Back in the late ‘90s my wife, Ashley and I had the privilege of traveling to the Holy Land. One of the days we went to Masada, a mountain fortress that was the site of Jewish resistance in the Jewish-Roman War in 73 AD. It overlooks the Dead Sea, so as a part of the day’s travels the plan was to stop there on the way back. However, Masada took longer than planned, so instead of seeing it up close, we got just a drive-by view of it on our return to the hotel. We were disappointed, as we had heard so much about this strange body of water, and it plays a key role in a vision in the Old Testament (more on that in a minute).

The Dead Sea is named as such because it is one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water, with its salt and mineral content at 35% (oceans have a salinity of about 3%). Because of this, no plants or animals can live in it. While the Jordan River flows into it, the Dead Sea has no outlet and nothing flows out of it (it’s the lowest point on earth at 1,400 ft. below sea level).

The Dead Sea shows up in the Bible in a number of places, but probably none more powerful than in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. In Ch. 47, we hear of a vision that God gives Ezekiel about the coming Kingdom. Here’s a portion of the text:

“In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway…He asked me, “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river. Then he said to me, “This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea. The waters of this stream will make the salty waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure. There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows…Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river. The leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit on their branches. There will be a new crop every month, for they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing.”

Life will flourish wherever this water flows. Wow, what a promise! What a gift! What a picture! That when the Messiah comes, He will bring life out of death, light out of darkness, healing out of hurting, fruit out of barrenness. This must have seemed like an impossible promise, the promise of living water that can turn that which is dead into that which can bear fruit and give life. And yet, 600 years later, a man named Jesus comes to town and declares during the Festival of Tabernacles, of which water played a major role, these words:

“Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (John 7:37-38)

Jesus comes as the living water bringing life, renewal, restoration, revitalization, and revival to all who are thirsty. In this moment He is declaring himself as the Messiah and offering everyone the gift of living water through a relationship with Him. He offers us a life that flourishes, a life teeming with possibilities, a life full of the Holy Spirit that will produce fruit for the Kingdom. Anyone thirsty? Anyone interested in that kind of life? I know I am! Thank you Lord for Jesus and the Living Water!