Jeremiah 2:1-16: a reflection

1The LORD’s word came to me, saying, 2“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘The LORD says, “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, your love as a bride, how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. 3Israel was holiness to the LORD, the first fruits of his increase. All who devour him will be held guilty. Evil will come on them,”’ says the LORD.” 4Hear the LORD’s word, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel! 5The LORD says, “What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after worthless vanity, and have become worthless? 6They didn’t 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 of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no one passed through, and where no man lived?’ 7I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruit and its goodness; but when you entered, you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. 8The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ and those who handle the law didn’t know me. The rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and followed things that do not profit. 9“Therefore I will yet contend with you,” says the LORD, “and I will contend with your children’s children. 10For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see. Send to Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing. 11Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doesn’t profit. 12“Be astonished, you 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 spring of living waters, and cut out cisterns for themselves: broken cisterns that can’t hold water. 14Is Israel a slave? Is he born into slavery? Why has he become a captive? 15The young lions have roared at him and raised their voices. They have made his land waste. His cities are burned up, without inhabitant. 16The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head.

Through Jeremiah, God names two great evils his people have committed, in a vivid image of foolish exchange: they have forsaken him, the fountain of living waters, and dug for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. My people have committed two evils, God says: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can't hold water. The folly is stark: they left the fountain of living, flowing water, God himself, and turned instead to cisterns they made themselves, cracked and unable even to hold water. They traded the living source for broken substitutes that cannot satisfy. This pictures the folly of forsaking God, the true source of life, for substitutes that cannot hold water or satisfy. Forsaking God for broken cisterns is a foolish exchange. God is the fountain; our substitutes are broken cisterns. We trade the living spring for cisterns that hold no water. The substitutes we choose over God cannot satisfy.

Notice the two evils and the folly of the exchange. First, they forsook God, the spring of living waters, the true source of life and satisfaction. And second, they turned instead to cisterns of their own making, broken ones that could not even hold water. The image is of a stunning folly: leaving a fresh, flowing spring to dig cracked tanks that hold nothing. This pictures what we do when we forsake God for other things. God is the fountain of living water, the true source of life, satisfaction, and joy; and the things we so often turn to instead, the idols, pleasures, securities, and pursuits we set in his place, are like broken cisterns, unable to hold water, unable finally to satisfy us. We leave the living spring for substitutes that leave us thirsty. This calls us back to God, the true fountain, and warns us against the folly of trading him for what cannot satisfy. God is the living fountain; substitutes leave us thirsty. Do not trade the living spring for broken cisterns. What we choose over God cannot hold water or satisfy. Return to the fountain of living water, not to cracked cisterns.

That is worth taking to heart, for God is the fountain of living water, and to forsake him for substitutes of our own making is to trade the living spring for broken cisterns that cannot satisfy. We can forsake God, the true source of life and satisfaction, and turn to idols, pleasures, and securities of our own, as though these could satisfy us; but God calls this the folly of leaving the fountain of living waters for broken cisterns that hold no water. Our substitutes leave us thirsty. Do not forsake God, the living fountain, for broken cisterns that cannot satisfy; return to him, the true source. Do not forsake God, the fountain of living waters, for broken cisterns of your own making that can hold no water, as God named through Jeremiah the two evils of his people, that they had forsaken him, the spring of living waters, and cut out for themselves cracked cisterns unable to hold water; for God is the true fountain of life, satisfaction, and joy, and the things we so often turn to instead, the idols, pleasures, securities, and pursuits we set in his place, are like broken cisterns that cannot hold water or finally satisfy us, so that to forsake him for them is a stunning folly, leaving a fresh flowing spring to dig tanks that hold nothing, and we do well to return to God the living fountain rather than trading him for substitutes that leave us thirsty.

Lord, through Jeremiah you name two great evils your people have committed, in a vivid image of foolish exchange: they have forsaken you, the fountain of living waters, and dug for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. My people have committed two evils, you say: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can't hold water. The folly is stark: they left the fountain of living, flowing water, you yourself, and turned instead to cisterns they made themselves, cracked and unable even to hold water. They traded the living source for broken substitutes that cannot satisfy. Show me the two evils and the folly of the exchange. First, they forsook you, the spring of living waters, the true source of life and satisfaction. And second, they turned instead to cisterns of their own making, broken ones that could not even hold water. The image is of a stunning folly: leaving a fresh, flowing spring to dig cracked tanks that hold nothing. This pictures what I do when I forsake you for other things. You are the fountain of living water, the true source of life, satisfaction, and joy; and the things I so often turn to instead, the idols, pleasures, securities, and pursuits I set in your place, are like broken cisterns, unable to hold water, unable finally to satisfy me. I leave the living spring for substitutes that leave me thirsty. Take that to my heart, for you are the fountain of living water, and to forsake you for substitutes is to trade the living spring for broken cisterns that cannot satisfy. Keep me from forsaking you, the living fountain, for broken cisterns of my own making that cannot satisfy; help me return to you, Lord, the true source of life, rather than trading you for substitutes that leave me thirsty, drinking from you the living water that alone satisfies.