Gal 4:26

Finally, the Bible shows us the scene where our Mother the new Jerusalem is calling all peoples of the world and giving the water of life to human beings who are in spiritual famine. The prophet Zechariah also tells us that Jerusalem is the source of living water.

It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime—a day known to the Lord. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. Zec 14:7-8

Here, “that day” means the last days, the age of the Holy Spirit, which we live in. Today living water always flows out from Jerusalem our Mother; She saves the thirsty ones through living water.

By God’s grace we’ve met and received our Father and Mother who constantly give living water to thirsty men. We have come to the Spirit and the Bride—the spring of living water—and have received the truth of the new covenant, eternal life and salvation as promised. We freely drink living water, which the lovely young women and strong young men can’t find even though they wander around the world, searching for it.

Many people stagger around, run to and fro to find this living water, but they’ve not yet found it. It’s because they do not know that Jerusalem our Mother is the spring of living water giving eternal life. They are in a deep spiritual famine. What if they fail to find living water? They will suffer from spiritual thirst and be punished with eternal destruction in the end. If God’s living water didn’t flow to reach us, we would be in the same situation as them.

Considering this, we ought to thank the Spirit and the Bride for having led us to salvation, and should quickly proclaim Jerusalem our Mother—the spring of living water—to all peoples and all nations. When we proclaim Mother, they will know where they can get living water and come to salvation, won’t they?

The water of life heals the nations

We have to know where living water flows from, and run to it. It is Jerusalem. Let’s find out what the Bible says about Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation.

The Apostle John saw in a vision the water of life flowing from the throne of God.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their fore-heads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever … Rev 22:1-6

While the prophet Zechariah prophesied that living water would flow out from Jerusalem, the Apostle John saw the water of life flowing from the throne of God. Jerusalem is called the “throne of God” (Jer 3:17).

The prophet Ezekiel saw the same scene that John saw in his vision, and wrote that the water of life would come out from the temple [sanctuary].

The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east) … but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross … I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live … Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” Eze 47:1-12

The sanctuary which is described as the place from where the water of life flows, the throne of God and Jerusalem—all these refer to the same One, our Mother the heavenly Jerusalem, who is the fountain of living water.

In both the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Revelation, it is written that everything will live where the river flows. How precious is the water of life that flows out from Jerusalem! Every month the tree of life brings forth new fruit and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. As the water of life flows into human society that is represented as the sea, everything dead is being revived.

The Bible teaches us who the spring of living water is. Though the world sees Jerusalem our Mother merely as an ordinary woman, those who recognize who She is are running into Her arms to get the water of life, from every nation of the world. Jesus says whoever drinks this water will never thirst. How blessed are we who are God’s children and prophetic heroes!

A seed sprouts and bears fruit with the water of life

All human beings try to get this living water, but they do not know who Jerusalem Mother giving the water of life is. So, they wander far off, even though She is near them. If they knew who She was, they would have come to Mother and asked Her for living water, the blessing of eternal life and the truth.

Now, proclaim Jerusalem Mother to all people. It will bring an amazing change to them. The people, who have been silent and irresponsive to God’s word until now, will be changed and renewed.

Recently, it was reported that a 2000-year-old seed that was found in an ancient city began to sprout as it was watered. The seed had lied dormant for 2,000 years, but when it was watered it came back to life. Isn’t it surprising that the seed had been asleep for such a long time, waiting for water?

Likewise, there are still many souls who are waiting for water in the world. We should deliver the water of life to them. If we go and sprinkle them with the living water, they will sprout, bloom and bear fruit. Numerous people in the world are waiting for the living water. Let us go and preach the truth of the new covenant to them, so that they can all repent and come back to God.

The Bible says that every living creature will live wherever the water of life flows. Now, our family members of Zion, who have received the truth, are coming home one after another. Even those who persecuted the Church of God before, not knowing the truth, as did the Apostle Paul, are fully repenting and coming to the arms of Jerusalem Mother after receiving the light of the truth of life.

As the prophets of Jerusalem, let’s proclaim the glory of Jerusalem to the whole world, believing God’s word and putting it into practice. Let us become the faithful prophets who lead all people around the world to the truth and salvation with the water of life from Mother, with Her unfailing love and grace.