Broken Cisterns: An Exposition Of Jeremiah 2:1-13

Broken Cisterns

Jeremiah 2:1–13 NKJV

Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord:

“I remember you,

The kindness of your youth,

The love of your betrothal,

When you went after Me in the wilderness,

In a land not sown.

Israel was holiness to the Lord,

The firstfruits of His increase.

All that devour him will offend;

Disaster will come upon them,” says the Lord.’ ”

Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord:

“What injustice have your fathers found in Me,

That they have gone far from Me,

Have followed idols,

And have become idolaters?

Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord,

Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,

Who led us through the wilderness,

Through a land of deserts and pits,

Through a land of drought and the shadow of death,

Through a land that no one crossed

And where no one dwelt?’

I brought you into a bountiful country,

To eat its fruit and its goodness.

But when you entered, you defiled My land

And made My heritage an abomination.

The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’

And those who handle the law did not know Me;

The rulers also transgressed against Me;

The prophets prophesied by Baal,

And walked after things that do not profit.

“Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,” says the Lord,

“And against your children’s children I will bring charges.

For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see,

Send to Kedar and consider diligently,

And see if there has been such a thing.

Has a nation changed its gods,

Which are not gods?

But My people have changed their Glory

For what does not profit.

Be astonished, O heavens, at this,

And be horribly afraid;

Be very desolate,” says the Lord.

“For My people have committed two evils:

They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,

And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

This morning’s passage comes this morning from the mouth of the LORD through His prophet, Jeremiah. Jeremiah lived in one of the worst times for Judah. during his lifetime, Judah and its capital, Jerusalem would be captured and razed to the ground and the survivors taken captive to Babylon, This included the destruction of the beautiful Temple Solomon had built for the LORD. Jeremiah would be so traumatized that his sad thoughts about this destruction is written in the Book of Lamentations.

The first chapter of Jeremiah records the LORD’s call of Jeremiah while He was yet a boy. The LORD held nothing back concerning how the words Jeremiah would utter in the LORD’s name. He would constantly be in danger and live a life of rejection. It would not be easy for him to stand alone against the wave of iniquity. But he would not be alone. The LORD would uphold and protect him during these times.

The Lectionary passage for this week actually starts with verse 4, but I am starting with the first verse as it provides important context. The chapter begins with the LORD remembering earlier times in the wilderness some 800 years before the time of Jeremiah. The tone seems like that of a jilted lover. He talks about those times as one of betrothal. It showed the love that the LORD had for her. Israel had been set aside unto the LORD (meaning of holiness). Israel, despite all the troubles in the wilderness at least had some passion for the LORD in return. In light of Israel’s repeated failures there, it seems that the situation that was current in Judah and Jerusalem was much worse than this. The LORD had provided everything in the wilderness for her, a land that was wild and uncultivated. this proved the LORD’s love for Israel. Then Israel was brought into a pleasant land which was promised to Abraham. Israel should have flourished there. But they didn’t. The history of Israel was a very rocky relationship with the LORD. Yet the LORD continued to try to repair this relationship. It was no fault of His that this relationship failed.

The situation got so bad that he had to divorce Israel, the Northern Kingdom. And He was about to divorce Judah as well. Jeremiah later talks about this writ of divorce. The Greek word that translates the Hebrew here is “apostia” or apostacy in English. Jeremiah does talk about a later time in which Judah and Jerusalem would be restored, but the immediate future was that of judgment.

Jeremiah goes on with the indictment of Israel. He tells them to hear the word of the LORD. He challenges them to find any act of faithlessness on the part of the LORD. Certainly, whatever iniquity and faithfulness was on the part of Israel. They had no cause to desert from the LORD after vanity. The Hebrew word “Hevel” here is used frequently in the book of Ecclesiastes. It has the meaning of “empty”, “dust” or “vain.” Israel had been brought through and empty wasteland. But it is ironic that it was when they entered into the Promised Land with milk and honey that it says they entered into emptiness and became empty themselves.