The Cistern is Broken
The following passage in Jeremiah 2 is the accusation of YHVH against a rebellious people. The indictment of adultery and idolatry ring loud in the court. Jeremiah prophesied during the latter part of the 7th century BC and declared the judgment of YHVH on Israel because of their return to idolatry.
Because Israel had forsaken YHVH, the covenant was broken; Solomon’s temple was destroyed and Israel went into captivity in Babylon 585 BC as Jeremiah had prophesied.
Jeremiah’s calling happened during the time of King Josiah, son of Manasseh, son of Hezekiah. It was Manasseh’s rule that saw the people fall back into pagan worship despite the righteous rule of his father Hezekiah. Unsuccessfully, Josiah failed to turn the people back to repentance and thus with the word of the Lord burning in his mouth, Jeremiah prophesied.
Jeremiah 2Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
2 The word of Adonai came to me: 2 “Go and shout in the ears of Yerushalayim that this is what Adonai says:
‘I remember your devotion when you were young;
how, as a bride, you loved me;
how you followed me through the desert,
through a land not sown.
3 “‘Isra’el is set aside for Adonai,
the firstfruits of his harvest;
all who devour him will incur guilt;
evil will befall them,” says Adonai.
4 Hear the word of Adonai, house of Ya‘akov
and all families in the house of Isra’el;
5 here is what Adonai says:
“What did your ancestors find wrong with me
to make them go so far away from me,
to make them go after nothings
and become themselves nothings?
6 They didn’t ask, ‘Where is Adonai,
who brought us out of the land of Egypt,
who led us through the desert,
through a land of wastes and ravines,
through a land of drought and death-dark shadows,
through a land where no one travels
and where no one ever lived?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to enjoy its fruit and all its good things;
but when you entered, you defiled my land
and made my heritage loathsome.
8 The cohanim didn’t ask, ‘Where is Adonai?’
Those who deal with the Torah did not know me,
the people’s shepherds rebelled against me;
the prophets prophesied by Ba‘al
and went after things of no value.
9 “So again I state my case against you,” says Adonai,
“and state it against your grandchildren too.
10 Cross to the coasts of the Kitti’im and look;
send to Kedar and observe closely;
see if anything like this has happened before:
11 has a nation ever exchanged its gods
(and theirs are not gods at all!)?
Yet my people have exchanged their Glory
for something without value.
12 Be aghast at this, you heavens!
Shudder in absolute horror!” says Adonai.
13 “For my people have committed two evils:
they have abandoned me,
the fountain of living water,
and dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water!
14 “Is Isra’el a slave, born into serfdom?
If not, why has he become plunder?
15 The young lions are roaring at him --
how loudly they are roaring!
They desolate his country,
demolishing and depopulating his cities.
16 The people of Nof and Tachpanches
feed on the crown of your head.
17 “Haven’t you brought this on yourself
by abandoning Adonai your God
when he led you along the way?
18 If you go to Egypt, what’s in it for you?
Drinking water from the Nile?
If you go to Ashur, what’s in it for you?
Drinking water from the [Euphrates] River?
19 Your own wickedness will correct you,
your own backslidings will convict you;
you will know and see how bad and bitter
it was to abandon Adonai your God,
and how fear of me is not in you,”
says Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot.
20 “For long ago I broke your yoke;
when I snapped your chains, you said, ‘I won’t sin.’
Yet on every high hill, under every green tree,
you sprawled and prostituted yourself.
21 But I planted you as a choice vine
of seed fully tested and true.
How did you degenerate
into a wild vine for me?
22 Even if you scrub yourself
with soda and plenty of soap,
the stain of your guilt is still there before me,”
says Adonai Elohim.
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not pursued the ba‘alim’?
Look at your conduct in the valley,
understand what you have done.
You are a restive young female camel,
running here and there,
24 wild, accustomed to the desert,
sniffing the wind in her lust --
who can control her when she’s in heat?
Males seeking her need not weary themselves,
for at mating season they will find her.
25 “Stop before your shoes wear out,
and your throat is dry from thirst!
But you say, ‘No, it’s hopeless!
I love these strangers, and I’m going after them.’
26 Just as a thief is ashamed when caught,
so is the house of Isra’el ashamed --
they, their kings, their leaders,
their cohanim and their prophets,
27 who say to a log, ‘You are my father,’
and to a stone, ‘You gave us birth.’
For they have turned their backs to me
instead of their faces.
But when trouble comes, they will plead,
‘Rouse yourself and save us!’
28 Where are your gods that you made for yourselves?
Let them rouse themselves,
if they can save you when trouble comes.
Y’hudah, you have as many gods
as you have cities!
