JEREMIAH 13
OPENS WITH...TWO WARNING SIGNS
This chapter seems to be a compilation of several signs and prophetic words given to Jeremiah at different times.
FIRST...The Sign of the Linen Sash.
Verses 1-5 tells us HIDING the LINEN SASH.
“Thus the Lord said to me: Go and get yourself a linen sash, and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water. So I got a sash according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, Take the sash that you acquired, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock. So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.”
Go and get yourself a linen sash…
Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel, told Jeremiah to take a sash and tie around himself as an object lesson. The sash was associated with the priestly garments both for the High Priest (Exodus 28:4) and the regular priest (Leviticus 16:4). Such a linen belt was a sign of DIGNITY & ROYALTY.
DID YOU KNOW…
If Jeremiah wore the traditional prophetic garb he would have been clothed in a fairly tight tunic of coarse material with a hair cloak over it. A linen girdle around his waist, such as was worn by priests and the rich nobility, would have made him something of a spectacle.
Arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock…
God commanded Jeremiah to make long journey, all the way north (and somewhat east) to the Euphrates River. This was in the direction from which the future conquerors of Judah would come. Once there, he was to bury the sash, presumably by the river.
DID YOU KNOW…
A three months disappearance by the prophet Jeremiah would have caused a stir in Anathoth, and his return without the girdle would have been cause for much comment.
Verses 6-7 tells us Finding the decayed, useless sash.
“Now it came to pass after many days that the Lord said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the sash which I commanded you to hide there. Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing.”
Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the sash…
Some many days later, God commanded Jeremiah to take the long journey once again, this time to take the sash from the place he buried it.
There was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing…
Jeremiah found what he might have expected. The sash had deteriorated in the dirt and the moisture. It still existed, but it was ruined and good for nothing. It had nothing of the previous nobility and prominence that it once displayed.
Verses 8-12 tells us Ruining the pride of the people.
“Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thus says the Lord: In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing. For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me, says the Lord, that they may become My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they would not hear.”
In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem…
The noble sash was taken to the Euphrates and ruined. So also would Judah and Jerusalem be taken to the Euphrates (and beyond) in their coming captivity, and thus God would ruin the pride of His people.
THOMPSON says it well, "Just as the girdle had been spoiled, so also would the gross pride of Judah and the gross pride of Jerusalem be destroyed."
Shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing…
At one time God had great use for His people Israel in the world, but they had so rejected God that at that point, they were profitable for nothing. This was through their three main sins.
Who refuse to hear My words…
The people of God had become hard and cold towards the word of God to them.
Who follow the dictates of their hearts…
The people of God instead trusted in their own hearts, and looked to self instead of the Lord.
And walk after other gods to serve them…
When they stopped listening to God and started following their own hearts, it led them to the corruption of idolatry.
As the sash clings to the waits of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me…
Just as a fine sash expressed beauty and nobility, so God wanted His people to be ornaments of His greatness to all the world. If they would cling to Him, they would be My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory.
But they would not hear…
Because of their stubborn and persistent sins against the Lord, Judah did not fulfill the noble and beautiful destiny God planned for them. They became useless and ruined like the buried sash.
What was true for ancient Judah is true among God's people today. God's plan is to make His people a noble ornament, a decoration of His own presence and work. If we reject this noble calling, we become useless for His highest and best purpose - and our own.
The Sign of the WINE BOTTLE.
Verse 12 tells us Every bottle filled with wine.
“Therefore you shall speak to them this word: Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they will say to you, Do we not certainly know that every bottle will be filled with wine?”
Every bottle shall be filled with wine…
This proverbial phrase had the sense, "Everything will fulfill its purpose." A bottle (actually a clay jar to hold wine, not a glass bottle) was meant to contain wine, so to say "every bottle shall be filled with wine" was another way to say, "everything shall fulfill its purpose" or "it will all be right in the end.
DID YOU KNOW…
Bottle: "The “nebel” was the largest earthenware container used for storing wine (Isaiah 22:24; 30:14; Lamentations 4:2)."
Do we not certainly know that every bottle will be filled with wine? The people's response showed their confidence in the principle of the proverb. If God had planned a noble and high purpose for Israel, surely it would be fulfilled - and good times would follow.
Verses 13-14 tells us The people of Judah drunk and destroyed.
“Then you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land -- even the kings who sit on Davids throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem -- with drunkenness! And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says the Lord. I will not pity nor spare nor have mercy, but will destroy them.”
I WILL fill all the inhabitants of this land with drunkenness…
Instead of fulfilling their purpose before God in a high and noble way, God's rebellious people would be filled with stupor and stupidity. If they had a fatalistic confidence in their destiny as the people of God, the Lord wanted to break it.
I WILL dash them one against another…
Bottles not only have destiny to be filled; they also have a destiny to be broken. God promised His rebellious people that they would face this destiny if they continued in their sin against Him.
Jeremiah announced that God would fill the people with the wine of his wrath, and just as wine jars about which the people joked were smashed by dashing them one against the other, so God would destroy his people.
How to respond to God's warnings.
Verses 15-16 tells us HUMBLE yourself and give glory to the Lord.
“Hear and give ear:
Do not be proud,
For the Lord has spoken.
Give glory to the Lord your God
Before He causes darkness,
And before your feet stumble
On the dark mountains,
And while you are looking for light,
He turns it into the shadow of death
And makes it dense darkness.”
Do NOT be proud, for the Lord has spoken…
Every time God speaks to us, we have the CHOICE to respond in pride or humility. We have the CHOICE to reject or resist the word of the Lord, or to humble ourselves before His authority. God warned Judah to take the humble path.
