John 7:37–41, On the last day. Haggai 2:1 is occurred on Hoshana Rabbah, the Last Great Day. In Haggai 2:7, the coming Messiah is referred to as the “Desire of All Nations,” and the prophet assures the Jews of his time that who were building the second temple, that though it was inferior in physical glory to Solomon’s Temple, it would experience a greater glory than even the previous temple. This is because the promised Messiah would be coming to that second temple.
Indeed, Yeshua come to the second temple and glorified it with his presence, but that temple is now long gone. The Testimony of Yeshua teaches us that the saints are now the temple of Elohim, since they are the temple of the Set-Apart Spirit (1 Cor 3:16; 2 Cor 6:16). The saints become that temple when the Spirit fell on them on the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2, and when the Spirit falls on and inhabits each saint subsequently. This is the glory of Elohim coming on individuals—Yeshua inhabiting the temple of his body. And this is only the beginning of the heavenly glory that the saints can hope to experience as 1 Cor 2:9 tells us, for a greater, and incomprehensible glory is yet coming to the overcoming saint (see also Isa 4:3–6 and 1 John 3:1–3).
In verse 37, Yeshua invites those who thirst spiritually to come to him. How thirsty are we for the spiritual waters of salvation that he has to offer? As Ps 118:24, the Hoshana Rabbah psalm, notes, we must cry out to the Messiah for salvation by declaring, “Hoshianah!” or “Save us now O Great One!” Similarly, we must come to the wells of salvation (Heb. Yeshua) and drink deeply (Isa 12:3) if we are to experience heaven’s blessing.
In verse 38, Yeshua declares that only those who believe in him will experience heaven’s outpouring of spiritual water for the thirsty soul. Each saint needs the glory of YHVH to fill his temple, so that the rivers of living water can flow out of us onto others. When we are baptized in the Set-Apart Spirit, our spiritual cup will be filled and will run over onto others, and we will become a river of life to those around us.
In verse 39, Yeshua explains that this river of life will flow once he has been glorified and the Spirit of Elohim has been poured out. Yeshua has been glorified and the Spirit poured out on the saints. This is what the second temple water pouring ceremony prophetically prefigured and hoped for—something that has already occurred. Therefore, at Sukkot, when we do the water pouring ceremony, we also need to realize that the Spirit has already been given. Therefore, it behooves the saint on the Last Great Day to present himself as an empty vessel to YHVH and let him fill us anew so that we can be a river of life to those around us.
Interestingly and related to verses 37 to 39, in verses 40 to 41, the gospel records that there was theological division and strife among the people pertaining the work and person of Yeshua. This juxtaposition of concepts implies that division and strife in the body of Yeshua prevents the outpouring of the Spirit. The glory of Elohim can’t fall on the body or temple of Yeshua’s body unless it is together in one place and in one accord as the saints were on the Day of Pentecost. This is a serious warning and a call for saints to put away strife and division and to come together in one accord, so that YHVH may glorify his temple by the outpouring of his Spirit thus empowering the saints to be a river of life to those around them.
