Spring up, O well!

Numbers 21:10–18
Well at Beer-Sheba
The Beer-Sheba well dates back to the Iron Age during the Israelite period. It stood outside the gate to the city and is the deepest well in Israel. Daniel Warner (c) 2004 The Virtual Bible

The Israelites traveled next to Oboth and camped there. Then they went on to Iye-abarim, in the wilderness on the eastern border of Moab. From there they traveled to the valley of Zered Brook and set up camp. Then they moved out and camped on the far side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness adjacent to the territory of the Amorites. The Arnon is the boundary line between the Moabites and the Amorites. For this reason The Book of the Wars of the LORD speaks of “the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the ravines of the Arnon River, and the ravines that extend as far as the settlement of Ar on the border of Moab.”
From there the Israelites traveled to Beer, which is the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Assemble the people, and I will give them water.” There the Israelites sang this song:

“Spring up, O well!
Yes, sing its praises!
Sing of this well,
which princes dug,
which great leaders hollowed out
with their scepters and staffs.”

If the ancients sang of a well in the sand, how much more fitting is it to sing of Jesus’s Spirit that springs up in our souls (John 7:37–39), and of drinking of Christ (1 Cor 10:4) so that we never thirst again (John 4:10–15).

Author: Dale A. Brueggemann

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