We advance now to the works of the prophets. It is with these that we will conclude our exploration and recognition of that which has provided useful background information and contextualization for the portrayal of Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. As we do so, we continue to reflect on the fact that the shared historical narrative of the nation will shape the prophets’ conception of wells, providing foundation material for their own thought, while maintaining the awareness that prophetical treatment of wells will also serve to inform the significance of wells as they appear in the messianic presentations of John’s Gospel.
With that, we look first to Isaiah. In the thirty-seventh chapter, as the prophecy shares material that is common to the second book of the Kings, Isaiah recounts the invasion of Judah by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, along with the response of the king, Hezekiah. Hezekiah has laid Judah’s case before God, asking for His intervention against what appears to be the seemingly unavoidable calamity that is coming upon His people. In response, Isaiah sends a message to Hezekiah (37:21), sharing the response of the “Lord God of Israel” (37:21b). In the course of what is to shared with Hezekiah, Isaiah makes mention of a well, placing its mention on the lips of the arrogant king of Assyria, as we get to hear what Israel’s God has effectively heard him say: “With my many chariots I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars and its best evergreens. I invaded its remote regions, its thickest woods. I dug wells and drank water. With the soles of my feet I drip up all the rivers of Egypt” (37:24b-25). Naturally, any mention of Egypt, by a foreign king that stands against the people of Israel, is bound to invoke memories of Israel’s Egyptian experience. Regardless of what any king could claim to have performed against Egypt, the God of Israel could lay claim to far more astounding feats. With talk of Egypt triggering such thoughts, one could easily retrace and rethink talk of chariots (the Egyptian army overcome by the water of the sea), the digging of wells (Abraham and Isaac), and the drinking of water (the continuous provision of water in the wilderness), and be reminded that the covenant and Creator God of Israel had more than sufficient power with which to repel the relatively impotent king of Assyria. How this might play into the thoughts of John and Jesus, if at all, while considering the importance of Isaiah to thoughts of the messiah and to the New Testament in general, is not entirely clear, though the underlying themes of covenant faithfulness do provide a means of application.
In Jeremiah we will happen upon a well on two occasions. In the sixth chapter, as Jeremiah verbally depicts the destruction that is going to come upon Jerusalem due to its idolatry, he shares some of the Lord’s thoughts concerning the city. We hear the God of Israel say “Cut down the trees around Jerusalem and build up a siege ramp against its walls. This is the city which is to be punished. Nothing but oppression happens in it. As a well continually pours out fresh water so it continually pours out wicked deeds. Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it. All I see are sick and wounded people” (6:6-7). This is, of course, a reflection upon Israel’s covenant failures. For this, God brings His curse against His covenant people. Death is coming to them. It is against this that we hear Jesus speak, when He says “whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him will become a fountain of water springing up to eternal life” (4:14). This eternal life is so much more than a one-way ticket to heaven upon death. Rather, it is an entrance into the covenant people of God, in which one shares in the covenant blessings promised by the God of Israel (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28), and presumably, the resurrection of the righteous at the end of the age. Not long thereafter, the Samaritan woman questions Jesus about whether Jerusalem is the appropriate place to offer worship. Might this be a reflection on what God says about Jerusalem in Jeremiah (a well that pours out wicked deeds rather than fresh water)? Jesus responds by telling her “a time is coming… when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (4:23a). Further on in Jeremiah, we hear the prophet’s lament over that which he speaks, saying “I wish that my head were a well full of water and my eyes were a fountain full of tears! If they were, I could cry day and night for those of my dear people who have been killed” (9:1).
Next, we hear from the prophet Hosea, who spoke to the situation of the northern kingdom of Israel. Referring to the judgment of God that was coming upon that portion of God’s people, Hosea says “Even though he flourishes like a reed plant, a scorching east wind will come, a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert. As a result, his spring will dry up; his well will become dry. That wind will spoil all his delightful foods in the containers in his storehouse” (13:15). Beyond the natural fact that water is necessary for life for all peoples everywhere, wells had been a source of life for Israel, stretching back to Abraham, as a place of marriage and ultimately offspring that continued God’s covenant purposes. Here, God speaks of a well that would become dry. Specifically, this is directed against Samaria (13:16), which is the setting for Jesus well meeting, and it provides added color to Jesus’ talk of “living water” (4:10) and “a fountain of water springing up to eternal life, as well as Jesus’ directing the woman’s attention away from either Samaria or Jerusalem as the center of worship.
In a similar instance, as we round out and wrap up our study, we turn to Micah. Here, we readily identify informative points of contact with the Johannine well story, as Micah speaks of God’s judgment that comes “because of Jacob’s rebellion and the sins of the nation of Israel” (1:15a). Not unlike the woman’s question to Jesus about the proper place of worship, and as we are mindful of Jesus’ response, we hear Micah rhetorically inquire “How has Jacob rebelled, you ask? Samaria epitomizes their rebellion! Where are Judah’s pagan worship centers, you ask? They are right in Jerusalem!” (1:15b). As Micah goes on to describe the tribulation that will come their way, we hear him say “Therefore you will have to say farewell to Moresheth Gath. The residents of Achzib will be as disappointing as a dried up well to the kings of Israel” (1:14).
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