The Danger of Stagnant Water

December 7, 2025

               Today, our Pastor talked about Jesus being our Bethlehem Well and spoke about the fact that, if we’re to keep the living water, that Jesus provides, to ourselves, then we will become stagnant. I would like to expand on that thought in this article, as I think a deep dive and study of this particular topic is more than necessary; we’re going to talk about stagnation.

  In Jeremiah 2:13, it states that ‘They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and dug out cisterns… that hold no water;’ stagnant cisterns always represent self-dependence, self-containment, and spiritual rot. Ezekial 47:8-11 explains that everywhere the river flows equal life and where it stops equals salty, stagnant, death; Leviticus 11:36 says that running water equals clean and standing water equals death. Even today, tropical temperatures in still water are dangerous and a host to a slew of diseases, some of which can cause sever illness or death.

The conclusion here is clear: if you try to keep it: joy, vitality and effectiveness all die.

            Jesus taught in John 7:38 that ‘Rivers of living water will flow out from his belly.’ So, what is the big point I’m trying to make here? It’s that if we hoard the living water that’s been given to us (the Gospel and Good news of Salvation freely given to all that would come), then we can’t say that we’re truly following Jesus. I say this because Jesus calls all to the duty of personal witness and evangelism to all others, in his name, in order to spread the gospel throughout the world. Jesus also says in John 8:31 that if we remain in the process of abiding in his word then we are truly our disciples. Am I implying that if we get out of it in one area we lose our salvation? That’s not for me to say, but the word does state that if we don’t remain in the process of following Christ and begin to be in the process of continually following some other path then we absolutely can. This isn’t a statement I’m making up; this is backed up in Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who keeps on saying to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but only the one who remains in the process of doing the will of My Father who is in the heavens.”

            We aren’t flawless beings, everyone knows that, but Jesus calls us to obedience in our imperfection and asks that all that we do is done out of love. Let us all examine ourselves today and determine if we are doing all that we can for God instead of always asking what he can do for us and let us closely watch what process we are continuously in today as well. God loves us so much, but that loves isn’t just meant to come to us, it’s meant to go through us.

God Bless You all!

At the Appalachian Post, all Faith & Life analysis follows a strict Sola Scriptura method grounded in the earliest manuscript evidence, the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages, and the historical context in which each passage was written. We allow Scripture to interpret Scripture, avoid denominational bias, and base every conclusion solely on what the biblical text itself says as preserved in sources such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint Greek, and early New Testament manuscripts. Our aim is to present God’s Word faithfully, using original-language grammar, historical background, and manuscript accuracy, without personal opinion or modern cultural interpretation, so readers encounter Scripture as it was given, preserved, and understood by the earliest believers.

PRIMARY LEXICAL & LINGUISTIC SOURCES

• Brown–Driver–Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB)
• HALOT: Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament
• BDAG: Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament
• TDNT: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Kittel, Friedrich, Bromiley)
• Louw–Nida Greek Lexical Domains
• Mounce Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament
• Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek
• A.T. Robertson, Grammar of the Greek New Testament
• Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics

BIBLICAL BACKGROUND, CULTURAL, GEOGRAPHICAL & ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES

• IVP Bible Background Commentary (OT & NT)
• Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
• Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
• New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible
• The Archaeology of the Land of the Bible — Aharoni & Avi-Yonah
• Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) — articles on cisterns, mikva’ot, Second Temple water supply
• Jerusalem Perspective — historical analyses on wells, rabbinic discipleship
• Tyndale Illustrated Bible Dictionary
• Zondervan Atlas of the Bible

JEWISH SECOND TEMPLE & ANCIENT MANUSCRIPT SOURCES

• Dead Sea Scrolls (esp. 1QS / Community Rule — “living water” cleansing imagery)
• Mishnah Mikva’ot — halakhic definitions of “living water”
• Mishnah Sotah, Sanhedrin — discipleship and rabbinic obedience structures
• Josephus, Antiquities
• Josephus, The Jewish War
• Philo of Alexandria — flowing water imagery for divine wisdom
• Ben Sira / Sirach — Jewish wisdom background on obedience and covenant fidelity

EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITINGS (PRE-AUGUSTINE, HISTORICAL CONTEXT ONLY)

(No soteriological polemics, just historical exegesis and water/discipleship practices)

• Didache (esp. ch. 7) — baptism in “living water”
• Justin Martyr, First Apology — Christian moral transformation
• Irenaeus, Against Heresies — early church warnings about false disciples
• Tertullian, On Baptism — theological symbolism of water
• Tertullian, On Modesty — practical holiness and repentance
• Origen, Commentary on Matthew — commentary on discipleship & teaching
• Clement of Alexandria, Stromata — practical discipleship instruction

JEWISH RABBINIC & DISCIPLESHIP BACKGROUND

• Shaye J.D. Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah — rabbinic discipleship structure
• David Flusser, Judaism and the Origins of Christianity — historical model of “following” a rabbi
• Brad Young, Jesus the Jewish Theologian — Jewish context of Jesus’ teaching methods
• Geza Vermes, Jesus the Jew — rabbinic setting of Jesus’ discipleship calls
• Joachim Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus — wells, water, and purity customs

WATER SYMBOLISM, PURITY, AND LITURGICAL BACKGROUND

• Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus (Anchor Yale Commentary) — water, purity, living vs stagnant water
• Lawrence Schiffman, From Text to Tradition — Second Temple purity practices
• Moshe Weinfeld, scholarly articles on water in Ancient Israelite religion
• James Charlesworth, journal studies on ritual baths and purification
• Rachel Hachlili, Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology — mikva’ot and water system findings

MATTHEW 7:21–23 (“LORD, LORD”) SPECIFIC COMMENTARIES

• Craig Blomberg, Matthew (NAC Commentary)
• R.T. France, Matthew (NICNT)
• Ulrich Luz, Matthew (Hermeneia Commentary)
• Donald Hagner, Matthew (WBC Commentary)
• David Turner, Matthew (BECNT)
• Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew
• Jonathan Pennington, Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing