BIBLE STUDY LESSON 12

SERIES Q --- THE SAVIOUR

WATER OF LIFE

THE WOMAN AT THE WELL

From John 4:4-42

On the way to Galilee, Yeshua and His disciples passed through Samaria. It was about noon when they came to the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph, near the village of Sychar. The journey was long and tiring so Yeshua was glad to sit down by Jacob’s well to rest. The disciples went into town to buy food to eat. While they were gone, a woman came from the village to get some water at the well. [May I have a drink of water?] Yeshua asked. The woman was surprised. She was a Samaritan and Jews usually had nothing to do with the Samaritans. [Isn’t it strange for a Jew to ask a Samaritan woman for water?] she asked. [Not if you knew who I am,] Yeshua replied. [If you did, you would ask Me for living water.] [But where would You get this living water?] the woman wondered. [You have no waterpot and this is a deep well. Are You greater than Jacob, our ancestor, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his children and his cattle?] Yeshua answered her, [Every person who drinks this water will get thirsty again. But the water I give will always satisfy his thirst. My living water becomes a spring, flowing forever in his life.] [Please give me some of that water,] the woman said. [Then I won’t have to come to this well every day.] Yeshua changed the conversation so that He could show her who He was. [Tell your husband to come here,] He suggested. [But I don’t have a husband,] the woman answered. [You are certainly right,] Yeshua told her. [You have had five husbands, but the man you now live with is not your husband.] The woman was surprised to hear Yeshua say that. [I can see now that You are a prophet,] she said. [If You are, tell me why the Samaritans claim that Mount Gerizim is the right place to worship, while the Jews say that Jerusalem is.] [Believe what I am about to tell you,] said Yeshua. [The time is coming when people will not worship in either place, for the place will not be important. But you Samaritans will learn that it is a Jew who will bring you salvation. The time has already come for true believers to include Ruach HaKodesh and the Word of YHVH in their worship, as YHVH expects.] [I know that the Moshiach, YHVH’s Son, is coming,] the woman said. [When He comes, He will tell us all about these things.] [You are speaking to the Moshiach now,] Yeshua told her. At that moment, the disciples came back from the village with the food. They were surprised to see Yeshua talking to a Samaritan woman, but no one asked, [What do You want?] or, [Why are You talking to her?] The woman left her waterpot by the well and hurried back into the village. [Come out to the well!] she urged. [There is a man who knows everything I have done. Can this be the Moshiach?] When the people of the village heard that, they hurried out to see Him. In the meantime, the disciples urged Yeshua to eat some lunch. But Yeshua refused. [I already have food,] He told them, [although you do not know about it.] [Where did He get it?] they wondered. Then Yeshua told them about His food. [Doing YHVH’s will gives Me strength, just as food does. Now you may think that it is still four months until the harvest season. But if you will open your eyes, you will see fields that are ripe to harvest now, fields of souls, ready to harvest for YHVH. Those who reap this harvest will receive wages that will last forever, for they will bring the harvest of souls into the storehouses of heaven. In that place, both harvester and harvested will rejoice together forever. This harvest proves the old saying, ‘One sows, another harvests.’ You are going to gather something for which you never worked. Others have done the work; you will get the results.] Many of the Samaritans who came from the village believed in Yeshua because He knew everything the woman had done. When they arrived at the well, they begged Him to stay with them. For two days He stayed to talk. Many people believed in Yeshua, not because of the woman’s testimony, but because of His. [We believe now because of what He said, rather than because of what you said,] they told the woman. [He is certainly YHVH’s Son, the Moshiach.]

COMMENTARY

TWO MOUNTAINS AND JACOB’S WELL

When Yeshua sat beside the well in Sychar and talked to a Samaritan woman, He looked over a valley rich in Israel’s history. To the north rose the two mountains of Ebal and Gerizim. After conquering the land under Joshua’s leadership, the Israelites read the law from their heights. And it was here too that the Israelites forgot that law. When the kingdom of David was divided, it was on Mount Gerizim that the people of the northern kingdom built an altar to take the place of the temple in Jerusalem. In the valley between the two mountains is the ancient city of Shechem. It lies on the site where Abraham, when he first entered the Promised Land, built an altar to Adonai. Tradition maintains that the well Yeshua sat beside in Sychar was originally Jacob’s. When Jacob returned from Haran, he bought land in the valley and set up camp. On this site he dug a well. The same well can be visited today. The water is still clear and pure, ready for thirsty travellers.