Lesson 6 – Allegory: Water
Welcome to the final lesson in this short course Allegory: Ancient Symbolism in Sacred Scripture. In this lesson we discuss the allegorical meaning of Water.
Look out for future courses for further lessons.
“Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.” – John 4:14
Transcript, Exercises and Homework
The concept of water turns up everywhere in scripture and it is the subject we will uncover in this episode today and, given the importance and relevance of this key topic, we will focus on a few related terms at the same time too, so please stay as we deal with this important topic.
Let’s have a look at a few facts about water first:
- Water is clear and transparent in pure form
- Water can be a solid, liquid or gas
- Water is cleansing
- Water is a critical for life
- Like the planet, animals and plants – our bodies consist mostly of water.
In our sacred scriptures water is used for spiritual cleansing and spiritual nourishment. So, there is an allegorical meaning, but what exactly is it? In this case it may not be as obvious as the previous topics.
The principles behind the allegorical nature of divine revelation is ultimately derived from our infinite creator and principles of creation itself. All we need to do is to look for these spiritual principles by discounting the finite (natural) elements, such as space and time.
It should be familiar to you by now that, when focusing on allegory in sacred scripture – the deeper spiritual message -, this means being reflective of our inner qualities, which apply to our own mind and spiritual state. It is in this sense that we must proceed.
At this point I also feel compelled to state what is obvious to me, but may not be always on the forefront of our mind: everything links back to Jehovah God, who is Divine Love itself and Wisdom itself or, in other words: goodness and truth, which ought to reflect in us as willing to do good (charity) and understanding truth to do good (faith).
Ofcourse in the Divine Creator, the I AM, these qualities are not distinct – they make one. God does not change, nor is our Creator able to act contrary to His nature. To say one thing, but believe or wish another. His Divine Will is given effect in Creation to a rational purpose through His Word.
We read a beautiful affirmation of this in Isaiah chapter 55
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, …So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” – Isaiah 55: 10-11
This is the Divine Trinity: Divine Love, Divine Wisdom and Useful Activity.
My point?
Everything reflects these divine aspects, and thus the Divine, in some way! All of creation in the natural world reflects mankind, us, in same way we reflect the Divine. Therefore everything corresponds in some way to these spiritual qualities. Therefore every allegory either represents Goodness or Truth or together in Use. If not the opposite or absence of these, but nothing else, because creation and reality are made from these – they are the essence (or substance) and existence (of form) of reality itself.
So.. what about water?
What does the bible say that is significant about water?
We have already learned that, amongst other things:
- Jesus calls himself the Fountain of Living Water (John 4),
- He is also called The Word and the True Light (John 1) and
- He calls himself “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14)
I think it is sufficiently clear, with what I’ve said so far, that water reflects the nature of truth or instruction in truth from the Word and thus truth itself. Through truth we learn what sinful, selfish behaviour is so we can reject it from understanding and cleanse ourselves through a change of heart as a result. Through truth we are enlightened, and have our thirst for learning quenched.
But, as this topic is so frequently mentioned and thus a fundamental concept in the ancient scriptures, let us have a look at a number of passages from scripture, where water is mentioned.
“You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, And told them to go in to possess the land Which You had sworn to give them.” – Nehemiah 9:15
“And they did not thirst When He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them; He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.” – Isaiah 48:21
(see also Exodus 17:6, Numbers 20:8-11)
In quite a few passages, rock and water are very closely associated, something you may like to look into yourself. We actually see water coming out from the rock and it doesn’t take a lot of scratching to see rock representing the Lord and Divine Truth (eg Deuteronomy 32:4, 15,18), but we will focus more on Rock as a topic another time in more detail.
and
“Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.” – Isaiah 55:1
“The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst.” – Isaiah 41:17
Here tongue is linked to thirst and water. The tongue, ofcourse, directly links to speaking and thus relates to truth and falsity. If it wasn’t obvious so far, bread and eating is equated with good and being satisfied (eg Isa 55:2).
Accepting the duality of goodness and truth, that logically means drinking by extension relates to truth.
Also
“And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)
A passage where believe or trust in the Word, which is faith and thus associated with understanding, is linked to thirst. Ofcourse, only truth is understood, because good is felt.
and finally, I cannot resist sharing part of the song of Moses
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2 Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As raindrops on the tender herb, And as showers on the grass. 3 For I proclaim the name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God. 4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.” – Deuteronomy 32:1-4
Where it now becomes more obvious that rain, dew and thus water correspond to words, teaching and speech and thus: truth as here stated in the Word.
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg uses the term Correspondence for the allegories, because any visual object or element in the natural world, directly corresponds to a spiritual cause – being a spiritual quality or process.
I would like to share a couple of quotes from Emanuel Swedenborg where he discusses the term Water.
Referring to Genesis 1, day 2, which follows the initiation of ‘light’ in day 1 – a topic we discussed previously as dealing with the enlightenment by truth, Swedenborg writes in his work Arcana Coelestia:
AC (Potts) n. 739
That by the “flood of waters” is signified the beginning of temptation, is evident from temptation as to things of the understanding being here treated of, which temptation precedes, and, as before said, is light; and for this reason it is called a “flood of waters” and not simply “a flood” as in the seventeenth verse. For “waters” signify especially the spiritual things of man, the intellectual things of faith, and the opposites of these, which are falsities; as may be confirmed by very many passages from the Word.
