Broken Cistern's
Jim Rinker
Archived prophetic words and bible teachings from the Mercy Seat Fellowship
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updated on Thursday, July 31, 2008 01:02:50 AM
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.
Before the Lord passed judgment on Israel, He sent Jeremiah about 30 years beforehand to begin to plead and reason with Judah. Jeremiah's ministry began in the days of Josiah. Now Josiah was the king who "undid" all of the sins of Manasseh. After READING THE BOOK OF THE LAW he went and cleansed the land from all of the groves and idols then restored the feast days that were suppose to be held unto the Lord namely Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.
So Jeremiah was sent at a time which "seemed" as if great revival was taking place in the land to begin to "reason" with Judah. I say "seemed" because very very shortly after Josiah's demise all Israel went whoring after all the idols Josiah just cleansed the land of. This would indicate that the revival was mandated by the king rather that any real heart change in the hearts of the people.
So if we look at the opening passage again, the Lord begins to lay down His "charges" against Judah. One of them is that they have forsaken the fountain of living waters, which is His word!
Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
So we see that His word is what cleanses us. As Jesus taught:
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The second thing Jeremiah says is that they have hewed themselves Cistern's that can hold no water. What is this referring to? US!
Romans 9:23 - And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory
2 Corinthians 4:7 - But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
2 Timothy 2:20 - But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonour.
Hebrews 9:21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
See, we are "suppose" to be those vessels made by the potter, molded and shaped BY HIM so that we may contain those living waters (of His word) that others may come to us and be cleansed and refreshed by those living waters. We have been purified in the tabernacle with the sprinkling of His blood as vessels that are SUPPOSE to be used in ministry. This is the destiny of the church!
But what happened? Many first off reject His word which is those fountains of living water. Just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had to dig their own wells to find those refreshing waters of life so we too must dig our own wells to find the refreshing water of His word. That word dig, it kind of means that there is some labor on our part to dig into the word and labor in it to find those refreshing waters.
Many reject this process!
Second, many reject God's chastening process in their lives. As the word says, I am the potter and you are the clay. This is speaking of that process by which a vessel worthy of containing those waters of life are made. A process which includes molding, shaping, and curing BY FIRE.
But what did Jeremiah pronounce? You have hewn out cisterns which can hold no water.....broken pots! See, the Lord was the one who is suppose to do the hewing, molding, and shaping but these have rejected that process and have chose to hew out themselves by some other process. These are vessels which CANNOT hold any water.
I was grieved Saturday night as one of those "divine" appointments came along and on a walk in an area we don't live we "by coincidence" ran into some fellow believers. We walked with them for a while but this was not what our appointment was about. The word the Lord had for them was clear, "you need to find my voice and know how to hear My voice (those living waters of His word) for yourselves".
As I delivered this message, what grieved me was the complete inability to even comprehend what I was saying. What came to me as this was transpiring was that it was as if I was pouring water (His words of life) into a broken Cistern that could not hold any water.
Lord, I pray for your mercy and grace to go out into your body and your divine conviction would go forth. Give us an ear to hear and submit ourselves to your chastening process that we may become vessels of honor worthy of use in your ministry!