My heart was stricken today as I read in Jeremiah. How could God have done to His people that which He did. The Jews were His beloved people, chosen to represent God to the world. Yet God called the kingdoms of the north to lay Judah waste. What evil had they done to warrant the destruction of their nation? Had they committed terrible sins of debauchery and perversion? After all God had told the world to be astonished, to be horribly afraid at what they had done! (Jer 2:12)
The horrendous evil of Judah was revealed in Jeremiah 2:13. They had committed two evils or raʿ which usually means sin in the sense of destructive hurtfulness. In other words, what Judah had done was destructive and hurtful to themselves and their nation. God says:
13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13 (NASB)
The hurtful destructive thing which they had done first was to forsake and turn away from the true source of living water and all which living water signifies-sustenance, prosperity, well being. They turned from trusting Jehovah God for their livelihood and peace of mind.
The second hurtful destructive thing they did was to dig their own cisterns (broken at that) to rely upon for their livelihood. They collected their own water, using their own hands. In other words, they were depending upon themselves for their livelihood and prosperity. They were not depending upon God.
What Does God Consider Evil?
Jeremiah puts a different “spin” on what God considers ‘evil’. God says any walk, any action that is independent of Him is evil. God is the source and the sustainer of our life. We must drink continually from His fountain. We must depend daily upon God. To forsake Him and His provisions for us is evil. To depend upon our own cisterns, our own means for our life and sustenance is likewise evil.
They are each destructive and hurtful.
I believe America is a hurting nation with hurting and sick people because we have walked in the evilness of independence. We no longer depend upon God. We may include Him occasionally in our plans, we may offer Him lip service in our praise and prayers. But when it comes down to living, we depend upon that which we can see, touch, make and do with our own eyes and hands. In fact, we most often depend on the Government which we have created. Especially in these frightful economic times.
However, we must heed the warning of Jeremiah. For he says in verse 19, that our own wickedness will correct us, and we will discover that it is an evil and bitter thing to forsake the Lord our God.
We must rediscover the fear and reverence of Almighty Jehovah God. We must turn away from the cisterns of our own making, and come to His fountain of living waters.
Loving the Word with the MudPreacher 