THE WOMAN AT THE WELL – COME AS A CHILD-LESSON 262
Today we will look at the story of the woman at the well in relation to Numbers Chapter Five. I can’t believe that we are still not ready to move on from the tiny little passage found in Numbers, Chapter Five, which speaks of the ritual test a jealous husband could give to a wife who was suspected of being unfaithful.
It seems we may never leave this passage!
There is SO MUCH to cover.
In a previous lesson we studied the actual test that God gave to Moses in the wilderness. Our study covered the aspects of this physical test in great detail. If you wish to review that lesson; you can find it here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/test-for-a-wife-accused-of-adultery-come-as-a-child-lesson-258/
Also; we have studied several different ways that this one little passage relates to numerous other passages of scripture.
One such passage is found in today’s lesson and the story of the woman at the well.
A KEY PASSAGE
At this point, I would feel very safe to call this scripture passage in Numbers Chapter Five a KEY PASSAGE for understanding ALL of the scriptures; both from the New and the Old Testaments. It plays into almost every story in our bibles in one way or another.
Don’t worry – we will not have time to cover every story; only those that very strongly relate will be mentioned.
Isn’t it amazing that one little obscure passage could be so FULL of symbolism?
However; don’t get so caught up in the symbolism that you begin to believe that nothing in the scriptures is real.
KNOW THE TRUTH OF ALL OF THESE STORIES
All of these stories are very real.
They actually happened.
The story we will speak of today in relation to the woman at the well is also real. It happened; but it is FULL of symbols.
Everything that we have spoken of so far; really happened.
All of the history is real, factual and recorded.
How could that be possible?
Is it not too much of a coincidence?
Not if you trust and believe in the fact that God orchestrates time and creation.
God has had a plan for mankind from the very beginning; and he has created a destiny and a purpose for every single person who has ever breathed the breath of life.
I truly believe this with all of my heart.
CONTINUING PROOF OF GOD’S EXISTENCE
These true stories, recorded by God’s faithful witnesses for us to know and consider, are simply more proof of God’s existence and the fact that he loves us with an unending and relentless love.
Every single, real-life story is full of double and triple symbolic meaning.
This is amazing; and only God could have thought through these intricate patterns that make every moment of our lives on this earth happen just exactly as they need to happen in order to fulfil God’s amazing plans for mankind as a whole.
So; let’s continue to explore and search out the facts that are relevant to this on-going concept.
FIRST; SOME HELPFUL REVIEW
All of these related stories seem to build upon one another; so it is good to keep looking back as we move forward. Last week we looked at the woman in a basket who was seen in a vision by Zachariah.
This was God showing Zechariah a picture of the false church and letting him know what the end result would be for all of the sins of humanity.
If you wish to review that particular lesson; just click here.
We also previously discussed several passages from Revelation which clearly relate this passage in Chapter Five of The Book of Numbers to end-time prophetic events which will happen in the future. To review one of those lessons; just click here: A TEST OF LOYALTY – A FLYING SCROLL AND A WOMAN HIDING INSIDE A BASKET – COME AS A CHILD – LESSON 260 and here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/test-for-adultery-and-the-golden-calf-story-come-as-a-child-lesson-259/.
RELEVANT TO MODERN TIMES
It is possible that we are on the threshold of many end-times events right now. That makes this study even more relevant for today’s world.
So much biblical truth not previously clear or understandable has been explained and laid before us like a gigantic jig-saw puzzle.
All of the pieces began to become easier to put together when we remember to read the key passage found in Numbers, Chapter Five first.
Here is an almost “secret” passage where God chose to hide some very important truths right in plain sight.
Through this key passage he reveals important knowledge to those who are hungry and thirsty for more of the knowledge of The Kingdom of God. Here is a hidden pearl, and it is ours for the taking!
So many stories!
All of them are amazing; but that isn’t all and we must move on.
ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL PEARL FOR OUR NECKLACE
Today we will begin to discuss another passage of related scripture. This time we find Jesus resting beside a well as a Samaritan woman is coming to draw water.
Most of us are already very familiar with the old favorite story of the woman at the well, and we have all read the often-studied and quoted scriptures; but for the sake of accuracy and emphasis; let’s read them together here:
THE SCRIPTURE PASSAGE ABOUT JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN AT THE WELL
John 4:4-42:
But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you a Jew ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink’, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him “Sir, you have no bucket and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the man you are now living with is not your husband. What you have said is true!
