In this episode of The Dwelling Place Bible Podcast for Busy Moms, Stephanie Hickox introduces us to Jeremiah, the “weeping prophet,” whose five-decade ministry called God’s people to repentance in the midst of spiritual compromise, cultural pressure, and coming judgment.

As we continue our chronological Bible reading plan, we’ll see Jeremiah’s heart for God’s people—and God’s tender, faithful heart toward His people. Jeremiah’s message is sobering, but it also offers moms a powerful reminder: God alone is the fountain of living water, and nothing the world offers can satisfy our souls.

Jeremiah was called by God while he was still young, and his ministry would span the reigns of five kings of Judah. He faithfully proclaimed God’s Word even when his message brought sorrow, rejection, and persecution.

This episode is especially for mom ears alone as we consider Jeremiah’s piercing description of sin, idolatry, spiritual compromise, and the consequences of turning away from God.

In This Episode, We Explore:

• Jeremiah’s call to ministry and what moms can learn from his willingness to obey God despite his youth
• How God intimately knows and appoints His people for His purposes
• The meaning behind Jeremiah’s name and his connection to the priestly town of Anathoth
• Why Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet
• Judah’s spiritual unfaithfulness and pursuit of other sources of satisfaction
• The powerful picture of God as the “fountain of living waters”
• What it means to dig “broken cisterns” that cannot hold water
• The danger of trying to follow both God and the culture around us
• Jeremiah’s call for God’s people to repent and return to the Lord
• How our hearts can become spiritually hardened or complacent
• What it means to “break up your fallow ground”
• How parents can help their children become good soil that receives God’s Word
• The importance of teaching our children that worldly pleasures provide only temporary satisfaction
• Why biblical parenting requires more than outward obedience—it requires hearts that treasure God
• How Jeremiah encourages us to remain faithful to God even when the culture around us is moving in the opposite direction

A Powerful Picture for Christian Moms

One of the most memorable images in Jeremiah is the contrast between living water and broken cisterns.

God describes His people as having forsaken Him—the fountain of living water—and attempting to satisfy themselves with cisterns that cannot hold water.

That picture challenges us to examine our own hearts.

Are we looking to Christ for our joy and satisfaction, or are we allowing comfort, possessions, entertainment, success, approval, or the pleasures of our culture to compete for our affection?

And as Christian moms, we have the opportunity to help our children recognize the difference.

The goal isn't simply to raise children who know the right answers. We want to cultivate hearts that love God's Word, seek Christ, recognize the emptiness of worldly pleasures, and remain faithful when following Jesus is difficult.

Jeremiah and Biblical Parenting

Jeremiah's message gives Christian parents an important reminder: we cannot simply teach our children to avoid the sins of the culture—we must teach them to love the God who is better than everything the culture offers.

Just as Jeremiah called Judah to return to the Lord with their whole hearts, we can continually encourage our children to seek God wholeheartedly.

We can pray that they would become good soil—receiving God's Word with joy and refusing to allow the pleasures and pressures of this world to choke out their faith.

Scripture Highlight

“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 2:13

Bible Reading

Today's episode focuses on:

• Jeremiah 1–5
• Jeremiah's calling and ministry
• Judah's spiritual unfaithfulness
• God's call to repentance
• The “fountain of living waters” and “broken cisterns”
• The call to break up fallow ground

A Prayer for Christian Moms

In this episode, Stephanie prays that we would be quick to repent, tender toward God's Word, and faithful to remain devoted to Christ rather than being shaped by the culture around us.

She also prays that our children would recognize the emptiness of worldly pleasures and learn to seek God as their true source of joy, satisfaction, wisdom, and hope.

If you're following a chronological Bible plan, studying the Bible as a busy mom, or looking for encouragement in Christian parenting and biblical motherhood, this episode of The Dwelling Place Bible Podcast for Busy Moms will challenge you to examine your own heart and ask where you're looking for satisfaction.

God is the fountain of living water. Nothing else can satisfy.

Resources Mentioned:

• Entrusted With a Child's Heart
• The Again Podcast: Interview with Chris McKenna Part 1, Part 2
• Full-Circle Discipline Resources
• Journey Through the Bible

Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary

This is a Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox.

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In today's episode, we're introduced

to the weeping prophet Jeremiah.

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He had the particular honor of being

the mouthpiece of the Lord, but with

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this privilege came deep sorrow and

persecution This episode will be best

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for mom ears alone because Jeremiah has

some powerful, piercing words for the

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way the nation has betrayed their God.