29 Why argue with me? You have all
rebelled against me!” says Adonai.
30 “In vain have I struck down your people.
They would not receive correction.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets
like a marauding lion.
31 You of this generation,
look at the word of Adonai:
Have I been a desert to Isra’el?
or a land of oppressive darkness?
Why do my people say, ‘We’re free to roam,
we will no longer come to you’?
32 Does a girl forget her jewellery,
or a bride her wedding sash?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days beyond numbering.
33 You are so clever in your search for love
that the worst of women can learn from you!
34 Right there on your clothing
is the blood of the innocent poor,
although you never caught them breaking and entering.
Yet concerning all these things,
35 you say, ‘I am innocent;
surely he’s no longer angry at me.’
Here, I am passing sentence on you,
because you say, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’
36 You cheapen yourself
when you change course so often --
you will be disappointed by Egypt too,
just as you were disappointed by Ashur.
37 Yes, you will leave him too,
with your hands on your heads [in shame].
For Adonai rejects those in whom you trust;
from them you will gain nothing.”
Prophets are called to work out the word of the Lord; in other words what they experience in their own personal lives and relationship with YHVH is allegorically manifest as a sign. During a period of persecution,Jeremiah was captured and thrown into a muddy cistern and left to die. Symbolically it shows us that in our own rebellion we drink from broken or useless cisterns. They are wells that can never sustain us. The waters which they are meant to hold, run dry.
Friends, YHVH is telling us that we too drink from that cistern; the cistern of adultery. Whatever the world provides we consume. We may argue that we want none of it, but we are sadly part of it. The truth is that there is a place that YHVH has prepared for us. It is the estate of the King in which His garden removes our dependency on all the things we have come to believe we need.
There was in that original Eden, a place meant for us. We were clothed in glory. Spending time together, the Creator and His child, friend and fellow, communed. There was no need for food, work, clothing, knowledge; no need for healing, no sickness, no old age, just peace. All was at peace.
Everything we needed was provided by Him and He delighted and was pleased with it all. The creator wanted His creation to procreate and inhabit the world so that the image of God the creator would fill it. I will return to this thought later but first let me share something with you. Before I do, do not think for one moment that Eden has gone. It is still there, hidden from us and protected by the covering Cherub.
On a recent trip to Italy, the grandeur of its ancient architecture and culture, statues and art, was established for one thing, the glory of Rome. The institution of the church believed that they could continue this form of adulation and give it to God, but what they built was for themselves. The busts of the wealthy and the pious occupy every church, museum, courtyard and piazza. Images of the naked forms of human beings and god’s fighting great beasts and hybrids though astonishing in its execution of artistic prowess stand as monuments to those who commissioned them. The timeless signatures of artists and sculptors and ultimately the grand buildings, especially of the greatest of all, the great temple of Rome - the Vatican - stands only as a mausoleum to the dead popes and phenomenally wealthy who helped establish a corrupt religious system and an empire financed by wars and greed. The first popes, if the truth be known, were in it for themselves. Corruption, adultery, greed and sexual sin pervaded their minds. Like the ancient kings of Israel, some subsequent popes tried to establish a more religious and pious form of worship.
The emblem of the eagle embellishes architecture and memorials everywhere. Its symbol is the great crest of Babylon. That very same symbol taken by so many conquering nations since, now adorns the largest of all empires which includes nations we were born into. America is the offspring of Rome and heads the group of nations as the super power of the world. Within it stands the principalities of that kingdom; wealth, economy, military might. The central motif of the eagle of Babylon is emblazoned in its shield of government. Its official seat of government is called the house of congress and is home to 100 senators (named after the political institution of Rome) along with other house representatives.
Like Rome, America became a nation by gathering the principalities around it and became powerful by allowing other less powerful nations to join it.
Rome is not dead. Its offspring survives today. The statue in Rome of Romulus and Remus suckling from the she-wolf, is an allegory of who and what we have become, and ultimately what we depend upon for our sustenance. Romulus is the brother after whom Rome was founded. There is however debate on whether their story is myth or reality. However, the symbolism draws our attention to the dependence of men upon the beast.
The Vatican was built in the 16th century on what was the circus of Nero where many Christians, including the apostle Paul, was said to have been executed. Hundreds of years earlier the site was swamp land. Later the site was a place of pagan worship and of prophecy. The prophets were called at that time, Holy seers, and that is why the name today for the site of the Vatican on which St. Peter's basilica stands, is called the Holy See. Recent archaeology believes that it has discovered the tomb of Peter beneath the basilica but this is in dispute.
