When homes were in areas where springs were scarce and summers tended to be long and dry, cisterns were commonly used in Bible times to collect rain water and store water for a family’s use. But, cisterns did not last forever (eventually drying out and breaking), and instead of being used for water storage, broken cisterns were sometimes used as make-shift prison cells. Whatever one chose to do with his broken cistern, it was useless for holding water.
Interestingly, God compares false teachers and false religions to “broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13). Again, in the New Testament, false teachers are called “wells without water” (2 Pet. 2:17). When folks choose to forsake God and His ways, God Himself said that such people turn and “hewn themselves cisterns” (Jer. 2:13; cf. 2 Tim. 4:3-4). Their teachings “don’t hold water.” Their teachings are “broken.” Their teachings make promises to those passing by (like the sight of a well would do to a passing traveler), but in the end their message is empty and worthless. May God help us to turn to and trust only His living waters!