Give me also springs of water

Let us, who come to share an inheritance in Christ, boldly approach our heavenly Father and ask today for those springs of living water, that the Holy Spirit may flow out of our lives

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A previous blog, ‘Hope for the earth’, explored the relationship between God, man and the land. The principles outlined in that blog are applicable to all nations, but in particular the nation and people of Israel who were chosen by God to possess a land promised to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I want to introduce a key factor in this special relationship of Lord, land and laity – water! 

As we read about the Exodus out of Egypt, through the Red sea and into the desert, the first challenge that the Israelites faced was that of finding water, and then to discover that it was bitter water! Through the following 40 years of life in the desert, water would be a source of testing for the people – could the Lord provide for them or not. However, at the end of their desert journey, the Lord (speaking through Moses) promised the people: 

The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt……But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for, the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to the end. If you faithfully obey the commands I give you…then I will send rain on your land in season, both autumn and spring rains

We must not leave our reading there, continue:

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Be careful or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and ground will yield no produce….. Deuteronomy 11:10-17

After independence in 1948, Israel faced many critical challenges. Here are three which are relevant for this blog:

• facilitating a large wave of immigration, over a million people in 3 years;
• providing the new population with clean water and food following the devastating war and enmity with neighbouring countries 
• establishing control over the whole area of the new state 

The government saw agricultural settlement as a solution to these issues, with the immigrants quickly and usefully employed on the urgent task of increasing domestic food production and also creating an Israeli presence in sparsely populated areas. There was also a strong ideological motive within government to help the immigrants bond to their ancient homeland and build the nation. Much of the settlement program was based in the semi-arid south of the country and its success would rely on delivering water supplies for both consumption and irrigation. A national water master plan was prepared that would convey water from Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) in the north, to the Negev in the south, linking in and combining all the main aquifers and streams into one system, the National Water Carrier(NWC). This was completed in 1964 and although its capacity has been increased, it remains the backbone of water conveyance around Israel.

I was reminded of a beautiful image from Psalm 133 as the psalmist extols the virtue of living in peace with one another: How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity...It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion…

Mount Hermon is at the northernmost point in Israel, in fact a popular ski resort for some of the winter. It is part of the mountainous catchment for the Kinneret, which feeds into the NWC and supplies the cities and towns of Israel including Jerusalem, where Mount Zion is located.

As the population in Israel has grown, so has the water demand. From year to year there continued to be large fluctuations in the annual rainfall. I hope to continue the story in a future blog.

So in conclusion, the modern settlers in Israel have echoed the cry of a bold, newly-married woman to her father: “Do me a special favour, since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water” (Judges chapter 1)  Let us, who come to share an inheritance in Christ, boldly approach our heavenly Father and ask today for those springs of living water, that the Holy Spirit may flow out of our lives.

Author: Richard Windridge

May God bless and enrich your life

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