An Introduction to Religious Affections
The phrase shock and awe comes from the military world where it was made popular only in the last ten years or so. It is a method of warfare that attempts not just to defeat the enemy, but to destroy the enemy’s will to fight through a spectacular display of power.
In order to accomplish shock and awe, the attacking army must have four things:
- near total knowledge of self, enemy and environment;
- rapidity and timeliness in application;
- operational brilliance in execution; and
- near total control and signature management of the entire operational environment.
It is like a Blitzkrieg or lightening war, where speed and power catch the enemy off-guard and unprepared. It is the kind of battle where swift troop maneuvers and rapid, precision guided munitions don’t just overpower, they steamroll the adversary and crush their very will to fight. A shock and awe campaign seeks to demoralize and dishearten. It is more than just guns and bullets and bombs. It is so many guns and bullets and bombs so well timed that it breaks the spirit, it dumbfounds, it traumatizes.
As you might imagine, shock and awe is difficult to accomplish. You need detailed knowledge of your enemy’s weakness, you must have massive amounts of firepower, you’ve got to coordinate an extensive attack, and your execution of the plan must be flawless. Only a few armies in the history of the world have been capable of this kind of attack.
But do you realize that a similar shock and awe offensive transpires every day? It is not a military campaign conducted by expertly trained soldiers. It is not a massive operation requiring extensive strategy and skillful organization. It is not an attack on some weaker enemy that is put into shock by a superior power.
This shock and awe effect is produced every day — when you get a drink.
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. Jeremiah 2:12-13
Of course, when I talk about getting a drink, I’m not talking about a cup of coffee or a can of Coke or a glass of water. When I talk about getting a drink I’m not talking about how you quench the thirst of your body, I’m talking about how you satisfy the thirst of your soul.
Just as our tongues thirst for water so our hearts thirst for fulfillment. Every day each one of us searches out and drinks from whatever we believe will satisfy our hearts and slake the thirst of our souls for happiness and meaning and usefulness. And here’s the thing, if you don’t get this drink in the right place it is cause for shock and awe.
Look at the intensity of the vocabulary in verse 12. These are words that we don’t typically use. We don’t normally talk to one another like this. Be appalled…be shocked, be utterly desolate. In other words, be awestruck, be astounded, be horrified! This is the terminology of total unexpectedness or complete inappropriateness. This is how one might speak of things that are unbelievable, even unthinkable. Who can imagine that such things could be done?
And look who/or what is shocked, “be appalled O heavens.” In this dramatic address, “O heavens,” God is crying out to the universe as His witness of these great atrocities. All of creation is summoned to shock and awe, or as the NIV translates it, “to shudder with great terror.”
Maybe you can picture a courtroom scene with creation on the witness stand, the Lord as both Prosecutor and Judge, but who are the defendants? And what crimes could possibly be so shocking?
The defendants and the charges are found in v.13. First, the defendants, for My people. All of chapter 2 has been addressed to the Jews — to those in Jerusalem (v.2), of the house of Jacob, of the house of Israel (v.4). The ones on trial are not the ones we first expect to find. These are not the ‘scum of the earth.’ These are the good people, the good citizens; they are God’s people. These are the temple-goers, or in our day, the church-goers.
So what have they done? What could possibly be that bad? Were God’s people slaughtering women and children? Were they committing adultery or both or worse? No. They were drinking from the wrong place.
What so so shocking and appalling, what God called creation to testify against, was where His people were going to quench the thirst of their soul. They had committed two evils. First, they had forsaken God, and second, they pursued their own avenues of satisfaction.
two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Some of the evidence of this cistern-hewing was already presented earlier in chapter 2. They stopped thinking about the Lord (v.6). The Lord was not a concern in their lives. He was no longer a part of their decisions or their priorities or their pursuits, even though He was the very God who orchestrated their exodus from Egypt. In fact, even the priests stopped thinking about the Lord and disregarded His Word (v.8). Apparently some of the spiritual ‘leaders’ even turned to serve other gods (v.11).
