February 19: EVILS COME IN PAIRS
“For My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit. Be astonished, O heavens, at this . . .” Jeremiah 2:11b-12a
Jeremiah, as the LORD’s spokesman (1:9), points out that His people had previously “owned” their Glory, meaning they had actively partaken in a relationship with Him—a relationship alive with glorious vitality! As God continues speaking through Jeremiah, He assumes the prophet’s understanding that other (unfallen) worlds are observing God’s dealings with the fallen humans of this world. He is allowing His people to exercise their freedom and make their own choices, and the universe is looking on. Surely, the heavens are astonished (see also 1 Corinthians 4:9)!
As the Holy Spirit guides, Jeremiah makes reference to the spiritual foundations that the people had been given, comparing these foundations to natural fountains that spring up—always fresh and clean . . . a wellspring of purity. With hindsight upon his happy childhood, Jeremiah is heartbroken; and his message is heartbreaking.
“For My people have committed two evils; They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13
The LORD is communicating a vital principle here: one evil inevitably leads to another. When a soul turns away from God, a vacuum is created. This vacuum is a profound, spiritual emptiness, yet our spiritual archenemy deceptively disguises this emptiness as something that can be filled with substitutes. In reality, substitutes for God are only idolatrous distractions. They take the form of worldly pleasures and counterfeit doctrines, one being used to justify the other, and vice versa. Be aware that the conditioning of souls to change their Glory is done covertly, with subtlety. Lack of awareness leads to spiritual indifference and hypocrisy. Another pair!
The nature of a vacuum is that it forces itself to be filled. It forces a choice. A soul is either filled with the Spirit of God—by simply asking (Luke 11:13)—or filled with “lesser gods” of human making. Hence the metaphor of hewn cisterns. A cistern is quite distinct from a well, which taps a natural spring. A cistern is meant to collect rainwater as a backup water supply. It can easily become polluted by decomposing animals that fall in or sludge that accumulates. A leaky, broken cistern was sometimes used as a prison pit (Genesis 37:24; Jeremiah 38:6).
Jeremiah’s encouragement to his brethren in Judah placed before them the opportunity to be proactive: “Break up your fallow ground.” This called for careful placement of their cultivation: “And do not sow among thorns.” (4:3) How refreshingly accessible are the agricultural metaphors! You and I need a constant backup water supply directly from heaven. The fountain of living waters stands ready to fill any of us with His Spirit just for asking! The bread of heaven is His word. He breathes it out and we can breathe it in. We can be refreshed on a moment’s notice. The life of my soul is utterly dependent upon the Source of life. If I allow it to be choked out, that is my decision, not God’s.
Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. Luke 8:14