Water as Judgment. From the beginning, water has been an instrument of God’s judgment. In the days of Noah, “the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Pet. 3:6). What had been created to sustain life became the very means of its destruction. At the Red Sea, the same waters that parted for Israel’s deliverance closed in upon Pharaoh’s armies, bringing swift and certain judgment (Ex. 14:26-28). In the Psalms, the cry of the afflicted is pictured as one sinking in “deep waters,” overwhelmed by trial and judgment (Ps. 69:1-2). All this points us forward to the cross. Anticipating Calvary, the Lord could say: “All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me” (Ps. 42:7). The waters of judgment that should have swept us away fell upon Him. Because He bore the flood of God’s wrath, we stand on dry ground in deliverance. That very water that, in judgment shows us God’s holy wrath against sin, also points to the sure salvation provided in Christ.

 

Water as Cleansing. Water also speaks of God’s provision for cleansing. The Old Testament ordinances of the law required the priests to wash at the laver before entering the tabernacle to serve (Ex. 30:18-21), and many other uses in purification (Lev. 14:8-9; Num. 19:17-19). Yet these outward washings were but pictures pointing to a greater reality in the work of Christ. Scripture shows us several distinct aspects of cleansing.

Thus water as cleansing points us to God’s gracious work in three ways: new birth (imparting life), regeneration (transforming the walk), and daily washing (preserving communion). In all of these, the believer is maintained in holiness and fitted for God’s presence.

 

Water as Refreshment. Lastly, water speaks of refreshment; what God supplies to satisfy the weary soul. In the wilderness, the Lord preserved Hagar and Ishmael by showing her a well (Gen. 21:19). He brought water from the rock to quench Israel’s thirst (Ex. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4). Spiritually, God Himself is called “the fountain of living waters” (Jer. 2:13). To forsake Him is to turn to “broken cisterns that can hold no water.” The Lord Jesus offered the Samaritan woman living water that would spring up into everlasting life (John 4:14), in contrast to earthly water which can only satisfy temporarily. And on the last day of the feast He cried: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 7:37). The spiritual refreshment of water is something that begins when we believe the gospel, but it goes on for ever! The Lamb will lead His people “unto living fountains of waters” (Rev. 7:17), and in the New Jerusalem a pure river of water of life flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 22:1). Water as refreshment represents the sufficiency of Christ to satisfy every longing of the heart, both now and for eternity.