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Jeremiah 2 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.
Jeremiah 2:13 NASB
This is what we do, right? We make the decision to leave the protection and provision of God. We walk out of His house onto the streets to live on our own. The rains and floods come and we have no place to go. We know that we are becoming sicker but we continue to feed ourselves with rodents instead of bread. We drink out of broken cisterns that never really hold water and always leave us thirsty for more. We commit two evils. The first is leaving the house. The second is filling up on everything we know will never satisfy.
God’s people knew better. This was not their first time abandoning God. In fact, much of their history included God rescuing them from such horrific circumstances after they turned and repented. But like an unfaithful lover, they return to their mistress again and again.
Many people read the Old Testament and feel like it’s overly negative or just too graphic. It’s honest. Just because the Bible describes it does not mean it prescribes it. If anything, we should be able to see the folly of our human nature even more clearly knowing that we are these people. We must take a moment and consider forgiveness. Through Jesus, we have the power to choose righteousness. As we look at our own life, we can identify areas where we’ve walked out on God and then attempted to replace Him with something else. This awareness brings new life to the Good News of the Gospel.