The prophets of Israel were passionate about drawing God’s straying people back to Him. Their language was both direct and colorful.
For example, Jeremiah reports that God had described Israel’s persistent idolatry like this (Jeremiah 2:11-13):
“Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
‘Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,’ declares the Lord,
‘for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.'”
What were the two sins? First, turning away from their “glory,” that is, the one true God who had revealed Himself to this nation as He had to no other. Then, second, turning towards other “gods” who had neither power nor even life.
The sad analogy is that of a man who forsakes a flowing spring and chooses to make a life in an arid area where the only water must be collected from the infrequent seasonal rains. As if that weren’t enough, the plastered wall of his home-made water reservoir has a crack in the bottom through which all of the precious water drains.
Now in our physical life, no one would ever do this. Life in a desert thrives at the oasis, and nowhere else. But then, as now, people turn from their gracious Creator/Redeemer to all sorts of home-made god substitutes and surrogates.
So before we’re too hard on these B.C. idolaters, it’s good to take a look at our own lives and remember how easily God is pushed aside for a thousand things which never can satisfy.
And remembering that, we come back to the One who said, “Anyone who is thirsty, come to me and drink.” John 7:37