Jeremiah Chapter 2
Jeremiah 2
Broken Cisterns
Jeremiah 2:1-3, The Good Old Days
Jeremiah 2:1-3, “Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend, evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.”
Jeremiah 2 begins with the word of the LORD coming again to Jeremiah. The prophet is commanded to “go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem.” This was not a private devotional reflection, nor was it a quiet academic lecture. Jeremiah was to publicly proclaim the covenant word of God to Jerusalem, the capital of Judah and the center of national religious life. Though the northern kingdom of Israel had already fallen to Assyria over a century earlier, God often speaks of Judah and Jerusalem as Israel because the southern kingdom represented the covenant nation, and because faithful Israelites from the northern tribes had migrated south during the apostasy of Jeroboam.
The LORD begins with a tender memory, “I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals.” God speaks of Israel’s early relationship with Him in the language of betrothal and covenant affection. The wilderness period was not sinless, but it was a season in which Israel followed the LORD out of Egypt, away from the familiar world of bondage, and into a land that was not sown. They were dependent upon Him for bread from heaven, water from the rock, guidance by the pillar of cloud and fire, and protection from enemies. God is not saying Israel was perfect in the wilderness. He is contrasting their early covenant devotion with the cold apostasy of Jeremiah’s generation.
The phrase, “Israel was holiness unto the LORD,” means Israel was set apart unto God as His special possession. They were not to be like the nations. They were not to worship the gods of Egypt or Canaan. They were to belong to the LORD in covenant purity. As “the firstfruits of his increase,” Israel belonged especially to God, much as the firstfruits of the harvest were consecrated to Him. Because of that relationship, the LORD protected Israel. Those who attempted to devour Israel would offend against God Himself, and evil would come upon them. The tragedy of Jeremiah 2 is that the nation once protected by God is now moving toward judgment because it has forsaken God.
Jeremiah 2:4-8, The Great Ingratitude of Rebellious Israel
Jeremiah 2:4-8, “Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land deserts and pits, through a land drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof, but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not, the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.”
The LORD now calls the house of Jacob and all the families of Israel to hear His word. This is covenant courtroom language. God is bringing a charge against His people. His question is penetrating, “What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me?” In plain terms, God asks, “What wrong did I do to you?” The answer is obvious. God had done no wrong. The fault was not in the LORD, His covenant, His law, His provision, or His faithfulness. The fault was entirely in Israel’s rebellion.
They “walked after vanity, and are become vain.” The word vanity carries the sense of emptiness, worthlessness, and futility. A man becomes like what he worships. If he worships the living God, he is brought into truth, life, holiness, and wisdom. If he worships idols, he becomes empty, foolish, and spiritually dead. Israel pursued worthless idols and became worthless in spiritual discernment, moral character, and covenant loyalty.
The LORD reminds them of the Exodus. He brought them out of Egypt, led them through deserts and pits, through drought and the shadow of death, through a land no man could naturally survive. Israel did not deliver herself. Israel did not sustain herself. Israel did not find the promised land by her own wisdom. God rescued, guided, fed, protected, and established her. The ingratitude is staggering because Israel forgot the very God who gave her life as a nation.
God then says, “I brought you into a plentiful country.” Canaan was not Israel’s achievement. It was God’s gift. Yet when they entered, they defiled His land and made His heritage an abomination. This is important. The land is called “my land” and “mine heritage.” Israel possessed the land by divine grant, but the LORD remained the true owner. Their idolatry was not merely private sin. It polluted the land that belonged to God.
The leadership failure is then exposed. “The priests said not, Where is the LORD?” Those who should have led the people in worship and truth did not seek God. “They that handle the law knew me not.” The priests and Levites were supposed to teach, explain, apply, and preserve the law, but they handled holy things without knowing the Holy One. The pastors, meaning rulers or shepherd leaders, transgressed against God. The prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that did not profit. Every level of leadership had failed, religious, civil, and prophetic.
Jeremiah 2:9-12, The Astonishing Nature of Israel’s Sin
Jeremiah 2:9-12, “Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead. For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see, and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.”
God declares, “I will yet plead with you.” This does not mean God is begging as a powerless party. It means He is bringing a formal charge, a covenant case, against His people. The charge extends even to their children’s children because the rebellion had become generational. Judah’s apostasy was not a momentary stumble. It had become a settled course of national life.
The LORD tells them to look west to Chittim and east to Kedar. In other words, search from one end of the known world to the other. Look among pagan nations and see whether such a thing has happened. Even pagan nations remained loyal to their false gods, though those gods were no gods at all. Yet Israel, who had the true and living God, had exchanged her glory for what did not profit.
