Broken Cisterns

SCRIPTURE

Jeremiah 2:1–13 KJV 1900

1 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. 3 Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord. 4 Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: 5 Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? 6 Neither said they, Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that 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 man passed through, and where no man dwelt? 7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. 8 The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. 9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord, and with your children’s children will I plead. 10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. 11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

INTRODUCTION

I want to focus on verse 13 [re-read verse].

God gave a prophetic message to the nation of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah. Israel had forsaken the True and Living God and had turned to worthless idols.

Jeremiah wrote these words some 800 years after Israel came out of Egypt, came out of slavery, and passed through the Red Sea. God gave Israel the Law and the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai and made them a nation that was holy and set apart for the purpose of being the light of God on Earth.

It was only 11 days journey from Mt. Sinai to the Promised Land, but Israel spent a total of 40 years in the wilderness because of their disobedience to God’s Word and their lack of faith in God’s plans.

But after 40 years, God brought Israel into the Promised Land, just like He had promised. He brought them into a land flowing with milk and honey. He gave them vineyards they did not plant. He gave them houses they did not build. He gave them cities they did not establish. God gave them His protection and power and Israel was able to overcome the enemies and the giants in the Promised Land and lay claim to the inheritance that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But here in Jeremiah 2, we find Israel on the brink of destruction. The northern kingdom of Israel has already been destroyed by the Assyrians. And now the southern kingdom of Judah is on the brink of being destroyed by the Babylonians. And in these verses we read today, we see some of the reasons why Judah finds herself in this condition.

What God Remembers (1-3)

The Good Old Days

“the kindness of thy youth” [they were on fire for God]

“the love of thy espousals (betrothal)” [they had a fresh and vibrant love for God like newlyweds]

Marriage is when a man and woman become one. The trouble starts when they try to decide which one.

Marriage is when you agree to spend the rest of your life sleeping in a room that's too warm, next to someone who's sleeping in a room that's too cold.

Once when Mark Twain was lecturing in Utah, a Mormon acquaintance argued with him on the subject of polygamy. After a long and rather heated debate, the Mormon finally said, "Can you find for me a single passage of Scripture which forbids polygamy?" "Certainly," replied Twain. "'No man can serve two masters.'”

The speaker at a woman's conference was lecturing on marriage and asked the audience how many wanted to "mother" their husbands. One member in the back row raised her hand. "You do want to mother your husband?" the speaker asked. "Mother?" the woman echoed. "I thought you said smother."

“when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown” [they followed God through difficult times, even though their faith wasn’t perfect]

“Israel was holiness unto the Lord” [they were a separate people].

“and the firstfruits of His increase” [they were God’s special people, picked out of all the people of world to fulfill His plans]

As a result

“all that devour him shall offend, evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord”

In other words, anyone who tried to lay a hand on God’s people Israel would wish they hadn’t.

God was their protector.

What God Asks (4-5)

Why have you gone far away from me?

What iniquity (injustice) have you found in me?

What have I done to you?

What God Desires (6-8)

Some questions God wanted them to ask:

“Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt?”

“Where is the Lord who led us through the wilderness?”

“Where is the Lord who led us through a land of deserts and pits?”

“Where is the Lord that led us through droughts?”

“Where is the Lord that led us through the valley of the shadow of death?”

God wanted His people to turn back to Him.

The priests didn’t turn to God.

Those who handle the law didn’t turn to God.

The pastors (leaders) didn’t turn to God.

The prophets turned to Baal.

What God Pleads (9-12)

Consider the pagan nations that are around you.

Have those pagan nations ever changed their gods?

Have they ever exchanged one false god for another?

God said, “even the pagan nations around you that serve false gods have remained loyal to their gods.”

But God says, “you Israel are worse than the pagans because you have exchanged the True and the Living God for false and dead gods.”

Who would do such a thing?

What God Concludes (13)

Israel has committed two evils:

They have forsaken the Lord, the Fountain of Living Waters, and

They have hewn out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

MESSAGE

The difference between a Fountain and a Cistern

Fountain

Like an artesian spring.

Continuous supply.

Refreshing.

Pure.

Red Hill Spring north of Stockton

Cistern

The Hebrew word used here for cistern is “bore” and means a pit, a prison, or a grave.

Same Hebrew root word used to describe the pit that Joseph was thrown into by his brothers.

Hole dug in the ground to collect rainwater or water from other sources.

It was not a source of water, but just a storage tank.

It was often dug into rock or lined with plaster, but the rock or plaster would crack over time and leak water out.

The water was often stagnant and could become unsafe to drink.

What broken cisterns represent

Broken cisterns are useless

Have you ever heard someone say that something “doesn’t hold water.” [His argument doesn’t hold water]

That means something that is:

not valid

not good

not useful

If you’ve ever worked on a construction site or ever worked with your dad, you probably found yourself early on as the gopher. You go for this and go for that. And at some point you might have been asked to go for some things like:

a sky hook,

a glass hammer,

some blinker fluid,

a left-handed screwdriver,

a bucket of steam, or

a pipe stretcher.

These things are completely ridiculous and useless because they simply do not exist.

Broken cisterns are useless.

The engineer who was asked to complain about the graph paper.

Examples of Broken Cisterns

False religion,

Dead religion,

The pleasures of this world,

time spent on cell phones,

pursuing careers,

Self effort,

Two guys digging holes.

Anything you allow to come between you and God

Broken Cisterns will leave you empty and dry

The things of this world will never satisfy your soul.

The things of this world will not offer you the freedom that Christ offers.

The things of this world cannot give you what you need.

So why would you leave the Fountain of Living Waters for a broken cistern?

Come and Drink From the Fountain of Living Waters

Jesus is Still at the Well

John 4:10–15 KJV 1900

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Come and Drink

John 7:37–38 KJV 1900

37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.