24:1-67

We enter into this new phase of our study by asking a question. Does this mean Abraham had obtained perfection in order to be blessed of God? I hope you answered in the negative because, as we have seen, Abram/Abraham has had his trials and tribulations along the way. There was the need for faith to be built in Abraham, but the same is true for the rest of us. The greater one’s faith is built in the Lord, the more that person is able to trust God in even the greatest of life’s storms. Greater trust in the Lord means the greater the blessings from Him will be … even in the greatest of life’s storms. Let’s see where this now leads in the life and ministry of Abraham.

The act of putting one’s hand under another’s thigh has spawned several different interpretations on the part of pastors & theologians. To condense, this means a solemn oath was about to be proposed to the one whose hand was underneath the other’s thigh. This oath will go on to be quite the life-changing event starting with those directly involved in this scenario, extending right on up to those of us today. Hang in through this phase of our study and see if you don’t agree.

First off, the “daughters of the Canaanites” simply will not do in regard to a wife for his ‘miracle baby’. In order for this to come to pass, Abraham’s instructions to his servant are for him to go back to his homeland so that the right woman for Isaac may be found. In this culture the bride was found for the groom by his parents. I happened to come across a show on cable that was loosely based on this concept. The parents were trying to audition boys that would be better for their daughter to go out with than the loser she was going with at the time. Perhaps it was merely parents getting to vent their frustrations resulting from having to witness the poor choices their daughter was making at the time. If that were true, I think I would have jumped at the chance to do something similar if given the opportunity.

The servant wanted to know if he had an ‘out’ if things did not go according to his master’s plans.

Abraham’s response to him was not a back-handed one. He reminded his servant of Yahweh’s promise to him that the land would belong to his descendants. On this basis, the angel of the Lord would go before, thereby making his journey successful. As a sort of encouraging word, he assures his servant that if whoever he finds doesn’t want to come back with him, he will not be held personally responsible.

With this type of assuredness, the servant seems well with taking on his master’s assignment. So it is apparently his responsibility to line up the entourage that will accompany him.

To have ten camels means there had to be ten riders to commandeer them. This is quite the caravan being assembled as evidenced by the fact that “all the goods of his lord were in his hand (possession).”

The servant probably realizes how far he has come and how it’s now or never, do or die, so to speak. We need to realize he has no one around him to offer reassurance or encouragement. He is indebted to his master to the extent he would certainly prefer things to turn out according to Abraham’s plan just like they had talked about prior to his departure. But we can imagine the trepidation he is sensing at this moment. He has to be assured that the mission given to him will be accomplished in compliance with his master’s desires. So what does he do at this point? What else can he do? He prays.

This is what we would (or should) refer to as specific prayer. He has to know the Lord is in what he is seeking to accomplish. The servant is not telling God what to do, as many Pentecostal/Charismatic and Word/Faith teachers would at least imply. He simply needs God’s assurance that the outcome of his mission will be pleasing to his master. What a worthy servant he is! It’s as if we should be cheering him on at this point.

This is the time of day when a representative of each household had business down at the community well. Usually it was a woman from the household that was doing the honors for the family. Understand that this was a vital part of the daily household chores. Not that the men weren’t exactly sloughing off or shirking their responsibilities in any way, but they were out doing the heavy labor. Going down to the well to draw water for the family was considered women’s work compared to how the men normally labored. We can also imagine that the other women who had business at the well were procrastinating at least a little bit. Yet here came Rebecca … very possibly the first to arrive that evening.

While she was minding her own business and taking care of business at the same time, she is interrupted from the normal events of her day by Abraham’s servant.

Here Rebecca was being a servant to the servant, if you will. But the servant is not done yet … not hardly.

Talk about going the extra mile-and-a-half! When we realize how long all this would take, we are amazed at her generosity and servant-heartedness. She is giving water not to just one or two camels, but ten of them. I would dare say we could ask anyone who has ever watered a camel before how long it would normally take, multiply that times ten and have our answer. But understand those camels had just finished an extra long journey. How much longer would that process take in such an instance? In any event, here, ladies and gentleman, is what serving others is really all about. It is about going out of one’s way for others regardless of how time-consuming or labor-intensive it is. Rebecca serves as one anointed of God because, in reality, she is! Yet I know in the depths of my heart I have not achieved that level of servant-leadership to this point in my life. How about you?