In another part of the city, the Byzantine Pantheon (meaning ‘temple of every god) was commissioned during the reign of the Emperor Augustus 27BC-14AD and finished by Emperor Hadrian in 126 AD. It was a place of pagan worship and a temple dedicated to the gods of the conquered nations. It became a Christian church and remains so to this day, as ‘the Basilica of St Mary and the martyrs.’
The empire of Rome ultimately could not survive, simply because it clashed with the civilisations and cultures it tried to assimilate into its own. The clash caused nothing but conflict. That same goal is trying to be achieved with the UN in its quest to create a single world system. They call it now ‘The Global Partnership’ and soon every nation will have to agree to its terms. We have seen many of its policies and strategies rolled out in the last few years. Their historic agenda came into force in September 2015 and was officially adopted at the UN summit on 'Sustainable Development' on 1st January 2016. Their policies have a fifteen year window in which to be implemented, which will take us to 2030.
Centuries later that same imperial model of Rome transferred itself to another nation that became a global empire. It was Great Britain; a United Kingdom with a commonwealth of conquered countries. Once again, the clash of nations began. Historians, though not all in agreement, state the official moment of its imperial status began in the mid 1500’s -1600’s. By the end of WW2 its decline began to speed up, and by the 1960’s the kingdom began to see the fight for independence among its colonies. That's less than 500 years. In 1997 the independence of Hong Kong sealed the end of an era.
The nation of Britain opened corridors of government, global trade, influenced the economies and religious and judicial systems of many countries in much the same way as the empire of Rome.The legacy of Rome bequeathed to the modern world its offspring - the daughter of Babylon.Historically, the western empire of Rome during the Republican Era lasted also about 500 years compared to the 1500 years of the eastern Byzantine empire that eventually succumbed to the onslaught of its Arab wars, internal and civil conflict and finally to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
The whore of Babylon earned its title from sleeping with the nations. In the modern era its illegitimate offspring gave rise to a united nation of states made up of many nations. The eagle, the imperial symbol of the power of Rome, emblazons the coats of arms of many nations and has found its way into the symbology of the church. Often found holding the word of God, it stands as lecterns in many churches today in all its golden sculptured glory.
I try always on my travels to ask the Lord to reveal, if there is anything He wants me to see. On this occasion, and having gotten over the splendour of Rome, I asked the Lord if there was any correlation with what I have seen and what was transpiring in the weather front on the coast of the USA at the time. Hurricane Irma (at the time of writing: September 2017) was ravaging the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Floods in recent weeks in Texas, a state as large as some countries, have caused vast amounts of destruction, and the pictures coming from the devastated areas left in the wake of the storm are truly apocalyptic.
From east to west we have seen devastation by fire and water, wind and wave. Opposite the Colosseum and the circus of Maximus in which many Christians were martyred, lies an area called the Palatine Hill. Developed into a place of respite for senators and the elite of Roman society, the gardens incorporate a cistern. The hydration of the area is truly a feat of engineering as of the water supply courses through miles of aqueducts built across the ancient city. The Palatine Hill was the place that was said to have been the abode of Romulus.
I have tried in a nutshell to bring you a little history and some sort of correlation between the ancient and modern forms of Babylon. I believe that what the Lord is saying very clearly, is that our dependence is on the beast as we feed from under it. The cistern represents the cup from which we drink and are sustained.
Do not be offended by this statement my friends. We are of Christ and are under no condemnation, but what I speak of is concerning the world and the world we are part of.
Friends, the reality is this; that even though we call ourselves Christians and believers in Messiah Yeshua, we are still in the system of Babylon, and we drink from its cup. We do not realise how much we depend on it.The call and the challenge to us seems clear; the time to come out of her (Babylon) is getting closer. The judgement of the wind and wave is coming upon the world. It represents a storm that is increasing in magnitude in heaven and manifesting upon earth.
On September 9th 2012, during the London Para-Olympic Games, in a ceremony called the ‘Festival of Fire’, a Druid convocation was uttered.
Ex-Soldier Rory McKenzie (who had lost one leg due to roadside mine in Iraq) – stood on a stage high above the crowd in the Olympic stadium, wearing a leather jacket, and appearing to be reading from a book that he held, called to the spirits of Autumn, Winter, spring and Summer…and the energies of Water, Earth, Air & Fire.
This what he spoke;
“I call upon the spirit of Summer. The spirit of fire, of energy of passion; spirit of the noonday sun, the heat of summer, vitality and abundance.
I call upon the spirit of Winter. The spirit of earth, of the womb of creation; of the night and the snows of winter, deep roots and ancient stones.
I call upon the spirit of Spring. The spirit of air, the breath of life; of sunrise, of new life and new growth.
