Heaven Bound

  Friday October 9, NASA begins the ambitious project of bombarding the moon in search of water.  Firing a missile at twice the speed of a bullet, they hope to blast a hole in the moon at its south pole in an effort to find ice deposits  for water.  They are hoping, if water is found,  the burden of carrying supplies in to space for  future projects would be eased.  The timing of these kinds of things fascinates me, especially given the time period we are living in.  How fitting is it, that this quest for water on the moon, falls on the last and greatest day of the feast of Tabernacles, which has everything to do with water. 

In the Bible, the moon is important, particularly the new moon, (Rosh Chodesh as it is known in Hebrew) , as each biblical  feast, as well as biblical month begins with a new moon.    In the book of Genesis, God establishes the sun and the moon as signs in the heavens for appointed times and for seasons.  Less seasons in the sense of fall, winter, spring and summer, as we might think of them and more in the sense of God’s appointed time for his particular sabbaths and feasts. (Leviticus 23)   Valerie Moody in her book, The Feasts of Adonai, states,  “celebrating the new moon honors God as the creator of time.”    When you think about it this way, the sun and moon are really not necessary for giving us light, they serve a much greater purpose, in fact, the book of Revelation  tells us that some day, we will have no need for their light at all,  for the glory of God will be all the light we’ll need!

On the last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood in the temple and cried out in a loud voice “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!”  John 7:37.    The timing of these words was incredibly important, because they were spoken just as the water was being poured out  by the priest during the water ceremony.  Can you imagine, the great crowds at the temple watching the priestly procession carrying the water up from the Pool of Siloam as they sang  the 118th Psalm.  Then as the Priest prepares to pour the water, a hushed silence, when suddenly, a voice rings out!   The voice of one calling his people to salvation!    The voice of one, calling them to the living water, water that only he could provide.   The water, you see,  poured out on the altar  was symbolic of  the water that came  forth from the rock at Mount Sinai.  It was generally understood that the water represented a redeemer who would come one day to bring salvation.  Therefore, when Jesus cried out these words at this precise time,   it was an unmistakable claim to be the one whom they were looking for. 

I  don’t know if they will find water on the moon this Friday.  It really doesn’t matter much to me.  I see it quite symbolically, as an attempt by man to look for water(spiritually speaking)  everywhere, except right in front of him.  So as the Feast of Tabernacles concludes this Friday October 9, I will be reminded that as NASA blasts the moon in search of water, I will be greatful to the one who came so long ago to give us living water, the only water we truly need –  we need search no further.