Isn’t that just like our human nature? We pray and ask God to give us a certain result, then when He begins to unfold His plan before our very eyes we find ourselves praying, “Is that you, God?”

Abraham’s servant knew what he had to do. The only way he would begin to know for certain that the Lord was in this was to know the identity of this very helpful stranger.

And the moral of the story? Where God guides, God provides. No matter who you are or what you are doing in Christian ministry, if that is not your spiritual compass (besides the Bible of course), it certainly should be. Provision is the name of His game. He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5). He is not reminding us nor rewarding us, but providing for us each step on our journey when we have made the heart commitment to step out on faith in response to His leading.

Rebecca had a father at the time but for some reason was incapacitated. It may have been due to old age, long-standing illness, both, or neither. The phrase “the house of her mother” would probably be our clue that her father was no longer head of household as far being in a decision-making capacity was concerned.

I don’t know about you, but Laban doesn’t strike me as the most spiritually-minded man of his day. In fact he seems quite carnal or secular in his mindset. His interest is peaked, it seems, by this man he has heard about with all the shiny trinkets out by the community well. Notice his interest in the next two verses.

Laban tells him he has everything ready for he and his entourage. It’s as if he had been waiting for them. Go back to the phrase used earlier - where God guides, God provides. The Lord went before both the servant and Laban in bringing forth His provision for them. If you’ve known that to be true in your own life, you know for a fact that it’s far from impossible for God to provide your every need along the way, once we are in “the way.” That is, to be guided along the path we must first be on the path in service to Him.

Laban can’t respond to this man and his needs long, hard, or fast enough, or so it would seem. In my view, this would be what we would refer to as “sucking up!”

And how important it would be to know of this man’s business. Do you possibly think they could have made it through the meal time unless he had intervened in this way? If curiosity killed the cat, it surely would have put this entire household six feet under before they had finished eating!

After recounting his journey and the events that led up to it, he gives them the ‘bottom line’ by letting them know they need to decide now as to how the rest of his journey will go. Also you’ll notice he’s not asking them to respond to him, but rather to Abraham (“my lord”). Ultimately that is what they will be doing in this process. The servant’s subtle manner is laced with tact and diplomacy, yet it’s precise and to-the-point. This brings us to a highly important juncture in our study of this chapter.

The typological teaching here seems so clear that it should not be passed over. The servant is like the Holy Spirit, who is in the world seeking a Bride for Christ. The Bride is to be made up of individuals who receive Him as Lord and Savior, and who therefore will be brought unto Him in regeneration by the Spirit. As the Holy Spirit (through human witnesses, through Scripture, through circumstances) witnesses to the hearts of individuals concerning the glories of Christ, their need of Him, and the joys to be found in His presence, they are confronted with the greatest decision of their lives. They cannot ignore Him; they must say either yes or no. If they are united to Him, they must leave the things of the world behind them and submit fully to Him. Many reject the invitation and are separated forever from Him. “But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).¹

Once one has had an encounter with Christ, the response can only be ‘yes’ or ‘no’. There is no room to negotiate, for one does not come to Him on their own terms. All kinds of questions can be raised and often are, but those are meaningless in the grand scheme of things. So … how’s it with you today? Can you honestly say you have responded in the affirmative to the greatest decision of your life? It’s not about how someone else has responded, but how you have responded. On the Day you stand before God (Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:11-15) nothing else you and I have ever done with our lives will matter. In eternity each of us will either be joined to Him as His Bride, or separated from Him in a real, literal place called Hell, having never afforded ourselves the opportunity to know the joy of living in right relationship with the Lord.

They acknowledged that God was in it. What else could they do, really? It was clear that a miracle had been done among them. Sadly, many of today’s people could see the Lord perform a bevy of miracles before their very eyes and still wouldn’t acknowledge they were from Him. That’s why Jesus refused to perform for the Pharisees when they asked Him to show them a miracle. Jesus knew they wouldn’t believe even if He had (Matthew 12:38, 16:1).

