Spring Up, O Well!

Spring Up, O Well!

“Then Israel sang this song: ‘Spring up, O well! All of you sing to it—the well the leaders sank, dug by the nation’s nobles, by the most excellent of the people, with their staves.’” Num. 21:17-18.

No one can dwell in a desert without water, but if there is a well, people can stay alive. Therefore a well in a dry land is very valuable.

In the days of Israel hard battles were fought over sources of water, and capturing a well was considered a great and joyful victory. They were particularly proud of the well we read about here, because it had cost them an extra amount of fighting. Israel’s leaders and the nobles of the nation had dug the well with their scepters and staves. Now when they traveled through the desert and saw this well, they appreciated what a great prize it was. It was something precious to them, a holy possession, which they met with reverence and greeted with song, because it was God who had given them the victory.

In these days it is also necessary to fight to dig a well, because Satan is on guard with his army to hinder this living water and the hidden treasures in Christ from being dug up for the benefit of the people. Because all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ, a person must possess a deep fear of God and must fight an enduring fight of faith in order to dig up these treasures.

These glorious treasures will always be hidden from the natural man, who is only interested in natural things. Therefore we must sacrifice everything and Christ must be our all. Once we are filled with a love for Christ, it will compel us to seek His fullness, in spite of Satan’s strong opposition. We must put on the full armor and then press into the kingdom of heaven with violence, taking it by force.

Only the most excellent of the people with the best attitude can do this. Their love compels them to do it, and in this love they can wage this battle to the end, laying hold of these precious treasures which are hidden in secret places. We must step forward with a stave and a royal scepter, because we are called to live and reign by the One, Jesus Christ. Rom. 5:17.

Who endures in this battle, and will lay down his life for his friends? Those who dig up some of these blessed treasures that are hidden in Christ Jesus and are willing to pay for them with their own life. This is an eternal law given by Jesus Himself. John 12:24-25.

Who is there who will die and lose his own life? Unfortunately, only a very few among the many believers will do this. It is sad to see the consequences of this unbelief wherever you go. People lay hold of only the elementary principles of God’s Word: the forgiveness of sins, the doctrine concerning baptism, and of the laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Heb. 6:1-2.

Generally speaking, this is all people hear in the various denominations these days, and this is what is called the “full gospel.” Even though the preachers are being paid by the people, they do not press in to lay hold of anything more, and unfortunately the people want it like this. It is no wonder that you meet spiritual infants wherever you go, who should be teachers by now, but who still cannot tolerate solid food.

Everywhere they boast of preaching the glad tidings and the full gospel, but in Proverbs 15:30 it is written that “a good message makes the bones healthy”—of which one sees precious little. This is an eternal life that never fails. Wherever the good message is proclaimed, each individual will grow up in the body of Christ in wisdom and understanding, receiving a spiritual backbone so that he remains standing in each and every temptation. However, when the entire assembly is still wavering like a reed in the time of trial and is far from being courageous and strong, we realize what kind of gospel is being preached. The full gospel causes each individual to come to full victory, and a good message results in good fruits. Faith comes through preaching, but when the preaching does not extend any further than the elementary principles, it is not easy for the listeners to go any further.

“Where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint” (Prov. 29:18), and when the crib is empty, the horses bite. This is the reason for all the wretched divisions and unrest among the believers in these days. Of course they do everything they can to keep things going with choirs and music bands as well as nice speeches, but it is obvious that all this is of no avail in the long run. When the children of Israel lacked water, they murmured against Moses. Only a well of spiritual revelations can keep the people together, producing life and growth.

God be praised that, even in our days, warriors of faith can be found. They lay their lives down for the brethren and are therefore in a position to proclaim the good message that strengthens the bones. Yet they are met with mockery and scorn wherever they go, since Satan mobilizes all his powers to resist them. Unfortunately, religious people are only too willing to stand in his ranks.

But what can hinder a man of faith who is filled with love for Christ and his fellow men? It would be easier to fight a lion with bare fists than to overcome such a man. Love is as strong as death, and hard as jealousy is its zeal; its flames are flames of fire—a flame of the Lord. Song of Sol. 8:6.

Those who think of fighting against such a man have already lost. In spite of war and sufferings he digs up the most precious hidden treasures as a blessing for many, with shouts of triumph, rejoicing in victory, because he has no greater joy than to see his fellow brothers and sisters walking in the same blessed truths of which he himself has partaken.

We are proud of these glorious truths. Yes, they are precious in our eyes. To us they are a holy inheritance. We have laid hold of a blessed well full of water in the midst of times of drought. At conferences and meetings we rejoice in this well of revelation in the knowledge of God. May we appreciate the value of what we are hearing and preserve it as something holy in our hearts. May we pass it on only to God-fearing and faithful people, and not cast pearls before swine. May we speak about these truths cautiously and with reverence, interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words.

Yes, the Lord has done great things for us, and we have every reason to rejoice. We can come together boldly and with hope in the midst of these times of drought and say with Israel, “Spring up, O well! All of you sing to it—the well the leaders sank, dug by the nation’s nobles, by the most excellent of the people, with their staves.”