Water water everywhere in the Holy Land, and the reality of Manna

(Note; this isn't exactly what I preached on but thematically it is close.  Overall this is something I've talked a lot about with my friends at Liberty, so this is written to be a little more inclusive).

When I travelled to the Holy Land a week ago, of all of the things that surprised me, the one that really took me for a loop was the abundant presence of water.  It was kind of a build up.  We started in the cities (Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the wilderness), and it's city and desert.

Water?  Nope, not at first anyway.  This worked against me, because at the beginning of our pilgrimage I was really REALLY thirsty.  On the plane ride over I was parched (didn't know about the water available at the back of the plane, *facepalm).  When we landed I immediately loaded my water bottle with the tap water from the restroom.  If it's good enough to wash my hands, that's good enough for me!

It wasn't 5 minutes after boarding our bus when Deeb our tour guide warns us about the hardness of the tap-water.  Well I'm thirsty, so I deal with it, and had no problems.  Still, this was a nation without water fountains, which my parched tongue noticed often.  Sink water from the restrooms became my salvation; as beggars can't be choosers. (there was bottled water available but I'm a cheapskate when it comes to bottled water).

Then in the desert it looked even drier!  The riverbeds were bone dry (perhaps flooding made them, but it made me thirstier).  The air was devoid of moisture.  I wasn't even sure how the plants were able to grow out here.  I felt like wilting at times.

Uy, where is the water?!!!  Then, we came to the Jordan River.  And there was the water, cool and swift, and life grew all around it.  We traveled past Jericho, and the land became greener as the water fed the land, which in turn feed the people.

Then there was the Sea of Galilee, grander and more beautiful than my imagination could ever conjure.  A day later we travelled to the ancient city of Dan to see water gushing under our feet and running downstream to feed the waters we passed.  The sounds of water running over the rocks took my mind back home to the rivers of Dupont State Forest.  Even under the city of Jerusalem I watched the water flowing from the great spring under the city!  Water water everywhere!....and there is not enough to drink.


Dr. James Howell shared with us an article from the NYTimes about the water situation in Israel/Palestine and Jordan.  The reality isn't pretty; water is being wasted and mismanaged, both for drinking and handling waste.  He also described to me, if someone dug a new irrigation ditch it would create a political crisis.  And yet as this article describes, with a little management there would be enough for everyone if it wasn't hoarded or wasted.  However, we have a hard time sharing.  What does this mean for the well-meaning Christian?

God taught us about what it means to hoard the blessings and mercies He gives us.  Remember when the Israelites were wandering about in the Desert after escaping slavery in Egypt?  They were kind of whinny, but God showed them incredible mercy during this time, and as the excellent Bible Study "Manna and Mercy" describes, this time was a teaching tool to prepare these people to become God's people.

As they were fully dependent on God for their survival, God let bread from heaven called Manna fall from the sky to feed the multitude.  The rules were clear, gather only as much as you needed (one omer per person).  If you hoard extra manna, you not only keep it from those who need it, the extra hoarded manna would graphically rot (Exodus 16; 16-20)!  Extra gathering was only allowed for Sabbath rest and feasting, not because you were scared of hunger tomorrow.  The manna kept falling.  Hoarding was the way of Pharaoh, not of God's people.

We all hoard the blessings and necessities of life for the same reason; the fear of not having enough for one's self.  While that may be the world's way, it's not God's way.  I say this not to condemn you but to call myself out.  I am a hoarder; of my time, my resources, at times even my faith.  I sometimes fear that the well from which my soul is nourished will run dry.  In this world of sluggish economies perhaps that is understandable.  While hoarding and fending for yourself may seem logical and safe, it's not the path that Christ laid out for us.  To follow Christ isn't to reserve and protect, it's about sharing and being merciful.

At Jacob's Well Jesus came across a woman who was drawing water (John 4).  Now I had the honor of seeing Jacob's Well.  It's a LONG way to draw the water (count 4 Mississippi's to hit the bottom), and Jesus asks the woman drawing the water for a drink.  She's very annoyed; there are racial barriers being challenged here (Jew and Samaritan), he doesn't have a bucket so she'll have to lend hers (must I share, ugh!), and when he offers "living water" when she replies sarcastically.  Better to save the hard earned bucket-water for her boyfriend and herself, and not with this presumptuous stranger.  But as she listens to his words, she remembers her long-ignored faith, and the promise of living water became less fantasy and more real.  So forget the world's rules, she does something crazy.  She doesn't say, "I'll go home and think about it privately," or, "I need some guarantee that you are the Messiah before I tell anyone, " she drops her bucket and runs into town and tells EVERYONE, "Come and see!"

The living water which reminds me so much of manna will quench every parched tongue in this Samaritan city, and no one here will go thirsty.  Even the bucket that my dear friend Todd drew up from Jacob's Well seemed insufficient in the water needed to serve the 30+ of us, (in my mind it looked a little short), it was more than enough.

Water is awesome; we drink it, bathe in it, play in it, even our bodies are mostly made up of it.  Water is life, and the life God wants us to have is one shared.  It's what I pray will be realized for the people of the Holy Land, for the people I love here in North Carolina, and I hope that I will allow to happen within me.  Let us share the Living Water, and seriously SHARE IT, and avoid the well-intended trappings of hoarding and rot.

Sources;  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/opinion/sunday/friedman-whose-garbage-is-this-anyway.html?ref=opinion&_r=1.  Thanks Rev. James Howell for sharing this with us!

http://danielerlander.com/manna.html.  Daniel Erlander's "Manna and Mercy" Bible Study is the best darn Bible Study I've ever used.  Dr. Peter Storey at Duke Divinity School introduced it to me back in the day, and I highly recommend it.