Thine own wickedness shall correct thee,
and thy backslidings shall reprove thee:
know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter,
that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God,
and that my fear is not in thee,
saith the Lord God of hosts. Jeremiah 2:19
These people somehow lost the fear of the Lord
The beginning of wisdom:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:
and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10
“Thy backsliding shall reprove thee”
In other words, being far away from God will be evident,
they experienced reproof, correction for forsaking the Lord
A few verses before God said this,
He points out what they did wrong in v 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.
Jesus is the fountain of living waters
and it seems they forsook God
The cisterns in the bible
symbolize our understanding
and knowledge of the word of the Lord,
our ability to hear from God
and draw from His word and share with others,
to keep His spirit flowing through us
God says to them that they had drawn from foul waters,
polluted waters; played the harlot; served idols
and walked away from God
The bigger picture here is that they had forsaken the Lord,
worshiped and trusted in other gods
and turned their hearts from the Lord.
If we remember verse 19,
where God is correcting them telling them
the fear of the Lord is not in them.
Looking at the state these people have become,
we can see how that could happen to any of us
without the fear of the Lord
And I say unto you my friends,
Be not afraid of them that kill the body,
and after that have no more that they can do.
But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear:
Fear him, which after he hath killed
hath power to cast into hell;
yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Luke 12:4-5
If we are too sure of ourselves
and refuse to hold the fear of the Lord in our hearts,
we can fall into a place
where we are not respecting His word,
His authority,
His power
We can get too comfortable in our walk with Him
It is a quest, every day, every hour, even every minute,
Choices
Reverence
Remembrance of the Majestic God whom we serve
If we excuse any sin
or worship any other earthly or heavenly being
or worship any idol,
including our own flesh
and forsake the fear of the Lord,
we are walking in risky territory
Do not set your cross down to sin or to do your own thing
Fear the Lord.
Scriptural References:
And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt,
to drink the waters of Sihor?
or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria,
to drink the waters of the river?
How canst thou say, I am not polluted,
I have not gone after Baalim?
see thy way in the valley,
know what thou hast done:
thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
Jeremiah 2:18 & 23