Jeremiah chapter 2 to chapter 3:5
Hi everyone, as always, get the most out of this article by reading chapters 2 to 3:5 of Jeremiah (link). Listen to the podcast with your family, and let me know how you experienced it. I hope these podcast stories can also be a resource for parents to inspire their kids in their walk with God. This is all new to me so your feedback is so helpful.
JEREMIAH’S FIRST SERMON (Listen to the podcast for sound effects)
The boy prophet stood at the edge of the city, sandals worn from the dusty climb from Anathoth.
His scroll — hardly more than a scrap of rough parchment — trembled in his hand, not from the breeze, but from the fire stirring in his bones.
He was young. Too young, some whispered.
What right did a boy have to speak to kings, to elders, to merchants and priests hardened by years of ritual and rebellion?
But it was not Jeremiah’s own words he carried.
It was the voice of the Living God.
Jerusalem — the jewel of Judah — bustled that day as it always did: carts rattling down narrow streets, children laughing near the water cisterns, priests debating the Law in shaded courtyards.
But under the noise, Jeremiah felt it — a rot. A hollowing out of the soul of a nation.
Yes, the walls of the city still stood strong. The temple’s gold still caught the morning light. The festivals still drew great crowds.
But, the heart of the people had turned… away.
Jeremiah tightened his grip on the scroll. He stepped forward into the main square — just outside the temple gates — where the crowd gathered thickest.
He lifted his voice.
Young. Cracking. Yet carried by a weight far older than his years.
Jeremiah called out:
“I remember the devotion of your youth…”
“How as a bride you loved Me, and followed Me through the wilderness, through a land not sown…”
He painted the picture before their eyes:
A young bride once radiant in her first love.
Unashamed. Faithful. Willing to walk into barren deserts if only to stay close to her Beloved. The image of a honeymoon period was vivid, no distractions, and a willingness to follow wholeheartedly wherever the Lord would lead.
But now… The crowd stiffened.
Jeremiah: “What fault did your ancestors find in Me, that they strayed so far?”
“They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves!”
He paused, letting the words hang heavy.
Across the way, old men muttered under their breath. Some of them shaking there heads with disapproval.
Merchants narrowed their eyes.Women pulled their cloaks tighter.
But the Spirit would not let Jeremiah stop.
He told them of a living spring — water so pure, so endless, like the hidden streams of Mount Carmel. They all knew of this living spring that Elijah had once used to demonstrate the power of Almighty God. Jeremiah had their attention, it was time to send the message home to their hearts:
“ Let me tell you a story…
There was once a village, not unlike our own towns outside these walls. It had a gift—a deep spring, hidden beneath rock, ancient and faithful. It gave water that never failed. Cool in summer. Sure in drought. Their fathers knew it. Their grandfathers drank from it.
It was quiet… steady… alive.
But one day— they grew tired of bending low to the ground. Tired of trusting what they could not see. Although it had been a rock of life to them, they began to doubt it’s fidelity.
And so, they said, “Let us make our own cistern!”
“Let us carve something with our own hands. A new way. A better way. Reliable”
So they cut into the earth. A marvel of stone - Deep. Wide.
They filled it with water and praised themselves.
And they said, “Look! We are better now! No longer dependent on what we did not build!”
But the cistern had cracks. It could not hold what it promised. The water seeped through the stone cracks, swallowed by the dust beneath.
They had forsaken the spring of living water— for something broken.
Something useless. (Jeremiah turns to the people—his voice rises)
And so have you!
The Lord says:
“My people have committed two sins—
They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water—
and dug their own cisterns.
Broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
You run to Egypt for help. Yet they shall be that broken cistern, just as it was with Assyria!
You trust in politics, in power, in idols of wood and stone.
But they are empty. Hollow. Leaking.
Even the nations, who serve false gods, are more faithful to their lies than you are to the Living God who opened up the red sea waters to deliver you.”
Jeremiah looked into their eyes — and saw emptiness.
They had chased after gods of stone and wood, gods who could neither speak nor save.
Yet Jeremiah cried: (heart breaking):
“Has a nation ever changed its gods— though they are not gods at all?”
“But my people have exchanged their glory for worthless idols!”
He told them they were like a wild donkey on heat, sniffing the wind for a mate. Desperate for foreign alliances — as if a spiritual wound could be healed by politics.
Many would have stopped there, but still the boy spoke:
Can a young woman forget her jewelry?
Can a bride forget her wedding dress?
Yet you have forgotten Me, says the Lord.
Day after day after day.
I tell you this now — before it is too late, before you will be ashamed and speechless, like a thief caught red-handed.
Jeremiah’s heart beat furiously as he spoke. He saw it: A nation stumbling down the same path Israel had once walked, the northern kingdom now nothing but ruins and exile.
The street grew still. Some sneered. Some laughed. Some spat on the ground as they passed.But others… Others lowered their eyes. The fire that God had kindled inside the boy would not go out. Not yet. Not ever.
For woven into the rebuke was a cry from the heart of God:
“Return to Me.”
It was not anger that moved Jeremiah. It was love.
The heart of a Father calling to His wayward children. And though the city would not listen that day, though kings would soon come and go, though war and ruin would grind Judah into dust, the Living Water still flowed … and the voice of God still called.
Return!
Return to the spring. Return to the One who gives water without price. Before your land becomes a desert. Before your soul forgets how to drink. And the cracks reach the depths of your heart.
Come back, Judah.”
Today
Although this message was for the people of Judah.
It is a great reminder for us to come back to our first love, and to seek first the Kingdom of God. Ready to serve, ready to give our lives for His Kingdom.
Perhaps you can hear the voice of God in this message, calling you to return to Him? To let go of the lies that say “Your job, your wealth, your plans, your relationships, even your outward religion, will satisfy.”
Today, the same voice whispers:
“Return to Me.”
Not for what you can get … but because He is the spring of life itself.
To be continued
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With all the extra hours that went into the podcast - A coffee should keep me awake long enough to race against my toddler boys this evening. (I need to win this race to keep my ‘superdad’ status intact). Any sympathizers please click below :)
Thanks for your support! And I look forward to seeing you next time. The image below is the cover image for a song I wrote, a warning song from the heart of Jeremiah. Check it out HERE :)
Other Biblical References to support this Story: | 1 Kings 18 | Isaiah 55:1-2 | John 4: 10-14 | Psalm 115 |
And if you made it this far please feel free to contact me and we can connect !!
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