POOL OF BETHESDA
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:Colossians 1:12-14
God is not building one, two, or three things. God is vitally concerned with the building of one thing, and one alone—His Church. —Graham Truscott
You may not know the day or the hour, but the God who saw the man at Bethesda sees you too. He has not forgotten your years of waiting. One day, without warning, the voice you’ve been longing to hear will speak into your situation - and everything will change. When your time comes, it won’t just be about your healing; it will be about your story bringing hope to countless others.
The name “City of David” was applied to Jerusalem after David conquered it. The final chapters of the Bible describe a New Jerusalem where God’s people will reign forever, marking the earthly City of David an eternal honor.
The keys to the City of David resides within each of us. The clues to this revelation are titled City of David -Part 1 & Part 2.
This ancient city’s streets are soaked with the prayers of prophets, the blood of martyrs, and the footsteps of kings. Within its walls lies a place that, in the time of Jesus, was known as Bethesda — a name that means “House of Mercy”.
Bethesda was not a palace, nor a temple, nor a marketplace. It was a pool - a body of water tucked away near the Sheep Gate, where sacrificial lambs were brought into the city. This detail is not without significance, for it is the same gate that sacrifice passed but also the entrance to a place where the sick gathered for healing.
It is as if God was quietly whispering through the city’s architecture: “Mercy flows where sacrifice is near.”
The Pool of Bethesda is not just a regular place; it means more than that. It becomes a symbol that connects the divine of God with the water and it isn't just water; it's like a pathway for miracles, something the people believed to be very special. Waiting for the angel to come, to stir the water and then everyone rushing to be the first in – all of these things make the pool seem mysterious & divine.
God wants us to learn how to access the miracles that He has for each of us and He has chosen the Pool of Bethesda as His miracle template. You see the Pool of Bethesda was a place of deep human suffering while also a place of sacrifice and healing!
For us today, I believe this pool represents the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and possibly a place where we are controlled by God and sin no more. (Romans 8:9)
Those seeking for the miracle of healing would gather together by this pool which the angel does come in certain seasons to stir its water for the healing of the people.
Now there is at Jerusalem by the Sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
For [it was said that] an Angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled [stir] the water: whosoever then first after the troubling [stirring] of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. John 5:2-4
You will notice that the sick folks were not gathered together at their synagogues, temples or in their houses. But rather, they were gathered together by the pool in Bethesda on one of the five porches.
From time to time, it is said, an angel came down and stirred the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring would be healed of any disease. It could happen at any moment— or years from now, because there was no time on a clock; a moments distraction, and one could lose their chance to be healed. At this time, this pool was the right environment for something extraordinary to happen there.
You see we are all waiting just as the multitude of people waited at the pool of Bethesda for a divine moment of healing that comes by the infilling of The Holy Spirit.
I understood the five porches to reflect the stages in which we become poor in spirit.
To be poor in spirit means to have emptied yourself of all desire to exercise personal self-will and what is just as important to have renounced all preconceived opinions [prejudices] in the wholehearted search for God. It means to be willing to set aside your present habits of thought, your present views and prejudices, your present way of life, if necessary, to jettison in fact anything and everything that can stand in the way of your finding God. —- excerpt by Emmet Fox on the Sermon on the Mount:
I love that the Pool of Bethesda serves as hope for healing not just with our faith for inner wholeness but with the pursuit of the Divine. It represents a place where we can seek restoration and renewal, much like the paralyzed man who was healed by Jesus.
The pool of Bethesda symbolizes our intersection, but what are the conditions or prerequisite to receiving while in the pool?
This became my research. I have been reading some amazing literature lately and some important authors to read are Mary K. Crawford, Graham Truscott & Randy Clark. Each one speaks of the move of God and early revivals and their prerequisite for the miracle conditions.
An impartation of the Holy Spirit—if there are any conditions look something like this —- Thank you Yashua!
It seems to me that possibly, the first condition is to become aware of our personal inadequacy in our Christian life.
We must recognize that our lives are characterized by too much defeat, along with our indifference, a lack of power, a lack of faith . . . We must come to the place of facing our weaknesses and our inability to affect the work of the Kingdom. See my post entitled “Tabernacle of David.”
So the first prerequisite is to recognize our need, our spiritual poverty. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
We must not be content with a casual examination of our lives. . . .
Secondly, we must confess not only what we think is sin, but what the Holy Spirit labels as sin when we really listen to His voice from the Word of God. . . .
Author, Mary K. Crawford had to confess stealing a quarter as a small child to receive from the Holy Spirit. We have to go all the way back. My first Feast, I shared how my list of confessed sins set me free for my first filling of the Holy Spirit.
You see, we must not only be honest about the various sins in our lives, but we must get down to the deepest sin of all—our failure to let Christ rule our lives.
Thirdly, the most basic question any Christian can ask is this: Who is ruling my life, self or Christ?
It is amazing how many Christians never really face this issue of Christ’s Lordship and yet the New Testament is full of statements about Christ’s demand for our full commitment.
Lastly, I think we must desire for our spiritual condition to change. I think we all pray the Lord changes us, but it wasn’t until I was completely desperate for more that more became my reality.
By this I mean that we must allow the Holy Spirit to develop a serious desire in us to become victorious Christians. Some people cannot even conceive of the possibility of living victoriously rather than living in defeat. This is because they, and even some commentators, view Romans 7:14–26 as an indication that Paul’s experience as a Christian was defeatist:
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. . . . So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Romans 7:14–15, 21–24
But that’s not true at all, Paul taught us we could live a life of victory by the power of the Spirit rather than a defeated life.
