The Fountain or the Dust Text: Jeremiah 17:12-13
Introduction: Two Ways to Live
Every man, every woman, every society that has ever existed has had to answer a fundamental question: where do you go for life? Where do you go when you are thirsty? Where do you turn for refuge when the world is coming apart at the seams? Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, is ministering in a time when his nation, Judah, had given a series of disastrously wrong answers to this question. They had turned from the living God to idols, to foreign alliances, to their own cleverness, and to the arid dust of humanistic self-reliance. And as a result, their whole civilization was about to be washed away in a torrent of Babylonian judgment.
In the middle of this book, which is filled with warnings of judgment and lamentation over sin, Jeremiah gives us this gem. These two verses are a compact summary of the two ways to live. There are only two options on the table. There is the way of the glorious throne, the way of the fountain of living water, which leads to life and hope. And there is the way of forsaking, the way of turning away, which leads to shame and being written in the dust. There is no third way. You are either oriented toward the throne of God, or you are disoriented from it. You are either drinking from His fountain, or you are trying to lick moisture out of the dirt.
This is not just a lesson for ancient Judah. This is a perpetual choice set before every human heart. Our culture is parched, and it is dying of thirst. It has forsaken the fountain and is now desperately trying to engineer its own sources of life, meaning, and salvation. We see it in the frantic pursuit of political saviors, the worship of technology, the deification of self, and the construction of elaborate ethical systems that are nothing more than broken cisterns. Jeremiah’s message is therefore as relevant as this morning’s headlines. He forces us to ask: What is the place of our sanctuary? Who is the hope of our lives? And what will be our ultimate end, glory or shame?
The Text
A glorious throne on high from the beginning Is the place of our sanctuary.
O Yahweh, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even Yahweh.
(Jeremiah 17:12-13 LSB)
The Unshakeable Center (v. 12)
We begin with the first declaration, the anchor of all reality.
"A glorious throne on high from the beginning Is the place of our sanctuary." (Jeremiah 17:12)
Jeremiah begins by establishing the fixed point in a spinning, chaotic world. Before he diagnoses the problem of man, he declares the reality of God. Notice the characteristics of this throne. It is glorious, meaning it is weighty, honorable, and the source of all that is beautiful and true. It is on high, signifying its absolute sovereignty and transcendence. God is not a localized deity, a tribal god on a slightly taller hill. He is the king of the cosmos. And it is "from the beginning." This throne did not come into being; it is the eternal reality from which all other realities proceed. Before there was a world, there was a throne. Before there was a problem, there was a king.
This throne, this center of all authority and power, is also "the place of our sanctuary." A sanctuary is a place of refuge, of safety, of holiness and worship. This is a staggering paradox. The place of absolute, terrifying power is the very same place of intimate refuge. The one who has every right to judge us and blast us out of existence has made His very throne room our safe house. How can this be? This is a profound pointer to the gospel. The throne of God can only be a sanctuary for sinners because of the one who sits at the right hand of the majesty on high, Jesus Christ. The cross is where the throne of judgment and the sanctuary of mercy meet. At the cross, God’s perfect justice was satisfied, so that His perfect mercy could be released. Without the cross, the throne of God is a place of terror for us. Because of the cross, it is our home.
This verse is a direct assault on all idolatry. Judah was tempted to find its sanctuary in Egypt, or in its own military might, or in the carved idols under every green tree. Modern man does the same. We make the state our sanctuary, or our bank account, or our political party, or our own therapeutic sense of well being. But all these things are created, contingent, and temporary. They are not "from the beginning." They are thrones made of sand, and the tide of history will wash them away. The only true sanctuary is the uncreated, eternal throne of God.
The Great Divide (v. 13)
Verse 13 draws out the implications of this reality. If God's throne is the center, then all of humanity is defined by its relationship to that center. You are either facing it or forsaking it.