The woman said to him. “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
JESUS PROCLAIMS HIS IDENTITY
The most amazing thing about this story is that Jesus openly admits to this needy woman who he is! He did not usually do that; and as far as I can tell, this unnamed woman by the well just might be the first human he ever decided to confess his real identity to.
This seemed to be the perfect time. It would be more appropriate than one might at first suspect. This woman and all those like her is the main object of the mission of Christ coming to earth in the first place. She represents all believers who are looking for Messiah.
LONGEST RECORDED CONVERSATION OF JESUS WITH AN INDIVIDUAL
Also; it is worth noting too that this conversation was the longest conversation ever recorded in the bible between Jesus and anyone.
That fact alone makes me sit up and pay close attention to the conversation.
It also tells me that Jesus did not think that only men should be involved in religious and theological situations and discussions. That is a good point to ponder but certainly not the MAIN point of this conversation taking place the way it did.
Again; I think the conversation happened just the way it did because this whole scene paints a perfect picture of everything that Jesus came to earth and gave his life for.
Let that sink in; then we will keep moving through the story further.
SHE WAS A WOMAN AND A SAMARITAN
Before we even begin; let’s take care of the elephant in the room and consider the fact that this woman was a Samaritan.
Many repeating this story often mistake a Samaritan for a Gentile.
As a young woman growing up I often heard it told that way; and for the longest time I assumed that the two cultures of Samaria and Judah did not get along well because one of them was Gentile and one of them was Jewish.
Not true!
The Samaritans were descendants of Jacob (as in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), just as the Judean people were descendants of Jacob. These people all came from the same bloodline.
At one time they had all worshiped God together and in unison. The woman actually points this out to Jesus in the story; probably hoping to find some common ground in their past heritage.
She asked him if he was greater than their common ancestor – Jacob. Jesus surely gave her a loaded answer to consider.
So here we can quickly conclude that the Samaritan woman was not the first of the Gentiles who was saved. She does not take the title away from Cornelius here; so let’s be careful.
THIS WOMAN WAS LOOKING FOR A MESSIAH
The good thing though is that as she spoke with Jesus on this day; she was saved!
We hear her tell Jesus that she is looking for Messiah to come. He then assures her that He is the Messiah.
Can you imagine her excitement?
It is obvious that she became a believer; but we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Let’s finish discussing the fact that she was a Samaritan.
DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM INTO NORTH AND SOUTH
At one time all of Israel was together as one Hebrew nation; then later they were divided into a southern and a northern kingdom.
The Northern Kingdom was captured by Assyria. The Assyrians intermingled with the Hebrews and inter-marriages eventually made most Samaritans a mixture of Hebrew and Assyrian bloodlines.
It is possible that the woman was part-Jewish and part-Assyrian.
Some of the Hebrews of the northern part of the country were allowed to stay in their homes during this first of the two major captivities of Israel; but five tribes were brought into the area by the Assyrians to live among and intermingle with them.
This culture transplant brought the false Assyrian religion into the region that had once only been filled with the true religious practices of God’s people.
After that happened; the two divided parts of the nation (the north and the south) worshiped in different manners.
The northern and Samaritan part of the country slowly began incorporating and mixing some of the Assyrian false religious practices into their worship services.
The southern kingdom left in the land stayed true to the pure practices which God had given to Moses. For them; nothing was altered or changed. They strictly adhered to the original Torah.
TWO SEPARATE TEMPLES
It was the implementation of these religious differences that started the bad feelings between the Samaritans and the people of Judah. None of them wanted to worship together.
They eventually even worshiped in different temples. The Samaritans built a place of worship on Mt. Gerizim; while the Jews continued to worship on Mt. Zion.
In light of all of the previous history between the two groups, most Jews and Samaritans did not usually like to associate with one another; especially when it came to eating and drinking.
WAS HE PROPOSING?
Yet; in this story we find Jesus asking the woman for a drink.
There is no mention of Jesus already having anything to drink from; so we can safely assume that Jesus was asking for her to give him a sip of water from her own drinking vessel.
If you knew the culture; you would be as shocked as the woman at the well.
She realized what we do not; that sometimes; when a Jewish man asks a woman for a drink it is considered to be the the same thing as a marriage proposal!
Marriage covenants were often established at wells in those days.
This story takes place at Jacob’s well and It was customary and not unusual at all in those days for men to meet their wives beside the city well. The well was considered a safe, public place to mingle. The women would go to draw water and the men would take notice of them and decide which one they would like to marry.
