Jesus answered and said unto her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give me to drink; you would have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman says unto him, Sir you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep: from where then have you that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from there himself, and his children and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman said unto him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus said unto her, Go, call your husband, and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, you have well said, I have no husband: for you have had five husbands; and he who you now have is not your husband: in that said you truly. The woman said unto him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him spirit and in truth. The woman said unto him, I know that Messiah come, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus said unto her, I that speak unto you am he. And upon this came his disciples, and marveled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What do you seek? Or, Why do you  talk with her? The woman then left her water pot, and went her way into the city and said to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

Now Mishpochah, today we’ve hit the time warp and flash to centuries ahead of the time of the books of the Kings and early Israel history to this scene in Samaria at Jacob’s well. Messiah has intended to go to Galilee but makes this stop to fulfill the destiny of a lost Samaritan woman. That schism that we looked at all this past week had broken down any communication between the old relatives of the tribe of Judah and the remainder of the ten northern tribes who had been assimilated into the nations around them. If anybody had dared to utter the fact that Samaritans were actually long lost relatives, any sincere Jewish parent or teacher would have sternly redirected their child or student regarding their statement, despite its truth. And yet, Messiah had a conversation with this woman that seems to stress all the things in which the Jews and Samaritans had in common! Both groups reverenced the patriarchs and both groups waited for the Messiah who had been promised.

The woman put her finger on exactly what the biggest item of contention was between the two factions. "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." It is as if Messiah cut through the entire preamble. Where men worship is not the issue! It is HOW men worship that is paramount! Was Messiah arguing theology with this woman? Perhaps He was.

"Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews." Messiah went to the very particular and personal issues of this woman to the issues that were general. Of course the Samaritans did not know what they worshiped. Thanks to Jeroboam setting up the two calves in the opposite ends of his reigning territory, Samaritans worshiped the name of Yahweh but the image was a calf like the Egyptians worshipped! Jeroboam had led them down a path of confusion and heresy. He had even gone so far as to institute a counterfeit priesthood and counterfeit feast days. "But salvation is of the Jews" Messiah uttered. Indeed! The woman countered and said that when Messiah comes, "He’ll settle the entire dispute." Messiah in as much replied, "I am the Messiah and I just settled the dispute." In one instant, the woman received the wondrous revelation that this man was indeed Messiah! This story could almost be comical in that the disciples had arrived to see the last of this conversation and they were shocked that the Master was speaking to a Samaritan as well, but they were all too scared to say a word to question it or censor it! Messiah was giving out ‘Primo’ information here and they missed it because of their shock of dwelling on the issue of Jew-Samaritan which they, as Jews, had been taught their whole lives. I can hear their fathers now, saying to them something like this, "Son, there is us and there is them…"

The result of this conversation between Messiah and the Samaritan woman was that she turned from the well, leaving her water pot and forgetting what she had come for in the first place, she embarked upon a tour of witness. There is no more that is said about her in Scripture. I would like to think that she went about witnessing that first day and then embarked upon a mission to discover the roots of her faith and went on to rightly divide the Spirit and Truth from the counterfeit that she’d always known and been taught. I have always loved, and make no apology for happy endings.

Probably the most astounding thing I’ve seen come out of this story this week is that it is a mirror image of Gentile and Jews in our day. The very fact that we are studying Torah for these three plus years now is because at some point in our religious walk, we met the true Savior whom we thought was "Jesus", but His name was really Yeshua because He was a Jew and bore a Hebrew name. Like the woman at the well, we perceived His true identity as Messiah and that He was that Salvation that was "from the Jews". And like the woman at the well who discovered in that short time that all she had been taught was subject to serious questioning, at some point in our own experience we began to question and learn that our religious experience was also lacking and also had some of its own ‘counterfeits’. At some point in our religious experience, did we not also seek for that water which would satisfy us and fill us? We became "thirsty" for the things of God—those deeper things of God.

I remember a dream that I had many years ago of being inside my church and climbing over pews and searching. In my right hand I held a very large water glass and it was empty. In the dream I was ravenous for thirst and searched everywhere amongst the pews for water which would satisfy that thirst. There were some people there but they couldn’t tell me where I could find this water, nor did they seem a bit concerned about this strange woman with an empty glass in her hand literally climbing over pews. Looking back on it now, that dream was very prophetic, for indeed I did search for a religious experience that went far deeper and I just couldn’t find it "in church", and the people "in church" could tell me nothing that helped me. It was not until I surrendered to that beacon call to "all things Jewish" (which in turn led to all things Biblical) and started the search outside the "mainline" institution that I became reintroduced to the Messiah—my salvation, who was of "of the Jews" that my spiritual journey found its core and fulfillment. Then I met a man who had witnessed the revival at Brownsville, who then introduced me to Pastor Gaylen and the rest is history.

When I first started this little side-study on the origin of the hatred between Jew and Samaritan I never expected it to go the way it has! While there is the satisfaction of discovery in accomplishing what I had set out to do, there is also the absolute "wonder" looking back and seeing that He was directing this whole week to suit His purposes and glorify His name. I never intended that John chapter four should strike the comparisons that it did. Nor did I anticipate the surprise when I discovered that, on the four hour drive to Seder in Toronto I would hear the complete seminar on tape that Monte Judah and Eddie Chumney led at The Anchor, and it would line up in the direction of my own efforts in the Torah Bites this past week. Those of you who were able to attend that seminar in person know of which I speak. I have expressed surprise at times when I’ve been able to look back and see that God "set me up!" This is another of those times and I am so glad for it! As I worship this Shabbat I am so grateful for His marvelous and inscrutable ways. In some absolutely amazing ways God has confirmed also this past week, issues of the Two House theology that I had never been able to understand before, but that will be another Bible study.

While I learned and rejoiced that the voices of two witnesses is a Torah principle this past week, I rejoice that yesterday Pastor Gaylen went as led by God and kept his remarks within the framework of the Torah Bite. Some of those reading may not have had time or inclination to move over to the web site to view those remarks and would have missed out on a particularly challenging closure that fit right into the copy for today. One of the biggest hurtles to overcome for the Samaritan woman was her challenge to Samaritan tradition! As Pastor Gaylen stated yesterday, Messiah challenged those traditions (of His own people) of the man-made rules that sprang up around God’s original and precious instructions. If his words may have struck a nerve and someone is unsettled, don’t get angry—get even. If there are any who doubt that the whole notion of "Easter" originated specifically for the goddess "Ishtar" then go and challenge the tradition and return to us with the results of your investigation. Just don’t be surprised if your investigation changes your life forever. The rest of the world has poked fun at Israel because of their fanatic following to their "Tradition!" and yet, we need only look to our own situation and realize that we are just as fanatic about holding our own "Tradition!" even though it may have no Biblical basis whatsoever. May God enlighten us and give us grace and tact and compassion in dealing with each other over these matters which challenge the very structure of our spiritual lives in the past!

Tomorrow we return to the regular format of Torah Bite offerings and we shall investigate the remainder of the book of Leviticus. And the adventure will continue.

"Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to you: your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then you shall see, and flow together, and your heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto you." Isaiah 60:1-5 (KJV)

And the adventure continues even today!  Stay Tuned!