That’s the moment for which the servant had been waiting. It was one thing for him to know God was in it, but hearing it from them sealed the deal for him. He quickly and readily bowed in worship in order to acknowledge the One who had really brought it all about. That’s the thing about an effective servant of the Lord: they know they have their job to do, but realize when their task is a success they are to give credit to Whom credit is due.

As a type of the Spirit, this servant lavishes the choice gifts on those who have opened up their hearts and lives to him. The Spirit Himself continues to do the same today, as seen in 1 Corinthians 12-14, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4. But let us always remember and never forget that “…the greatest of these is [love]” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

We have a problem that is about to be brewing. The servant has tended to his business in the proper manner. He can say he has accomplished his mission. He can also say it is now time to move ahead with the business that has been transacted.

When a sentence begins with the word “but,” this signals an abrupt change of momentum. In our lives, when the Holy Spirit speaks to us about a certain direction we are to go, or a certain item of business we are to transact, our human nature is quick to respond with the word “but”, isn’t it? If we’re honest, we must admit that we all have the inclination to change the momentum the Spirit wants to establish. Now watch how the servant handles this potential dilemma.

Perfect! Not only does he tell them his job there is done, but once again he gives Yahweh the glory for his success. Most importantly, he knows the real success comes once he is back home and working with his master on putting the final pieces of the puzzle in place, so to speak.

So Rebecca plays ‘tie-breaker’ between the two parties. She is really the one out of all this family that truly believes God is in this in every way. Why? Because of her immediate response. Church, we need to get a handle on this: true belief is not in what we say, but what we do (James 1:22). We don’t see where there’s any hesitation or reservation on her part whatsoever. Good for her! May her tribe increase. There need to be many more who sound an instantaneous ‘Yes’ to what God is doing and where and how He is doing it in our day. That is why she serves as a type of the bride of Christ. Saying ‘yes’ to the Lord is what the church is to be about in our day or any day, for that matter. Going where He would have us go and doing what He would have us do should be the name of our game, now and always.

Perhaps the rest of the family had begun to see how ‘in this’ God really was. Here they speak this most supreme blessing on her, that not only would she become great in terms of number of offspring, but that their enemies would not overcome them.

It’s interesting to note how there are no details of the return trip made by all the ones that came originally along with Rebecca. How far the journey was, how long it took, what obstacles were to be overcome, we don’t really know. We don’t see any danger encountered along the way, so I believe it’s safe to say that no news is good news. But don’t you know there had to be some conversation along the journey? Like for instance between the servant and Rebecca. Consider for a moment what was said by them, especially her. She had to have wanted to know all about her husband-to-be. It’s only natural, don’t you know? And who better to ask than the servant … the one who no doubt helped raise Isaac to a certain degree. We can imagine to a great degree, can’t we, that he watched him grow from a baby to a toddler to a teenager to a young adult. She would have wanted to hear stories about his growing-up years, among other things. After all she was a woman, and we all know how curious those wonderful females can be!

Don’t miss what Isaac is engaged in here. He was praying, spending time with the Lord, and waiting to see if the servant’s mission was successful. The suspense Isaac was sensing at that moment was probably more than he could handle, or so it would seem. The only thing he realized he could do was to pray. So it should be with each of us. Many times we take matters into our own hands, but really the only thing to do is to simply leave it in the Lord’s hands. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but nonetheless appropriate still.

How fitting for the bride to veil herself in the presence of her groom. Could it be they had the wedding ceremony right then and there? Well, not before the servant got Isaac caught up on some details.

I love the word ‘all’ used here. That took a while for sure, but if you think about it, you need to remember he still had a job to do: to bring together a bride and groom in holy matrimony! Recalling for him all the things that took place going to, coming from, and everything in between no doubt heightened Isaac’s level of interest at this point. How appropriate from the spiritual perspective when one considers Isaac is a type of Christ, Rebecca a type of the church (the bride of Christ), and the servant a type of the Holy Spirit. By the way, we’re not given the servant’s name here in this passage, but back in 15:2 we’re told the principal servant of his household is Eliezer. And what does his name mean? It means ‘helper’. Just like the Holy Spirit whom Jesus foretold would come alongside each of His own and be Helper to us (John 14:16-18).

