A Well Without Water

2 Peter 2:17 
 
The word of truth is the water of life. In which, it refreshes the souls that receive it. But those who deceive (false prophets/teachers) speak error because there is no truth in them. As clouds hinder the light of the sun, so do the false prophets darken counsel with words that have no truth. Being that these men promote darkness in the world, it is fitting that the mist of darkness will be their place in the hereafter. They gave off an impression of being wellsprings however they had no substance. This would suggest how they were as instructors, wellsprings of water in the desert but without water. Darkness is an example of God's judgment.
 
Peter is warning of false prophets coming into the church. This is a danger to growing Christians. A well without water is a dry well. There is no nourishment for life. It's pointless. Drawing dirty water from a dirty well is just as bad, there is no nourishment. If there is no water, then there is no life.

• John 4:14 - 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.

 
When a well dries up it is filled in because the dry well is a danger to others. A well that is stagnant if not tended to and used becomes unhealthy.
 
Wells are often supplied by springs & rain - Proverbs 16:22, Psalms 84:6.
 
They are often deep and too difficult to draw from - John 4:11.
 
They are also covered to prevent being filled in - Genesis 29:2,3.
 
Some wells were stopped up by the enemy - Genesis 26:15,18; 2 Kings 3:19,25.
 
Occasionally, some wells didn't have water - Jeremiah 14:3; Zechariah 9:11.
 
A Sinner is a desert soul, barren, with no water.
 
A Backslider has dirty water or is slowly drying up. 

• Jude 1:12, “These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;” KJV

 
“These people are like dirty spots among you—they bring shame to you in the special meals you share together. They eat with you and have no fear. They take care of only themselves. They are like clouds without rain. The wind blows them around. They are like trees that have no fruit at harvest time and are pulled out of the ground. So they are twice dead.” ERV
 
For comparison, we could look at the differences between the physical and spiritual of being
with or without water. 
 
                                                A well or body with water                 A well or body without water
 
Physical
 
Spiritual