The Rejected God (Jer. 2:13)

This sermon was preached on 28/10/2012

In this chapter, we have the first sermon by the prophet Jeremiah. His call to that role is detailed in the previous chapter. We can imagine the enthusiasm and hopes that a preacher will have as he preaches his first message. Jeremiah had not been left to decide for himself what to preach about. Instead he was given a message by the Lord, a specific message for his people. Jeremiah was not called merely to pass on some doctrinal details as information. His message was from the heart of God, an appeal from the eternal throne, to those he loved and longed to bless.

 

In passing, we can note that this is what preaching is, and if we miss this aspect we will lose a great deal. We see something similar in the words of Paul to the Corinthians when he wrote: ‘Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God’ (2 Cor. 5:20). Preaching is for feelers, both in the preacher and in the audience. As we meet here, it is important to remember that we gather in the presence of a God who is moved by our response, either with pleasure (as in verses 2 and 3 of the chapter) or with sadness.

 

The Lord has a surprising complaint to make about his people Israel. They have departed from him despite all the good things he had done for them in the past since they became his people. He had delivered them from terrible bondage in Egypt, provided them with a beautiful country flowing with milk and honey, elevated them into a great nation especially under the reign of Solomon, protected them from powerful enemies, and met their needs throughout the centuries. Of course, they had not deserved all these blessings, but time and again he had forgiven them their sins. So it was a wonder that they had forgotten about him. Indeed it is more shocking than surprising, and we can see the sense of shock in the way that he appeals to the heavens to note what they have done (v. 12). What made the situation worse was not only were they indifferent to the great blessings of the past, but here they were now determined to depart from him, despite the fact that he could continue to do great things for them.

 

So that is why there is even more than surprise and shock in these words, there is also sadness in the heart of God as he observes what his people are doing. We can see the sorrow of his heart in the poignant words of verses 2 and 3 when the Lord says he recalls the way that Israel served him in the initial days after their deliverance from Egypt. But they had lost their first love, as it were, and turned to other things. And when we look at the illustration that is used to depict what they have done – hewing out broken cisterns – we can see that their decision was also stupid because who would want to make such a cistern in a climate where water was scarce? Even more, who would make a cistern or cisterns beside a plentiful well?

 

The name of God – the fountain of living waters

What image comes to our minds when we think of a fountain? Perhaps we think of a source of water that we see in a park. Of course, that is not the kind of fountain that is in view in our verse. The fountain in the park is manmade whereas the fountain in the verse is not. Instead it is a reference to springs or wells that were found in different places. Of course, a spring or well was valuable and people would fight over them because it could mean the difference between life and death.

 

The first detail to note is the exclusive claim that the Lord makes for himself. He does not say that he is a fountain; instead he says that he is the fountain. He does not suggest that he is one of a range of options from which his people can select the one that suits them best. Instead he stresses that he is the only one available.

 

Then we can note, secondly, that the Lord makes a grand claim for himself because his claim includes him being able to satisfy the needs of all the people of Israel. The Lord has no doubt that this was so. Indeed it is part of what makes their choice surprising, shocking, sad and stupid.

 

What does God mean when he likens himself to a fountain? He means that he is the source of what we need. A fountain possessed water in itself and did not need to get water from elsewhere. So, this picture tells us that the Lord is self-sufficient. Yet there is more because the imagery of a fountain indicates that God wants to share his resources with us. A fountain continually pours out water. So the imagery points to the continual giving of God.

 

Secondly, the imagery of a fountain illustrates that God is suitable for us. Water is basic to human needs – everyone needs water and takes it when necessary. We cannot live without water. When someone travelling through a desert came across a fountain, how pleased he was. If we can imagine it, a fountain would say to the weary traveller, ‘Come and drink what you need. Come and drink what suits you.’

 

Thirdly, the imagery of a fountain tells us that contact with God is satisfying. When a group of people discovered a fountain, they were content because they knew that the fountain would be there whenever they needed to go to it, and that each time they went to it they would not be disappointed. In a far higher sense, this is true of the Lord.

