John 7:38

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME, AS THE SCRIPTURE HATH SAID, OUT OF HIS BELLY SHALL FLOW RIVERS OF LIVING WATER. The words, "as the Scripture hath said," refer, of course, to the promise in the latter part of the verse-yet not so much to any particular passage as to the general strain of Messianic prophecy, as ; ; ; Ezekiel 47:1; in most of which passages the idea is that of waters issuing from beneath the Temple, to which our Lord compares Himself and those who believe in Him. The expression "out of his belly" means, out of his inner...

38._He who believeth in me. _He now points out the manner of coming, which is, that we must approach, not with the feet, but by faith; or rather, _to come _is nothing else than _to believe_, at least, if you define accurately the word _believe_; as we have already said that we _believe in _Christ, when we embrace him as he is held out to us in the Gospel, full of power, wisdom, righteousness, purity, life, and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Besides, he now confirms more plainly and fully the promise which we lately mentioned; for he shows that he has a rich abundance to satisfy us to the full. _Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. _The metaphor appears, no doubt, to be somewhat harsh, when he says that _rivers of living water shall flow out of the belly of believers_; but there can be no doubt as to the meaning, that they who believe shall suffer no want of spiritual bl...

37-39 On the last day of the feast of tabernacles, the Jews drew water and poured it out before the Lord. It is supposed that Christ alluded to this. If any man desires to be truly and for ever happy, let him apply to Christ, and be ruled by him. This thirst means strong desires after spiritual blessings, which nothing else can satisfy; so the sanctifying and comforting influences of the Holy Spirit, were intended by the waters which Jesus called on them to come to Him and drink. The comfort flows plentifully and constantly as a river; strong as a stream to bear down the opposition of doubts and fears. There is a fulness in Christ, of grace for grace. The Spirit dwelling and working in believers, is as a fountain of living, running water, out of which plentiful streams flow, cooling and cleansing as water. The miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit we do not expect, but for his more common...

Verse 38. _HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME, AS THE SCRIPTURE HATH SAID_] He who receives me as the Messiah, according to what the Scripture has said concerning me; my person, birth, conduct, preaching, and miracles, being compared with what is written there as ascertaining the true Messiah. _Out of his belly_-from his _heart_ and _soul_; for in his soul shall this Spirit dwell. _LIVING WATER._] As a _true spring_ is ever supplied with water from the _great deep_, with which it has communication, so shall the soul of the genuine believer be supplied with light, life, love, and liberty, and all the other graces of the indwelling Spirit, from the indwelling Christ. The Jews frequently compare the gifts and influences of the Holy Spirit to water in general-to _rain,_ _fountains, wells, rivers_, c., c. The Scriptures abound in this metaphor....

HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME - He that acknowledges me as the Messiah, and trusts in me for salvation. AS THE SCRIPTURE HATH SAID - This is a difficult expression, from the fact that no such expression as follows is to be found literally in the Old Testament. Some have proposed to connect it with what precedes - “He that believeth on me, as the Old Testament has commanded or required” - but to this there are many objections. The natural and obvious meaning here is, doubtless, the true one; and Jesus probably intended to say, not that there was any particular place in the Old Testament that affirmed this in so many words, but that this was the substance of what the Scriptures taught, or this was the spirit of their declarations. Hence, the Syriac translates it in the plural - the Scriptures. Probably there is a reference more particularly to...

EXPOSITION Ch. 7-10. contain the record of the conflict between faith and unbelief in the metropolis. At first the narrative indicates a vast amount of critical inquiry, of unsettled opinion, of angry disappointment and a certain readiness to be convinced on the part of one section or another. The secrecy of the Galilean village is contrasted with the broad arena of the temple courts. "The Jews," or leaders of opinion and authority in Judaea and Jerusalem, who were hostile, are seen in contrast with "the Jews who believed on him" (John 8:31). There are multitudes and multitudes (John 10:12, John 10:30, John 10:31), priests and Pharisees ...

HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME,.... Which explains what is meant by coming to Christ, and drinking; for these acts are no other than for a man to go out of himself to Christ, and live by faith on him, and his grace. To which what follows is a great encouragement; AS THE SCRIPTURE HATH SAID: some refer these words to the preceding clause concerning believing in Christ, which the writings of the Old Testament speak of, as in Deuteronomy 18:15, and the sense is, that he that believes on Christ, the object of faith the Scripture points at, and in him, as that directs and requires; that believes in him as the mighty God, and as the prophet, priest, and King, and as the only foundation of the church, and lives by faith upon him, as just men do, then OUT OF HIS BELLY SHALL FLOW RIVERS OF LIVING WATER, though rather they belong to what follows; and do not de

John 7:14. _Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught._ He was no coward, so he boldly showed himself in the midst of the throng in the temple. John 7:15. _And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?_ Or, «How knoweth he the Scriptures? How has he come to be an instructed man, having never learned of the Rabbis? He has never passed through our schools of learning, so what can he know?» John 7:16. _Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me._ «I am not the inventor of what I say; I am but a messenger, delivering the message of him that sent me.»...

CHAPTER 7 _ 1. My Time is not Yet Come. (John 7:1 .)_ 2. Departure from Galilee; Sought by the Jews. (John 7:10 .) 3. In the Temple Teaching. (John 7:14 .) 4. Opposition to Him. (John 7:30 .) 5. The Indwelling Spirit Promised. (John 7:37 .) 6. The Division Among the People Because of Him. (John 7:40 .) 7. The Returning Officers and the Defense of Nicodemus. (John 7:45 .)

THE LAST DAY OF THE FEAST. The Feast of Tabernacles, the feast of the ingathering at the end of summer, lasted seven days in early times (Deuteronomy 16:13). An eighth day was added later (Leviticus 23:36). The custom of bringing water from Siloah each day and only pouring it out before the altar, is known certainly for later times, but probably existed in Christ's time. It was held to commemorate the gift of water in the wilderness (Exodus 17:6), and was accompanied by the recitation of Isaiah 12:3; John 7:37 f. is best interpreted by taking He that bel