One of the essentials of life, which covers much of the earth’s surface. It is the primary component of the human body. Living things cannot survive more than a few days without it.
In the beginning, water covered the earth. Then God brought up the dry land from the water (Genesis 1:9–10). As Peter said, “By God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water” (2 Peter 3:5).
When God created the garden of Eden, he made a river to water it. This river divided into four rivers. Two of the rivers are identified with certainty, the Euphrates and the Tigris. These two rivers have supported farming in Mesopotamia both in ancient times and today (Genesis 2:10–14). According to the Bible, early in the history of the earth, there was no rain but only a mist that watered the earth (verses 5–6). In the time of Noah, the Lord used a flood (an overwhelming mass and movement of water) to destroy “the world of that time” (2 Peter 3:6). This was punishment for the world's evil.
In the Near East, water is especially importance. Much of the area receives only moderate amounts of rainfall. For example, Egypt only receives two to four inches (or 5.1 to 10.2 centimeters) of rain around Cairo, and at Aswan the average annual rainfall is zero. Egypt relies on the Nile, which gets water from equatorial rains. By contrast, Palestine is well-watered by “the rain from heaven” (Deuteronomy 11:10–11).
Water has many symbolic usages in Scripture. The righteous person is like a tree planted by streams of water (Psalm 1:3; Jeremiah 17:8). The soul's longing for God is like thirsting for water: “My soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water” (Psalm 63:1); “My soul thirsts for You like a parched land.” (143:6).
Jesus fulfills this need and declares, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’” (John 7:37–38). And Jesus said, “The water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life” (4:14). The Spirit of Jesus is that spiritual water that satisfies the thirst of the human spirit (7:38–39).
The word of God is also presented as water by which we are spiritually cleansed. The Lord speaks of the cleansing of the church by “the washing of water with the word” (Ephesians 5:26). And Paul said that people are saved “through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
In the Bible's last chapters, the Lord declares, “To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life” (Revelation 21:6). Even in the description of the heavenly Jerusalem there is mention of water—the river of the water of life: “Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the main street of the city” (22:1–2). Similarly, the Bible's final invitation says: “And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely” (verse 17).