John 7:37-39 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Over the past two devotionals, we heard the song of the redeemed and stood at the wells of salvation. We saw how strength, song, and salvation flow from Yeshua Himself — how the joy of drawing from His presence is not just a poetic promise but a lifeline for our day. Yet today, we stand at a prophetic threshold. Something has shifted. Something has broken open. We are not only being refreshed — we are being awakened and called.
On October 7, 2023, the world changed. As Israel danced with the Torah on Simchat Torah, and the remnant celebrated the final outpouring of Sukkot on Hoshana Rabbah, war erupted. The enemy struck not only on a feast day — but on Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day, a day biblically symbolic of new beginnings, covenant consecration, and resurrection. Eight in Hebrew marks that which goes beyond the natural — into the realm of the supernatural. On this eighth day, while the people of God rejoiced around the Word, the heavens shook — and we must discern the hour.
This was not merely a geopolitical war. It was a prophetic turning. On the very day we traditionally cry out, “Hoshiana! Save now!” — a demonic backlash was unleashed. But as in ancient times, God is not surprised. He is not shaken. And neither can His people be. The same Messiah who cried out in the Temple on Hoshana Rabbah, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink!” (John 7:37), is still standing in our midst, calling us to draw from Him, not just for comfort, but for power.
This is not a time for passive devotion — it’s a time for Spirit-empowered purpose. The joy we draw from the wells of salvation is not merely for survival, but for assignment. The water that flows from the throne is meant to empower you — to stand, to speak, to shine. What has broken open in the natural must now break open in the Spirit. You were born for this moment — not to shrink back, but to rise up as one filled, overflowing, and ablaze with purpose. The eighth day cry is not just “thank You for what was,” but “Lord, empower me for what is now!”
Do not waste the moment. The shaking is not random. The eighth day is not just symbolic — it is prophetically strategic. You are not meant to walk in yesterday’s strength. Come again to the well. Drink again of the Spirit. Let the joy of salvation become the fire of boldness. Let the ancient cry of Hoshiana become your anthem — not just for rescue, but for release. You are being empowered for this hour. Now it’s time to rise, filled with living water, and become the vessel through which God births His purposes on the earth. Drink deep this weekend — your assignment awaits.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Here we have a stark word. Here we see the Lord testing Israel: “He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you.” [Deuteronomy 8:16]. Yet Paul says that they put Him to the test. A great irony occurs when God is testing us, and we despise His discipline, thereby testing Him.
The Apostle Paul continues his warning to the Corinthians against idolatry by referring to Israel’s celebration/worship of the golden calf. Aaron’s proclamation, “These are your gods (plural) O Israel” could be one of the earliest declarations mixing the worship of the true and living God, YHVH, with idols. This is called “syncretism”. Dictionary.com defines it: ” the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.”
The Apostle Paul’s admonition in 1 Corinthians 10:6 against desiring evil as they did, would seem to point to the obvious sins – lying, stealing, adultery, fornication, etc. – and following their deliverance from slavery, many of the children of Israel were certainly guilty of some of these. But this passage in Numbers describes a type of sin we don’t normally consider: it was simply their desire for the foods they ate in Egypt.
When I was in school, it seemed they ran a “fire drill” at least once a year. A long, loud, kind of scary bell would sound and we knew it was either a real fire, or, more likely, just another drill. We were formed into lines, ushered down the halls, and out the doors we went. Of course, the point was practice….so we would be prepared for a real fire.
The children of Israel are facing yet another test, this one, even more severe than hunger– dehydration – which, unabated, quickly leads to a miserable death. Yet, now, every day they are also seeing the miracles of God, who is feeding them regularly with manna, and surrounding them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Once again, they fail the test, even in the midst of their daily witness of miracles. So even though the test is more severe, the evidence for trust is that much greater.
Is there something about miracles that makes them forgettable? Or is the problem with us? After journeying for a season the children of Israel were faced with hunger — another test. This time, naturally faced with starvation, they murmured against the Lord, AGAIN! You’d think they might begin to put it together that God truly wanted them to trust Him. Apparently not yet. The dire circumstances attacked their mass cerebral cortex (memory) and once again they went into attack mode, bitterly complaining in unbelief. The Ten Plagues, the pillar of fire, the Red Sea walk, the Egyptian chariot soup, none of these connected to the present hunger pangs. Nature trumped super-nature, and sadly, God Himself.
The Apostle Paul’s discourse in 1 Corinthians 10 recalls the great miracles God performed for the children of Israel during the time of the Exodus. Delivered from Egypt and Pharaoh’s slavery, they were dismayed to discover his maniacal rage pursuing them anew, driving them into a deadly corner and imminent destruction. Humanly speaking, their terror and panic was understandable. With their eyes they could only see the wrath of Egypt succeeding at last to utterly destroy them. In that state of mind, how might they have remembered the consecutive miracles God had wrought against Egypt which had brought them to this very place?