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Jeremiah was much like Moses in that he

questioned the Lord's call upon his life.

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But unlike Moses, it was because

he was so young at the time.

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His ministry spanned five

decades and covered the reign of

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five different kings in Judah.

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He began in 627 BC and

continued to after 586 BC.

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His name means Jehovah

establishes, appoints, or sends.

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And scripture lets us see behind

the curtain a little bit more with

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Jeremiah as we have the privilege of

reading personal information about

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him, and even being informed about

how God called him into ministry.

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He was from a small village

slightly north of Jerusalem

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named Anathoth

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His father was a priest named

Hilkiah, but this is not the same

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high priest that discovered the Book

of the Law during the days of Josiah.

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Jeremiah heavily relied upon

the assistance of a scribe

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named Baruch ben Naria.

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And even when circumstances got extremely

difficult, Baruch stood by him, recording

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Jeremiah's sermons, prophecies, and

words throughout his ministry You

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won't be surprised that the purpose of

Jeremiah is to encourage God's chosen

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people to repentance and to explain

why judgment has fallen upon them.

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As Jeremiah reveals God's heart for

them, He also reveals that God has

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been faithful to them the entire time.

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It's been their sin that

has required discipline.

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Because Jeremiah's words so piercingly

portray the impact of our sin and so

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tenderly exhibit God's intimate love

for us, Today, we're going to largely

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focus on God's words through him

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There's such an opportunity

for conviction when we hear God

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describe the impact of our sin.

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And I hope that as I read Jeremiah's

words, you ask yourself, " Am I

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deeply grieved by the sin around me?"

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Whether it's our own sin, the sin of those

we love, or the sin of the nation we call

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home, I pray these words encourage us to

evaluate our own devotion to the Lord.

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Are we attempting to follow

God and culture, or does God

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remain first in our hearts?

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This can be a really difficult thing

to teach our kids, and it's often

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the result of maturity in our faith.

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But as we continually pray, we want

our kids to be good soil, That they

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would receive the word of God with

joy and that the trials and pleasures

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of this world would not choke it out

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Jeremiah's life and message can

encourage us to stay true to the Lord

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in the midst of all circumstances

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In chapter one, we're invited

into God's call upon Jeremiah

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It begins with a powerful truth of

just how intimately God knows us.

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Now the word of the Lord came to

me, saying, " Before I formed you

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in the womb, I knew you, and before

you were born, I consecrated you.

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I appointed you a prophet to the nations."

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Then I said, "Ah, Lord God!

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Behold, I do not know how to

speak, for I am only a youth."

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But the Lord said to me, " Do not

say, 'I am only a youth,' for to all

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to whom I send you, you shall go, and

whatever I command you, you shall speak.

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Do not be afraid of them, for I am with

you to deliver you," declares the Lord.

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Then the Lord put out his hand and

touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,

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" Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

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See, I have set you this day over

nations and over kingdoms, to pluck

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up and to break down, to destroy and

to overthrow, to build and to plant."

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And the word of the Lord came to me

saying, " Jeremiah, what do you see?"

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And I said, "I see an almond branch."

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Then the Lord said to me, " You

have seen well, for I am watching

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over my word to perform it."

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The word of the Lord came to me a

second time saying, "What do you see?"

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And I said, " I see a boiling

pot facing away from the north."

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Then the Lord said to me, " Out of

the north, Disaster shall be let loose

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upon all the inhabitants of the land.

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For behold, I am calling all the tribes

of the kingdom of the north, declares

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the Lord, and they shall come, and

everyone shall set his throne at the

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entrance of the gates of Jerusalem

against all its walls all around

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and against all its cities of Judah.

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And I will declare my judgments against

them for all their evil and forsaking me.

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They have made offerings to other gods and

worshiped the works of their own hands.

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But you, dress yourself for work.

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Arise and say to them

everything that I command you.

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Do not be dismayed by them,

lest I dismay you before them.

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And I, behold, I make you this day

a fortified city, an iron pillar

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And bronze walls against the whole land,

against the kings of Judah, its officials,

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its priests, and the people of the land.

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They will fight against you, but

they shall not prevail against you.

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For I am with you, declares

the Lord, to deliver you

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When Jeremiah recognizes the almond

branch or the almond tree, the Hebrew word

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derives from the word Meaning to watch.

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And that's why the Lord responds,

"You have seen well, for I am

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watching over my word to perform it."

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Chapter 2 begins the second

section of Jeremiah, which will

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take us all the way to chapter 45.

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These are prophecies

concerning the nation of Judah.

