Water itself makes up one of the world’s greatest mysteries. Click here to watch an amazing video regarding just one of those mysteries. Now remember the very beginning of God’s revelation to men:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

What are these waters mentioned in Genesis 1, verse 2? The first part of the verse calls these waters by a different name, “the deep.” So, what is the “deep?” The word “deep” comes from the Hebrew word pronounced “teh-home” and according to Strong’s means, “an abyss (as a surging mass of water), especially the deep (the main sea or the subterranean water-supply).” If we review the other occurrences of the word “teh-home” in the Old Testament we see that it almost always means a great mass of water. Then, concerning the second day of creation, we read,

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.  (Genesis 1:6-8)

Various explanations exist concerning this passage, the most plausible in my mind being that before God sent the rains that caused the Flood a great “canopy” existed around the world and watered the plants daily with a type of dew. The point I want to make here, however, is that water played an extremely significant role in the creation of the world. In fact, water itself seemed so significant in God’s mind that his very first miracle concerned water. Consider,

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.  When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. (John 2:1-10)

So, on the first day the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. On the second day God separated the waters, keeping some water on earth and the rest of the water in heaven. Now, John says that on “the third day” God turned water into wine and that this was the first of his miracles. What does this miracle mean?

We understand through Scripture that with the LORD a day is as a thousand years. And we remember that the prophet Hosea said,

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. (Hosea 6:1-3)

I believe that Hosea speaks of the first resurrection of God’s faithful people here.  He says that this great event, called “the rapture” by many, will occur on the prophetic third day after Jesus Christ’s life here on earth.  Interpreting prophetically, then, this means that the first resurrection will happen some time during the third thousand year period of time after Jesus’ earthly life. This describes the day we live in now. The Bible calls this thousand year period of time “the Day of the LORD.” I also believe that this is the day that John 2 prophetically looks to and that Jesus’ first miracle will be fulfilled on this third day, which means that it will be fulfilled soon. So, what does the miracle itself really mean?

Recall that Jesus never said anything except by parable according to Mark 4:34. John taught us in the first chapter of his Gospel that Jesus was the Word made flesh. Other prophets make it clear that the Bible is the written Word of God. Every story in the Bible then, although historically true, actually conveys one or more of Christ’s parables. This is also true of the story of Jesus’ first miracle in John 2.

Man was created on the sixth day.  666 is the number of man. He is man, man, man, and never God, never 7. So, the six waterpots represent men, men who consent to be filled with water. According to Ephesians 5:26 the water is the water of the word. Since Jesus is the Word and since Jesus is the Water of Life, these men consent to being filled with Jesus, to becoming one with him. At the beginning of the miracle we thus see a picture (parable) of men who have allowed the water of life to fill them.

This is also the primary meaning of the parable of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet in John 13. Jesus did not wash their feet because they were unclean; rather he said to them, “you are clean.” (John 13:10) Still, Jesus said to Peter, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” [vs. 8] The disciples, except for Judas, were clean because they believed in Jesus. But, they were not yet overcomers. They had not yet been washed by the Word. Jesus thus washed their feet in order to show them that they needed to be washed by the Word, just as Paul taught in Ephesians 5:26. The six waterpots prophetically indicate God’s overcomers who allow Jesus to wash their feet, to wash them with his Word.

The next picture shows the water being used by men, but now it is no longer water; the water has become wine! According to Matthew 26:27-29 the wine represents the blood of Jesus. This picture indicates the glorification of God’s overcomers. They have now been made totally like him; they have become one with him; his blood has become their blood.

And finally we see that this wine is better even than the wine given at first. This means that the ministry of the overcomers far exceeds the ministry of Pentecost. Pentecost represents the “former rain,” the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit which has now all but come to its end. The “latter rain” represents the ministry of the overcomers foreseen by Hosea in the Scripture quoted above that begins on the third day. When the people of this world finally see this ministry, then they will in unison proclaim, “you have kept the good wine until now!”

Notice that this miracle also corresponds to God’s miracle of creation done on the second day when he separated the waters. One group of water remained on earth; God moved the other to heaven. This shows us that “the water” in Genesis 1:1-2 typifies people. The separation of the waters in Genesis 1:6-8 typifies the separation of the sheep and the goats that we see in Matthew 25:31-46.  At the time of the first resurrection the sheep (overcomers) will receive their glorified bodies filled with Christ’s blood (the water turned to wine) and will be able to freely move between heaven and earth. These are the waters separated unto heaven. On the other hand, the water separated unto earth represents the goats, those who failed to overcome.  They will have their part in what the Bible calls “the Lake of Fire.” This is because they remain on earth and will be subject to the rod of iron (legal jurisdiction) which the overcomers will wield. The overcomers through mercy and truth will teach them how, finally, to obey God.

Thus we see the picture Jesus brings to men as “the Water of Life.”