What a week and weekend it’s been. My church’s annual Prayer
Conference has just ended and what a conference it was!
The word I heard was rich and truly life changing. With that said
I want to share one of the messages that resonated within me.
There were a few that stood out so I thought this was where I
should start from.
The speaker was a Hebrew scholar and he shared a story we all
know. He spoke about the woman Jesus met at the well, a story
we are all acquainted with I hope! (John 4)
The speaker cleared up some misconceptions about the Samaritan
women we have been taught.
After he spoke I went online to find out if what he said was true and
it was.
This post is inspired by the message I heard.
When I verified a lot of what he said I knew I had to write what he
revealed to us.
As I start I want to go over a few things we have been told about
the Samaritan woman at the well.
- She was an immoral woman as she was married five times and the man she was currently living with was not her husband!
“At this Jesus said to her, Go, call your husband and come
back here.
The woman answered, I have no husband. Jesus said to her,
you have spoken truly in saying, I have no husband.
For you have had five husbands, and the man you are now
living with is not your husband.
In this you have spoken truly. “
John 4:16 – 18
- In Jesus time women would go to the well towards the evening but the Samaritan woman went to draw water at noon. (John 4:6)
She was trying to avoid the other women and that seems to confirm
the story that she was immoral.
Now that I have stated the popular assumptions let’s get into
the truth.
Let’s start with the statement about the Samaritan woman being
immoral.
- In Jesus time women could not divorce their husbands! Yes you heard that right, they “could not” divorce their husbands.
The men were the only ones who could divorce their wives. There
is a lot of information on the internet backing that up if you have
time to search for it.
- The penalty for adultery and so on in Jesus time was death so there was no way the Samaritan woman would be allowed to live if she really slept with five different men (read Leviticus 20:10)
The only way the Samaritan woman could have been married
five times was if she was divorced all those previous times!!!
When the speaker shared this, my heart broke for her.
This story was a story of rejection. The Samaritan woman had
been divorced five times.
She had been rejected five times.
If she wasn’t an adulterer why did she avoid the women by going
to draw water at the well at noon?
The speaker suggested she might have been barren which was
probably why she was avoiding the women and why she was
divorced so many times.
There was a chance she was ridiculed because of that. The word
doesn’t talk about the women being barren so I suggest you do your
own investigations to verify that.
So here we have a Samaritan women who had been divorced five
times and had been rejected by the women in the
community. She may have been barren which means she could
of felt rejected by God.
When she met Jesus, He knew her rejection. But instead of rejecting
her He spoke to her.
He didn’t reject her but spoke to her! He accepted her even though
she was a Samaritan.
“The Samaritan woman said to Him, How is it that You, being
a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan [and] a woman, for a drink?- For
the Jews have nothing to do with the Samaritans-“
John 4:9
I love this story because the Samaritan woman experienced
rejection but Jesus welcomed her. He didn’t reject her!
He wanted to save her and did just that.
We can take comfort in knowing He won’t reject us!
Man will reject us but not Jesus!
He loves us so much!
As I read the story of the Samaritan woman I can identify with her
rejection.
My life was ridded with rejection from friends, family and people I
looked up to.
That rejection damaged me growing up.
It was only by Yeshua’s grace that I was set free of rejection.
You might be feeling rejected today but know that Jesus loves
you and accepts you!
He has not rejected you!
Man WILL reject you but not Jesus. He loves you and wants to take
away the rejection you are living with.
Like the Samaritan woman Jesus loves you!
Be encouraged friends!
The true life story of the Samaritan woman is one of my favorite
stories now!!! 🙂
Bless you friends!
Rolain
photo credit: google images
kingspeech 