For the past 2 days the Lord has been speaking to me about wells, fountains and cisterns. Yesterday during the night, I was dreaming about Abraham digging wells for he and his household as they were being lead by God to explore the land of Cannan. This morning during the night the Lord brought to my heart the scripture from Jerimiah chapter 2 that speaks of God’s people rejecting him as the fountain of living water and instead digging their own cisterns to try and catch and hold rainwater.
Yesterday morning I spent several hours looking at all the different stories and scriptures from God’s word regarding; wells, fountains, and cisterns. This subject is so deep (no pun intended) we would be here all week going over all of them. Instead I want to bring forth a few this morning that I believe God wants to share with us so we can learn from them.
**My friends today I am preaching about Wells, Cisterns, and Fountains.
I want to start this morning taking about wells.
Wells: This word most commonly used in the Old Testament here is Ber. This word is also translated to be “pit” or “spring”. When we see it translated well it is normally taking about something that was dug by man but sometimes it is a natural pit that may not have been dug out but has water in it.
- Now if the well has a name, then it is added onto the word “Beer” for example everyone probably remembers the name of the place in the Bible: Beersheba the name of this city is translated: Beer-sheba = "well of the sevenfold oath" You will find this story in Genesis 21:25-34
- In this story Abraham had dug a well and was using it for his family and is cattle when the servants of King Abimelech violently took it away. Abraham goes to King Abimelech and reports the crime and then they make a covenant with 7 ewe lambs
Turn to Genesis 21:30-34
30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.
32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.
34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.
***First point of the message today: Do not walk away from the blessing of God you have labored for
***Abraham’s servants had dug that well. There was time, effort and investment and he was not going to walk away from it.
Proverbs 13:4
King James Version
4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
We see many years later in the book of Genesis 26 when Abraham’s son Issac returns to the land the King Abimelech and has to re-dig wells again that his father had dug because of the jealous people of the land and filled them up with dirt. In this story we see there was a famine in the land but Isaac sowed and received a hundredfold return. God blessed him and he had a lot of flocks, herds, cattle and servants. Look at verse 14 of Gen 26:14-33
14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
15 For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
20 And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
Esek:
When Isaac and his servants dug a well, the local herdsmen quarreled with them over it, so Isaac named it Esek, meaning "strife" or "confrontation"
21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
Isaac dug another well, but the Philistines again quarreled over it, leading Isaac to name it Sitnah, which signifies "hatred" or "accusation".
22 And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
After the disputes over Esek and Sitnah, Isaac moved and dug a third well, where there was no conflict. He named it Rehoboth, meaning "room enough" or "expansiveness," as he said, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land".
23 And he went up from thence to Beersheba.
24 And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
****The 2nd point of the Message today: Don’t give up building altars and digging wells if that is what God is calling you to do.
26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
28 And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
29 That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the Lord.
30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.
33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
After moving to Beersheba, Isaac's servants dug a well, and when they reported finding water, Isaac named it Shibah, the Hebrew word for "oath". This was to celebrate the peace that had been made through oaths of non-aggression between Isaac and King Abimelech.
**Now before we leave wells and go to Cisterns there is another story about a well that was named that I want to share with you. Turn back a few chapters to Genesis 16
Genesis 16
1 Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.
6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
7 And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
9 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
10 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
11 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
13 And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
Beer-lahai-roi is the name of a well in the wilderness, mentioned in the Book of Genesis in the Bible, that means "the well of the Living One who sees me". It's the place where Hagar, Abraham's concubine, had a divine encounter with the Angel of the Lord and was told that God saw her distress and promised her a future for her descendants. The well was later lived near by Isaac, Abraham's son
***First point of the message today: Do not walk away from the blessing of God you have labored for
****The 2nd point of the Message today: Don’t give up building altars and digging wells if that is what God is calling you to do.
***The 3rd point of the Message today: God can use the well you dig as a blessing for many people and generations.
Cisterns: The Hebrew word here is actually pronounced “bore” This word has several meanings but we mostly see it as a digging or carved work of man. One of the more interesting uses of this word is a cistern that is not use for water anymore is used as a prison or a dungeon.
Genesis 37:19-24
19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
Gen 41:14 - Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: H953 and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
Psa 30:3 - O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. H953
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Psa 40:2 - He brought me up also out of an H953 horrible pit, H953 out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
2 Samuel 23:13-17
13 And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.
14 And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.
15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!
16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord.
17 And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.
***First point of the message today: Do not walk away from the blessing of God you have labored for
****The 2nd point of the Message today: Don’t give up building altars and digging wells if that is what God is calling you to do.
***The 3rd point of the Message today: God can use the well you dig as a blessing for many people and generations.
***The 4th point of the Message today: The wells we dig outside of the will of God can become pits and prisons.
The difference between a well of blessing and a pit of prison is if it is full of the water of life.
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For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, H877 broken cisterns, H877 that can hold no water.
*** You may feel like you are in a pit today that you have dug looking for blessing but God is going to lift you up out of that pit. Look at the promise in God’s word:
Zechariah 9:9-12
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
*** In closing I want to talk about Fountains.
Fountain (continued): In the Old Testament this word for fountain is a Hebrew word: Maw-kore. This describes not only a spring but source of life, joy and purification. In the law of Moses it also describes the flow of blood from a woman.
Fountain: There are two words here. The New Testament word is Pay-gay and it speaks of a fountain, spring or a well fed by a spring. Example are the following:
Revelation 21
King James Version
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
John 4
King James Version
4 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.
4 And he must needs go through Samaria.
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
***First point of the message today: Do not walk away from the blessing of God you have labored for
****The 2nd point of the Message today: Don’t give up building altars and digging wells if that is what God is calling you to do.
***The 3rd point of the Message today: God can use the well you dig as a blessing for many people and generations.
***The 4th point of the Message today: The wells we dig outside of the will of God can become pits and prisons.
***The 5th and closing point: The Holy Spirit is the fountain of living water that Jesus gives to us, eternal life