(Suggested Reading: Gen. 49:22-2622Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: 23The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: 24But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) 25Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 26The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. (Genesis 49:22‑26); John 4)
A Fountain of Water
On his death bed Jacob gathered his sons together and told each one what should happen to them at the end of days see Gen. 49. His last words to his sons predicted the future of each tribe. He dearly loved his son Joseph and said that he was a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches shot over the wall. What a perfect description of the scene at the springing well of Sychar. For Jacob was dying in John 3 because the nation had cut itself off from Christ the source of life. That is why the Father was seeking worshippers in John 4, for there were very few of them in Judea. To fill in the picture, the Lord leaves Judea and goes to a Gentile village in Samaria. By this act His branches shot over the wall the middle wall of partition which separated Jew from Gentile. Not only that but the Lord as the True Joseph is found here as a fruitful bough by a well. To make the link with Jacob's death bed complete the well in John 4 is Jacob's well, for so "the woman" calls it v 11, 12. But it was a "springing well" that is a fountain. Jesus, then, sat at the water of a well which was springing up as a fountain. It is the same thought as the springing well in the Book of Numbers, and for the same reason, as we shall see.
The setting of the springing well was the moral death of Israel. Jerusalem, where the law was, had nothing for the heart of God, so that this Samaritan village becomes the scene for the display of grace. The Lord not only leaves Judea, but sends His disciples, the other link with Israel, away to buy food. He is now free to go after one lost sheep, one who is continually referred to as "the woman."(1) She is nameless intentionally. When we appear before God it is our state and our sins, and not what man calls us, or thinks of us, that is in question. Nicodemus had come to Jesus by night the Lord comes to "the woman" by day. We must be born again individually, no matter how different we may be.
The Story of "the Woman”
Well, this woman came to draw water at the well of Sychar. She was alone, or so she thought, being ignorant of the name "Thou God seest me" Gen. 16:7, 137And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. (Genesis 16:7)
13And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? (Genesis 16:13) which another woman, at another fountain of water, had once given to the Lord. It was enough for her that nobody saw her when she came to the fountain. She chose a time when other women were not around. She had a past and the people of the town knew it. I doubt that she wanted to escape their glance when she was enjoying the pleasures of sin, which, we are told, are but for a season. That season had closed for her and nothing was left but a thirst in her soul. She was also ignorant of something that we cannot sin and escape the consequences. "God requires what is past" Eccl. 3:1515That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. (Ecclesiastes 3:15).
The Lord first tests "the woman" by asking for a drink of water. She seems to have ignored His request for she merely reasons out loud that the Jews and Samaritans did not speak to one another. Ah! Could she but know who He is that is, the glory of His Person, and His gift of "living water." Still, her attention is arrested and she replies "Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with and the well is deep from whence then hast Thou that living water? Art Thou greater than our father Jacob which gave us the well?”
What a question! Could such a One be greater than Jacob? Yes, but it was the greatness of humiliation which refused to exalt Himself. His Father would do that in His own time. So He answers her question by telling her not of Jacob's well but of His. "Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.”(2)
Oh how "the woman" desired this water! She had tasted the water from Jacob's well but it was outside of her and her thirst was inside. Man's thirst is inside him, yet he vainly tries to satisfy it with what is outside him the world. The reason this can't work is that the entire world is only a mirror image of man himself and man is thirsty. Everything we see in the world the things man has built in it, the weapons of war to destroy it, and its amusements, travel, T.V., etc. to divert our thoughts from what is happening are the products of other men like ourselves. They have merely projected their thoughts and their thirst outside. So what is outside man the world is what is inside thirst. Thirst is absence of relationship with God. For example in hell there isn't even a drop of water. And so when God saves us He meets our thirst inside with His own well. If only "the woman" could have this built in well to meet her thirst at the source and not have to go for water anymore! That is why she says longingly "Give me this water that I thirst not, neither come here to draw." The water that the woman was accustomed to draw the water of the well of this world's pleasures is in contrast to the water of eternal life. But could Jesus give the yearning human spirit anything? She doubted it. "Thou hast nothing...and the well is deep." People today think the same way what has the lowly Nazarene to offer me compared to the water of this world's well? What they mean is, "If I accept Christ what has He to offer me in exchange for losing this world? I can see no resources in Christ.”