One of the most well-known stories about the Pool of Siloam which might also might be the pool of Bethesda, is when Jesus healed a man born blind, as recorded in John 9:1-12.
As Jesus was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked if the man’s blindness was due to his own sin or his parents’ sin. Jesus responded that it was neither, but so “the works of God might be displayed in him.” Jesus then spat on the ground, made mud with his saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. Jesus told him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. When the man went and washed, he came back able to see for the first time in his life.
The norm, however, is that He touches those in public who have been crying out in private for His impartation. That’s how it happened for me! GOD wants your miracle to be for His Glory!
God will make Himself seen, heard and felt in all the ways that many once only read about in the Bible. So if you think watching a sermon on YouTube or listening to a podcast for the Holy Spirit impartation you may be mistaken. Find a community of believers so GOD can heal you in public for His Glory!
Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, is reminding us that every page of God’s Word is still valid and true for today because He Himself, the Living Word, has not changed.
Personally, I believe we are living in the grace of this outpouring of power because we are moving toward the last days, the days of the final harvest. I believe a few ministries in particular embody what God is doing in these last days throughout the earth.
But before you go anywhere, let me leave you with the words of Jesus.
“Stay in the [your] city until you have been clothed with power from on high”—this after he promised them, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised” (Luke 24:49).
This was the promise of the Holy Spirit. I believe the reference here is not to the Spirit’s work of regeneration, or to sealing the believer, but to the ministry of the Holy Spirit to “come upon” them and with power from on high. (Acts 2:38)
If you are a Christian, you have already been baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ (see Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13). But I am counseling you beyond that to desire the mighty promise of the Father for the Spirit to come upon you and fill you with power for service. If you feel a witness, it’s because you have been called to SERVE! I think about where I started and it’s laughable but GOD used me. When we pour out —- GOD pours into us! It’s true and if you could really use a pouring, get busy working for GOD! Many are chosen but there are few workers!
In this lifetime, we can only be whole through service to God. Repeat this sentence. How that looks for each of us is between you and The Lord Himself. It’s the only place we can find ourselves healed from our ignorance by serving the Lord in His church. Yes, in his church. The whole bible is written for believers not non-believers!
The willingness to die to self—and sometimes even to die as a martyr—is a fruit of such impartation and brings much fruit for the Kingdom, to the glory of God.
Jesus is coming back for a radiant, majestic Bride clothed in works of righteousness done in the power and name of the One who does not change! Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus!
If we measure life by our own timeline, we’ll feel late. But God measures by readiness. Sometimes, He is aligning circumstances you can’t see. Other times, He’s aligning you. When the man met Jesus, he was ready - ready to hear, ready to obey, ready to step into a new life. Your moment will come when you’re ready, and when the moment brings maximum glory to God.
Let’s pray together for the power and love—the radical obedience—to count all things as loss for the sake of knowing Christ and serving His Kingdom.
O Holy Spirit, work in our hearts today to produce a love that is extravagant for God and his people. Give us a love so bold we are willing to “waste” our lives as poured out costly perfume. Only You can produce this kind of sacrificial love for Jesus and the Father. We confess that we cannot crucify our flesh; this must be Your work. So come, Holy Spirit, come and create in us the life of Christ. In your Holy Name of Jesus, AMEN!
Read “MY BETHESDA” for my personal testimony & Impartation.
Blessings to you,
Angela
Scriptures used to prepare this post:
Pools are mentioned in the Bible for various symbolic and practical reasons. They refer to a pond, reservoir, artificial cistern or tank. In the Bible, pools often represent places of purification or healing.
1. Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1–15):
Jesus heals a man who has been paralysed for 38 years. He had been lying near the pool of Bethesda, a place believed to have healing properties. Jesus felt compassion for the man, and instructed him to to pick up his mat and walk. At once the man was healed.
2. King’s Pool (Nehemiah 2:14):
The King’s Pool is mentioned by Nehemiah when he inspects the broken walls of Jerusalem at night, while making plans for rebuilding the city’s defences.
3. Pool of Siloam (John 9:1–7):
Jesus heals a blind man by spitting on the ground, making mud with the saliva and putting it on the man’s eyes. He then instructs the man to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. Upon following Jesus’ instructions, the man’s sight is restored.
4. Pool of Gibeon (2 Samuel 2:13):
War breaks out between the house of David and the house of Saul. David’s men, led by Joab, face off against the followers of Ish-Bosheth at the pool of Gibeon.
5. Pools of Heshbon
(Song of Songs 7:4): King Solomon compares the eyes of his lover to the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-Rabbim.
6. Pool of Samaria (1 Kings 22:38):
Following the death of Ahab, his blood-stained chariot is washed at the Pool of Samaria.
7. Pool of Hebron (2 Samuel 4:12):
David orders the execution of Rekab and Baanah after the assassination of Ish-Bosheth. Their bodies are hung by the pool of Hebron as a demonstration of justice.
8. Upper Pool (Isaiah 7:3):
Isaiah is instructed by the Lord to take his son and meet King Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, an important water reservoir. Isaiah has a reassuring message for the king: God will protect Judah.
9. Lower Pool (Isaiah 22:9–11):
Isaiah delivers a message of judgement against the people of Jerusalem, who have done everything to try to save themselves from their enemy, including securing their water supply. But they had forgotten the only One who could truly save them.
10. Pool of restoration (Isaiah 35:7):
Isaiah portrays a time of restoration and renewal, with the parched ground becoming a pool, and the thirsty ground like bubbling springs. It highlights God’s transformative power of redemption.
For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Deuteronomy 8:7 – 10
In that day will I raise up the Tabernacle of David that has fallen ... I will build it as in the days of old” (Amos 9:11).
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