Afiq: STREAMS of Living Water

BROOKS/STREAMS: aphiq, Masculine noun (Strong’s 650).

Root: אָפִיק

Sounds like: aw-feek

Psalm 42:1-2

As the deer pants for the water brooks [a’fiqey mayim אֲפִֽיקֵי־מָ֑יִם], so my soul pants for You, God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?

We have been taking some time to break down some of the words in Psalm 42. Today we’re going to look at the Hebrew word, afiq, which has been translated as brooks/streams/ravines/channels. 

Growing up, one of my favourite worship songs was “As the deer”. It started off like this:

As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs after You

You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship You

You alone are my Strength, my Shield

To You alone will my spirit yield

You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship You

The first line of that song does capture the essence of Psalm 42, but (based on last week’s posting) we now know “pants for” and “longs after” are the same words in Hebrew. The song tells us that the deer panted “for the water”, but that was not the full story.  In the original Hebrew the deer panted for the water brooks.

The deer in this poem weren’t just panting for the water, they were panting for the water source. And who was (and is) the source of the water? YHWH. 

Streams are not Reliable, but YHWH is!

Streams were satisfying sources of drinkable water, necessary for human existence.

We often think of water as being the source of life. It is not the source, but it is the key ingredient to survival for a creature of the earth. It was YHWH who provided the water and it was YHWH who was, and is, the source of life. 

Job made it clear that friends were like streams… they sometimes drained away, turned to ice, dried up, or disappeared; they weren’t reliable. YHWH, on the other hand,  was always reliable:

Job 6:14-17

[Job:] “For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; so that he does not abandon the fear of the Almighty. My brothers have acted deceitfully like a wadi, like the torrents [streams: ka-a’fiq כַּאֲפִ֖יק] of wadis which drain away, which are darkened because of ice, and into which the snow melts. When they dry up, they vanish; when it is hot, they disappear from their place.”

Stream Similies & Metaphors

Job’s announcement, that friends were like unreliable streams, was a similie. The author of the Book of Job primarily used streams in the context of either similes or metaphors. 

For example, in the book YHWH described His grandest and most terrifying creatures using the word afiq. The Behemoth’s bones were like streams of bronze (Job 40:15-18) and the Leviathan had a stream of scales (Job 41:13-25)

And, of course, the book of Job wasn’t the only book to use stream metaphors or similies. The poet who wrote Psalm 126 asked YHWH to restore their fortunes like the streams in the south… abundant and overflowing:

Psalm 126:3-5

YHWH has done great things for us; we are joyful. Restore our fortunes, YHWH, as the streams [ka-a’fiqim כַּאֲפִיקִ֥ים] in the South. Those who sow in tears shall harvest with joyful shouting.

The heavily metaphoric Song of Songs described the the Groom’s eyes with stream imagery. The Bride said of her beloved, “His eyes are like doves beside streams of water [a’fiqey mayim אֲפִ֣יקֵי מָ֑יִם] , bathed in milk, and perched in their setting” (Songs 5:12).

Isaiah, as Isaiah was wont to do, took the metaphor to a whole new level. He  used the word streams metaphorically to describe the power of the king of Assyria:

Isaiah 8:5-8

Again YHWH spoke to me further, saying,

“Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah; now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates River, that is, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and it will rise over all its channels [a’fiqaw אֲפִיקָ֔יו] and go over all its banks. Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, it will reach as far as the neck; and the spread of its wings will fill the expanse of your land, Immanuel.”

The Hebrew people rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah. The Shiloah (pronounced Sh’loe’akh) Pool was Jerusalem’s water reservoir which was fed by the Gihon Spring. The people rejected their life-source. Instead, they rejoiced in  Rezin and the son of Remaliah. This begs the question, who were Rezin and the son of Remaliah?

Rezin was the king of Syria, and the son of Remaliah was Pekah, king of Israel. So the Northern tribes of Israel and their neighbour Syria rejected Judah, where YHWH, the life-source of all Creation, held residence. And so YHWH boldly announced that Assyria would be like a forceful flood and overtake Israel and Syria. The streams would rise and they would fall.

From Dry Streams to Abundant Water

Israel and Syria would, indeed, fall to the powerhouse of Assyria, whilst Judah survived the onslaught. But two centuries later, Judah would fall to Babylon, because they had turned away from YHWH. The turned their backs on the source of living water and the streams dried up.

When the Hebrew people rejected their heavenly Father, YHWH respected their decisions and removed His protection from them. They didn’t want Him; they wouldn’t have Him.  It was a fatal decision.

