956. 'And let the one hearing say, Come, and let the thirsting one come, and let the willing one take the water of life freely' signifies that he who knows anything of the Lord's coming, and of the New Heaven and the New Church, thus of the Lord's kingdom, will pray that it may come, and that he who longs for truths will pray that the Lord may come with light, and that he who loves truths is then going to accept those things from the Lord without any exertion of his own. By 'let the one hearing say, Come' is signified he who hears and consequently knows anything of the Lord's coming, and of the New Heaven and the New Church, thus of the Lord's kingdom, let him pray that it may come. By 'let the thirsting one come*' is signified he who longs for the Lord's kingdom, and truths then, let him pray that the Lord may come with light. By 'let the willing one take the water of life freely' is signified he who out of love wants to learn truths and appropriate them to himself, let him look forward to accepting them from the Lord without any exertion of his own. By 'to be willing' is signified to love, because what a man wills at heart this he loves, and what he loves this at heart he wills. By 'the water of life' are signified Divine truths derived from the Lord by means of the Word (n. 932); and by 'freely' is signified without any exertion of his own. Things similar to these in this verse are signified by those in the Lord's Prayer: 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven so also on earth' (n. 839). The Lord's kingdom is the Church that makes one with heaven, and therefore it is now said, 'Let the one hearing say, Come, and let the thirsting one come'. [2] That 'to thirst' signifies to long for truths is established from these passages:-
I will pour waters upon the thirsting one, I will pour My spirit upon thy seed Isa. xliv 3.
Everyone thirsting, go to the waters, without silver buy wine and milk Isa. lv 1.
Jesus cried, saying, If anyone thirst, let him come unto Me and drink; whoever believes in Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water John vii 37, 38.
My soul is thirsting for the living God Ps. xlii 2 [H.B. 3].
O God, Thou art my God; my soul is thirsting for Thee, it is faint without waters Ps. lxiii 1 [H.B. 2].
Blessed are they who are thirsting for justice Matt. v 6.
To the thirsting one I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely Rev. xxi 6;
by which is signified that to those who desire truths for the sake of any spiritual use the Lord out of Himself by means of the Word is going to give all the things that serve that use. [3] That by 'thirst' and 'to thirst' is also signified to perish on account of a lack of truth is established from these passages:-
My people shall be exiled on account of non-acknowledgment, a great number of them is dry with thirst Isa. v 13.
The fool speaks foolishness, and his heart does iniquity, and he makes the soul of one thirsting for a drink to fail Isa. xxxii 6.
When the poor and needy are seeking water, but there is none, their tongue fails for thirst, I Jehovah will hear them Isa. xli 17.
Plead with your mother, lest I strip her naked, and slay her with thirst Hosea ii [2,] 3.
The 'mother' here is the Church.
Behold the days are going to come in which I will send hunger into the land, not hunger for bread nor thirst for waters, but for hearing the words of Jehovah: in that day shall the beautiful virgins and the young men faint for thirst Amos viii 11, 13.
But to have no lack of truth is signified by 'not to thirst' in these:-
Jesus said, He who drinks of the water that I shall give him shall not thirst to eternity John iv 13-15.
Jesus said, He who believes in Me shall never thirst John vi 35.
Jehovah has redeemed Jacob; then shall they not thirst; He shall make waters to flow forth out of the Rock for them Isa. xlviii 20, 21. * Reading sitiens veniat instead of sitiens dicat veniat (let the thirsting one say let him come). The word dicat is not found in this phrase in the text of the chapter nor in the paragraph heading.
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