“So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.” (Jeremiah 38:6 ESV)

Jerusalem was extremely dry, especially during the summer months, so its inhabitants dug cisterns to collect rainwater. These cisterns were hewn out of the limestone rock prevalent there. They were usually pear-shaped, with a small 2 to 3 foot opening at the top and 15 to 20 feet deep at the bottom. It was into one of these cisterns that the prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned for preaching the Word of God. There was no place to sit nor sleep, just a muddy bottomed cavern with a narrow ray of sunshine passing through the opening above. Perhaps Jeremiah thought it ironic as he cried out from this hollow tomb, remembering his prophecy concerning broken cisterns, “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” (Jer. 2:13). God heard his cry and sent someone to rescue Jeremiah from the miry pit. And God has sent another Rescuer, who is the Living Water, Christ Jesus, to save us too.