Jeremiah 2
11 Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit.
12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate,” says the LORD.
13 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.
SCRIPTURE READING: Jer 2:11-13 (theme verse: v.13)
13. “My people have committed two sins…”:
We will have a look at the setting or historical context before we apply it to ourselves, keeping in mind as we often say from the pulpit, that the Bible wasn’t written for the people of that time – they are dead. It was written for us who are alive now. Yes, these words were said to them in their generation but they were recorded for us.
POINT 1: “They have forsaken Me…”.
12. God calls on the heavens to come and see the astonishing foolishness of His people. He is speaking in particular here about His people Judah.
By this time the people of God had split into two groups, one could say – ten of the tribes went up to the north and were called Israel. Down south remained two tribes called Judah. That is where Jerusalem was. Idolatry was rife, sin was in total control up north. But God speaks here in a very personal, emotional way. He appeals to their heart. When you get the chance back home, go and read the first verses of this chapter about the love affair (not an adulterous relationship) between God and these people, when they were totally satisfied with their God. But now something so terrible has happened, that God says, “Be desolate, o heavens, feel terrible, at this which has happened!”
“My people…” – God is not referring to the Jebusites, Ammonites, or other pagans, but His people “have committed two evils”. If He calls upon the heavens to witness this terrible thing, it should grip our hearts as well. Let us be before God Himself, lest even a trace of this be found in our lives as individuals, you and me.
He says, “For My people have done two evils”, and the two can’t be separated – the one goes with the other, they can’t be un-twinned. We could say in other language, “They have forsaken Me, their God for other gods”, but God says it with language that is so strong and colourful and such a metaphor that not one of those people living in a desert land could misunderstand it.
Firstly, “they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water”: That is the main charge. That is written right at the top of the charge sheet which is written to all the heavens to come and witness. “They have turned aside from Me”, more than that, “they have forsaken Me”, and they have done more than that, they have replaced Me with something else.
We will look just now at what a cistern means to the people of the East.
But first take note of this, that sin always leads to more sin: In turning away from Me they have followed after other gods. In God’s illustration of leaking cisterns, He is referring to idols. It is a constant theme through the Bible that sin never remains alone. It always grows and manages to increase. It cannot survive by itself but must have friends with it.
Whether they be big or small, there is always a togetherness about sin. A very common way of greeting now in South Africa, if you ask someone how they are, they answer, “I’m together”. Usually it is a radio announcer but it has become common English, “I’m together, I’m fine”. Usually you will find that sin can say the same, “I’m together, I’m feeling quite relaxed with my pals. The thought which I think are going along well with the things that I drink. The videos I watch are together with the music I listen to. The stories I tell to my friends at school, are together with the things I read in magazines.”
Occasionally sin has a little squabble here and there, because Lucifer’s house isn’t quite together.
Example:
I read yesterday about four robbers robbing a family, and while robbing, one robber was found raping the 15 year old daughter. The other robbers said, “Hey, what are you doing there? That was not on the agenda!” They apologized to the mother and the girl, and they shot their friend twice. All four are in jail, but one has a rape charge, the others a theft charge (which was on the agenda) – they still stole the goods.
Generally sin stands together pretty well together although you do find the squabble between different camps of evil.
POINT 2: “I am the Fountain of water”.
The only fountain of water. Meant exclusively. No wonder He says, “Heavens, come and witness this foolish and astonishing sight: My people have forsaken this gift of water for something so much worse.”
That is true throughout the Bible and for all eternity, that God is indeed the fountain of water.
Psalm 36:9 – “You are the fountain of life. In Your light we see light.”
God brings life and water together. For the Middle East it means the same thing: Where there is water, there is life.
Remember Jesus Himself saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:31). It is not that God has some pieces of water floating around; No, there is but one God and He is the fountain of living water.
POINT 3: Their own pits.
Simultaneously they have committed this error: “And they have dug out pits for their own water”. The practice at that time and throughout the ages in the Middle East, because there is very little rain there, was to find hard rock which can hold water. Then they would work very hard to create a cistern / pit, a hole dug specifically to hold water. It meant spade work, hard work. Even until today you can go and look at some of the places where thousands of years ago they dug cisterns to hold water, like at Masada, where they would carry water on their backs and fill up the cistern for the dry months.
God is not saying that it is wrong to make a place to hold water. What He is saying is, “I am the Fountain of water. There is plenty in Me free for you to get. You don’t need to sweat and dig your own pit. I will provide you with My living water.” There is a little subtle problem in the pit which God describes, “Your cistern is broken, leaking and can hold no water” (see end of verse 13). He is pointing out the fact that they are unsuccessful even in their idolatry. Of course this is spiritual language, “You can’t even do a proper job of worshipping idols, because it is a leaking thing. It cannot hold water.”
What God is saying, is that, “When you, My people, copy the sins of the nations, you get a leaking version”. Think back of the time when Israel was redeemed out of Egypt: When they got the first opportunity to worship idols again, they built the gold calf when Moses was out of sight for those forty days. They didn’t think they were forsaking the Lord, and that is probably what these people also thought. They thought they could have both. They said to Aaron, “We don’t see this chap Moses anymore. We want something more tangible which we can worship with more feeling”. They used a term which was slightly derogatory about Moses, translated as, “We don’t see this oak Moses anymore”.
