Rivers of living water
The feast of Tabernacles is the source of rivers of living water.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:37,38)
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1)
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)
Water is associated with the feast of Tabernacles. We can notice this in the symbolism attending the first observance of the feast of Tabernacles by the Jews who returned from the captivity.
And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; . . . . (Nehemiah 8:1)
Water is associated with the Temple of God.
Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward:... (Ezekiel 47:1)
In Old Testament times, the feast of Tabernacles was celebrated in the season that came at the end of the half-year drought of summer. It was the time for the former (planting) rains to commence. The fall rains moistened the ground so the sowing of seed became possible, and also replenished the rivers.
It is difficult for people who have never lived in an arid climate to understand the dramatic differences that occur in the land when the rains come. Cracked trenches in the earth become sparkling rivers. Flowers spring up in the desert. The world is renewed. Truly, water is life.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. (Joel 3:18)
God’s conquering saints bring the living waters wherever they go. They are wells of water. The Lord works with them, pouring down the rain from above:
Who [the victors] passing through the valley of Baca [weeping] make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. (Psalms 84:6)
The Lord Jesus will come as rains of spiritual refreshing to every Christian who presses forward in God in the days in which we are living.
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning [of the Day of the Lord]; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter [harvest] and former [seed] rain unto the earth. (Hosea 6:3)
Salvation is the water of life to the ankles. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is the water of life to the knees. The "Tabernacles" experience of becoming the Temple of God is the water of life to the loins, and finally waters to swim in—a river that cannot be crossed.
Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. (Ezekiel 47:5)
The measuring means the downpour of God’s Glory always is accompanied by Divine judgment on the lives of those who are being blessed. The high praises of God must include the two-edged sword of God’s Word in judgment against what is unrighteous and unholy; otherwise, the glory that is designed to produce life produces death. Rain causes both the wheat and the tares, the works of Christ and the works of Satan, to come to maturity.
After the members of the Body of Christ, the Temple of God, are filled with the waters of life, these waters will flow through them to all the needy of the earth:
And it shall come to pass, that everything that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and everything shall live whither the river cometh. (Ezekiel 47:9)
Again, in Isaiah:
Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles [nations] shall come unto thee. (Isaiah 60:5)
There is "no more sea" in the new earth because the "fish" have been caught and there is no more need for a "sea" of undisciplined mankind. The waters of life are flowing out to the nations of the saved from the personalities of the members of the Body of Christ, the Wife of the Lamb. The Tree of Life, which is Christ, is available to all the peoples of the earth because Christ has been enlarged in His saints.
In the last (eighth) day, the greatest day of the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles, Jesus watched the priest of Israel dip water from the Pool of Siloam into a golden pitcher. The priest poured the water into a basin on the Altar of Burnt Offering.
Isaiah 12:3 was chanted: "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."
Then the Lord Jesus spoke of the "wells of salvation":
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38) In the last days, the great tribulation working together with the outpouring of God’s Glory on His people will produce suddenly the unified and mature Body of Christ—that which the efforts of religious men have not been able to accomplish in two thousand years.
God and Christ will enter Their eternal Temple.
Then the rivers of living water will flow from the personalities of the believers, bringing life to the "dead sea" of humanity. The waters of the sea "will be healed" (Ezekiel 47:8). "Every thing that liveth, that moveth, withers ever the rivers shall come, shall live" (Ezekiel 47:9).
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)
The Glory of the Lord shall cover the "dead sea" of mankind.
This is the fulfilment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles and the nature of the new heaven and earth reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. God in Christ in the saints is the Kingdom of God.