This makes Israel’s sin astonishing. The pagan nations clung to lifeless idols that had never delivered them, never spoken truth, never redeemed them, and never entered covenant with them. But Israel had the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Exodus, the God of Sinai, the God of the tabernacle and temple, the God who gave them the land. Yet they exchanged Him for empty idols.
The heavens themselves are summoned to be astonished. Creation is pictured as horrified by the spiritual insanity of God’s people. This sin is astonishing because it is foolish, terrifying because God is righteous, and desolating because judgment must follow. When a people exchange the glory of God for what cannot profit, ruin is the only rational outcome unless there is repentance.
Jeremiah 2:13, Broken Cisterns
Jeremiah 2:13, “For my people have committed two evils, they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”
This is the central image of the chapter. God identifies two evils. First, they forsook Him, “the fountain of living waters.” Second, they carved out for themselves “broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” The first evil is abandonment. The second evil is substitution. They left the only true source of life and labored to create inferior replacements that could never satisfy.
The LORD is the fountain of living waters. A fountain, or spring, provides fresh, flowing, life giving water. In an ancient land where water meant survival, this image is powerful. God is not a stagnant pool. He is not a temporary supply. He is the living source of life, purity, refreshment, and sustenance. To forsake Him is not only wicked, it is irrational.
A cistern was a man made storage pit for collecting water. Even a good cistern was inferior to a living spring because stored water could become stale, contaminated, and limited. But Israel’s cisterns were not even functional. They were broken. They could not hold water. This means idolatry required labor, but produced emptiness. Israel worked hard to replace God and ended up with nothing.
This is still the nature of sin. Sin promises satisfaction but cannot hold water. False religion, sexual immorality, greed, power, political alliances, self righteousness, entertainment, and human approval all become broken cisterns when they replace God. Man was made to live from the fountain of living waters. When he abandons the LORD, he becomes thirsty even while surrounded by the works of his own hands.
Jeremiah 2:14-19, Looking to Egypt and Assyria Instead of the LORD
Jeremiah 2:14-19, “Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled? The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste, his cities are burned without inhabitant. Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head. Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way? And now what hast thou to do in the way Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way Assyria, to drink the waters the river? Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee, know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.”
The LORD asks, “Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?” Israel was not created as a slave nation. God had redeemed Israel out of bondage. Yet because of sin, the nation became plundered and humiliated. This is especially seen in the northern kingdom’s fall and serves as a warning to Judah.
The young lions represent violent enemies that had roared against Israel, wasted the land, and burned the cities. Judah is told to consider the consequences of forsaking God. The destruction did not come because the LORD was weak. It came because the people abandoned Him.
Noph and Tahapanes were Egyptian cities. The mention of Egypt warns Judah against trusting foreign alliances. Egypt had already proven unable to save. Assyria had already proven dangerous. Yet Judah continued looking to political powers instead of returning to the LORD. “The waters of Sihor” refers to Egypt, especially the Nile region, while “the river” refers to the Euphrates and the power of Assyria and Mesopotamia. God is exposing the absurdity of trading the fountain of living waters for the waters of pagan empires.
The key statement is, “Hast thou not procured this unto thyself?” Judah’s misery was self inflicted. God had led them by the way, but they had forsaken Him. This is not victim language. It is accountability language. The people could not blame geography, politics, economics, or foreign policy for what was fundamentally spiritual rebellion.
“Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee.” Sin carries consequences. Sometimes God’s judgment comes by allowing people to taste the fruit of what they demanded. Judah wanted life without the fear of the LORD. God tells them they will learn that it is “an evil thing and bitter” to forsake Him.
The root problem is stated plainly, “my fear is not in thee.” They feared Babylon. They feared political instability. They feared military pressure. But they did not fear the Lord GOD of hosts. That title emphasizes God as commander of heavenly armies. If Judah had feared Him, they would not have needed to panic before earthly armies.
Jeremiah 2:20-25, The Unrestrained Pursuit of False Gods
Jeremiah 2:20-25, “For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands, and thou saidst, I will not transgress, when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed, how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done, thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways, A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure, in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves, in her month they shall find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst, but thou saidst, There is no hope, no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.”
The LORD reminds Israel that He broke her yoke and burst her bands. He delivered the nation from bondage. Yet the people responded with false profession. They said, “I will not transgress,” while committing spiritual adultery “upon every high hill and under every green tree.” These were common places of pagan worship. Israel’s idolatry is described as harlotry because the covenant relationship between the LORD and Israel is pictured as a marriage. To worship other gods was spiritual adultery.
