Forsaking the Fountain

4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord:
                        “What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
                        and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
            6           They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
                        who led us in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
                        in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that none passes through,
where no man dwells?’
            7           And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
                        But when you came in, you defiled my land
and made my heritage an abomination.
            8           The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who handle the law did not know me;
                        the shepherds transgressed against me;
the prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after things that do not profit.
            9           “Therefore I still contend with you,
declares the Lord,
and with your children’s children I will contend.
            10          For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
or send to Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has been such a thing.
            11          Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods?
                        But my people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
            12          Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
            13          for my people have committed two evils:
                        they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
                        and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
                         Jeremiah 2:4-13
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Forsaking the Fountain
The Lord brings a covenant lawsuit against His people: not because He failed them, but because they forgot Him. Jeremiah reminds us that Israel wandered from the Lord who led them through the wilderness and traded His glory for what could not help. The heart of the charge, God is the fountain of living waters, yet His people preferred cracked cisterns they made themselves. Sin always curves us inward, convincing us that self-made security is safer than God’s gracious promise. We recognize ourselves here. We trust our plans, our institutions, even our piety, while neglecting the living God who gives life freely. The tragedy is not merely that we sin, but that we abandon the only source who can save. Yet the fountain still flows. From the cross of Christ, living water pours out, blood and water for sinners who have nothing but broken cisterns to offer. In Him, the Lord does not abandon His people but restores them, calling us back to the water that truly gives life.