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and chapters two and three recount

Jerusalem's faithlessness to the Lord.

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Like Isaiah 55, God rebukes the

nation for seeking water that

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will not quench their thirst

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chapter two begins, " The word of the

Lord came to me saying, ' Go and proclaim

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in the hearing of Jerusalem, thus

says the Lord, I remember the devotion

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of your youth, your love as a bride.

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How you followed me in the

wilderness, in a land not sown.'

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Israel was holy to the Lord,

the first fruits of his harvest.

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All who ate of it incurred guilt.

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Disaster came upon

them, declares the Lord.

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Hear the word of the Lord, O

house of Jacob, and all the

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clans of the house of Israel.

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Thus says the Lord: What wrong did

your fathers find in me that they

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went far from me and went after

worthlessness and became worthless?

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And in 2:11, " Has a nation changed

its gods, even though they are no gods?

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But my people have changed their

glory for that which does not profit.

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Be appalled, O heavens, at this.

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Be shocked.

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Be utterly desolate," declares the Lord,

" for my people have committed two evils

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they have forsaken me, the fountain

of living waters, and hewed out

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cisterns for themselves, broken

cisterns that can hold no water

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Beginning again In verse 17:

Have you not brought this upon

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yourself by forsaking the Lord your

God when He led you in the way?

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And now, what do you gain by going to

Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile?

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Or what do you gain by going to Assyria

to drink the waters of the Euphrates?

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Your evil will chastise you, and

your apostasy will reprove you.

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Know and see that it is evil and bitter

for you to forsake the Lord your God.

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The fear of Me is not in you,"

declares the Lord God of Hosts.

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How can you say I am not unclean?

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I have not gone after the baals.

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Look at your way in the valley.

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Know what you have done.

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A restless young camel running here

and there, a wild donkey used to

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the wilderness, in her heat sniffing

the wind Who can restrain her lust?

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In 28, God questions, " But where are

your gods that you made for yourself?

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Let them arise if they can save

you in your time of trouble.

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For as many as your cities

are your gods, O Judah."

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In chapter three, Jeremiah begins

calling Judah to repentance because

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God is about to rightfully judge them,

but their repentance could still change

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the course of the discipline required

and the extent to which it's required

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In chapter three, beginning in verse

six, " The Lord said to me in the days

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of King Josiah, ' Have you seen what

she did, that faithless one, Israel?

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How she went up on every high

hill and under every green tree,

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and there played the whore?'

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and I thought, ' After she has

done all this, she will return

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to me,' but she did not return.

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and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

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She saw that for all the adulteries of

the faithless one, Israel, I had sent

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her away with a decree of divorce.

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Yet her treacherous sister

Judah did not fear, but she

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too went and played the whore."

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Because she took her whoredom lightly,

she polluted the land, committing

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adultery with stone and tree.

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Yet for all this, her treacherous

sister Judah did not return to

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me with her whole heart, but in

pretense," declares the Lord.

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And the Lord said to me, "Faithless

Israel has shown herself more

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righteous than treacherous Judah.

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Go and proclaim these words toward

the north and say, "Return, faithless

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Israel," declares the Lord, " I

will not look on you in anger, for

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I am merciful," declares the Lord.

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" I will not be angry forever.

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Only acknowledge your guilt that you

rebelled against the Lord your God, and

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scattered your favors among foreigners

under every green tree, and that you have

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not obeyed my voice," declares the Lord.

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" Return, O faithless children," declares

the Lord, " for I am your master.

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I will take you one from a

city and two from a family,

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and I will bring you to Zion.

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And I will give you shepherds after

My own heart, who will feed you

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with knowledge and understanding.

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And when you have multiplied and been

fruitful in the land, in those days,

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declares the Lord, they shall no more say,

' The ark of the covenant of the Lord.'

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It shall not come to mind or be remembered

or missed; it shall not be made again.

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At that time Jerusalem shall be called

the throne of the Lord, and all nations

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shall gather to it, to the presence of the

Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more

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stubbornly follow their own evil heart.

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In those days, the house of Judah

shall join the house of Israel, and

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together they shall come from the

land of the north to the land that

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I gave your fathers for a heritage.

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And Jeremiah cries out in 3:23

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"Return, O faithless sons.

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I will heal your faithlessness.

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Behold, we come to you, for

you are the Lord our God.

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As I mentioned, we want to be good

soil, and the analogy that God provides

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in chapter four aligns with that

picture of our hearts being like soil

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For thus says the Lord to the men of

Judah and Jerusalem, " Break up your

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fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

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Circumcise yourself to the Lord.