Give glory to the Lord your God before He causes darkness…
The promised judgment was not far away. There was urgency for Judah to turn to the Lord before the darkness came, before your feet stumble. In rejecting God they would become like mountain travelers trying to make their way through dangerous paths in dense darkness.
Specifically, Judah could give glory to the Lord by recognizing His superior place and their proper place beneath Him. They could humbly confess their sin and reject their idols, which robbed God of His glory.
Verses 17-20 tells us The PRICE TO BE PAID for not heeding God's warnings.
“But if you will not hear it,
My soul will weep in secret for your pride;
My eyes will weep bitterly
And run down with tears,
Because the Lords flock has been taken captive.
Say to the king and to the queen mother,
Humble yourselves;
Sit down,
For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory.
The cities of the South shall be shut up,
And no one shall open them;
Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it;
It shall be wholly carried away captive.
Lift up your eyes and see
Those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
Your beautiful sheep?”
If you will NOT hear it, my soul will weep…
This was Jeremiah's painful lament. He wasn't a dispassionate observer, throwing the thunderbolts of God's judgment against Judah. His eyes ran down with tears because of their sin and pride, and because soon, the Lord's flock has been taken captive.
Say to the king and to the queen mother, "Humble yourselves"…
If Judah's royalty would submit and surrender to God surely the people of the kingdom would follow. In this spiritual work the leaders HAD to take the lead.
This word applied to the young king Jehoiachin and his mother Nehushta (2 Kings 24:8-16).
They were perhaps already in Babylonia by this time, yet could still benefit if they humbled themselves before Yahweh.
For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory…
If the king and queen mother of Judah had a special responsibility to lead in repentance, they also had a special reason to do so. Because of their heights, the coming fall would affect them the worst.
Where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful sheep?
The invaders from the north would take the people of Judah captive. Since a king was often thought of as a shepherd of his people, the picture of the invaders stealing the beautiful sheep of the king of Judah was especially appropriate.
Verses 21-23 tells us The GUILT of those whom the Lord punishes.
“What will you say when He punishes you?
For you have taught them
To be chieftains, to be head over you.
Will not pangs seize you,
Like a woman in labor?
And if you say in your heart,
Why have these things come upon me?
For the greatness of your iniquity
Your skirts have been uncovered,
Your heels made bare.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?
Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.”
What will you say when He punishes you?
When the promised calamity came upon Judah, they would have NO excuse. Though they did not listen to Jeremiah, he clearly warned them as the messenger of the Lord.
For the greatness of your iniquity your skirts have been uncovered, your heels made bare…
With strong images, God warned Judah that their iniquity was so great that the judgment coming against them would be as a severe violation.
The idea here is that unfaithful Judah would be terribly and tragically violated by their conquerors, or that they would be humiliated and exposed as prostitutes for their continual spiritual adulteries (as in Isaiah 47:2-3; Hosea 2:3).
DID YOU KNOW…
Exposure of the secret parts (here euphemistically described as tearing off the skirt and mistreating the body) was the public disgrace heaped on prostitutes.
The expression 'lift up the skirt' is a euphemism for sexual attack both here and elsewhere in the OT (Leviticus 18:6-19; Deuteronomy 23:1, 27:20; Isaiah 47:3; Nahum 3:5,).
Under the savage metaphors the lesson is that a people that parts with its virtue - its morals, its integrity, its faith - will find itself not liberated, only cheapened: stripped of everything that gave it value and respect.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil…
Jeremiah quoted this proverb to warn the people that they were stuck in their sinful nature, and unable to change themselves. The answer was not first in national reform, but in national repentance and reliance upon the God who can change the nature of man.
Evil, not only fitting them like a glove, not only deep-dyed, was by now something they could not more change or wish to change than the color of their skin.
GOD CLARIFIES EVIL FOR US...MODERN MAN, PSYCHIATRIST, POLITICAL/SOCIAL CORRECTNESS PUNDITS KNOW THIS.
Evil may be so ingrained in men that they find it impossible to change. Yet, especially from a broader Biblical perspective, we see the transforming work of Jesus Christ. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The changes don't come all at once and they are not complete until we are resurrected in glory, but the transformation is nevertheless real. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin nor the leopard his spots; but the Lord God CAN transform men and women.
Verses 24-25 tells us The determination of the Lord to scatter His people.
“Therefore I will scatter them like stubble
That passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
This is your lot,
The portion of your measures from Me, says the Lord,
Because you have forgotten Me
And trusted in falsehood.”
I will scatter them like stubble…
Judah would not be conquered and exiled, but scattered across the Babylonian Empire and succeeding empires. This was their lot, the portion of your measures from the Lord.
Because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood..
Even in this severe warning, God gave His people a roadmap back to His favor and blessing. Where they had forgotten God they must remember Him again, and where they had trusted in the falsehood of self and idols, they must turn away from them.
Verses 26-27 tells us The exposed shame of God's people.
“Therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face,
That your shame may appear.
I have seen your adulteries
And your lustful neighings,
The lewdness of your harlotry,
Your abominations on the hills in the fields.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
Will you still not be made clean?”
Therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face, that your shame may appear…
God's people chronically refused to humble themselves before the Lord (as in the plea of Jeremiah 13:18). Therefore they would face a far greater shame, one appropriate for their literal and spiritual harlotry.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?
It was not only the Prophet Jeremiah who ached over the destiny of this stubborn, self-willed, idolatrous people. Yahweh Himself joined in the woe and the plea.