So why is the servant not named here? Because as a type of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit did not come to make mention of Himself (John 16:13). Why did Paul start out most of his epistles by saying, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ”? Why was the Holy Spirit not mentioned but rather only the first two persons of the Trinity? Because the Holy Spirit, who inspired not only Paul’s writings but the other biblical writers as well, does not make mention of Himself. His main responsibility is to bring attention to Christ.

In the same way, Christ will be comforted, if you will, at the uniting of His church to Himself. As of now His church is scattered and, in many cases, confused. Not that Christ is at the right hand of the Father at this point wringing His hands, worrying and wondering what is happening to the sheep of His pasture; He knows because He is sovereign. But His ultimate goal is to unify His church. This is the same church for which He gave His very life. When His church is together with Him for all eternity, that’s when the real rejoicing can and will begin. If you don’t believe me, check out Revelation 21-22 at your earliest opportunity. There you’ll see with spiritual eyes the ultimate celebration that will last for all eternity. The phrase “…and he loved her,” says it all in our present passage. Glory to His blessed and holy Name!

As a new chapter opens in our study, so opens a new chapter in the life of Abraham. A period of mourning ensues for him following the death of Sarah, and then he marries Keturah. This is the same Keturah that was one of his concubines as depicted in 1 Chronicles 1:32.

Keturah gives to Abraham six more sons…and that in his old age! Here we see a sure indicator of the Lord continuing to pour out His blessings on the life of Abraham by way of prophecy fulfillment. How?

Through millennia of migrations and intermarriages, it seems likely that all of these peoples, together with the descendants of Ishmael, Lot, and Esau, along with the earlier descendants of Shem and, in some cases, Ham, have gradually merged and become the modern-day Arabic peoples.²

This sure was a lot in the way of offspring, yet we find…

How odd that Abraham was prosperous enough to provide for each one of the sons of his concubine. Yet that’s the exact reason Abraham did not give to them, for they were not part and parcel of the covenant God made with Abraham. Isaac was, therefore, the partaker of all that belonged to Abraham. Think about that for a moment: as Isaac was the descendant of the promise God made to his father, we are spiritual descendants of the Promise, “that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14).

Isn’t it astounding that the Lord Himself has made such provision for each of us under the New Covenant. All that belongs to us is really ours, isn’t it? Yet there may be certain aspects of your relationship with the Lord that have gone unclaimed by you. I have no idea what those would be, but if He has made that kind of provision for us, wouldn’t it be foolish of you and I to not accept certain provisions? For instance, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Pardon me while I step on toes here, but why insist on ministering in your own strength and power when the Lord has given to each of us the enablement of the Holy Spirit and His fullness (Ephesians 5:18-21)? Whether it happened at the moment of your salvation or it happens at a later point in time (Acts 19:1-7), know that the Father has given all that belongs to Him to you and I. Understand that I am not here to quibble over terminology or play semantics games. I’m only here to challenge you to answer one question: Do you have it?

At age 175, Abraham expired from what we would today term ‘natural causes‘. From what we can surmise, he lived life as well as it could probably be lived in his day. By the way, what does it mean to be “gathered to his people”? Well, since no one else had ever been buried in this particular place, it could only mean that the spirits of the departed were already in one place. This would refer to the place that later became known as “Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22).

We learned earlier that “Beer-lahai-roi” means ’well of the One who sees me’. Truly, Elohim was watching over him in accordance with the promise He made with his father.

So by this we see that Ishmael was blessed numerically as much as Isaac based on the twelve tribes that came from him.

Notice the account does not speak of how satisfying the life of Ishmael was, as it did with Abraham. If you’ll recall the prophecy, the literal rendering said he would be a “wild ass of a man” (16:12). Not the most flattering of prophecies, and yet from him have come the Arabian people.

The Arabs have been contentious with every man in the history of the world. Does God know what He’s talking about when He speaks? I do believe He does!

I think of the saying, “Be careful what you pray for.” She wanted to have babies, but she didn’t realize Yahweh would answer her prayer in the way He did. She got a two-for-one deal! Further still, they were fighting with each other inside of her. She probably knew not every pregnancy was this rough, so she wondered why. Not to herself, but in prayer before God. That could have been the wisest decision she ever made; the decision to take it to the Lord in prayer. In this way, Rebecca serves as an example for each of us. When we’re perplexed, we need only go to Him.

