How does Jeremiah 2:13 describe the two evils committed by God's people? The Setting of Jeremiah 2:13 – God speaks through Jeremiah to indict Judah for covenant infidelity. – The charge is concise: “For My people have committed two evils” (Jeremiah 2:13). – Both evils center on how the people relate to God as the true source of life. Evil #1 — Forsaking the Fountain of Living Water – “They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water.” – “Fountain” pictures an ever-flowing spring—pure, fresh, sufficient. – By leaving God, Judah rejects the only reliable, life-giving source (Psalm 36:8-9; Isaiah 55:1). – New-Testament echo: Jesus offers the same living water (John 4:10-14; 7:37-38). – The sin is active abandonment, not mere neglect; it is personal and relational betrayal. Evil #2 — Digging Broken Cisterns – “They have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” – Cisterns are man-made pits that collect rainwater; they grow stagnant and easily crack. – Judah substitutes self-made systems: idols (Jeremiah 2:5, 11), political alliances (Jeremiah 2:18, 36), and self-reliance (Jeremiah 17:5). – The effort is strenuous (“dug”) yet futile; the cisterns leak, leaving only emptiness. – The contrast heightens the folly: abandoning an artesian spring for cracked clay pots. Why the Two Evils Matter – They reverse the created order: people made to draw life from God now attempt to manufacture it. – The sins are inseparable: turning from God inevitably drives a turn toward idols (Romans 1:21-25). – Spiritual adultery provokes righteous judgment yet also God’s heartbroken plea for return (Jeremiah 2:2, 32; 3:12-14). Supporting Witnesses in Scripture – Jeremiah 17:13 — “Those who turn away… will be written in the dust, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.” – Psalm 115:4-8 — Idols are lifeless and those who trust them become like them. – Revelation 22:17 — The Spirit and the bride invite everyone to take freely of the water of life, fulfilling what Judah rejected. Take-Home Insights – Life, satisfaction, and security flow only from the Lord Himself. – Any substitute—whether idols of wood or twenty-first-century idols of success, pleasure, or power—is a broken cistern. – Returning to the fountain means wholehearted trust, daily communion, and joyful obedience to the God who still offers living water. |
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