«　WEEK 4　DAY 4　»

　　Num. 21:16-18 … [At] Beer,…the well where Jehovah said to Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water,…Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well! Sing to it! The well, which the leaders sank, which the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter, with their staffs…

　　The rock in Numbers 20:8 and Exodus 17:5-6 typifies Christ crucified (smitten) on the cross by God so that the living water, the consummated Spirit of the processed Triune God, might flow out into us, whereas the well at Beer typifies Christ within us (John 4:11-12, 14). The digging of the well (Num. 21:18) signifies the digging away of the”dirt,” the barriers in our heart—our mind, emotion, will, and conscience—so that the Spirit as the living water may spring up within us and flow freely. (Num. 21:16, footnote 1)

　　The fourth occasion of the children of Israel's drinking is recorded in Numbers 21:16-18. They came to a place called Beer, which means”a well.” When the children of Israel came to Beer, they came to a well. This is a type of Christ being a well in us. He is not only the cleft rock but also a well of water. The Lord Jesus tells us in John 4:14 that if we drink of Him, we will have a fountain or a well of water within us. Christ is the rock outside of us, and He is the well within us. As the rock outside of us, He needs to be struck. Regarding Christ as the well within us, we need to be dug. There is no need for Christ to be struck again, but there is the need for us to be dug so that Christ as the well can spring up within our inward being. There is much dirt in our inward being blocking the flowing of Christ. All this dirt needs to be dug away.

　　Numbers 21:18 says,”The well, which the leaders sank, /Which the nobles of the people dug, / With the scepter, with their staffs.” A scepter is a royal rod in the ruler's hand related to authority. Psalm 23 indicates that the staff or staffs are for guidance (v. 4). Thus, scepters are for authority, and staffs are for guidance. We need to be dug under the Lord's authority and according to His guidance. The leaders and nobles of the people would not normally be the ones to dig the well. The people of the lower class would do the digging. But Numbers 21 tells us that the leaders and nobles of the people of God dug the well at Beer. If we are going to enjoy Christ as the well springing up all the time in the local churches, all the leading ones have to take the lead to dig away the dirt under the Lord's authority and according to His guidance. Then we will have a well springing up with living water all the time in the churches because we have the digging by the leaders and the nobles of the people with the scepter and the staffs. (CWWL, 1969, vol. 2,”The Crucial Revelation of Life in the Scriptures,” pp. 420-421)

　　[We need to] learn how to have the flow of the Spirit within our inward parts. In Numbers 20 the smitten rock, which typifies Christ, …flowed with living water (cf. 1 Cor. 10:4). Then in Numbers 21 the well dug by the people of God sprang up with water. Therefore, in these two chapters of the same book there is first a rock that must be smitten for the living water to flow out and then a well that must be dug for the water to spring up.

　　For believers, it is not a matter of the rock but the well. Christ as the rock has already accomplished His work on the cross, which issued in the water of life flowing into us, but today Christ as the well of living water springing up continuously within us is something else and has much to do with the present process of digging. I believe that…the flow of the spiritual life, or the spring of the living water, is not free within us. There is much dirt within us that must be dug out. You may ask,”What is this dirt?” It is the dirt in our conscience, our emotion, our will, and our mind. Our heart has much dirt, which needs to be dug out, and even in our spirit there is some dirt, which must be dealt with. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 3,”The Economy of God,” pp. 227-228)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1969, vol. 2,”The Crucial Revelation of Life in the Scriptures,” ch. 4