We have often seen this pattern repeated over and over in many of the stories of the Old Testament.
ESTABLISHING A COVENANT AT THE WELL
In many instances, the actual marriage covenants were planned and established right there beside the well.
The covenant ceremony for marriage involved the groom taking a drink from a cup and then setting the cup down beside the woman whom he was desiring to marry. If she followed suit and drank from the same cup; the vows were considered official.
Should she not want to marry him; she could simply walk away; or not take a drink from his cup.
So Jesus was not only breaking the common law not to eat and drink with a Samaritan; he was also flirting with the same acts involved in a marriage ceremony. The woman would have been much more than a little shocked; and quite possibly she would not have known what to think or do at that point.
A SPIRITUAL ENCOUNTER
We hear of this “meeting at a well pattern” from the story where Abraham’s trusted servant was sent out to seek a wife for Isaac. This is where he met Rebekah; right there beside the well. The trusted servant of Abraham was very symbolic to God’s Holy Spirit; which eventually plays into this amazing conversation of Jesus and the woman at the well.
Was Jesus wondering if this woman would respond like Rebekah?
Rebekah was very giving in the drawing of the water. She was helping the whole village to be more able to have the life-giving waters from the well. You could always find her offering to water the flocks of anyone passing by in need of drinking water.
This helpful disposition was known in those days as a fine trait.
For a woman to be a woman of hospitality; and to be one who cared for the welfare of others, one who would be eager to bring the fresh new life that pure, clean water provides, was a trait considered most desirable in a good wife.
Certainly, any good man having such a woman by his side would surely establish a proud dominion in his own hometown. He would be well-received and respected by all because of the generous heart of his industrious and productive wife.
So it was that the ancients came to see this parallel between life-giving fountains of water and the covenant of marriage.
OTHER EXAMPLES
The very first time Jacob saw Rachel she too was standing beside a well surrounded with sheep. The well was covered with a stone and he used his strength to help roll away the stone so that her flock could be fed.
In the story of Moses after being found floating in the water of the river; Moses grew up living in the house of Pharaoh. Moses killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew. and he had to leave Egypt. While fleeing from Egypt and coming to Midian; Moses sat down beside a well.
The seven daughters of the Midianite priest came out to draw water for their flocks and some dishonest shepherds tried to scare them away so that they could use the well themselves. Moses quickly came to save them; and later he married one of these Midianite daughters.
Can you see the symbolism?
I think of the Good Shepherd sheltering his flock; leading them to pure water that will nourish and sustain them and help them to grow. He is the same as the One who rose from the grave and rolled away the stone. Our Savior also has a well of living waters; one that is deep and one that will never run dry. He is always waiting for us; right there beside the well.
Will you drink the cup that he offers?
WATER AND SALVATION (ETERNAL LIFE)
The beginning of today’s story has the woman and Jesus having an astounding conversation; because a Jewish man doesn’t usually speak to a Samaritan woman. This is surprising to many readers; to find the Son of God speaking to a sinner.
Why though?
Didn’t The Good Shepherd come to save the lost sheep?
Jesus has astounded her not only by speaking to her but by asking her for a drink of water.
She tells him of her astonishment and he tells her if she knew of whom she was speaking; she would have asked him for a drink, and he would have given her living water.
THE LIVING WATER OF LIFE
The giving of water here is symbolic of the gift of salvation.
Salvation is the free gift that Christ gives to the Church; The Bride of Christ. It is free for the asking; but you MUST ask the question.
At first, the astounded woman basically makes fun of him by saying the well is deep and reminding him that he has no bucket.
Then after more consideration (perhaps because she was enjoying being able to talk with him), she asks him where he would get that living water; and wonders if he thinks he is better than their ancestor Jacob who gave them the well in the first place.
Remember how Jacob used his strength to provide water from the well when he met Rachel?
Jesus tells her that everyone who drinks of the water from that well will be thirsty again; but those who drink of the water that he gives will never be thirsty again and it will become unto them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.
Again; he is offering the woman salvation.
Jesus has water that Jacob could not offer!
The way to receive this water is to ask him for it.
THE SPRING OF LIVING WATER
This statement from Jesus can take us all the way back to the Garden of Eden and the spring of living water that is found nourishing all that lives in God’s garden.
Jesus speaks of The Water of Life; the Living Water. Until Jesus came to rescue us from ourselves; no one (except Adam and Eve) from this planet called earth had ever known of this water.
