TWO GREAT EVILS

Jeremiah 2:13

Jeremiah 2:13

“For My people have committed two evils:They have forsaken Me,The fountain of living waters,To hew for themselves cisterns,Broken cisternsThat can hold no water.

Bad Times For God’s People

Jeremiah lived about 600 years before Jesus

Israel had fallen to Assyria

2 Kings 17:6 – In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria capture Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria….”

Wicked Kings of Judah Manasseh 2 Kings 21:2,6 – “He did evil in the

sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel…. He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking Him to anger.”

Amon, Son of Manasseh

2 Kings 21:21-22 – He did evil in the sight of the Lord…for he walked in all the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them. So he forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.”

Josiah: A Good King

2 Kings 22:2 – “He did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left.

Jeremiah the Prophet Prophet during the

13th year of Josiah’s reign

Still prophet when the exile came and Jerusalem fell to Babylon

The Two Great Evils

Judah had previously been faithful

Jeremiah 2:2-3a – “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, the love of your betrothals, your following after Me in the wilderness, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the first of His harvest….”

But Judah Changed gods

Jeremiah 2:11 – “Has a nation changed gods when they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.”

Evil #1 – Forsaking God

Jeremiah 2:13 – “…they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters….

God refers to Himself as LIVING WATER

Isaiah 51:3

“Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.”

God Calls Himself A Fountain

Psalm 36:7-9 – How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.”

Evil #2: Hewed Broken Cisterns

False gods like Baal Jeremiah 2:8 -- “The priests did

not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me, And the prophets prophesied by BaalAnd walked after things that did not profit.

They Followed False Prophets

Jeremiah 2:8 -- …and the prophets prophesied by Baal…

They Felt False Security

Jeremiah 2:6 – “They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us up out of the land of Egypt….”

Deuteronomy 8:11-14 – “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God…when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them…then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God….”

Modern Day Broken Cisterns

False gods Ephesians 5:5 -- For this

you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (c.f. Col. 3:5)

False Prophets

2 Peter 2:1-3 -- … just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality…and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

False Security

1 Corinthians 10:12 – “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

False Christs

Matthew 24:24 – “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”

Always Seek God He is the fountain of

living water Revelation 22:17 – “The

Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”

Revelation 21:6 “Then He said to

me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.’”