Water Libation
The Rejoicing in the House of
the Water Pouring (Simchat Beit HaShoevah) is a ceremony included in
Sukkot. It is mentioned in the Mishnah and not in the Torah. The
water pouring became a focus of joy. The Talmud states, "He who has
not seen the rejoicing at the place of the water-drawing has never
seen rejoicing in his life." So, the water pouring ceremony became
the occasion for an outpouring of intense joy.
Sukkot is the only Feast in which God
commanded the people to be joyful. As a result, Sukkot became known
as The Season of Our Joy. Passover is the Season of Our Freedom
whereas Pentecost is the Season of the Giving of the Torah.
Waters were drawn from the Pool of Siloam.
They were referred to as the waters of salvation. The festivities
were held in the courtyard of the outer Temple. Though it was a
relatively small area, many thousands of happy people were able to
crowd in miraculously. There was dancing and singing in this
celebration of the drawing of the water from the wells of salvation.
Why was the Water Libation such a happy
occasion? It is as if God says to Israel, "All your offerings are
precious to Me, but this offering of the water which you pour on the
altar during the festival is especially precious. Water requires
neither planting nor reaping nor pressing nor purifying. Let it be
joined with the wine libation, which requires all sorts of
preparations. In My eyes, your wine and water are equal, those that
require great effort and those that don’t, so long as you rejoice in
Me without any mixture of foreign thoughts or ulterior motives."
The
Daily Sukkot Ceremony
The celebration was held every day of the
Feast, with the exception of Sabbath and the first day, for then the water libation was not accompanied by
music and song. Men, women and children would took
part in the celebration which lasted for fifteen and a half
consecutive hours, from the time when the daily afternoon sacrifice
was offered until the next morning. Such heavenly divine joy!
Each day,
there was a special ceremony outside the temple. The priests were
divided into three divisions.
Division One
The first division was the priests on duty
for that festival. They would slay the sacrifices at the altar as
instructed in Numbers 29.
Division Two
At this time, a second group of priests
went out the East Gate of the temple and went to the Motzah Valley
where the ashes were dumped at the beginning of the Sabbath.
There they cut willows. The willows had to
be 25 feet in length. After this, all the priests would form a line,
each holding a willow. About 25 or 30 feet apart allowing room for
the willows, another line of priests was formed. In due time, there
would be rows after rows of the priests holding willows.
After that, a signal was given. The priests
would step out with their left feet and then to the right, swinging
the willows back and forth.
Division Three
Meanwhile, a third group of priests, headed
by the high priest, went out the gate known as the Water Gate.
They had gone to the Pool of Siloam (John
9:7), which means gently flowing waters. There the high priest had a
golden vase and drew the water known as the living waters (mayim
hayim)
and held it in the vase. His assistant held a silver vase containing
wine.
Division Two & Division Three Returning To Temple
The whole road back to the temple would be
filled with pilgrims. These pilgrims went to Jerusalem to celebrate
the festival. They were commanded by God to appear before Him thrice
a year during the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles
(Deuteronomy 16:16).
Then the priests in the valley of Motzah
and the priests at the Pool of Siloam began to march toward
Jerusalem. The willows made a swishing sound in the wind as they
marched towards the holy city. The Hebraic word
Ruach means both
wind and spirit. Therefore, this ceremony is symbolic of the Holy
Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) coming upon the city of Jerusalem.
On
the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in
a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and
drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said,
streams of living water will flow from within
him." By this He meant the Spirit, whom those
who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the
Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been
glorified. John 7:37-39
As each of the party reached their
respective gates, a shofar was blown. Then one man would stand up
and play the flute. The flute player was called the pierced one
which was a type of the Messiah. As the flute was pierced, so was
Yeshua. He was pierced during the crucifixion (Psalm 22:16;
Zechariah 12:10; John 19:34-37; Revelation 1:7).
The flute player led the procession,
blowing and calling for the wind and the water to enter the temple.
The priests from Motzah (Division Two) swishing the willows entered
into the temple and circled the altar of sacrifice seven times. The
priests, who had slain the sacrifices (Division One), then ascended
the altar and began to lay the sacrifices on the fires.
The high priest and his assistant (Division
Three) ascended the altar as all the people of Israel were gathered
into the courts around there. The people started singing the song
Mayim, saying, "With joy shall ye draw out of the wells of
salvation" (Isaiah 12:3).
The high priest took his vase and poured
its contents on one of the corners of the altar where the horns
were. There were two bowls built into the altar. Each bowl had a
hole in it. The water and the wine were poured out over the altar as
the priests who had the willow start laying the willows against the
altar, forming a sukkah. This was the covering of God.
Hereby, we have a picture of Yeshua as He
was dying on the tree. He was on the altar (tree) when His heart was
pierced (John 19:34). The water and wine poured out by the high
priest and his assistant represented the water and blood that flowed
out of Yeshua's body on the cross. Yeshua said that He was the
living water being poured out during this ceremony (John 7:37-38).
Wine is representative of marriage, blood,
covenant, joy, and the Messiah in Scripture. The priests took the
willows to the altar and set them upright on the side of the altar,
forming a wedding canopy (chupah). Through Yeshua, God provides a
covering (sukkah) for all those who believe in Him.
Rain is essential to the growing of crops
in Israel. It is a blessing from God, and it is a prominent feature
in Sukkot. But the ceremony of the water drawing holds a spiritual
significance much greater than its agricultural importance.
The rain represents the Holy Spirit (Ruach
HaKodesh). The water drawing points to that day when God would rain
His Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28-29). As God pours out rain, we
draw the waters. As God pours out His Holy Spirit, we receive His
Holy Anointing.
In the Talmud we read, "Why is the name of
it called the drawing out of water? Because of the pouring out of
the Holy Spirit, according to what is said, 'With joy shall ye draw
out of the wells of salvation'" (Isaiah 12:3).
The earth will experience the greatest
revival and
outpouring of God's Spirit in the Millennium Reign of Christ in
Jerusalem when God tabernacles with man. It will be Sukkot everyday.