Rivers and streams

The term river is used to refer to all kinds of watercourses, including wadis (dried-up desert river beds) and permanent rivers. It is also used symbolically to refer to things which threaten or overwhelm people and nations, such as invading nations, the peace of God and the Holy Spirit.

Different kinds of rivers and streams

Wadis

1 Kings 17:7 Wadis were dry river beds in summer but became raging torrents in the rainy season. See also Genesis 32:22 The Jabbok was a wadi, here in full flow; Numbers 21:13–15; Job 6:15–17; Jeremiah 15:18

Some time later, however, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Springs

Psalm 104:10 See also Genesis 16:7; Exodus 15:27; Judges 1:14–15; 2 Kings 2:19–22

He sends forth springs in the valleys; they flow between the mountains.

Permanent rivers

Genesis 2:10–14 See also Genesis 41:1–3; Numbers 22:1; Deuteronomy 1:7; Isaiah 18:1

Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters: The name of the first river is the Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there. The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Canals

Daniel 8:2 See also Exodus 7:19; Ezra 8:21; Ezekiel 1:1 Although called a river here, the Kebar was a canal of the Euphrates.

And in the vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa, in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal.

Some significant rivers and streams in Scripture

River Arnon

The Arnon flowed through Moab to the mid point of the Dead Sea: Numbers 21:13–15; Judges 11:18; Isaiah 16:2; Jeremiah 48:20

Rivers of Damascus

2 Kings 5:12 The Abana flowed through the city of Damascus and the Pharpar just to the south of it.

River Euphrates

The Euphrates flowed through Mesopotamia for some 1,700 miles (2,700 km) from its source in eastern Turkey to the Persian Gulf: Deuteronomy 1:7; 2 Kings 23:29 parallel 2 Chronicles 35:20; Isaiah 11:15; Jeremiah 51:63–64; Revelation 16:12

River Habor

2 Kings 17:6 parallel 2 Kings 18:11 The Habor was a tributary of the Euphrates.

River Jabbok

The Jabbok flowed westward through Gilead into the Jordan about 20 miles (32 km) north of the Dead Sea: Genesis 32:22; Numbers 21:23–24; Deuteronomy 3:16; Judges 11:13

River Jordan

The Jordan flowed from the slopes of Mount Hermon through Lake Huleh and the Sea of Galilee, and on into the Dead Sea, providing a fertile basin on either side of the river: Genesis 13:10–11, Genesis 32:9–10; Numbers 22:1; Joshua 3:14–4:9; 2 Kings 5:8–14; Mark 1:4–5 parallel Matthew 3:5–6

River Kebar

The Kebar was a canal of the Euphrates in Babylon where the exiles gathered to pray: Ezekiel 1:1, Ezekiel 3:15, Ezekiel 43:1–3

River Kerith

1 Kings 17:2–7 The exact location of this wadi is uncertain, but it ran from the east into the Jordan or one of its tributaries.

River Kishon

The Kishon flowed north-west across the Plain of Megiddo and could quickly flood as a result of storms: Judges 4:6–7, Judges 4:13, Judges 5:21; 1 Kings 18:40; Psalm 83:9

River Nile

The Nile flowed north some 3,500 miles (5,600 km) from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean, providing a natural irrigation system in the desert through its annual floodings: Exodus 1:22–2:10, Exodus 7:17–21; Isaiah 19:5–8; Ezekiel 29:3–5

River Tigris

The Tigris flowed from the Armenian mountains through Mesopotamia to join the Euphrates some 40 miles (65 km) north of the Persian Gulf: Genesis 2:14; Daniel 10:4–5; Nahum 2:6–8

The crossing of rivers and streams

Rivers crossed by fords

Joshua 2:7; Judges 3:28, Judges 12:5–6; 2 Samuel 17:16

Rivers crossed by miraculous intervention from God

Joshua 3:14–17; 2 Kings 2:7–8, 2 Kings 2:13–14

Human uses of rivers and streams

As boundaries

Genesis 15:18 See also Joshua 1:2, Joshua 12:2; 1 Kings 4:21

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land — from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates —

For irrigation

Deuteronomy 11:10 The reference may be to a machine operated by foot, or to the foot breaking through the mud walls of the irrigation channel to let the water flow into the fields. See also Ezekiel 17:5–8, Ezekiel 19:10

For the land that you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated on foot, like a vegetable garden.

As places of prayer

Acts 16:13 See also Psalm 137:1–3; Ezekiel 3:15

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river, where it was customary to find a place of prayer. After sitting down, we spoke to the women who had gathered there.

For ritual washing and baptism

2 Kings 5:10 See also Mark 1:5 parallel Matthew 3:6; Acts 8:36–38

Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.”

God as sovereign Creator is ruler and judge over all rivers and streams

Psalm 74:15 See also Psalm 78:13–16, Psalm 107:33–35; Isaiah 19:5–8; Revelation 8:10–11, Revelation 16:12

You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.

The symbolic use of rivers and streams

A symbol of threatening circumstances

Psalm 124:1–5 See also Psalm 32:6, Psalm 88:16–17

A song of ascents. Of David. If the LORD had not been on our side— let Israel now declare— if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, then the floods would have engulfed us, then the torrent would have overwhelmed us, then the raging waters would have swept us away.

A symbol of invading nations

Jeremiah 47:2 See also Isaiah 8:7–8; Jeremiah 46:7–8

This is what the LORD says: “See how the waters are rising from the north and becoming an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and its fullness, the cities and their inhabitants. The people will cry out, and all who dwell in the land will wail

A symbol of God's judgment on his enemies

2 Samuel 5:20 “Baal Perazim” means “the lord who breaks out”. The picture is of a river bursting its banks. See also Job 20:28–29; Isaiah 59:19; Nahum 1:7–8

So David went to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, the LORD has burst out against my enemies before me.” So he called that place Baal-perazim.

A symbol of God's peace

Isaiah 48:18 See also Isaiah 66:12

If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.

A symbol of God's sustaining power

Psalm 46:4–5 See also Isaiah 8:6

There is a river whose streams delight the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.

A symbol of God's provision and blessing

Joel 3:18 See also Psalm 1:3, Psalm 36:8–9; Isaiah 30:25

And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD to water the Valley of Acacias.

A symbol of renewal and life

Isaiah 41:18 See also Ezekiel 47:1–12; Revelation 22:1–2

I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into flowing springs.

A symbol of the Holy Spirit

John 7:37–39 See also Isaiah 44:3; John 4:13–14

On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’” He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.