"O Yahweh, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You will be put to shame." (Jeremiah 17:13a)
Jeremiah identifies Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God, as "the hope of Israel." Hope is not wishful thinking. In the Bible, hope is a confident expectation based on the character and promises of God. God Himself is the object of our hope. Our hope is not in a plan, or a system, or an outcome, but in a person. He is the hope of Israel. This is a national, corporate identity. The health of the nation is tied directly to its trust in Yahweh.
But then comes the sharp antithesis. "All who forsake You will be put to shame." To forsake is to abandon, to leave behind, to apostatize. It is a deliberate act of turning your back on the one who made you and owns you. And the consequence is not a slap on the wrist. It is shame. In the biblical world, shame is not just a bad feeling; it is public exposure, disgrace, and utter ruin. It is the opposite of the glory of God's throne. Those who turn from the glorious throne will be covered in shame. This is not an arbitrary punishment. It is the natural, organic consequence of their choice. To seek glory anywhere but in God is to guarantee your own disgrace.
The verse continues, specifying the nature of this shame.
"Those who turn away on earth will be written down Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even Yahweh." (Jeremiah 17:13b)
The phrase "written down" here is better translated "written in the earth" or "written in the dust." This is a powerful and solemn image. In the ancient world, to be written in the dust was to have your name recorded in a temporary, perishable medium. A passing wind, a scuff of a sandal, and it is gone. This is a direct contrast to having one's name written in the book of life, which is permanent and eternal (cf. Exodus 32:32, Psalm 69:28, Daniel 12:1, Revelation 20:12). Those who turn away from the eternal God will have a temporary, fleeting, and ultimately forgotten existence. Their legacy will be dust. They build their kingdoms on earth, and to the earth they will return, with nothing to show for it.
And why? The reason is given with devastating clarity: "Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even Yahweh." This is one of the most powerful metaphors in all of Scripture. God is not a stagnant pool or a man-made cistern. He is a fountain, a spring of constantly flowing, life-giving water. Life, vitality, refreshment, and satisfaction are found in Him alone. Jesus picks up this very imagery when He stands in the temple and cries out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37). He is the fountain of living water in the flesh.
To forsake God is therefore the height of insanity. It is to be dying of thirst in the desert and to walk away from the only oasis. It is to commit, as Jeremiah says earlier, two evils: "They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that cannot hold water" (Jeremiah 2:13). Not only do they abandon the source of life, but they exhaust themselves trying to create their own, and their efforts are always leaky, cracked, and ultimately empty. Every non-Christian worldview, every secular philosophy, every man-made religion is a broken cistern. It promises water but leaves you with dust in your mouth.
The Gospel Choice
This passage lays before us the ultimate choice, a choice that is presented throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It is the choice between two sanctuaries, two hopes, and two destinies.
The first way is to recognize that God’s glorious throne is our only sanctuary. It is to confess that we have no hope in ourselves, but only in Yahweh, who has revealed Himself fully and finally in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the hope of Israel, and the hope of the world. To come to this fountain is to drink freely of the grace offered in the gospel. It is to have our names written not in the dust of the earth, but in the Lamb’s Book of Life. It is to be brought from shame into glory.
The second way is the way of forsaking. It is the way of the prodigal, who leaves the Father’s house to seek life in the far country. It is the way of modern man, who declares his autonomy and seeks to build a world without God. It is the way of self-reliance, which is ultimately self-destruction. The end of this road is shame. The end of this road is to have your name and all your accomplishments written in the dust, to be blown away and forgotten. It is to die of thirst with an empty cup in your hand.
The call of the gospel is the call to turn around. It is the call to forsake our forsaking. It is the call to repent of our trust in broken cisterns and to run to the fountain. The good news is that the fountain is still flowing. Jesus Christ stands with His arms open, saying, "Whoever comes to me I will never cast out" (John 6:37). He invites us to come away from the dust and to drink from the water of life freely. The choice is stark, but the invitation is gracious. Will you build on the dust, or will you take refuge in the throne?