“Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.” Whose belly? — an explanation of John 7:38.

“Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.” Whose belly? — an explanation of John 7:38.

 

John 7:38 (NKJV)

38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

 

The King James Version renders it as “belly” instead of “heart.” It simply refers to a source or inward parts. Now, to understand what Jesus is saying here, you must backtrack a bit to see what came before. In Bible interpretation, we have SEVERAL laws. One of which is the law of context. In order to understand the context, you must first observe the antecedent text (what came before the verse) and the succedent text (what came after).

 

The antecedent text

 

John 7:38 (NKJV)

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. 33 Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

35 Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

 

Here we see Jesus converse with the Pharisees and the chief priests.He says something quite salient. He will go to Him who sent Him and they will seek Him and not find Him. Wee know CLEARLY that Jesus is referring to His death, His burial, His Resurrection and consequently His ascension. When this happens they will seek Him and not find Him.ButBut of course, the Jews did not understand what He meant.Now, follow closely.

 

37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.

 

This is a cry for salvation.”Water” in Scripture is always used to describe the salvation experience.

 

1 Corinthians 6:11 (NKJV)

11 And such were some of you. But you were WASHED, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

 

Titus 3:3-7 (NKJV)

3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, THROUGH THE WASHING OF REGENERATION AND RENEWING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 

John 3:5 (NKJV)

5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

 

Applying Granville Sharp’s TSKS rule, we know that “and” here (“kai” in the Greek) can be better understood as an explanatory conjunction. It would be better read “water THAT IS the Spirit.” The word “and” is not always a joining conjunction in the Greek. It could also carry an explanatory effect. Further examples of the application of the TSKS rule can be seen in Ephesians 1:3

 

3 Blessed be the God AND Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

 

The God WHO IS the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s speaking of the same entity

 

So in John 3:5, water is used  to describe the New Birth.

 

Ezekiel 36:25-27 (NKJV)

25 Then I will sprinkle CLEAN WATER on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

 

Again, water is used. This is in reference to salvation (the giving of the Spirit)

 

Also in John 4:10

10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you LIVING WATER.”

 

So we see enough corroborative evidence in Scripture that “water” is used to describe the salvation experience. John 7:37 then becomes clear;

 

37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.

 

When Jesus says to come to Him to drink, He is actually making a call for salvation.Now, to the text under examination

 

John 7:38 (NKJV)

38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

 

If “water” is used figuratively for the salvation and Spirit which the Lord would give, then Jesus was talking about Himself! The waters would flow out of His heart (“belly”) to all who believe. The Old Testament prophesied concerning this.

 

Isaiah 12:3 (NKJV)

3 Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

 

Notice, He is the One giving the water. The rivers of living water are flowing out of HIS belly.

 

Isaiah 44:3 (NKJV)

3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,

And floods on the dry ground;

I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,

And My blessing on your offspring;

 

He is the One doing the pouring.

 

Isaiah 55:1 (NKJV)

55 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts,

Come to the waters;

And you who have no money,

Come, buy and eat.

Yes, come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without price.

 

He is the “water.” He is the One doing the giving. Jeremiah 2:13 bears this out much clearly.

 

Jeremiah 2:13 (NKJV)

13 “For My people have committed two evils:

They have forsaken Me, THE FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATERS, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

 

The fountain of living waters is Jesus Christ. SoSo, the “belly” in John 7:38 refers to Christ’s. Out of Him would salvation and the Spirit spring forth!

 

The succedent text seals this

 

John 7:39 (NKJV)

39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

 

Do you see that? He spoke concerning the Spirit that those who believe would receive. This (the giving of the Spirit) would happen when He was glorified. Peter, explaining the events of the Day of Pentecost, in Acts 2:33 says

 

33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

 

Jesus HAS been exalted, now He HAS poured out the Spirit on all whom believe.

 

© Josh Banks Ministries. 2017.