Being thirsty is an interesting and remarkable thing God has built into humans, animals and even plants. Yesterday afternoon I noticed a young potted fig tree with it’s tender green branches and leaves drooping down limp. It had only been about 30 hours since I had watered it but this south Louisiana heat was about to kill my 10 month old fig tree. I hurriedly watered it and amazingly within less than an hour all the green branches and leaves were standing back at attention.
God made our bodies and those of animals have complex sensory receptors and actuators for a multitude of bodily needs. Thirst is the craving for potable fluids, resulting in the basic instinct of animals to drink. It is an essential mechanism involved in fluid balance. It arises from a lack of fluids or an increase in the concentration of certain osmolites, such as sodium.
These things go about their business of making our bodies thrive without our knowledge of much of what is going on in the “background.” Psalm 139:14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
In this mornings Bible study time water and thirst were presented in the prophets and the Gospels. This thirst and this water were not the normal physical kind. They spoke of spiritual thirst and spiritual water that doesn’t originate from the “Marvelous Workings” of our bodies. The first thing that caught my attention this morning and lead me down this train of thought was the scripture of the day in my Tecarta Bible app,
Isaiah 55:6-7 KJV
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: [7] Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
https://tbibl.es/9NGQ
Maybe you are thinking, “that Bible verse has nothing to do with water or thirst,” and in a way you’d be correct. When it comes to Bible verses of the day I often read the entire chapter the verse is in to get the proper context of what the verse is addressing so let’s begin with Isaiah 55:1.
Isaiah 55:1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Isaiah sheds light that the “thirst and water” he is speaking of is of the spiritual kind because he says, “you who have no money.” According to the commentaries on this verse Isaiah is saying silver nor gold can buy this water and even the craving for it comes from outside our body.
Ellicott’s Commentary – Ho, every one that thirsteth . . .—The whole context shows that the water, the wine, the milk are all, symbols of spiritual blessings as distinctly as they are, e.g., in John 4:10; Matthew 26:29; 1Peter 2:2. The Word “buy” is elsewhere confined to the purchase of corn, and would not rightly have been used of wine and milk. The invitation is addressed, as in a tone of pity, to the bereaved and afflicted one of Isaiah 54:6-7.
Without money and without price.—“Literally, For not-money and not-price. The prophet had used the word “buy,” but he feels that that word may be misinterpreted. “No silver or gold can buy the blessing which He offers. Something, indeed, is required, and therefore the word” buy “is still the right word; but the “price” is simply the self-surrender that accepts the blessing. Comp. Proverbs 3:14-15; Matthew 13:45-46,
Ellicott references that this is a “Spiritual Gift” mentioning John 4:10, Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary – 55:1-5 All are welcome to the blessings of salvation, to whom those blessings are welcome. In Christ there is enough for all, and enough for each. Those satisfied with the world, that see no need of Christ, do not thirst. They are in no uneasiness about their souls: but where God gives grace, he gives a thirst after it; and where he has given a thirst after it, he will give it. Come to Christ, for he is the Fountain opened, he is the Rock smitten. Come to holy ordinances, to the streams that make glad the city of our God. Come to the healing waters, come to the living waters, Re 22:17. Our Saviour referred to this, John 7:37. Come, and buy; make it your own by application of the grace of the gospel to yourselves. Come, and eat; make it still more your own, and enjoy it. The world comes short of our expectations; we promise ourselves, at least, water in it, and we are disappointed; but Christ outdoes our expectations. We come to him, and we find wine and milk. The gifts offered to us are such as no price can be set upon. The things offered are already paid for; for Christ purchased them at the full price of his own blood, 1Pe 1:19.
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Ho – (הוי hôy). This word here is designed to call attention to the subject as one of importance.