 

As we think of this picture of God, we see the reality of his grace. Whatever aspect of God we consider, we see that it can be shared by all of us, it will be suitable for all of us, and it will satisfy us. Let’s think about some of the benefits he has for us. Two, in particular, come to mind.

 

The first is that God is the fountain of life (Psalm 36:9). Spurgeon, in commenting on that verse from the psalm, advised his village preacher: ‘Life, natural, mental, spiritual, proceeds from God, is sustained, restored, purified, and perfected by him. In him it dwells with permanency, from him it flows freely, with freshness, abundance, and purity; to him it should be consecrated.’

 

The second aspect of God that is illustrated by the fountain is his love. The Lord wants to share his love with us, the benefits of his love are suitable to us, and the consequences of his love are satisfying to us. The best known verse in the Bible tells us that the Lord wants to share his love with us. ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16). If we believe in Jesus, we will receive eternal life from God, and eternal life is what comes from God the fountain. When he was speaking to the woman of Samaria, Jesus offered to her life from God.

 

The image of God as a fountain pictures for us the fact that he is the God of all grace. Think of how the apostles begin the letters to the different churches. He directs them to the Fountain when he says that they can have grace and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

This image of God depicts how believers will relate to the Lord in heaven. He is described in Revelation 7 as the fountain of the waters of life. There he will be the endless supply of what his people will need, and he will provide in such a manner that they will always be satisfied.

The twofold departure

The Lord complains that his people Israel have turned away from him and erected cisterns that could not hold any water. The reference is probably to their departure into various forms of idolatry. They turned to non-existent things that were unable to provide them with anything. Alexander Stewart observes that ‘the first of these offences sets forth their guilt; the second describes the folly which is both the fruit and the aggravation of their apostasy.’ He continues: ‘The substitute is not an equivalent; no cisterns can take the place of the Fountain; hence the misery and disappointment which are inseparable from a godless life.’

 

We too can turn to cisterns of our own making. For example, there is the cistern of pleasure. It seems to offer so much, a wide range of options. Yet when we try them, we find that they cannot satisfy our souls. Or there is the cistern of wealth, which many imagine will satisfy their souls. And there is the cistern of power, which appeals to another type of person. There is the cistern of worldly ambition, which seeks for prominence. No doubt, all these activities could be justified by them, yet they were broken cisterns that kept failing to hold any satisfaction.

 

Of course, these examples, and many others could have been chosen, remind us that we were made by God to be happy. Our problem is not that we look for happiness. Instead the problem is that we ignore the One who can give infinite happiness and dabble with what cannot provide it. And that is a great sin because it reveals that we are dismissive of God.

 

But this behaviour raises another question: when did we forsake God and why do we continue to forsake him? The Bible gives the answers to both questions. As a race, we forsook him at the beginning when Adam our representative turned away from God and indicated his preference for earthly things. Instead of being devoted to the eternal Fountain who had provided him with all things to enjoy, they put the creature above the Creator and in doing so discovered that not even the good things that God provides can be a substitute for himself.

 

Why do we as individuals continue to forsake him? Jesus gives the answer to this question in the parable of the prodigal son. There was a son living with his father, but who preferred to go away from God. Jesus vividly describes the downward spiral of one who forsook his God. Of course, to begin with, he seemed to have made the right choice, but eventually he discovered the price he had to pay.

 

Responding to the divine plea

This verse calls us to be realistic about the things we are looking to for satisfaction. It is a common story from the experience of every age and every society. Nothing provides permanent satisfaction if we put it the place of what God can give.

 

The verse also calls us to reflect on what the Lord can give us. After all, he is the infinite Fountain. The Lord Jesus likened himself to a fountain in John 7 when he called on all his hearers to come to him and drink. On that occasion, he said that if anyone thirsted they should come to him and drink. Of course, they have to leave their cisterns behind.