Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Jeremiah 2:9-13
YHWH Expresses His Astonishment At The Incredible Way In Which They Have Behaved (Jeremiah 2:9).
YHWH expresses His astonishment at the behaviour of His people, and calls on the heavens to witness what they have done, firstly because, unlike all other nations, they have changed the object of their worship by seeking to strange gods, and secondly because they have turned from Himself, the well-spring of living water, to broken cisterns (false gods and false beliefs) which can hold no water.
“For which reason I will yet contend with you, says YHWH,
And with your children's children will I contend.
For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see,
And send to Kedar, and consider diligently,
And see if there has been such a thing,
Has a nation changed its gods,
Which yet are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory,
For that which does not profit.”
Because they have turned away from Him He will now contend not only with them but also with their children and their children's children. For let them all consider the situation. Let them pass over to the isles of Kittim (the Mediterranean islands to the west) and let them send to Kedar (the Arabian encampments in the east), and let them consider diligently and see if anything quite as remarkable as this has ever happened, that a nation should change the objects of its worship! Why no other nation at all has changed its gods, even though they are no-gods, nonentities. But Judah, what have Judah done? They have changed their glory (YHWH Himself) for what is of no profit to them (the Baalim etc.). They have downgraded the object of their worship, and thereby they have downgraded themselves.
There is a reminder in this of how in the past YHWH had revealed His glory to His people when His cloud had descended on the Tabernacle (e.g. Exodus 40:34) and the Temple (e.g. 2 Chronicles 5:13), shielding them from His glory which was being manifested there. But now, instead of wondering at His glory, they were exchanging this for wooden images coated with gilded plate.
“Be astonished, O you heavens, at this,
And be horribly afraid,
Be you very desolate,
Say YHWH.”
No wonder then that YHWH called on the heavens, and the angels, to be astonished at what was happening, and to be very much afraid because of what the consequences would be on Judah. Indeed they were to be very desolate at the thought of what was coming. For not only had Judah exchanged His glory for a wooden thing coated with earthly gold, but they had also forsaken the One Who was the very source of their spiritual lives.
Moses had called on the heavens to witness what he had to say about the glory of the Lord (Deuteronomy 32:1), but as in Isaiah 1:2, YHWH could only call on the heavens, as impartial witnesses, to witness the mess that Israel had made of their lives, and be horrified.
“For my people have committed two evils,
They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters,
And have hewed them out cisterns,
Broken cisterns which can hold no water.”
He calls the heavens to witness that His people have committed two evils. Firstly in that they have forsaken Him as the well-spring of living waters, the One Who was the very source of fruitful life, the One Who could send the life-giving rains, the One Who was the very means of spiritual blessing, and secondly in that they have instead made their own cisterns (moulded their own gods), which are broken cisterns which can hold no water, and can send no rain. They have exchanged spiritual and physical well-being for spiritual and physical bankruptcy.
When the rains came the springs poured out clean, fresh running water (living water), the rivers were full, the crops were well-watered and all could drink continually from an abundance of fresh clean water (compare John 4:10). Life was everywhere. And as earlier prophets had made clear this was a true picture of the spiritual blessing that God wanted for His people (Isaiah 44:1; Isaiah 55:10). But instead they had exchanged this for a hole which they had dug for themselves in the ground, which only stored limited water that was tepid and dirty, water which tasted of clay and was worm-filled, obtained from cisterns which leaked so badly that they were soon empty. All they were then left with was an extreme thirst and an empty, dank hole in the ground.
The world is full of broken cisterns which appear to offer so much but in the end leave us with the same thirst as we had before. And yet all the while, if only we will see it, there is One Who is the source of all true life and blessing, waiting for us to come and drink of Him (compare John 4:10). But it means leaving the broken cisterns behind.