The Well of Bethlehem

 

·         David was often anointed to speak prophetically:

 

Psalm 22:1, 7-8, 14-18  My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? … All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. … I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

 

·         At the end of his life, he begins to look back and recounts some of its most important events, under inspiration of the Spirit of God …

 

·         2 Samuel 23:1  Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,

 

·         As David looks back over his life, he begins to express his deep affection and appreciation for his “mighty men,” the men who stood with him when King Saul and all his troops were seeking David to kill him, the men who later became high ranking soldiers in David’s army. Three of them stand out especially …

 

o    Adino, who killed 800 with a spear in one battle

 

o    Eleazar, who stood his ground against the Philistines when the rest of the army fled until his hand froze around his sword

 

o    Shammah, who stood his ground to defend a field of lentils

 

·         One event in particular ties these three famous soldiers together in David’s mind, the time they defied death to bring him a drink of water!

 

·         2 Samuel 23:15-17  And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

·         David, of course, grew up in the little town of Bethlehem, so he was very familiar with the town well. His parents got their water there, his ancestors drank there, and he himself had made the trip to the well many times to fill up a bucket of clear, cold water.

·         Now many years later, the country is at war and the Philistines have taken Bethlehem. David can see all the destruction from a fortified camp nearby; perhaps his boyhood home lays in ruins, his childhood memories destroyed, and the well of Bethlehem – the very center of town – captured by the enemy.

·         Almost without thinking, David utters what is foremost in his mind – “Oh, I wish someone would get me a drink from that well!” David has by now traveled every inch of the country, and he’s had water from hundreds of wells in his lifetime, but only one well will do right now!

 

·         Read the writings of David, and you’ll find a man who knew what it was to have a deep, unquenchable thirst for God …

 

Psalm 23:1-2  The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

 

Psalm 42:1-2  To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

 

Psalm 63:1-2  A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

·         Because his three mighty men have such a deep love and respect for their leader, all he has to do is utter the thought and they act! Without even letting David know, they rush from the camp on a fool’s errand, break through the Philistine defenses, and bring back a drink of water to their commander. Their bravery and sacrifice is so precious to David that he counts the water “as blood” and pours it out as an offering to the Lord. And at the end of his life, this is the event that is foremost in his mind!

·         David probably didn’t realize that he was speaking and acting prophetically once again on that day of battle. He couldn’t have known that the prophets who ministered to Israel years later would speak of the visitation of God as a river, a fountain, a pool, a spring, a stream … and, a well!

Isaiah 41:17-18  When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

Isaiah 35:6-7a  Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water:

Isaiah 12:3  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

·         God called David “a man after mine own heart” (Acts 13:22). Why? Because he was a man who had an unquenchable thirst for God!

·         God said, “David, because of your thirst for me, I’m going to use your house to open up a fountain of redemption for the entire world!”

Zechariah 13:1  In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

·         The gospel is the well of Bethlehem! And Jesus Himself is the water! That’s why Jesus could say …

John 4:14  But 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 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

·         This well was dug in Bethlehem. It was dug in obscurity. It was dug in the night. It was dug by the light of a single star. It was dug, not in a palace, but in a stable. Humble shepherds came to see the opening of this well. And at the first gush of the living water, the very angels of God began to shout, “Glory to God in the Highest!”

·         The angels wanted a drink of this water so bad, but God said, “No, this water is reserved for the redeemed! I dug this well for people like David who have an unquenchable thirst for me!”

1 Peter 1:12  Which things the angels desire to look into.

·         The best news of all is that the well of salvation is still open today. But the enemy doesn’t want you to know that! The skeptics and the doubters, the scoffers and the mockers, the religiously and politically correct all block the way to the well of living water.

“That well dried up when the Apostles died.”

“That water isn’t fit to drink.”

“Any other water is just as good.”

“You can’t get through to the well.”

·         You may have to fight through the enemy’s forces to get to the well, but one drink of this water is worth it!

Revelation 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Matthew 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Acts 2:17  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.

·         God said, “In the last days, I’m going to turn the bucket upside down and pour out every last drop of my Spirit!”

·         Oh, that someone would give me a drink from the well of Bethlehem!