There are no heavenly springs in this world's pleasures. Like Sychar's well they are deep underground the hidden unfruitful works of darkness. But the lost hanker after them. In these earthly pleasures you must drop your bucket deep inside the well over and over again. You get nothing free in this world...you must draw for it. Do you never get weary of the effort and of the same old pleasures that can never satisfy? And how often does the well run dry! Twenty five years ago I handed my secretary a gospel tract I had written. She was a real woman of the world, who enjoyed life to the full scuba diving in coral reefs, jet trips to foreign countries, sea cruises, dancing, listening to symphonies, dining in expensive restaurants and so on. Knowing her disinterest in spiritual things I told her that the opening story was a personal experience in W.W.2, thinking that this might interest her enough to read it. Instead she placed the palm of her hand on the tract and pushed it over her desk back to me. How sad. While God gave us earthly pleasures to enjoy, He never meant them to crowd out His greater gift. The water He wants to give man is a fountain gushing up to eternal life. It is the springing well of the Old Testament. It is the Holy Spirit.
The Brazen Serpent and the Springing Well Again
The springing well followed the brazen serpent in the Book of Numbers. And that is exactly what you have here. The Lord had told Nicodemus about the brazen serpent in the third chapter; now in the fourth chapter he tells the woman about the springing well. The order is the same in both cases. This is because I cannot get the springing well the Holy Spirit dwelling inside me until I am ended as a natural man at the cross in type the brazen serpent. This is all positional and most blessed. From the positional point of view God sees all His children as worshippers for all are ended in Adam, have the life of Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the power and energy of that life, to lead them in the worship of the Father and the Son.
The Soul's Condition Is Exposed by Christ
The moment a man wants this water he is made conscious that his sins stand in the way of the blessing and must be brought to light. Who can bring her sins to light but Christ? "Go, call your husband" the Lord says, "and come here." To shield her life from scrutiny she answers "I have no husband." But in God's sight "all things are naked and opened to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" Heb. 4:1313Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13). So the Lord replies, "You have well said I have no husband. For you have had five husbands and he whom you now have is not your husband. In that saidst thou truly." "The woman" is astonished that her secret is gone. Slowly she recognizes she is in the presence of God. First she calls the Lord a "Jew" then "Sir" then "a prophet" and finally "the Christ." She saw the glory of His Person more clearly than the Lord's own disciples, who in this chapter only call Him "Rabbi.”
If you do not know the Lord you will be uncomfortable in His presence. She was. Could she divert His attention from her sins, perhaps, by talking about religion instead? I have no doubt that was her thought. She has many followers who try to hide behind religion. Ask them "Do you know the Lord?" and they will reply, "I go to such and such a church." Very well, I say, but that isn't my question. "Do you know the Lord as your Savior?" God doesn't want to occupy us with religion but with Christ. The Lord graciously answered the woman's question but brought her back to her need of Him. So should we.
And what is the result? The woman left her waterpot. The waterpot would be only an earthen vessel in those days. So is the body. It is in the body we draw pleasures the pleasures of sin for a season from this world's well. It is in the body we sin against God and it is the things done in the body for which man is judged. Moreover it is in the body of the believer that the Holy Spirit dwells. This involves a responsibility to leave the waterpot, and not to take the Holy Spirit to some place which would gratify our fallen flesh. He is holy. So must we be, seeing He dwells inside.
A Weary Savior and His Rest
But let us turn from the woman and the waterpot to Jesus, who, "being wearied with His journey sat thus on the well; and it was about the sixth hour." This expression "it was about the sixth hour" is found again in John 19:1414And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! (John 19:14). It was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour, when Pilate said to the Jews "behold your King!" The King of the Jews had left them to go to Samaria in John 4 for He was not wanted. Then in John 19 He leaves them to go back to heaven. Again He was not wanted, for as soon as Pilate said "behold your King" they replied "away with Him, crucify Him.”
