So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard. It belonged to Malkijah, a member of the royal family. There was no water in the cistern, but there was a thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it.

Jeremiah 38:6

“For my people have done two evil things:
They have abandoned me—
    the fountain of living water.
And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns
    that can hold no water at all!
Jeremiah 2:13

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• Jeremiah's prophetic ministry was not easy. 
• Throughout the book, he faces persecution for delivering God's message, which often included warnings of impending judgment. 
• In Jeremiah 38:6, his enemies throw him into a cistern—a deep, often-dry well—to silence him. 
• But this cistern isn't empty; it's filled with mud, causing Jeremiah to sink and face certain death. 
• This act of throwing God's prophet into a muddy, broken cistern serves as a powerful metaphor for the spiritual state of Israel.
• In Jeremiah 2:1-2, God recalls the early days of Israel's relationship with Him. He describes it as a beautiful, loving, and exclusive bond, like that of a bride and groom. 
• But this relationship soured. In Jeremiah 2:13, God reveals the core problem:
• The First Evil: God says, "My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water." God is the source of life, provision, and spiritual nourishment. By turning away from Him, Israel cut themselves off from the very source of what they needed.
• The Second Evil: "And have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." Instead of relying on God, the people sought other sources of security, joy, and meaning. These "broken cisterns" represent idols, alliances with other nations, and self-sufficiency. They are man-made solutions that are ultimately empty and unable to satisfy their deepest needs.
• The image of Jeremiah sinking in the muddy cistern in Jeremiah 38 is a vivid picture of this spiritual reality. 
• The nation of Israel has dug its own broken cisterns—turning to things that cannot sustain life—and as a result, they are sinking into spiritual mud and despair, just as Jeremiah physically was.
• Jeremiah's message is a stark warning about the consequences of forsaking God. When we abandon the "spring of living water," we are left with nothing to fill the void. 
• The pursuit of man-made solutions—wealth, power, pleasure, or self-reliance—is like digging broken cisterns that can never truly satisfy.
• The book of Jeremiah, despite its grim warnings, is ultimately a call to repentance. It urges us to turn back to the true source of life and satisfaction—God Himself. Only by reconnecting with Him can we find real and lasting fulfillment.
• In the New Testament, Jesus declares, "Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst" (John 4:14 NIV). Jesus presents Himself as the ultimate fulfillment of the "spring of living water" that Israel forsook. He is the only one who can truly satisfy our spiritual thirst and rescue us from the muddy, broken cisterns we so often create for ourselves.

• Get rid of the “broken cisterns” of life. 
• Seek only the Living Water. 
• Do this every single day until you see His face.