Idolatry is a Leaky Well

Rev. Shawn Linnell, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blair, NE, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 2:1-19.

As Jeremiah’s preaching begins, the LORD recalls the honeymoon period with His people as the exodus from Egypt. Though they certainly rebelled in their wilderness wanderings, they came back to the LORD in repentance. All of that has changed by Jeremiah’s time; these words are a long time coming. Though the LORD has committed no wrong against His people, they have forsaken Him to follow after other gods. In so doing, they have not only left the source of living water, but they have dug wells that only leak. Destruction is coming, says Jeremiah, and salvation will not be found in the help of any foreign nations. The people’s sin will be its own punishment when Babylon destroys them. The only solution is to return to that which they have forsaken: the fear of the LORD.

“A Time to Destroy and a Time to Build” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Jeremiah. The prophet calls the people of Judah and Jerusalem to repent of their faithless idolatry and warns them of the destruction that is coming in the Babylonian exile. Yet Jeremiah does not leave us without hope in the midst of such dark days. Jeremiah and all who believe the Word of God he preached survive because of hope that is found in the righteous Branch from the line of David, Jesus Christ.