Every one that thirsteth – The word ‘thirst’ often indicates intense desire, and is thus applied to the sense of want which sinners often have, and to their anxious wishes for salvation. It is not improbable that the Savior had this passage in his eye when he pronounced the blessing on those who hunger and thirst after righteousness Matthew 5:6. No needs are so keen, none so imperiously demand supply, as those of hunger and thirst. They occur daily; and when long continued, as in the case of those who are shipwrecked, and doomed to wander months or years over burning sands with scarcely any drink or food, nothing is more distressing. Hence, the figure is often used to denote any intense desire for anything, and especially an ardent desire for salvation (see Psalm 42:2; Psalm 63:1; Psalm 143:6; John 7:37). The invitation here is made to all. ‘Everyone’ (כל kôl) is entreated to come. It is not offered to the elect only, or to the rich, the great, the noble; but it is made to all.
Then in today’s devotional reading in MyDailyBible app, DailyPlan : one-year-tract : 2020-09-03 #Bible https://www.mydailybible.org/dp/esv/one-year-tract/2020-09-03.htm John chapter 7 was the reading from the gospels. In it Jesus says this,
John 7:37-39 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Jesus also links this strong desire of thirst as a gift of the Holy Spirit who was to come after Jesus was glorified and received back into heaven. Have you ever felt uncomfortable about the sin in your life? Has it ever been made so aware to your conscious that it kept you up at night wondering if your sins of choice would someday send you to hell for eternity? Don’t just worry. Don’t let it make you feel bad. Surely don’t try to put those thoughts out of your mind and reject them. Those thoughts are “Precious Gifts” from God’s Throne of Grace to you, yes you!!! The Holy Spirit has sent an “Angel of Repentance” to you to pay you a visit. Think about is as your own personal “Jabbok” experience with God. Hopefully it will leave a mark on you the way it did Jacob because it says that after his Jabbok experience his limped for the rest of his life. The dealing of God upon the heart of man will manifest in a tangible expression that you and others will notice.
Maybe you think the ministry of the Holy Spirit is teach and lead God’s children in ways He desires them understand and walk in. I believe that’s not the most important ministry of the Holy Spirit. I think Jesus told us what the most important ministry of the Holy Spirit would be once He would be sent to the world. The Amplified version expounds these verses clearly,
John 16:7-11 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you]. 8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world about [the guilt of] sin [and the need for a Savior], and about righteousness, and about judgment: 9 about sin [and the true nature of it], because they do not believe in Me [and My message]; 10 about righteousness [personal integrity and godly character], because I am going to My Father and you will no longer see Me; 11 about judgment [the certainty of it], because the ruler of this world (Satan) has been judged and condemned.
I pray for myself and for you that Father God never lets me get comfortable in any sin. I welcome His chastisement upon my life and the conscious conviction of sin in my mind and heart.
Isaiah 55:6-7 KJV
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: [7] Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
https://tbibl.es/9NGQ
If the Angel of Repentance draws near to you don’t reject Him. Accept the Spiritual Thirst He brings as the precious Gift of God that it is. Begin to forsake your wicked ways and thoughts and turn to God, away from sins. False gospels tell you that God doesn’t care about sin or the need to shun evil and instead focus on good works. The false gospel tells you the Apostle Paul had his thorn in the flesh so it’s OK for you to have one too. Satan will whisper those words in your ear along with preachers who will let you be comfortable in your sins.
God is NOT schizophrenic. He didn’t chill out on His hatred of sin after Jesus shed His precious Blood to atone for it. We ALL sin, with no exceptions. It’s the willfulness of sinning that draws the distinction of how God looks at it. In the Old Testament presumptuous sins had NO prescribed offering to bring to the altar, only restitution and repentance.
Animal offerings for sin in the Old Testament were brought after a person became “aware” that they had sinned against God. Look up the word “ignorance” and “presumptuously” in Strong’s concordance and learn of it’s relation to sins that could have offers brought to the altar.
Jewish rabbis call presumptuous sinning as “high handed” or sinning with a “raised hand.” Thats because of Strong’s definition of it,
H7311 – to be highly active, exalt (self), be lofty
H3027 – hand, hand of man
In The Word 