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Remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men

of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem.

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Lest my wrath go forth like fire,

and burn with none to quench it,

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because of the evil of your deeds."

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Then I said, 'Ah, Lord God, surely

you have utterly deceived this

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people and Jerusalem, saying, " It

shall be well with you," whereas the

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sword has reached their very life.'"

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But in God's response, he assures

that Israel and Judah brought this

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upon themselves Your ways and your

deeds have brought this upon you.

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This is your doom, and it is bitter.

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It has reached your very heart

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You might be surprised that it

seems Jeremiah questions the

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Lord's motives and his intentions.

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This is one of the most complex verses

to interpret in the Book of Jeremiah

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because God certainly does not deceive

and does not lie, but he has allowed

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false prophets to emerge in the

nation that were promising them peace.

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However, you and I have read over and over

that his true prophets were definitely

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warning of the impending judgment

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Now let's conclude with some

portions from chapter five where

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God explains exactly what the

nation has done to deserve judgment

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Oh Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?

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You have struck them down,

but they felt no anguish.

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You have consumed them, but

they refused to take correction.

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They have made their

faces harder than rock.

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They have refused to repent."

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Then I said, "These are only the poor.

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They have no sense, for they

do not know the way of the

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Lord, the justice of their God.

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I will go to the great and will speak

to them, for they know the way of

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the Lord, the justice of their God."

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But they all alike had broken the yoke.

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They had burst the bonds

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How can I pardon you?

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Your children have forsaken me and

have sworn by those who are no gods.

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When I fed them to the full,

they committed adultery and

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trooped to the houses of whores.

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They were well-fed, lusty stallions,

each neighing for his neighbor's wife.

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Shall I not punish them for those things?

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Declares the Lord.

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And shall I not avenge myself

on a nation such as this?

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And in eleven through fifteen, " For

the house of Israel and the

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house of Judah have been utterly

treacherous to me," declares the Lord.

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" They have spoken falsely of the Lord

and have said, 'He will do nothing.

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No disaster will come upon us,

nor shall we see sword or famine.

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the prophets will become wind.

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The word is not in them.'

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Thus shall it be done to them

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Therefore thus says the Lord, the God

of hosts: because you have spoken this

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word, behold, I am making my words in

your mouth of fire, and this people

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wood, and the fire shall consume them.

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behold, I am bringing against you a

nation from afar," declares the Lord, " O

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house of Israel," declares the Lord.

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" It is an enduring nation.

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It is an ancient nation, a nation

whose language you do not know, nor

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can you understand what they say.

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But even in those days, declares the

Lord, I will not make a full end of you.

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And when your people say, " Why has the

Lord our God Done all these things to us?"

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You shall say to them, " As you have

forsaken me and served foreign gods

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in your land, so shall you serve

foreigners in a land that is not yours."

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" Declare this in the house of

Jacob, proclaim it in Judah.

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Hear this, O foolish and senseless

people, who have eyes but see

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not, who have ears but hear not.

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Do you not fear me?"

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declares the Lord.

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" Do you not tremble before me

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I placed the sand as the

boundary for the sea, a perpetual

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barrier that it cannot pass.

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Though the waves toss,

they cannot prevail.

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Though they roar, they

cannot pass over it.

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But this people has a

stubborn and rebellious heart.

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They have turned aside and gone astray

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They do not say in their hearts, " Let

us fear the Lord our God, who gives

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the rain in its season, the autumn rain

and the spring rain, and keeps for us

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the weeks appointed for the harvest."

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Your iniquities have turned these away,

and your sins have kept good from you

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Heavenly Father, we come before you with

an awareness of the depth of our sin.

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We hear the way that our iniquities

grieve you, separate us from you, and

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prevent good from happening to us.

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We pray we would be quick to

repent and that our hearts

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would be tender toward you.

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Break up any fallow ground in our heart

that we would be quick to hear your

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call to repent We also plead that you

would bless our children with a desire

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to be faithful to you, and a maturity

and awareness that the pleasures of

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this world are like empty cisterns.

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They can only provide fleeting happiness

Help them to understand that you are the

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only source of true joy and satisfaction

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train them to seek you wholeheartedly.

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We pray against syncretism

in our own lives.

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We long for you to have first

place and to be our consistent

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source of wisdom and joy.

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Thank you for revealing your heart

to us in your Word, and we pray

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it moves us to stay steadfast

to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

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it's in His name that we pray.

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Amen