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Jeremiah 2: Two Evils, Broken Cisterns

God grieves that his people have forsaken him, the spring of living waters, and dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

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Jeremiah 2 (WEB)

1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

2 “Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

3 Israel was holiness to Yahweh, the first fruits of his increase. All who devour him shall be held guilty. Evil shall come on them,”’ says Yahweh.”

4 Hear Yahweh’s word, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel!

5 Thus says Yahweh, “What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

6 Neither did they say, ‘Where is Yahweh 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?’

7 I 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.

8 The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’ and those who handle the law didn’t know me. The rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

9 “Therefore I will yet contend with you,” says Yahweh, “and I will contend with your children’s children.

10 For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there has been such a thing.

11 Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

12 “Be astonished, you heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate,” says Yahweh.

13 “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

14 Is Israel a servant? Is he a native-born slave? Why has he become a captive?

15 The young lions have roared at him, and yelled. They have made his land waste. His cities are burned up, without inhabitant.

16 The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head.

17 “Haven’t you procured this to yourself, in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, when he led you by the way?

18 Now what have you to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or what have you to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

19 “Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backsliding shall reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.

20 “For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bonds; and you said, ‘I will not serve;’ for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute.

21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine, wholly a right seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?

22 For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me,” says the Lord Yahweh.

23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways;

24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that snuffs up the wind in her desire. When she is in heat, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her.

25 “Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them.’

26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets;

27 who tell wood, ‘You are my father;’ and a stone, ‘You have brought me out:’ for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us.’

28 “But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah.

29 “Why will you contend with me? You all have transgressed against me,” says Yahweh.

30 “I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

31 Generation, consider Yahweh’s word. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We have broken loose. We will come to you no more?’

32 “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number.

33 How well you prepare your way to seek love! Therefore you have taught even the wicked women your ways.

34 Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts. You did not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things.

35 “Yet you said, ‘I am innocent. Surely his anger has turned away from me.’ “Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

36 Why do you go about so much to change your way? You will be ashamed of Egypt also, as you were ashamed of Assyria.

37 From there also you shall go out, with your hands on your head; for Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper with them.

Summary

Yahweh sends Jeremiah to cry in the ears of Jerusalem, remembering the kindness of her youth, the love of her wedding days, when Israel followed him through the wilderness as his holy first fruits. But the people have walked far from him, asking neither where the God who led them from Egypt has gone, nor seeking him at all. Priests did not ask where Yahweh was, those who handled the law did not know him, rulers transgressed, and prophets prophesied by Baal. God marvels that no nation ever changed its gods, yet his people have exchanged their glory for what cannot profit. He names two evils at the heart of it: they have forsaken him, the spring of living waters, and hewn out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. So Israel has become a captive, her cities burned, her own wickedness correcting her. Though once planted as a noble vine, she has turned into a wild, foreign vine, staining herself so deeply that no soap can cleanse her. She has run after foreign lovers, called wood her father and stone her mother, yet still protests her innocence. God exposes the futility of trusting Egypt and Assyria, for he has rejected those in whom she trusts, and she will go out shamed, hands on her head.

Voices

  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The spurned husband and spring of living waters who recalls Israel's early devotion, exposes her two evils, and pleads through grief and rebuke for her to see what she has lost.
  • Israel — The bride of the wilderness now turned faithless, who has forsaken the fountain to dig broken cisterns and chase gods that cannot profit or save.
  • The priests, rulers, and prophets — The leaders who failed to seek Yahweh, handled the law without knowing him, transgressed, and prophesied by Baal, leading the people away from their God.

Key Verse

Jeremiah 2:13 (WEB)

“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Lessons Learned

  • Sin is first a forsaking of God himself, and only then a turning to lesser things.
  • Idols are broken cisterns: they promise satisfaction but cannot hold the water of life.
  • God remembers the love of our early devotion even when we have wandered far.
  • Trusting in human powers and false gods leaves us ashamed and unsaved in the day of trouble.
  • The root of sin is forsaking God. “They have forsaken me, the spring of living waters” (Jeremiah 2:13, WEB). Before idolatry is a wrong attachment, it is the abandonment of the only true source of life.
  • Idols cannot deliver what they promise. The people dug “broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13, WEB). Whatever we substitute for God will leave us thirsty.
  • God grieves over misplaced trust. He marvels that a people would change “their glory for that which does not profit” (Jeremiah 2:11, WEB). Our wandering is not only foolish but heartbreaking to him.
  • False refuges end in shame. “Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper with them” (Jeremiah 2:37, WEB). Trust placed anywhere but God collapses in the day of need.
  1. How does God describe the relationship of Israel's youth, and why does he begin there?
  2. What are the two evils God names, and how are they connected?
  3. What is the difference between a spring of living water and a cracked cistern, and what do they picture spiritually?
  4. How does the chapter expose the futility of trusting Egypt and Assyria?
  5. What broken cisterns have you been tempted to dig for yourself instead of drinking from God?
  1. God recalls the kindness of Israel's youth and her wilderness devotion (2:2). He begins with love remembered so the indictment lands not as cold accusation but as the grief of a faithful husband over a bride who has wandered.
  2. The first evil is forsaking God, the fountain; the second is digging broken cisterns that hold no water (2:13). They are linked because turning from the true source always sends us scrambling after substitutes that fail us.
  3. A spring gives fresh, living, self-renewing water; a cracked cistern can at best store stagnant water and in fact leaks it all away. The image teaches that God alone satisfies, while idols promise and cannot deliver. Christ later offers himself as that living water (John 4:14).
  4. God shows that running to Egypt or Assyria for security only multiplies shame, for he has rejected those in whom they trust (2:18, 36-37). The lesson is that political and worldly alliances cannot substitute for trusting the living God.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Invite members to name, even silently, the substitutes they reach for, and to return to the fountain. As leader, keep the focus on God's grieving love and his open invitation, not on shame.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.