Jeremiah was a young man serving as a priest when the Lord called him and set him aside as his chosen instrument to prophesy against the nation of Judah. Even though they had seen the fall of Israel after centuries of wickedness and idolatry, they followed the same. They worshipped false gods on hilltops and under trees, as was the custom in the surrounding nations, and rejected the God who had promised to love them, provide for them, and protect them. Like a man who goes to a broken cistern to collect water, the people of Judah sought after other gods for life, but would find only devastation.