Jeremiah 17:13, commentary and pictures

The Lord is the hope of Israel and the fountain of living waters, the source of all spiritual life, and all who forsake Him and turn away from Him will be put to shame and written in the earth. To be written in the earth is to have only a perishable earthly portion that fades with what perishes, while those who honor God are kept in the book of life and made lasting among the heavenly host. To forsake Him is to trust in man and lean on human strength with a heart turned away, which brings a curse and leaves a person like a shrub in parched desert and salt land, but to hold to Him is to trust in the Lord and make Him one's hope, which brings blessing and makes a person like a tree planted by waters that stays green in heat and never ceases to bear fruit. Sinful people find hope and righteousness only in God through a living connection with Him, and no one remains righteous any longer than he keeps faith in God. That fountain is received in the word of God, which gives light, strength, and understanding to those who study and obey it, and it satisfies the thirsty soul with hope and joy and brings healing and salvation to all who call upon the Lord.

Words and Warning

The LORD is the hope of Israel and the fountain of living waters, the source of spiritual life. Turning from Him is abandoning the source of life itself. All who forsake Him and depart from Him shall be ashamed and shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Him.

To be written in the earth is to have only a perishable earthly portion that perishes with what is perishable, like parched wilderness and like ill-gotten riches ending in folly, and those who forsake God for worldly display have their names so written. By contrast, those who honor God through goodness, benevolence and love have their names kept in the book of life and made lasting among the heavenly host.

Sinful people find hope and righteousness only in God through a living, vital connection with Him, not by trusting in human strength or in human beings. No human being remains righteous any longer than he has faith in God.

To forsake the Lord is to trust in man and make flesh his arm with a heart departed from the Lord, which brings a curse, separates the soul from God, destroys faith and exposes to temptation. Such a one becomes like the heath in the desert, who does not see when good comes but inhabits parched wilderness and salt land. To hold to Him is to trust in the Lord and make the Lord his hope, which brings blessing, life, fruitfulness and healing. Such a one becomes like a tree planted by the waters spreading roots by the river, green in heat, untroubled in drought and never ceasing from fruit.

Living Water Received

The fountain of living waters is the word of God, the life-giving fountain itself. Faithful shepherds lead their people to that fountain, as the Waldensian shepherds led theirs. Those who closely study, obey and love its plain truths as the revelation of God receive light and understanding. That study gives strength to the intellect and improves mind and manners.

To a mind renewed by the Holy Spirit that word becomes like a land of living streams, while to an earthly mind it remains a desolate wilderness. Its living water meets the thirsty soul, which is satisfied by thoughts of the better land and filled with hope and joy. Calling on the Lord, who is praise, brings healing and salvation.

Calls to Faithfulness

The verse warns those who resist God's warnings and do not seek Him, declaring the Lord to be the hope of Israel and the fountain of living waters, with shame and being written in the earth for all who forsake and depart from Him. Its figures and representations are things foretold that have been fulfilled and are being fulfilled in present history and are to be given earnest consideration. The warning stands together with the curse on the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm with a heart departed from the Lord, and with the blessing on the man who trusts in the Lord and makes the Lord his hope. It applies to the work to be done in the churches beginning with the leaders, who must humble their souls, confess their sins, and become truly converted.

Those placed in temptation and danger, such as physicians, must not depart from the Lord but take hold of His strength, stand firm in allegiance, and make constant progress heavenward. They are to work together with Christ to restore suffering humanity with nature's remedies, speaking these words from vantage ground, since forsaking the Lord for trust in man brings shame and a perishable earthly portion while trusting Him brings life, fruitfulness, and healing. Any device by which men rule or oppress fellow men, bind minds and talents under human judgment, and force the will of others comes under the verse's curse on trusting in man. Such control dishonors God, imperils souls, separates the soul from God, destroys faith and exposes to temptation, and leads men to regard God as hard and to turn from the truth, whereas trusting in the Lord brings blessing.

Forsaking the fountain means professed believers who claim the truth yet drink at the polluted fountains of infidelity and by precept and example draw others away from pure, cold waters. Those who have tasted the good word and the powers of the world to come must therefore turn away from authors that teach infidelity, deny God, and pour contempt on His word. They are to keep the works of skeptics off library shelves where children can reach them, no longer count knowledge of such writings as essential to a good education, and give no place to evil influence.