Words of knowledge often have clues in the natural.

People often feel that words of knowledge should be purely divinely inspired supernatural occurrences. The use of words of knowledge by people ministering at large events often give that impression. However, words of knowledge often have clues in the situation we are presented with, which can be discerned.

Jesus was sat at Jacob's well at midday, he may have been recounting Jacob and the story of how his mother the lovely Rebecca came to the water at evening time when Isaac's servant asked her for a drink, and she went the extra mile and watered his camel's as well, Genesis 24:11-20.
This was a very kind act and the sign that Abraham's servant had prayed for from God to show that she was the right wife for Isaac.

 

What was the woman at the well like in John 4?

"So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour(midday)." There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)" John 4:7-9.

When I am teaching on the word of knowledge from this passage, I normally ask the women in the congregation about the woman at the well - just to feel safe! I often start off by asking her age, a tricky topic with females as a whole!
At that time girls were often married when they started their periods. If a husband died it was also common for the woman to then be married to his brother. A consensus of opinion is that the woman was probably in her thirties as she had been married 5 times and was living with the 6th. She may have been the same age as Jesus.
Today living with somebody outside of wedlock is commonplace these days. In those days it was a scandal and the people involved, especially the woman, would have become an outcast.
The woman came to the well, 1/2 a mile outside the town, alone in the heat of the day, to collect water. The normal practice would be to come with a group of other women, for protection, in the cool of the evening or morning.
All these clues would have been obvious to Jesus as he saw this woman coming toward him at midday.

 

The woman at the well in John 4 was used to dealing with men!

So Jesus was sitting alone at the entrance, thirsty, with no means of getting the water from this deep well. He may have been thinking of the lovely young Rebecca, Jacob’s mother, when a woman roughly his age arrives.
Jesus asks her for a drink – good place to start in evangelism is to ask for help!
From her answer we can tell she was used to dealing with men in a short sharp way. “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Very different from the willing, compliant Rebecca!
The Greek behind “have no dealings with” implies the meaning “Do not use dishes that Samaritan’s have used.” In Jewish law, Jesus, being a Rabbi, would have become ceremonially unclean if he had used a drinking vessel handled by a Samaritan woman.
A Jewish saying from this time refers to Samaritan women as “Dirty from the cradle.”
Our prejudices often prevent us from reaching out to those around us. In this story we can see Jesus reaching out beyond Jewish racial and cultural prejudices.

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Introduction to the word of knowledge
Background to the word of knowledge in John 4
Words of knowledge have clues in the natural
OT v NT mindset when giving a word of knowledge
How do we receive a word of knowledge
Types of word of knowledge
Using a word of knowledge for a harvest
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