This imagery is not merely poetic. Much Canaanite religion involved sexualized rituals and cult prostitution. Idolatry and immorality often went together. When Israel pursued Baal and other false gods, they were not only rejecting doctrine, they were entering a degraded religious system that corrupted worship, family, morality, and justice.
God says He planted Israel as “a noble vine, wholly a right seed.” Israel’s origin was not corrupt. God planted her with care and purpose. Yet she became “the degenerate plant of a strange vine.” The issue was not defective planting by God. The issue was Israel’s corruption. The chosen vine became wild, alien, and degenerate through rebellion.
The LORD then says that even if they washed with nitre and much soap, their iniquity remained marked before Him. Nitre and soap were cleansing agents, but no external washing could remove spiritual guilt. This points to the deeper biblical truth that sin cannot be washed away by religious performance, reform, denial, or self justification. Only God can cleanse iniquity.
1 John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
Judah denied guilt, saying, “I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim.” God answers by pointing them to the valley, likely the Valley of Hinnom, where horrific idolatrous practices occurred, including Baal worship and later child sacrifice associated with Molech. Their sin was not hidden. It was visible, public, and undeniable.
The imagery of the swift dromedary and the wild ass is intentionally severe. Judah is pictured as restless, uncontrolled, and driven by lust for false gods. The point is not polite religious criticism. It is a blunt exposure of spiritual addiction. They had become so committed to idolatry that they said, “There is no hope, no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.” That is one of the most tragic statements in the chapter. They did not merely fall into sin. They resigned themselves to it and confessed their love for it.
Jeremiah 2:26-28, The Shame of Israel
Jeremiah 2:26-28, “As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house Israel ashamed, they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, Saying to a stock, Thou art my father, and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth, for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face, but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time thy trouble, for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.”
Israel’s shame is compared to the shame of a thief when he is caught. This is not the shame of true repentance. It is the shame of exposure. The thief is sorry he was found out, not necessarily sorry for the wickedness of the act. Judah was grieved over consequences, but not truly broken over sin.
The corruption touched every level of society, kings, princes, priests, and prophets. These were the very people who should have led in righteousness. Instead, they participated in national shame. Leadership matters. When kings compromise, princes follow corruption, priests lose truth, and prophets speak lies, the nation rots from the top down and from the inside out.
The people said to a stock, or wooden idol, “Thou art my father,” and to a stone, “Thou hast brought me forth.” This is deliberate satire. They attributed origin, protection, and identity to lifeless objects. A wooden pole and a stone pillar became substitutes for the living God. Their idolatry was both morally corrupt and intellectually absurd.
God says, “They have turned their back unto me, and not their face.” This is the posture of rejection. They refused communion with God, but in trouble they would cry, “Arise, and save us.” God exposes the hypocrisy. They ignored Him in prosperity and called on Him in crisis. But the LORD asks, “Where are thy gods that thou hast made thee?” Let the idols arise and save. The point is obvious. False gods are useless when judgment comes.
The phrase, “according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah,” shows how widespread the idolatry had become. This was not an isolated compromise. It was everywhere. Judah had multiplied gods, but none could save.
Jeremiah 2:29-32, God Rebukes a People Who Have Forgotten Him
Jeremiah 2:29-32, “Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD. In vain have I smitten your children, they received no correction, your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion. O generation, see ye the word the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords, we will come no more unto thee? Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.”
God asks, “Wherefore will ye plead with me?” The people wanted to argue their case, but the LORD states the truth, “ye all have transgressed against me.” Their problem was not misunderstanding. It was rebellion. They had no valid accusation against God. The covenant lawsuit rests on their guilt.
“In vain have I smitten your children, they received no correction.” God had disciplined them, but they did not learn. Correction is meant to bring repentance, but Judah hardened itself. This is one of the most dangerous conditions a people can reach, when chastening no longer softens the heart.
“Your own sword hath devoured your prophets.” Judah had rejected and killed the messengers God sent. A nation that murders its prophets is declaring war against the word of God. God’s servants came to warn, correct, and call the people back, but the people answered with violence.
The LORD asks, “Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness?” In other words, did God ever fail to provide? Was He barren, empty, dangerous, or useless to them? No. God had been their life, light, provision, protection, and inheritance. Yet the people said, “We are lords, we will come no more unto thee.” That is the voice of pride and autonomy. They believed they could rule themselves without submission to God.