The prophet Joel lamented over Israel’s rebellion and the resulting desolation. He reflected on the predicament of his fellow humans and spoke of both water-streams and panting animals (very similar to Psalm 42):

Joel 1:17-20

The seeds have dried up under their shovels; the storehouses have become desolate, the grain silos are ruined, because the grain has dried up.

How the animals have groaned! The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep have suffered.

To You, YHWH, I cry out; for fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned up all the trees of the field. Even the animals of the field pant for You; for the stream beds of water [a’fiqey mayim אֲפִ֣יקֵי מָ֔יִם] are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Like the deer of Psalm 42,  Joel spoke of the animals panting in the fields because the water streams had dried up. They were in a desperate state and only YHWH could save them. And He would! Joel prophesied that the dried up brooks would, one day, overflow with water and Judah would be saved:

Joel 3:18-20

And on that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the brooks [a’fiqey אֲפִיקֵ֥י] of Judah will flow with water [mayim]; and a spring will go out from the house of YHWH and water the Valley of Shittim.

Egypt will become a wasteland, and Edom will become a desolate wilderness, because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, in whose land they have shed innocent blood. But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem for all generations.”

The prophet Ezekiel shared a similar vision. He prophesied against Egypt and Edom (as Joel also did).

According to Ezekiel’s vision, Egypt was like a captured beast, laying on the mountain side with its blood flowing into the streams (the ravines will be full of you) before being extinguished to nothingness (Ezekiel 32:2-8)

The Edomites in the area of Mount Seir had celebrated the fact that the people of Judah had been defeated by the Babylonians and they happily aimed to swoop in and take over the land, but YHWH would have none of it. He cursed them saying that the dead would fall on their hills, valleys, and streams (Ezekiel 35:1-9). Then YHWH called on Ezekiel to prophesy to the same mountains, hills, and streams:

Ezekiel 36:6a, 8-11

“Therefore prophesy in regard to the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines (streams) [la-a’fiqim לָאֲפִיקִ֣ים] and to the valleys, “This is what the Lord YHWH says: …‘But as for you, mountains of Israel, you will grow your branches and bear fruit for My people Israel; for they are about to come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. And I will multiply people on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the ruins will be rebuilt. I will multiply on you people and animals, and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will populate you as you were previously, and treat you better than at the beginning. Then you will know that I Am YHWH.’”

Israel, once destroyed and abandoned, would not fall. They would rise again. Unlike Egypt and Edom, Israel would return. They would go from dry streams to abundant water. They would sprout, grow, bear fruit, and be under YHWH’s protection. He would be their Great Shepherd, leading them to safe pasture and clear life-giving water:

Ezekiel 34:11-16a

For the Lord YHWH says this: “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them. As a shepherd cares for his flock on a day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams [ba-a’fiqim בָּאֲפִיקִ֕ים], and in all the inhabited places of the land. I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing place will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down in a good grazing place and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I Myself will feed My flock and I Myself will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord YHWH. “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick.”

Yeshua and the Stream of the Spirit

The beautiful image of YHWH caring for His sheep was also reflected by Yeshua (Jesus):

John 10:11-15

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock. He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

Yeshua also said He was the Living Water. To the woman at the well, Yeshua said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

In the seventh chapter of the Gospel of John, Yeshua was in Jerusalem to celebrate one of the high Feasts:

John 7:37-39

On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams [Greek: potamoi] of living water will flow from within him.’ ” He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

This particular feast was referenced earlier as the Feast of Booths (John 7:2) which, incidentally, is occurring right now. The Feast of Booths began on Friday at sundown and it will last for seven days. Yeshua chose this Feast to speak of the Spirit being like flowing water. He added to the catalogue of Biblical stream metaphors. This time the Stream of Living Water was the Spirit that thrived in all who put their faith in YHWH. The Spirit flows through us and connects us with the Father and the Son, awaiting us in Heaven. 

Streams were a necessary component to survival, but as Job pointed out they weren’t always reliable. To grow and flourish we need a reliable water source. Yeshua provided that source when He asked for the Father to give us a Helper:

John 14:16-19

[Jesus:] “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. After a little while, the world no longer is going to see Me, but you are going to see Me; because I live, you also will live.”

YHWH is the source to life everlasting! We are nourished by the Spirit and filled to the brim with streams of Living Water which will never dry up. It is a blessing of abundance, available to every thirsty soul. In Psalm 42 David cried out,  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 

Is this also your desire? Do you deeply do you long for YHWH? Do you want to drink from the well of eternal living and abundant life? YHWH has extended His hand, and like a good shepherd He’s happy to guide you to the stream. But, little lamb, it’s up to you to take a drink.

Next week: Revisiting Thanksgiving