And referring to Genesis 21, verse 19, where Hagar feeds Ishmael – Abraham’s first son.
“And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the child drink.”
AC (Potts) n. 2700-2
Swedenborg writes: “God opened her eyes,” signifies intelligence; “and she saw a well of water,” signifies the Lord’s Word from which are truths; “and she filled the bottle with water,” signifies truths from the Word; “and she gave the child drink,” signifies instruction in spiritual things. (2700)
…
That the “eye” signifies the understanding is because the sight of the body corresponds to the sight of its spirit, which is the understanding; and because it corresponds, in the Word the understanding is signified by the “eye” in almost every place where it is mentioned (2701:2)
“And she saw a well of water”. That this signifies the Lord’s Word from which are truths, is evident from the signification of a “well of water,” and of a “fountain,” as being the Word, and also doctrine from the Word, consequently also truth itself; and from the signification of “water,” as being truth. That a “well in which there is water,” and a “fountain,” denote the Lord’s Word, and also doctrine from the Word, consequently also truth itself, may be seen from very many passages. (2702)
Further on in 2702:
That a “fountain” is the Word, and also doctrine, consequently truth, may be seen
in Isaiah:
“The afflicted and the needy seek waters, and there are none; their tongues fail for thirst. I Jehovah will hear them, the God of Israel will not forsake them; I will open rivers upon the hillsides, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of waters, and the dry land springs of waters” (Isa. 41:17-18);
In Moses:
Israel dwelt securely alone at the fountain of Jacob, in a land of corn and new wine; yea, his heavens drop down dew (Deut. 33:28).
The “fountain of Jacob” denotes the Word and the doctrine of truth therefrom. Because the “fountain of Jacob” signified the Word and the doctrine of truth therefrom, when the Lord came to the fountain of Jacob, He spoke with the woman of Samaria, and taught what is signified by a “fountain” and by “water,” as described in John:
So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” – John 4:5-14
As “Jacob’s fountain” signified the Word, the “water” truth, and … the Lord spoke with the woman of Samaria, and taught that the doctrine of truth is from Him; and that when it is from Him, or what is the same, from His Word, it is a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life; and that truth itself is living water.
So we can see the spiritual significance of water is truth, or its opposite – in some circumstance falsity (truth corrupted). In other words, the allegorically water in sacred scripture is correspondent with spiritual truth, truths from the Word or simply put: truth.
This should also clarify associated terms and concepts, which I will summarise at the end.
Now, let us have a look at a couple of passages from scripture to highlight this, focusing on our topic for today: Water
Your Exercise:
“Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.”- Genesis 1: 6-7, 9-10
now replace waters with truths
“Let there be a firmament in the midst of the truths, and let it divide the truths from the truths.” Thus God made the firmament, and divided the truths which were under the firmament from the truths which were above the firmament; and it was so.
The image that emerges here then is not a literal physical creation of the continents on this planet, but a focus on our enlightenment and a distinction being made between higher and lower levels of spiritual truth – more specifically what is heavenly and what is earthly.
Now the next exercise is a little bigger, but well worthwhile doing.
Before we go to it, though, I would like to get into the extension of our topic and deal with the concepts associated with water.
These are:
- water corresponds to truth from the Word
- well or fountain of water represents the Word
- To draw water is to be instructed in truths from the Word, to study.
- To thirst is to seek instruction from the Word, to lack truth
- To drink is to take in truth or instruction from the Word, to learn or be enlightened.
- To give waters is a transfer of knowledge, eg influx of truth
- Flood and seas is (where it brings death) inundation and therefore being overwhelmed by spiritual temptation, as a result of enlightenment – ie rejecting truth and accepting what is false.
—
Exercise 2
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” … 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” – John 4:7-14
now replace water with truth (doctrine) and other allegorical symbols as discussed, to read:
7 A woman of Samaria came to study truths. Jesus said to her, “Give Me teaching in truth (doctrine).”
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask instruction in truth from me, a Samaritan woman?” … 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me teaching in truth,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living truth.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to study with, and the Word (Divine Truth) is deep. Where then do You get that living truth? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the Word, and was enlightened from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever learns of this truth will lack truth again, 14 but whoever learns of the truth that I shall give him will never lack truth. But the truth that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of truth springing up into everlasting life.”
You can see how the picture changes from a discussion about mere water is actually a story of how Jesus reveals himself as The Word. Not only that, but to ALL who seek, regardless of who or where they are if they genuinely wish to study what is true and good. As we read in Matthew:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8
And Revelation
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” – Revelation 3:20
Homework:
Why don’t you test this out for yourself too? I’ll leave you with a couple of quotes from scripture. These ones more particularly bring falsity into the picture. Overwhelming falsity that is brought to light by truth.
“Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered.” – Genesis 7:17-19
“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” …
Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.” – Exodus 14:26, 28-29
“You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’” So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.” …
And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.” ..
Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan. – Joshua 3:8-9, 13, 17
“But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.”- John 19:34