The final image is piercing. “Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.” It would be unnatural for a bride to forget her wedding attire or for a young woman to forget her ornaments. Yet Israel forgot the LORD, the One who had redeemed and loved her. Forgetfulness here is not innocent memory failure. It is covenant betrayal.
Jeremiah 2:33-37, Israel Will Be Disappointed in the Allies She Trusted
Jeremiah 2:33-37, “Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. Also in thy skirts is found the blood the souls the poor innocents, I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these. Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned. Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed Egypt, as thou wast ashamed Assyria. Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head, for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.”
The LORD asks, “Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love?” Judah tried to decorate, justify, and beautify her sinful pursuits. She wanted idolatry and immorality to appear attractive, reasonable, and acceptable. This is how sin works. It rarely presents itself as rebellion. It dresses itself up as love, freedom, progress, wisdom, or necessity. But God does not judge sin by the labels men attach to it. He judges it by His holy standard.
Judah had not only practiced wickedness, she had taught the wicked ones her ways. Sin becomes especially dangerous when it moves from personal compromise to public instruction. A corrupt culture does not merely tolerate sin. It eventually celebrates it, normalizes it, and disciples others into it.
The LORD says that in their skirts was found “the blood of the souls of the poor innocents.” Their sin produced victims. Idolatry is never harmless. Immorality is never isolated. Corrupt worship leads to corrupt ethics, and corrupt ethics crush the vulnerable. In Jeremiah’s context, this included violence, injustice, and the horrors associated with idolatrous worship. The poor and innocent suffered while the guilty claimed innocence.
God says, “I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.” Their guilt was not hidden. It was not difficult to find. Their sin was public and plain. Yet they still said, “Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me.” This self deception made their guilt worse. They were not only sinful, they denied sin.
The LORD responds, “I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.” God’s case against them includes their denial. A sinner who confesses sin may find mercy. A sinner who denies sin while standing in open rebellion invites judgment.
Judah is then rebuked for gadding about, changing direction from one alliance to another. Instead of returning directly to the LORD, they flitted from Egypt to Assyria and from Assyria to Egypt, looking for political rescue. This was the national version of broken cisterns. Foreign powers could not save Judah from the judgment of God.
The chapter ends with humiliation, “thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head.” This is the posture of shame, grief, and captivity. The LORD had rejected their confidences. Their trusted allies would fail them. They would not prosper by them. Judah’s problem was not lack of strategy. It was lack of repentance.
Doctrinal and Practical Notes
Jeremiah 2 teaches that spiritual decline often begins with forgetting. Judah forgot the LORD’s kindness, deliverance, provision, and covenant love. Forgetting God is never a small matter. When a people forget what God has done, they become vulnerable to idols, pride, and false security.
Jeremiah 2 teaches that idolatry is both wicked and irrational. Israel exchanged the fountain of living waters for broken cisterns. This is the essence of all false worship. Man abandons the only source of life and then exhausts himself trying to build substitutes that cannot satisfy.
Jeremiah 2 teaches that leadership failure accelerates national collapse. Priests, rulers, and prophets all failed. The priests did not seek the LORD. Those who handled the law did not know Him. The rulers transgressed. The prophets prophesied by Baal. When the pulpit, the government, and the teachers all become corrupt, the people suffer.
Jeremiah 2 teaches that religious privilege does not protect rebellion. Judah had the temple, the law, the priesthood, the covenant history, and the memory of God’s deliverance. Yet none of that excused their sin. Greater privilege brings greater accountability.
Jeremiah 2 teaches that consequences are often built into sin itself. “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee.” God often judges by allowing people to taste the bitter fruit of the path they insisted on taking.
Jeremiah 2 also points forward to the need for true cleansing. Nitre and soap could not wash away Judah’s iniquity. External reform could not remove guilt. This prepares the reader for the greater work of God in redemption, where only the blood of Christ can cleanse from sin.
1 John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
Summary
Jeremiah 2 is a covenant indictment against Judah for forsaking the LORD. God remembers Israel’s early devotion, exposes her ingratitude, rebukes her leaders, and declares the astonishing nature of her rebellion. The heart of the chapter is Jeremiah 2:13, where God says His people committed two evils, they forsook Him, the fountain of living waters, and carved out broken cisterns that could hold no water.
Judah’s idolatry was spiritual adultery, moral corruption, and national insanity. They trusted Egypt and Assyria instead of the LORD. They multiplied false gods but found none that could save. They denied their guilt while their sin was plainly visible. Therefore, the LORD would reject their confidences, and they would not prosper in them.