He had the answer for Rebecca. His answer served as prophecy also; so much so that we have it contained as a part of the Word of God even today. Even though they were twins, they would be total opposites of each other. One of them would go on to serve only himself, with the other being a part of the Messianic line that would lead up to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sure enough, twins were born according to the prophecy. And contrary to what you may see or hear elsewhere, “Esau” means “hairy.” He resembled a coat of hair, as if he was wearing a type of overcoat at his birth, so at least one of his parents said, “I know…we’ll call him “Hairy!” The other had caught “Hairy” by the heel, so at least one of his parents said, “…And we’ll call the other “Heel-catcher.” We of course know him much better today as “Jacob.”

Again, though they may have been twins, there was nothing identical about them. One was an outdoor man, the other a much more domesticated-type. The text describes Jacob very well as translated here. Most translations will describe Jacob by words such as “plain” or “smooth.” These renderings do not do justice to the word tam in Hebrew. A great alternate rendering would be “civilized,” especially in contrast to his brother.

Now here’s a classic stand-off: Daddy’s boy vs. Mama’s boy. While we’re contrasting the two, let me officially take the stand, as it were, by saying I take issue with scholars and commentators painting Jacob as a sissy and Esau as a ‘real man’. I believe nothing could be farther from the truth as this all gets back to simply a matter of expectations. Isaac believed Esau exhibited the type of behavior he envisioned from a son of his own, while Rebecca thought the same in relation to Jacob. He met her expectations of what she thought a son should be. It doesn’t mean that he played with dolls, wore dresses or heels, or was in any way what we would regard today as effeminate. In my biblically-based estimation, the onus is squarely on Esau here. More on that in a moment. In the meantime, the rivalry between the brothers escalates further.

Jacob may well have done a lot of the cooking around the house. No doubt his mom was a great assist to him on his way to developing his culinary expertise. Whatever he was cooking, it didn’t take long to appeal to Esau in a big way. Too tired to prepare anything for himself following a hard day in the field, he opts for the easy way out.

Throughout the Old Testament, the names ‘Esau’ and ‘Edom’ are used interchangeably, but both refer to the same person. His actual birth name means “hairy,” but he received what we might think of today as a nickname. There seems to be what has become known as a ‘defining moment’ in the life of everyone. Up to this point in time, the moment when Esau sold his birthright defined him as a person, and it still does. He sold it for some “red” meat, therefore he was better known from that day forward as “Red.”

The birthright included a double portion of the inheritance, as well as the patriarchal and spiritual headship of the family once the father had passed from the scene.

Here is an interesting exchange between the brothers as together they bring up the matter of the birthright. By the way, was this the first mention or conversation between them as it concerned the birthright? I dare say it was not the first mention of it in this household. The brothers may or may not have talked about it among themselves, but Jacob certainly thought about it. Rebecca had certainly been given the prophecy that the older would serve the younger. No doubt she would have shared that with the most-cherished of her two sons. So on that basis he had knowledge of the prophecy. The problem with Jacob was that he refused to wait on God’s timing for the prophecy to come about. What a grave mistake each of us are prone to make in that when the Lord has promised His blessing we seek to grab for it in our own timing and methodology, with oftentimes disastrous results.

Far worse and with more dire consequences than Jacob’s undoing, we see the real tragedy as the despising of the birthright by Esau. While Jacob took matters into his own hands, Esau had no desire to partake of spiritual things. This is the real tragedy of the so-called ‘American Christian’ of today. So much of today’s ‘spiritual rigor mortis’ has to do with the lack of desire for the things of God. Once physical rigor mortis sets in, it becomes impossible to move about. Likewise in the spiritual realm, we’ve no desire to move toward spiritual things. To what do I refer? Guzik explains:

What birthright might we despise? Ephesians 1:3-14 shows us a treasury of riches ours by birthright in Jesus: every spiritual blessing, the blessing of being chosen in Jesus, adoption into God’s family, total acceptance by God in Jesus, redemption from our slavery to sin, true and total forgiveness, the riches of God’s grace, the revelation and knowledge of the mystery of God’s will, an eternal inheritance, [and] the guarantee of the indwelling Holy Spirit right now. Will we sell out this birthright for a night of television?³

Feel free to insert any other idol in your life in place of the phrase “night of television” in that last sentence, but rest assured whenever we fail to cherish the riches of God’s grace, we have sold out to the world around us. The end result is always spiritual bondage. It was for Esau. He is known today as a “fornicator” and a “profane person” (Hebrews 12:16). The birthright and spiritual headship that accompanies it was never something Esau aspired to until he learned being without it would greatly diminish his income. Let us not become so preoccupied with things that will only become “wood, hay, and stubble” (1 Corinthians 3:12) that we fail to cultivate the true riches believers already possess.

