The Well in the Story

John 4
The Old Testament has many beautiful stories, one of which being the finding of Rebekah and subsequent marriage to Isaac. Have you noticed though, that there are some events in this story that are familiar in a number of other Biblical stories? They often contain a well. Why the well?

Moses met Zipporah at a well. Jacob meets Rachel at a well, Joseph is thrown into a well and taken out of the well. Jesus speaks to the woman at the well. A meeting takes place at a well. The Bible doesn’t just tell us nice stories that have no message or meaning. Why the well?

As we know, people come there to gather water for both themselves and their livestock and to meet there. It is a place where the thirsty can obtain a drink, where one of our basic needs is fulfilled. So perhaps the well represents not only a place of physical needs, but spiritual need – a place where the Spirit of God meets us in our thirst and emptiness, and will continue to throughout our lives.

We should not try to hide or extinguish such a place, but consider it sacred. At such a place, our well, God always desires to bring us ever closer to Him, through the love of Jesus, to fill us with the living waters of the Spirit. Seek Him in his Word and in prayer, and you will find a stranger, a scared guest at the well.

Pastor Darryl

Photo by Frank Albrecht on Unsplash