On the first day of Sukkot I made mention of a number of talmudic traditions that had become added to the main celebration over the years and yesterday I mentioned one of these - the four giant golden menorah's in the Temple courtyard that lit up the whole of Jerusalem around which the cohenim (priests) danced to flute-playing. The Sukkot celebrations took place in the evenings, one of the reasons we're meeting in the evening this year on all but the sabbath days. One of the better known accretions was the Water Drawing Ceremony. How Yah'shua (Jesus) made use of it for illustrating purposes is more important than where the religious leaders got this ceremony from but for the sake of being complete I will make mention of both as historical background is important.

Every morning at daybreak, a company of Levites went down to the Sholoach (Siloam) stream, which ran south of the Temple Mount, and drew three rabbinical measurements of water called logs [1]. 1 log is ~305.5 ml. The destination of this water was the altar where it would be poured after the daily morning sacrifice. As this water was carried into the city, trumpet blasts were sounded. On the first day of Sukkot which is a sabbath, the water would have been collected the evening before, or very early the next morning before sunrise, and stored in a golden vessel in the Temple for the following day.

These 'extra' practices are a part of what is known as the rabbinical 'oral law' which the Sadducees rightly rejected. The claim was made by the Pharisees and others adhering to this 'tradition of the elders' that there was 'a great awareness of godliness at the drawing of the water to the extent that it was said that, along with the water, people would 'draw' prophetic revelation.

The truth is there had been no prophetic revelation since Malachi even though the Pharisees claimed to be having it and churned out all sorts of pseuepigraphical and apocryphal literature in the inter-testamental period in order to maintain the claim that they were following in the prophetic tradition. These claims they worked into the authentic moedim or appointments like the water libation ceremony at Sukkot and by inventing 'miracles' and other festivals to celebrate these phoney works like 'Hanukkah' (originally a late Sukkot, where they invented the miracle of oil multiplation) and 'Purim' (where they invented a fictitious rescue of the Jews in Persia), not to mention a whole string of other observations which saturate Judaism today.

At the key moment of drawing water from the stream, something dramatic happened that Sukkot in the last year of the Master's ministry, and on the last day of Sukkot to be exact. I'll let the Scriptures tell the story themselves:

"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Yah'shua (Jesus) stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke concerning the Ruach (Spirit), whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) was not yet given, because Yah'shua (Jesus) was not yet glorified" (John 7:37-39, NKJV).

Moreover, Yah'shua (Jesus) had a very specific text of the Tanakh (Old Testament) in mind when He shouted these words to interrupt the falsified drama of the rabbis, which they would have known:

"Behold, Elohim (God) is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
'For Yah-Yahweh, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.'

"Therefore with joy (simcha) you will draw water
From the wells of salvation" (Isa.12:2-3, NKJV).

Please notice two things about this text:

• 1. The word for "salvation" is yeshua, in other words, salvation is also a Person - Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ); and
• 2. There's more than one well of salvation.

Thus those who trust in Yahweh will be trusting in His Son Yah'shua (Jesus) - He who is the 'Salvation of Yah[weh]' - and will be drawing from multiple wells of Yah'shua (Jesus). What are these wells (in the plural)? Some of you may remember a sermon series I gave 12 years aho called, The Wells of Salvation which I would invite those unfamiliar with this subject to read sometime as they give the full explanation of what I am about to very briefly say now.

The seven wells of salvation are the seven Ruachot (Spirits) of Elohim (God) each of which corresponds to the Seven Annual Festivals, of which this, in the scriptural account, is the seventh into which the faithful qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) may dip as they live truer lives in obedience to the mitzvot (commandments) of their professed faith.

That is why the festivals are so important because they tell us, in detail, what a covenant talmid (disciple) looks like and what he or she must do to walk the Derech (Way). Without going into details, because there is no time tonight, the seventh well is the well of the Overcomers - those who strive, through proactive, obedient emunah (faith), that is to say, Torah-obedience, to overcome the fallen nature and to live fully in the Ruach (Spirit). That's really what the Assembly at Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles is all about, because that is what the Bride of Messiah consists of, namely, the Overcomers that Brother Gabriel briefly mentioned in his teaching on the Harvest [2] this afternoon.

This is why the text in John 7:37-39 adds, in commentary to the words Yah'shua (Jesus) shouted out, "But this He spoke concerning the Ruach (Spirit), whom those believing in Him would receive [3]". It is the sevenfold Ruach (Spirit) we must draw from the wells of salvation in Christ. These are the true waters around which Sukkot centres, not the ritualistic stuff added by the Rabbis for dramatic effect in the Second Temple period.

Yah'shua (Jesus) will interrupt, sometimes forcefully, often loudly, anything we are doing, saying or trying to live if we are not doing it right, and accompany that interruption with an invitation to follow Him. He wants us to stay on the true Derech (Way) and discard the false teachings of the churches and rabbis. We are to keep it simple, but not make it so simple that we end up chopping away things that matter like the truths hidden in the Festivals which can only be appropriated by observing them as diligent students of the Davar (Word).

We need water to stay physically alive but we also need spiritual water from the wells of salvation - the wells of our Messiah Yah'shua (Jesus) - to stay fully alive in Yahweh-Elohim. Therefore, we are told, we must draw these waters every day of our life in prayer, Scripture Study, and in living out our faith in witness to others - both to unbelievers that we may lead them to the wells of salvation for spiritual regeneration and to fellow believers who may not know these things, so that they may hear, and respond to, and be blessed by, the fullness. Given that this is a separation and harvest time, it is especially important in this year of penultimate judgment, that we do not neglect these truths.

Talk to Yahweh this evening, tell Him you want to draw from all the wells of salvation and not just the first few taught in the churches, commit to living the way He wants, and ask to dip into all the wells this Sukkot, even if it is initially just for a taste, in the spirit of King David who said:

"Oh, taste and see that Yahweh is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" (Ps.34:8, NKJV).

Then you may come to know, through daily dipping, how good each of these waters are, so that you may return daily thirsty in pursuit of more. Today is the third day of Sukkot, the Day of the Ruach haShleshi that corresponds to the festival of Yom haBikkurim, the Day of Firstfruits, which makes this message all the more poignant. Make this a 'first' if you have never accepted the Master's invitation before. And if you have, but have lapsed, dip agin and renew your covenant with Him. Don't let these days fly by without dipping your cup and drinking a deep spiritual draught. Have a blessed evening and night until tomorrow! Amen.

Endnotes