The Time story of the Woman at the Well

The woman at the well starts to believe Jesus at the 6th hour. After two days her entire town has had a visitation of Jesus and is saved.

Background

The story of the Woman at the Well is a long story recorded in John chapter 4.

1The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. John 4:1-34Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. John 4:4-67When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) John 4:7-89The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) John 4:910Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." John 4:1011"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" John 4:11-1213Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-1415The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." John 4:1516He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." John 4:1617"I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." John 4:17-1819"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." John 4:19-2021Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:21-2425The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." John 4:2526Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he." John 4:2627Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?" John 4:2728Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30They came out of the town and made their way toward him. John 4:28-3031Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." John 4:3132But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." John 4:3233Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?" John 4:3334"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37Thus the saying `One sows and another reaps' is true. 38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor." John 4:34-3839Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. John 4:39-41
(John 4:1-40 NIV)

Time Components

This story is built on 3 specific time components. First is the "About the 6th hour," the second is the "4 months" and the 3rd is the 2 days.

Most of this parable is built on time references that have not been properly introduced yet in this discussion of millennia parables.

Prophetically speaking, an hour is 210 historical years.

About appears to always be a 1/2 measure, so about the 6th hour is 5 full hours, or 5 * 210 = 1050 years, plus or minus 105 years. This is either 945 years (the more likely case) or perhaps 1155 years.

The story then references a 4 * 30 = 120 day period which is prophetic for 120 years and then it references a 2 day period which hits the standard 2 millennia according to the standard ratio of 1 day = 1000 years.

Running the Math

This story begins with Samaria. That city was the eventual capital of the Northern Kingdom of ancient Israel. The first year of rule from Samaria was 10,074 AA. (By inspection from the master charts.)

The time reference of about the 6th hour is 10,074 + 945 = 11,019 AA the same year as Jesus’ public ministry.

The second time component, 120 days, is also a year based parable, or 120 years forward from Jesus’ era.

11,019 + 120 = 11,139 AA which is roughly the year 150 AD.

This period of history is poorly documented and it is hard to establish any sort of specific event to match.

The final component is 2 days and this is likely 2 full millennia, and those are likely the ones that started at Jesus’ own era. They are up in 2029-30 AD or so.

The players

Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of ancient Israel. That kingdom grew larger and become the western branch of the Roman empire. This parable explains that there would be 2000 years when Jesus stayed at this house before continuing his journey. The Roman world has been the seat of Christianity ever since the 1st century, as explained by this parable. Visit www.bibletribes.org for more on this subject.

Phil Stone 2007-05-12