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.
Israel deserted the LORD who had provided everything needed for Israel to thrive. physically, emotionally, and spiritually and went after Baal. What could be more empty than to go a whoring after a god who is no god. There was no meaning and purpose for Israel other than her espoused relationship to the LORD. They entered into a profitless relationship with other gods. Their leadership, instead of guiding Israel to the LORD instead went after Baal. The priests and pastors had become worthless.
The LORD challenged Judah to search all over the known world for a nation that had changed their gods. These nations were faithful to gods who were no gods at all. Yet Israel whose God Yahweh is Lord over all the nations was deserted by Judah for these worthless gods. The two major sins of Israel were poetically described as forsaking the fountain of living water and replacing it with broken cisterns which hold no water. As water was scarce in the land of Israel, water was prized like gold. And access to fresh running water was especially prized. Most Israelites had to either dig deep wells which often contained water that was somewhat salty, or worse yet, had to be stored in cisterns. Water from a cistern might sustain life but became stagnant and often full of bacteria. Dead animals who drowned trying to get to the water might float at time. This water had to mixed with wine, an antiseptic, to even be drunk. But during the long and hot dry season, it preserved life.
Many of us would consider such cistern water to be virtually useless. But Judah’s plight was even worse. The only thing worse than a cistern full of disgusting water was a broken cistern which was of no use at all. In the wilderness in Moses’ day, the Children of Israel wandered in this wilderness full of pits and lacking good water. Yet God provided water for them to keep them from dying of thirst. But now, Judah lived in a land in which water, though scarce at times, was comparatively lush and were dying of thirst. O, there was water available in Jerusalem. King Hezekiah had built a water tunnel under the city wall to an underwater spring which provided water. The thirst they suffered was spiritual. they were useless, weak, and sick, and about to die.
During the ministry of Jeremiah, there was a time that the Book of Jeremiah says was during the reign of Josiah. A great religious awakening broke out during Josiah’s reign. It was Judah’s last hope for restoration. But the reforms did not last. By the time of the first of several exiles which happened only three years after Josiah’s death, the situation had become wretched again. Were it not that the LORD needed to preserve a remnant to return again so that Christ might be born, the Jews would have been entirely destroyed.
These events happened in ancient Jerusalem more than 2600 years ago. What does this teach us? This text is more than a study of ancient history. The same LORD who sent Jeremiah back then is the same LORD today. His views do not change. We know that God has a special purpose for us, the church, even as He did then in Judah. We have seen a better Passover in Jesus who is our Passover Lamb. It is He who leads us through the wilderness of this world to a better Promised Land. God led Joshua to lead the Children of Israel across the Jordan into the Promised Land. We also have a Joshua (same as Jesus in Hebrew, Yeshua who is greater than their Joshua.
We have not entered the Land yet. But Jesus on the night He was betrayed told us that he was going over Jordan to prepare a place for us. The words in John 14:6 has the overtones of a wedding. God has espoused us to His Son to be His bride. do we look forward in anticipation for the day of the wedding. Jesus calls Himself the living water, that anyone who drinks this water will have eternal life.
We noticed earlier that things started going wrong even during the espousal period in the wilderness, very wrong. Israel back then cried out that the LORD had abandoned them there to die and desired to return to the good old says in Egypt. But the LORD had not deserted them. Instead they deserted the LORD.
So if we as individuals or as a church feel that we have been forsaken and our first love lost must realize that it is we and not God who have moved away. Even from the Garden of Eden, we see a picture of the LORD who sought out Adam and Eve, to hold them to account it is true, but also to provide hope of redemption through the seed of a woman. Jesus Christ was that promised seed who left His throne above and came to earth and became flesh, who dwelt among us. Yes, He came to call us to account, but also to offer the hope of redemption, a redemption paid in His shed blood for our sins. God had provided everything for us, even in the wilderness of this age. We should be both thankful and hopeful Let us keep this always in mind in the dryness of this life. the system of this world is as useless as the broken cisterns. Since Christ is the living and best water, let us come to Him and drink of this water. without this water, we will all die miserably of thirst. Saints, the only way is forward.
