Maqor: Fountain

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Everyone gets thirsty. In fact, we all need to drink regularly or we place ourselves at risk of dying. Why would anyone neglect their health by refusing water? More importantly, do we in similar fashion neglect and forsake our spiritual needs as well? Is our spiritual health at risk? Do the scriptures draw this parallel for us?

In ancient Israel, God’s people displayed the devastating habit of turning repeatedly from the One True God to the idols and graven images of the pagan cultures that surrounded them. Not wanting this to occur, the LORD raised one prophet after another each giving a specific warning: look only to Him or suffer judgement.

Zechariah was one of those prophets that cautioned Israel concerning her idolatry. But he went further and spoke of a future time in which God’s people would embrace the Messiah that they would first reject. He prophesied that there would come a day in which the LORD would destroy the idols in the land and provide a means of cleansing for sin.

In Chapter 13 verse 1, Zechariah wrote this:

“In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.”

 The word he uses for fountain is the Hebrew word Maqor and means a fountain or a spring and figuratively can be used to describe happiness or wisdom. This is not water you produce on your own, it comes to you spontaneously and continuously. What is Zechariah telling us? What is the significance of the Maqor that will appear when God’s people welcome their Messiah?

To help explain the significance of this event, we should explore the content of the Ancient Hebrew Pictograms for each of the letters in Maqor. Maqor is spelled Mem Qoof Vav Reysh.

Mem is the picture of waters and can be waters of destruction like a tsunami or gentle waters like a spring in the desert . It can refer to the living waters or the Word of God that brings life.

Qoof  is the picture of the back of the head     and means behind, the least, or the last.

Vav  is the picture of the wooden hook or a metal nail            and means to fasten or secure two things together that are separated from one another.

Reysh     is the picture of the head    and means the master, the leader, or the prince.

What can we glean from the content of these four letters?

First, remember that the Vav connects things that precede it with those that follow it.

What precedes the Vav? It is preceded by Mem and Qoof which are the least or the last and the Word of God that brings life.

Who are the least? These are those of God’s people that have fallen into idolatry and sin and have rejected the LORD. Amazingly, they will receive something they do not deserve. They will be offered the Living Waters: the word of God that brings life.

And with whom are they connected? They are connected to the Prince who they once rejected but whom they have now received. Messiah the Prince is the Living Waters.

Is this the only place this idea is found, or does another prophet confirm this principle? In the book of Jeremiah Chapter 2 verse 13 we find this:

“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

 The fountain of which Jeremiah speaks is Messiah the Prince who will be rejected by His people at His first advent. Remember, a fountain comes on its own to you. Messiah came to His people not because of the merits of His people, but rather because they were lacking merit and were in desperate need of salvation.

Jeremiah tells us the second evil was that the people tried to produce and hold the water of life on their own. But he explains that all their efforts produced only brokenness. They could not force the fountain to provide for their needs. But there is one more essential component to add to this.

The Apostle John recorded a teaching that was given by Jesus to the crowds in Jerusalem at the Temple on the last day of the Feast of Booths. In John Chapter 7 verses 37 and 38 Jesus taught this:

“If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

 The Maqor or fountain does no one any good unless they drink. Jesus, the Messiah, has come and offered Himself for the sins of all people. He is the Living Water that brings life. But no one can benefit from His offer unless they receive Him and drink the Living Waters.

In Psalm 36, David lifts praises to God for His attributes and His work in providing salvation for mankind. In Verses 8 and 9 David again reminds us that God provided the Maqor of life for us:

” They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.”

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  1. Diana says:

    Love this site

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