Gerar is not in Egypt but is on the way to it, as it is on the southernmost edge of the Philistine territory. God is on the verge of supernaturally intervening once again in the life of Isaac. Please don’t miss this!

This famine is second generation, coming about one hundred years after the first famine. What’s most important is that the covenant is now second generation. Isaac is the possessor of it, therefore the Lord comes and speaks directly to him. Think about it: the covenant could have died out with Abraham. Yet because of His promise to Abraham (Genesis 22:18), it is now reiterated and renewed with Isaac. God’s provision is extended toward Isaac in order for the promise of the covenant to be brought about. He will not allow Isaac to go and dwell in a land of famine wherein he would starve to death, but rather to live and put down roots in a region where he and his offspring can grow and thrive. All this is due to the faithfulness of his father Abraham.

Yet when we trace back over Abraham’s life we find his faith was not all that strong or enduring at times. I don’t know about you, but personally speaking that gives me a great deal of hope. I know how much my own faith has a tendency to falter, yet I know enough about the Lord and His Word to understand that when He looks upon me, He sees me the same as Abraham. As Abraham was declared righteous by faith (Genesis 15:6), He sees in me only the righteousness of Jesus. If you have been born again by His Spirit, He sees you the same way as well. If you have yet to be born again, I pray you will go to the page on this site labeled ‘The Main Thing’ and come to understand how this can be possible for you today.

Isaac could only honor the Lord for His provision by being obedient to Him. That only happens as each of us, as did Isaac, take Him at His Word.

The sins of the fathers do tend to be handed down to their sons, don’t they? As Abraham made the mistake of trying to cover the identity of his wife for his own safety (Genesis 20:13), Isaac does the same as they are trying to settle in Gerar. This particular tactic meets with about the same results in this case. No doubt there is a major showdown about to ensue.

Talk about hiding behind his wife, there is a lot to be said about a man who refuses to take responsibility as spiritual head of the household. A major portion of that duty is to protect one’s spouse from harm. In large part, Rebecca was put even further in harm’s way due largely to Isaac wanting to save his own skin.

As was the case with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca serve as an object lesson for those of us who at one time or another are inclined to not trust the sovereignty of God. He allows the king to find out their true relationship to one another in order for him to serve an edict that will protect them both. God then keeps His promise to bless in spite of themselves, as the next portion of our chapter will show.

Wait a minute! Didn’t we read earlier that Isaac received the inheritance of his father? So why did he have to work to begin with? Yet this account tells that he did and the Lord blessed ad infinitum. The lesson here is that diligence reaps reward. Isaac didn’t have to work, but he chose to do so and as a result was the benefactor. Nothing is different today. Hard work paid off then and it pays off now.

With prosperity comes contention. Abimelech’s communique to Isaac was that it didn’t matter how much he had, the king was on the throne and was there in the land prior to him. Therefore the king’s edict had Isaac moving on before he had it in his heart to possibly take over and rule the land himself. Such is the politics of power.

Whether anyone liked it or not, Isaac’s first priority was to the state of his flocks and helping to preserve their well-being. Knowing water would be prevalent and that history would repeat itself, he set out to re-create the water supply originally established by his father in that place. Calling them by their original names was the result of his deciding to either honor his father, or referring to them by the names that had become familiar to him as well as his father as he tended to them during his son’s growing-up years.

There is some variety in how the words translated here as “running water” should be rendered. The KJV calls it “springing water,” but a good and very appropriate option here is “living water”; “living” from the Hebrew khahy. At this point I’ll allow Pastor Jon Courson to share his wonderful illustration straight from the pages of his own ministry in the struggling early days.