They had forsaken God and turned to other, empty things. They “went after worthlessness” (v.4). They went after “things that do not profit” (v.8) and again after “things that do not profit” (v.11).
It doesn’t even make sense that they would do this. This isn’t rational. Look back at verse 13. If you really want to have your thirst quenched, if you want to be satisfied, where do you go to get a drink? In Israel there were probably three or four options for getting water and two of them are compared here: a fountain of living waters, and a man-made, broken, and therefore empty cisterns are the two choices here.
So what exactly is a cistern? A cistern is basically a reservoir or tank of sort, typically hewn — that is carved — out. Cisterns were carved in places that could catch the maximum amount of rain water. Cisterns were necessary for life because water was necessary for survival. In a predominately desert region, if there wasn’t a nearby well or a stream, let a alone a fountain, cisterns were the source of life.
But imagine the scene in Jeremiah 2:13. These options are not a day’s journey away, but immediately available are a fountain and a broken, dry cistern sitting next to it. So let’s say it’s Tuesday and you got up at sunrise to begin work in the field. Now the mid-day sun is beating down on you after a few hours of labor and you’ve worked up quite a thirst. So you put down your shovel or your hoe or whatever tool you had and take a break to get a drink. You’ve got two choices: on one hand this lovely, broken, empty rock with a hole carved in it, and on the other hand, a flowing, fresh, cool, bubbling fountain of water. And after considering both options, you choose the dry cistern.
All you get is a mouthful of dirt. You barely have enough saliva left to lick the dust off of your lips. (Are you thirsty yet?) Their is no relief, even temporarily. Your thirst is not quenched. You find no refreshment. You walk away dissatisfied. Of course you would! It was a forgone conclusion. A satisfying drink was never a possibility from that bone-dry, broken hole in the ground.
And yet hour by hour you come back to try again. Day after day you keep choosing the cistern. You keep carving out the cistern, trying to patch the leaks, but every time you bow your head to drink all you get is dirt. All the while the fresh, flowing, abundant, living fountain is right there. It is so close that you can probably hear drops splashing into bigger pools. Maybe a breeze blows a light mist from the fountain onto the back of your neck while you’re bent over at the cistern.
This is worse than just stupid. Most of us would see that scenario and think, “Hey, if you want to be stupid, that’s your choice.” No doubt we’d call it foolish; but God calls it evil! This is shocking and appalling to the universe! It is a cosmic crime to seek satisfaction for your heart from the wrong place.
Why? Why is this so outrageous? What makes this so offensive, especially compared to so many other sins? Why is drinking from a cistern so wicked? Because it is an infinite disregard for God. It is the ultimate slap-in-the-face to God. For you to see Him there and know Him to be the living fountain and then shrug Him off as no real importance and ignore Him is the most scandalous, revolting, nauseating thing in the universe. Then attempting to find a satisfying drink in other places is just the other side of the same scandal. Creation is shocked.
We don’t usually consider neglect such a serious sin. So why is this disregard so disgusting and dreadful? More to come…. [and it’s here]
Ok, so don’t worry, I’ve read this post three times now. It has not been disregarded. And thank you for putting it all in writing for me. It most definitely will be getting a link soon in the new post that IS coming.
Nicely written. The “Shock and Awe” reference drew me in to read. This is probably the single biggest stumbling stone we have in this country. Like living in a Cistern shopping mall. I feel like I just crawled out of this sittuation “on my knees”. It was good to read it. Thanks.
[…] This line from Augustine reveals a simple yet profound reality regarding our love for God. The Lord remains, from before time began, the greatest and most glorious being. He sits enthroned above all earthly powers and demands worship from his creatures. He requires love. In fact, when our love goes to another, Jeremiah describes it as seeking for water in broken cisterns, rather than diving into the fountain of living water that gushes forth divine satisfaction. The only appropriate reaction to this evil is shock and awe. […]