So; the woman has by now begun to take the words of Jesus seriously.
She asks him to give her a drink of this living water.
This is where the test from Numbers, Chapter Five comes into play.
The woman must be found innocent – so the test has to be applied; if not the conversation between Jesus and the woman could progress no further.
If she passed the test though; the possibilities were limitless.
TIME TO TRUST, BELIEVE AND OVERCOME
He knew her past.
So; Jesus says “Go call your husband and come back.”
NOW we can see and better understand why it happened that he said those particular words to her.
I always wondered what the previous husband (who had long ago removed himself from the life of the woman) had to do with anything. Jesus knew that the husband of this woman had to initiate the jealousy ritual in order for the test to prove her worthy.
If the husband didn’t desire her anymore; and she passes the test as innocent; she will be allowed to move on with her life.
First the man had to proclaim his jealousy and prove to everyone whether or not she had been unfaithful. Remember that the judgement here is always divine; out of the hands of mankind and into the hands of God. God alone will decide her fate. She must drink the drink and pass the test in order to be able to be declared free and able to move on with her life.
A LIFE SYMBOLIC OF SPIRITUAL ADULTRY
Without realizing what she had done, in requesting the drink from Jesus the woman had initiated the ritual of the jealousy test.
Jesus responds by telling her to go call her husband.
What is the definition of a husband anyway?
Someone who a wife is committed to, faithful to and loyal toward?
Prior to meeting Jesus this woman had no true commitments. She was just moving aimlessly through life; with no loyalties to anyone. Her previous involvements had been wrong and she had not thought them through.
When she begins to tell Jesus she has no husband; he reminds her of the truth of her situation. She has been married five times; and now she is living with a man she has not married.
Let’s be fair here.
From these passages many might automatically assume this woman is an adulteress; and that COULD be true; or it might just be that she has had a hard life and lost many husbands to death.
She could be living with a lover; or she could be living with her father. No one knows for sure; and that is another reason for the test to take place.
IF she is innocent; it will prove out.
FIVE HUSBANDS
However; an interesting note is the number five which is the count of the woman’s husbands.
History speaks of five Assyrian tribes which were sent in to mingle with the Samarians during the captivity. They were to intermarry with the people already living in the land.
The man this woman is presently living with who is NOT her husband could represent the false religious practices that had trickled down from all of those five Assyrian tribes, which the woman had accepted into her life without question.
Either that; or some of the men the woman was previously married to might have practiced false religions and she might have joined in with them.
IS THIS WOMAN GUILTY OR INNOCENT?
This is the part of the passage that makes us suspect that the woman is probably guilty.
At this point; we are really unsure whether or not the woman is adulterous.
There are no witnesses; not even a husband.
Thus she become a perfect candidate for the ritual test. If two credible witnesses could be found; the test would be unnecessary.
But they were alone; just the woman and Jesus.
The woman needed to take and pass the test to prove that she was worthy.
But could she pass?
HE KNOWS HER
Perhaps the woman picks up on the fact that Jesus recognizes that she has been involved with wrong religious practices.
What she probably doesn’t pick up on at first is the fact that He truly KNOWS her.
He sees her heart.
Jesus understands her seeking for the truth.
He knows everything about her; though she had never met him before. It was a lot like the faithful servant of Abraham who meet some people in the village that spoke of Rachel even before he saw her there at the well. He knew enough about the intentions of her heart to recognize her when she approached.
Another fact to consider is the interesting use of the word “know” among the Hebraic people. In ancient times when a man and woman were intimate the scripture translates to say “he KNEW her.”
Adam KNEW Eve, and Abraham KNEW Sarah, Isaac KNEW Rebecca and Jacob KNEW Rachel.
This type of language and “knowing” speaks of the covenant of marriage.
THE CONCEPT OF WORSHIP
The woman at the well now perceives that Jesus is a prophet.
Though her religious beliefs of the past might have been wrong (perhaps even done out of ignorance); she seems to have a reverence and respect for prophets. She seems to be truly seeking a word from God.
Maybe that is why she then asked Jesus the theological questions regarding the right place in which to worship.
Jesus then explains the meaning behind spiritual worship. She isn’t yet familiar with this type of worship. It is worship that transcends time and space.
HER SINS ARE ALREADY BLOTTED OUT
There is a part in the story when the woman leaves the well and the conversation with Jesus and goes out and says to others “He told me everything that I ever did.”