The people of God, the redeemed, Israel, said to Aaron, “We don’t see this bloke Moses anymore. We want something that is real! Something that we can feel”. They got their trinkets together and Aaron put it into a furnace which they must have built, and made a golden calf for them. The people were then able to move “into the spirit”, they danced and worshipped “the Lord”. He was visible, tangible, could be felt. It was something which they could produce themselves. They were able to make it, they were able to “dig their own cisterns”. Of course it was plain idolatry. They didn’t see it like that, but felt that they were entering into the world of the spirit. They felt spiritual. But when God’s people try to do the things of the world, they are not able to accomplish it. In Egypt a golden bull was worshipped, but all that the children of God could accomplish, was to make a golden calf.
Perhaps they felt that that was a lesser sin, not quite as bad as back in Egypt. As they danced around it and worshipped, maybe some of them even mentioned the Name of Jehovah. But to God and to Moses it was an abomination, so detestable that God wanted nothing to do with it, no compromise but a total separation from it.
POINT 4: Examples.
In closing, let me use a few examples of what our own cisterns to satisfy our needs might be:
· Brandname clothing. There is nothing wrong with having a brandname shirt of boots or whatever, but it can become a broken cistern to you because of an unhealthy thirst in you. Usually it is because “my friend at school has got that type”. The water you are trying to create for yourself, is that you are trying to satisfy a thirst in you, an envy. Against the ten commandments, “You shall not envy your neighbour’s house or donkey” or whatever. If God has blessed you with Nike boots, I am not telling you to throw them away, but I do ask you to check your motive. Was there a thirst to get it even though it is 3 times as expensive as something else just as good, and that you begged your parent or even stole it?
- Some people don’t hold onto a visible idol, but it is something which is doctrinal or even Christian. It can be something that you think is Christian, and it got a hold / grip on your heart and mind, and the Lord God says to you, “You have forsaken Me, your living Water”.
The thirst to know about the last days and when Jesus is coming back, and the mark of the beast – there can be an unhealthy thirst for it. Jesus said we must look out for those signs (like earthquakes) but there can be an unhealthy thirsting for that. There are some people, even here in South Africa, mostly Whites, who believe in the British Israel theory. They believe that the 10 tribes that could scattered, are the Whites of South Africa, Europe, England and America. It is absolute nonsense, and you can quote me on that, interrogate me on that if you will. People who follow after that teaching, have forsaken their Fountain of living Water.
Example:
The day before yesterday I got an e-mail form a man who said, “How dare you say that our prophet is not the messiah of this age? How dare you call us a cult if this man is perfect and his teaching is on the same level as Jesus’ Himself?” He is not the only one. There is another one living up north who has many followers. This one has only 500,000 followers. The one up north claims to have over 500 million followers. These people who follow them, have forsaken the Fountain of living Water.
There are those who follow another group (I won’t mention their name) – they all call the Bible and say Jesus is the Saviour, but at the same time they believe in their modern . They believe in blessing water and they come with their cans and drums of water which the bishop blesses in the service and they use to anoint others and drink when they don’t feel well. These are cisterns which they have dug for themselves and have forsaken the Fountain of living Water.
17. “Have you not brought this upon yourself when you forsook the Lord God when He led you in the way?”
18. “Now why take the road to Egypt … or to Syria to drink the water of (the rivers there)?”
What happened was that after this rebuke many of them went into Egypt and they died next to the Nile, one of the biggest rivers in the world.
19. “Your own wickedness will correct you (I don’t have to do it), and your own backslidings will rebuke you (I won’t have to do it).”
POINT 5: Come back to God.
I don’t want to end on that note. Let us look at how God is able to turn the situation right round:
Still on this backsliding state, God says, Jer 3:12, 13, 14, 15, 22.
“Return, o backsliding children, for I am married to you… and I will heal your backslidings.”
The response of the people of God in verse 22: “Indeed we come to You for You are the Lord our God!”
Don’t you long to be healed of your backsliding habits, the things that you are confessing again and again? Those things that tied themselves around your ankles and prevent you from running as you should. Admit that you are a backslidden child and return. He can heal your backsliding – what grace!
Isaiah 55:1v – “Ho (listen), everyone who thirsts! Don’t spend your money on that which doesn’t satisfy, but come to Me!”
Zach 13:1 – “In that day a fountain shall be opened”, speaking about the Cross of our Lord Jesus, “for sin and uncleanness to be washed away.”
Zach 14:8
John 4 – what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman. She had a broken cistern who couldn’t hold water, she was thirsty again and again.
Rev 22:17 – “Whoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely.”
We stand without excuse. This Book is full of invitations where God personally invites you to Him, He Who is your Fountain of living water. Your sin of lust is a broken cistern, pornography holds no water, that flirtatious affair – the water leaks and you are left dry and weak. All the heavens, all the galaxies, the whole universe have been called to witness that God’s people have got this choice: God, the Fountain, or their own sweaty efforts to make something which holds no water.