I call upon the spirit of Autumn. The spirit of water, of the ebb and flow of emotion; of open seas and running streams, of cleansing rain; spirit of the evening sun, of twilight and of Autumn.”
Rory then went on to talk about the Earth, Ancestors, Circle and more..
“The circle is unbroken,
The ancestors awoken.
May the songs of the Earth
and of her people ring true.
Hail to the Festival of the flame
of root and branch, tooth and claw,
fur and feather, of earth and sea and sky”
The declaration was broadcast from the UK to 700 million viewers world wide.
I highlighted this event in our gathering at Tabernacles, with a prophetic message that judgement was about to come upon the earth in the form of extreme and unprecedented events. The responsibility as a result of that invocation fell upon this nation.
On that day a curse was spoken and many watching and taking part in that celebration, unknowingly agreed with what was said. The festival of fire was a celebration of man’s creativity and industry. It was glorifying the deeds and accomplishment of men. Remember these ancient games, the Olympics, were dedicated to the Roman god ‘ Zeus.’
The imperial model is a system that we were all born into. Our parents register us into it when we are born. We observe its laws, religions, education and economy, banking systems and pay taxes to it that fund insidious and malicious causes, and of course many good ones too. Let us look at America for a moment. America can be said to be a daughter of Babylon, because it is part of a larger imperial system — a super nation among nations. It is a principality in a greater kingdom - the UN. The unification of nations was the concept of Rome. Today, even the Roman Catholic Church allows its members to practice idolatry and witchcraft so long as they remain within the church. The relationship between God and man on earth comes through mediation of the Vicar of Christ and not through the spirit.
With whom do we as believers find congress? Who is the one we serve and worship?
Mathew 15:6-9’ Thus by your tradition you make null and void the word of God! 7 You hypocrites! Yesha‘yahu was right when he prophesied about you,8 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me.9 Their worship of me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.’”10 Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand this! 11 What makes a person unclean is not what goes into his mouth; rather, what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean!”
Isaiah 29:13
Then Adonai said:
“Because these people approach me with empty words,
and the honor they bestow on me is mere lip-service;
while in fact they have distanced their hearts from me,
and their ‘fear of me’ is just a mitzvah of human origin --
14 therefore, I will have to keep shocking these people
with astounding and amazing things,
until the ‘wisdom’ of their ‘wise ones’ vanishes,
and the ‘discernment’ of their ‘discerning ones’ is hidden away.”
It's what comes out of our mouths my friends that defile us!
Come out from among them, be separate, be Holy, the Lord says.
The truth is that if we do not obey this, then we are being disobedient, and if we don’t believe that we can achieve this, then we are in distrust or faithless. We are disqualified from being just, and are just like the spies who brought back the bad report. Our time in this world will be protracted when we can experience our deliverance.
The challenge to walk away from the system is the greatest one we will face. We are in this world but not of it…Our role is to bring the news of the Kingdom, the Good News, and get out. The present system will fall as Rome fell, and as Britain fell, and as America is falling — so is the kingdom they are all under.
The falling away will come from the faith as the world system and the corrupt virus infects those who love it and are drawn to it. But as those that fall from the faith trust to their own pantheon, so will true believers fall from the system of men.
Get off the tower before it falls; get out of the house before the roof comes down. YHVH is going to judge soon. The window of grace is open still, but the gap is getting smaller and time is running out.
The great lie of the world is that we are free. The doctrine of Rome and the democracy of nations want us to believe it. But only a personal relationship with God through Jesus can give us that true freedom.It comes through worshipping God who is spirit and it comes by obeying His laws that give us true freedom of life. It is the way we were made to function. Worship in any other form is bondage and idolatry.
The Exodus Principle.
I spoke earlier about the world that YHVH wanted us to occupy. Well, we have certainly done that. But there is a problem. The world we occupy is not the one that He created. It is the one we have created. That’s why YHVH’s desire is that we come out it. If we are meant to be in this world but not of it then how do we reconcile the following passages of Yeshua?
John 15:19Amplified Bible (AMP)
19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love [you as] its own and would treat you with affection. But you are not of the world [you no longer belong to it], but I have chosen you out of the world. And because of this the world hates you.
John 17:16Amplified Bible (AMP)
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
1 John 4:5Amplified Bible (AMP)
5 They [who teach twisted doctrine] are of the world and belong to it; therefore they speak from the [viewpoint of the] world [with its immoral freedom and baseless theories—demanding compliance with their opinions and ridiculing the values of the upright], and the [gullible one of the] world listens closely and pays attention to them.