If He was tired with His journey at Sychar's well, how much more so before Pilate. His sufferings from man were coming to a climax "about the sixth hour" from man who at His birth could find no room for Him in the inn, from man who saw to it that He wandered in this world His hands had made as a homeless stranger, since the foxes had holes and the birds of the air had nests, but He had nowhere to lay His head see Matt. 8:2020And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Matthew 8:20). He could not rest His head until His work was finished. And so He bowed literally rested His head and delivered up His spirit to His Father. The only rest He found in this world was then.
As the True Joseph His branches had gone over the wall to the Gentiles. But this had provoked the hatred of His brethren again like Joseph. "The archers have sorely grieved Him, and shot at Him and hated Him" Gen. 49:2323The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: (Genesis 49:23). But the bow is a weapon of distant warfare. It tells us that man could not reach His Person no matter how he tried. Only God could do that, in the three hours of darkness. Again Jacob's final blessing of Joseph applies to the True Joseph "blessings...shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of Him who was separated from His brethren" Gen. 49:2626The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. (Genesis 49:26).
His rest now is in His (predominantly) Gentile bride purchased at such great cost. The woman at Sychar's well is a striking figure of the worship which would ascend to the Father and the Son from the Gentiles after the Lord's ascension to glory and the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost.(3)
Our Rest Is in Christ
We who have come to Him have found rest too, even as He promised. Like "the woman" we were weary and heavy laden until we came to Him for rest. She had had five husbands and another man. She had tried everything but nothing satisfied her. We see this in that "the woman" had six men and the number six stands for incompleteness in Scripture. Solomon, who had a thousand wives, tells us "one man among a thousand have I found, but a woman among all those have I not found." This woman had six men in her life and it was just as unsatisfying as Solomon's. But when the seventh man appeared the Lord Jesus Christ she is satisfied. Seven in Scripture speaks of completeness or perfection. So the Lord here is the last Man the last Adam for there will be no other. He has displaced every other man in the affections of His Gentile bride.
God has made the human heart so that anything can occupy it but nothing can satisfy it but Christ. The heart can be diverted from the true joys by the passing things we see in this present evil world or it can be engaged and satisfied with Christ. God has given the believer the same Object who is before His heart Christ. This alone satisfies, and worship follows. Worship in John 4 is the fruit of seeing the work of the cross in John 3 i.e. the brazen serpent and the giving of God's Lamb for such as us. It touches the springs of our affections to see the greatness of the gift, divine love in all its fullness told out in the cross. Even in Egypt when the lamb was provided for Israel "the people bowed the head and worshipped." In John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) the Lamb is not merely for Israel but for the whole world and the Father seeks worshippers. The revealed name of Father goes beyond the Jew, as the Lord Himself went beyond Judea to Gentile Samaria. "Whosoever believes" John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) receives the Son's life; "whosoever drinks" John 4:1414But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14) has the Spirit as a springing well that there might be a fitting response to the greatness of the gift. Such a revelation, since it will fill the world to come, must be spread abroad in this world too.
Righteousness and Peace and Joy—Our Present Portion
Just as the heart is satisfied in worship there is a desire to share the Object of that worship with others. This is service. "The woman" is the first fruits of Samaria to Christ. But she will be followed by many others for the fields are ripe for harvesting. There is both reaping and gathering fruit to life eternal and rejoicing.
The Kingdom of God, the entrance to which we had in John 3 by the new birth, is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost" Rom. 14:1717For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:17). Yes, and there is no record in John 4 that the Lord accepted food from His disciples, or a drink from the woman, although He gave her the springing well the Holy Spirit. The theme of John 3 is righteousness and peace, for there we find the brazen serpent; joy in the Holy Ghost follows in John 4 as we enter into this. Righteousness and peace and joy were seen in Christ as He went through this world. He wanted to tell the joy that was in His heart to others for His delights were with the sons of men. And so at the cross righteousness and peace kissed each other Ps 85:10 to make it possible.