Text: Job 14:7-9, “(7) For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. (8) Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; (9) Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.”
I love the scent of the ocean air that increases the closer I get to the beach when my wife and I go to Hilton Head Island for vacation.
“Water” mentioned over 500 times in the Bible.
Water is present in Scripture from the first chapter of Genesis to the final chapter of the book Revelation.
Water is necessary for life, and most people cannot go more than 4 days without it.
It is a symbol of God’s spirit, cleansing, and judgment.
Key Symbolic Meanings[1]
- Life and Creation: Water is present at the very beginning when the Spirit of God hovers over the waters (Genesis 1:2). It represents God’s life-giving power and is essential for the flourishing of all life.
- Genesis 1:1-2, “(1) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (2) And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
- Purification and Cleansing: Water is used to ritually cleanse and symbolizes the removal of sin and impurity. In the New Testament, it is the central element of baptism, representing spiritual rebirth and the washing away of sins.
- Acts 22:16, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
- Acts 2:38
- Judgment: Water can signify divine judgment
- The Great Flood (Genesis 6-9)The destruction of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea.
- Your sins in the waters of baptism
- The Holy Spirit: “Living Water”
- John 7:37-39, “(37) In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. (38) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (39) (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
Famous Biblical Events Involving Water[2]
- The Red Sea Crossing: God parts the sea to allow the Israelites to escape from Egypt on dry ground (Exodus 14).
- Water from the Rock: During their wilderness journey, God miraculously provides water from a rock to quench the people’s thirst (Exodus 17:6).
- That rock was Christ: “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”[3]
- The water is the Spirit of Christ: “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”[4]
- Jesus’ First Miracle: Jesus turns water into wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11).
- Walking on Water: Jesus demonstrates His authority over nature by walking on the Sea of Galilee during a storm (Matthew 14:22-33).
- The Woman at the Well: Jesus offers “living water” to a Samaritan woman, explaining that those who drink it will never thirst again:
- John 4:7-15, “(7) There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (8) (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) (9) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. (10) Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (11) The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? (12) Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? (13) Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: (14) But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (15) The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.”
More Water[5]
- Psalm 23:2, “He leadeth me beside still waters.”
- Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”
- Amos 5:24, “But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.”
- Revelation 22:1, “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
I’m Thirsty!
There is a deep-rooted desire, an unquenchable thirst for God, in each of us, and we will fill it with something:
- Psalm 63:1, “God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”
- Psalm 143:6, “I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.”
- Isaiah 55:1, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
- Psalms 42:1-2, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. (2) My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”
- An inherent desire inside each of us for the One true source of life; our Lord Jesus Christ.
- “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man.”[6]
Life has a way sometimes of cutting us down.
We might say that someone is “cut off at the knees.”
Our text tells us: “(7) For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. (8) Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; (9) Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.”[7]
Did you know?[8]
Trees and plants can actually detect moisture levels in the soil. Their roots contain biological sensors that detect: moisture, chemical traces carried in water, and temperature differences.
Even when a tree has been cut down and appears dead, living root tissue may remain dormant underground.
When moisture increases in the soil: the root system detects it, dormant buds activate, and new shoots begin forming
Just the detection of water – the scent of water – will trigger life.
The root can sense the presence of life-giving moisture before it even receives it.
It is not smelling in the human sense, but detecting the signal of life nearby.
This is what happens when we begin to sing praises, raise our hands, lift our voices and shout unto God.
What Job Was Saying?[9]
While humans appear to die and stay dead, trees can come back to life “through the scent of water.”
Jesus’ incarnation displayed for us the power of “the scent of water” because He is the “root out of a dry ground.”
(1) Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? (2) For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.[10]
So he says: “There is hope of a tree…”
Even if:
- the trunk is cut
- the stump is dead
- the roots are buried
The moment it detects the scent of water — it can live and thrive again.
Even if you have been:
- spiritually cut down – you can live again
- buried in failure – you can live again
- dried up in your soul – you can live again
- burnt by life’s furnace of affliction – you can live again
- numbed by betrayal – you can live again
If you can detect even the faintest presence of the Spirit…
Life can return.
Just “the scent of water” is enough – it is the signal of life
Acts 17:24-28, “(24) God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; (25) Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; (26) And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; (27) That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: (28) For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”
You may be exhausted, discouraged, or spiritually dazed, but just catching a whiff of the scent of water can give you hope,
And sensing that small signal of hope can restart life.
Examples of “the scent of water” in real life:
- one encouraging word
- a moment in prayer
- a sermon that awakens faith
- a glimpse of purpose
- a fresh touch of God
- a song that inspires hope
- a Bible passage that reignites conviction
The soul senses possibility before full restoration arrives.
Job did not say, ““through the river of water.”
He did not write, “through the flood of water”
Job said, “through the scent of water.”
That scent simply means that it takes very little to awaken a dormant life.
Not a flood – Just a hint – Just a signal – Just the possibility
Just a scent – Just a detection of the signal of life – Just a little hope
Someone has said: “The root doesn’t need a river. It just needs to know the water is coming.”
That’s the scent of water.
The moment a soul catches the scent of…
Grace – Hope – Mercy – The Holy Ghost – God’s Love
Something inside begins to live again.
Through the scent of water
The blessed man is “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3).
You have been blessed to catch the scent of water.
“(7) For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. (8) Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; (9) Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.”
[1] SOURCE: Google AI Mode. Query: water in the Bible.
[2] Ibid.
[3] 1 Cor. 10:4.
[4] Is. 12:3. Read whole chapter
[5] Ibid.
[6] Blaise Pascal
[7] Job 14:7-9
[8] SOURCE: ChatGPT from Aaron Fairburn
[9] Ibid.
[10] Isaiah 53:1-2
<<Preached in Glen Ferris, WV on 3/8/2026>>
The Pillar and Ground of Truth 