This is comparable to the recordings that were written down on the scroll in the jealousy ritual of Numbers, Chapter Five. The priest was told the accusations and he wrote them on the scroll with ink. The ink was scraped off and mixed into the bitter water mixture that the accused woman was given to drink.
As The High Priest; Jesus, confronts her with the questions of her sinfulness; he is both noting the sins and forgiving the sins at the same time that she confesses them. Basically; it seems that somehow they are being blotted out of God’s books. Upon receiving salvation the woman’s sins are washed away.
I think she felt the weight of those sins lifting off of her as she spoke to Jesus at the well. The woman who first came to the well was not the same woman who walked away from the well. This woman was changed from her head straight down to her toes.
She loses her fear and she stands there in awe of this man who stands in complete and bold authority before her.
As her past sins fall away, all she can think of is the miracle of this water that he has to offer.
At this point; she bravely asks him for a drink. She wants to take away some of this living water that he speaks of.
In the ancient rituals when the woman takes the drink the marriage covenant is finished.
They are, at that very moment; considered husband and wife. From that time forward; even though there might still be a time of separation while the engagement is announced and a wedding is planned, they will now begin to spend a time of focused preparing and moving toward getting ready for the rest of their lives together.
THE DIFFERENCE IS JESUS; HE MAKES ALL THINGS NEW
Have you ever seen anyone’s circumstances change so quickly and unexpectedly as those in the life of this woman by the well?
What is different here?
Though there are many similarities; something in this story is very unlike the story of the jealousy ritual found in the times of Moses which is recorded in Numbers, Chapter Five.
Only one thing has changed; but that ONE thing changed EVERYTHING.
It is Jesus standing in the place of the priest instead of Moses or the Levitical priesthood.
He is stronger than Moses or the Levitical priesthood. He is stronger than Jacob or any of the other impressive grooms who stood by the wells to meet their brides.
There is a noticeable difference in the results of the test when Jesus becomes the one administering the drink to the woman.
Who is qualified to read and proclaim her accusations?
Only Christ is worthy!
WORTHY IS THE LAMB
As we realize the significance in this; one cannot help but remember the words of that old hymn by Fredrick Lehman.
“Could we with ink the oceans fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above, Would drain the ocean dry, Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Tho stretched from sky to sky.”
Do you think Mr. Lehman understood the ritual of jealousy? I believe he did; and I know he understood that the only worthy person to read the scroll is Jesus!
No other is qualified to blot out sins.
WHEN THE BITTER TURNS TO SWEET
No human priest can make the sins of the woman go away as if they never existed; and remove them as far as the east from the west.
Jesus is the only one.
He is very qualified; though this woman is temporarily unaware of the fact that He is the highest of all High Priests.
Jesus offers her a different type of water; a water which brings eternal life instead of death.
He wants to give her life-changing water – water that will keep her from ever thirsting again.
There is nothing bitter about this water.
THE WOMAN IS THE CHURCH
But why is everything here at the well where Jesus rests so different?
If this is the jealousy ritual; why is the woman not condemned for her sins?
If we think about what happened to Jesus; we know.
Instead of giving the mix to the one he loved; Jesus drank the bitter drink himself.
He took the curse that the woman deserved when he died on the cross.
Rather than have the one he loved accused, he forgave her and took the cup himself; and he died for her sins.
The woman at the well is The Church of God.
SAVE THE DATE; A WEDDING IS COMING
When I first realized this about this passage I was astounded.
How many times had I read and heard this story and not realized its full significance?
She might not have been the first Gentile convert; but you know what? This woman became the first woman to go into ministry; and probably the first member of the new temple that God was building from those who walked around like living stones; those who are now full of the living waters.
SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS
Quickly the woman by the well began to spread the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all those that she knew; all over Samaria.
An old verse now makes so much more sense to me: (Acts 1:8) – “And you will receive power when The Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The living water that Jesus offers is the power of God’s Holy Spirit living within our bodies. This is what we celebrate every year when we come to The Day of Pentecost.
God used this ordinary woman at the well in a mighty way to begin establishing the Church who would some day in the future grow into The Bride of Christ.
She drank the water in the cup!
The Holy Spirit came to live inside her and she became fruitful and God blessed her efforts over and over again.
She was miraculously found innocent and made clean all in the same day.
This woman becomes the standing symbol for Christ’s proposal to His Bride.
The Bride has passed the test!
The wedding is coming soon.
Look for your invitation and remember to save the date.