How great was the sin the first people committed, that despite the countless billions of humans and thousands of years past, we still find ourselves here. In essence the filter of people and time still has not brought us to the end of the course; but soon my friends, we will be there.
YHVH will not fail and His Will, will be fulfilled. The return to the garden is imminent.
Is it at all possible that we can make it? Of course we can, but our decision means that we are to accept the realisation that the world can never give us what we need. The cistern is broken. There is no reflection to be seen in its waters. It is all smoke and mirrors, sent to deceive us; it will not cushion your fall if you should topple into it.
In the recent disasters, there is no doubt that many prayed for help. As believers we pray to YHVH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel, but I am perplexed by the prayers of those who did not and do not know Him — who do not know Yeshua as their Lord. Who did they pray to? I am sure also that perhaps many found our saviour amongst the wind and the waves of disaster. God works in mysterious ways.That is the truth.
The beginning of our journey in the wilderness establishes this one principle; it is to trust in the Lord. And the only way that trust is developed is in a personal relationship. If I am going to follow Him and walk with Him through every valley, up every hill and mountain, then I must know that He is YHVH and what YHVH says He will do He will do. Doubt and fear have no place in that relationship. It has not been written on the map we have been given nor in the disciples manual.
If we cannot trust in the word of the Lord, then in whom do we trust? We cannot even begin the journey if we have any distrust or question. The journey begins with the choice to follow and take up the challenge. Within the multitude and even with the will to begin and change, there will be the desire to turn back to Egypt where life in bondage seems simpler and easier. Though the roads ahead will not be easy, there will be no burden to carry. The will to survive will be planted in generations to come. The path we walk is the narrow one that Messiah spoke of, and many will not pass through the door even if they desire. How much time we spend with our Saviour will qualify those of us who wish to enter.
When that exodus begins, it will begin with YHVH’s people realising the condition they are in and the place they occupy. Exiting the imperial system will bring true freedom, but it will come at a cost, because the umbilical link will be hard to sever. When the support system is turned off we will struggle as a baby learns to breath on its own, but that initial breath of air will revive and exhilarate us.
If Yeshua is not your Lord and YHVH not the God you worship then you have signed up for the wrong course. If you are to a person of the Way you must at least have a simple understanding of it.
Wanting simply to leave the world system will not get you through. Our desire as believers to leave this world is great, and the cry of the bride, I believe, is getting louder and YHVH hears it. Heaven is being prepared.
The war in the spiritual realm is increasing, and that is why we are all feeling that something must and will happen soon. The signs are so clear.
Are you feeling the tremors my friend?
One day we will ascend the mount of God and breath that pure and perfect air, and feel the gentle breeze, but until then we have to breathe the oxygen of this earth and partake of what sustains our frail human frames.
Proverbs 5Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
5:1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding;
2 so that you will preserve discretion
and your lips keep watch over knowledge.
3 For the lips of a woman who is a stranger drop honey,
her mouth is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death,
her steps lead straight to Sh’ol;
6 she doesn’t walk the level path of life --
her course wanders all over, but she doesn’t know it.
7 So now, children, listen to me;
don’t turn away from what I am saying:
8 distance your way from her,
stay far from the door of her house;
9 so that you won’t give your vigor to others
and your years to someone who is cruel,
10 so strangers won’t be filled with your strength
and what you worked for go to a foreign house.
11 Then, when your flesh and bones have shrunk,
at the end of your life, you would moan,
12 “How I hated discipline!
My whole being despised reproof,
13 I ignored what my teachers said,
I didn’t listen to my instructors.
14 I took part in almost every kind of evil,
and the whole community knew it.”
15 Drink the water from your own cistern,
fresh water from your own well.
16 Let what your springs produce be dispersed outside,
streams of water flowing in the streets;
17 but let them be for you alone
and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain, the wife of your youth,
be blessed; find joy in her --
19 a lovely deer, a graceful fawn;
let her breasts satisfy you at all times,
always be infatuated with her love.
20 My son, why be infatuated with an unknown woman?
Why embrace the body of a loose woman?
21 For Adonai is watching a man’s ways;
he surveys all his paths.
22 A wicked person’s own crimes will trap him,
he will be held fast by the ropes of his sin.
23 He will die from lack of discipline;
the magnitude of his folly will make him totter and fall.
YHVH’s word to us is to drink not from the broken cistern but from our own.
John 4:13-16.“Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty again! On the contrary, the water I give him will become a spring of water inside him, welling up into eternal life!”
15 “Sir, give me this water,” the woman said to him, “so that I won’t have to be thirsty and keep coming here to draw water
Shalom.
Grant Marshall is Co-founder AOE Ministries/Lost Sheep Community Fellowship.