Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. 3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, 4 “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. 11 For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.
The Jars Filled with Wine
12 “You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?’ 13 Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 14 And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”
Exile Threatened
15 Hear and give ear; be not proud,
for the Lord has spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God
before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the twilight mountains,
and while you look for light
he turns it into gloom
and makes it deep darkness.
17 But if you will not listen,
my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
because the Lord's flock has been taken captive.
18 Say to the king and the queen mother:
“Take a lowly seat,
for your beautiful crown
has come down from your head.”
19 The cities of the Negeb are shut up,
with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
wholly taken into exile.
20 “Lift up your eyes and see
those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say when they set as head over you
those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you?
Will not pangs take hold of you
like those of a woman in labor?
22 And if you say in your heart,
‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
that your skirts are lifted up
and you suffer violence.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin
or the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
who are accustomed to do evil.
24 I will scatter you like chaff
driven by the wind from the desert.
25 This is your lot,
the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because you have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26 I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
and your shame will be seen.
27 I have seen your abominations,
your adulteries and neighings, your lewd whorings,
on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be before you are made clean?” Jeremiah 13 ESV
Jeremiah 13 The Nasty Loin Cloth
Put it around your waist - God has directed His prophet to buy a pair of underwear, put it on and don't wash it. Under garments are the most intimate, close to us, up against the skin, and these people hearing this or reading it for the first time, are probably thinking, "gross, nasty, Jeremiah is so weird." Why would God have anyone do anything so foolish? It sounds like one of those sophomoric pranks, or hazing that guys go through to get into a fraternity. It's like the kind of conversations that young boys have, maybe the result of poor care at an elderly facility, or the life of a homeless person with a broken mind. Jeremiah doesn't seem important like a rock star, a politician, actor or other famous person, and whatever talents he has don't seem to be on display here. The closest thing I can relate it to is Isaiah going naked for three years, humiliated, a man these people would not take seriously.
Go to the Euphrates - Take that nasty underwear, walk 200 miles in it, to the place where Judah will probably be entering Babylon, not as tourists.
1By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2There on the willows we hung our harps, 3for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”… Psalm 137: 1-3
After many days - He walks 200 miles to bury this underwear in the cleft of a rock, then he leaves, and then many days later he is told to walk all the way back there and locate his undergarment. I'm sure this is not anyone's normal idea of a call, not what comes up in your mind when you think, "oh, but I want to do great things for God." I'll admit it, I grew up Arminian, drunk off my own jug of ideas, lists of things I was willing to do for God and not willing to do. I thought God needed me on His team, that's why he keeps me around, because I was smart enough to believe in Him. Are you kidding me? He can raise up rocks that do a better job of glorifying Him. He resists the proud. Jeremiah digs up this underwear after what is now 600 miles of walking, and guess what, it was good for nothing, and now he has a 200 mile walk back home to contemplate all this.
Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah - He brought them closer to Him then any other nation, theirs was behind the scenes, back stage, special access, with prophets, a temple, an ark, and His word that He has placed up with His name. The Bible is full of prophecies, some of which Isaiah made and they were witnessing before Jeremiah, and about to witness even more as Jeremiah is prophesying up until the time of the captivity. He is the Physician's Assistant but they won't take the prescription, so he becomes one of the morticians to this dying nation. "Repent," but they will have none of it. There are a few key things mentioned here, good points to take from this and look for in your own nation and own time:
- He mentions their pride, and calls them evil. Pride goes before a fall and a haughty spirit before destruction
- They refuse to hear His words - Again, His word is equal to His name, all His integrity is there, the ability to discern false from true prophets.
- They stubbornly follow their own heart - the heart which is wicked and deceitful above all things. Instead of God's word they use their feelings and emotions to determine what is right, and which prophet they are going to follow. Whatever is elevated most in their mind, that is the way they go.
- They go after other gods - the ones that are more in line with what the heart wants. The gods they make with their hands and imaginations are more precious to them then the God of reality. They hate the true God.
That they might be for me a people, a name, a praise and a glory, but they would not listen - We take it as such a light call, a small thing, but His people He meant to have reflect Him, His word, His holiness, and it is obedience that is more than sacrifice. He says, this people worships Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. It means nothing, it is far less than praise worthy to call yourself a child of God, a Jew in their case, or a Christian now, if you won't acknowledge your sin, and humbly ask to be cleansed. Repent and be saved, but I know that's not what your hearts telling you to do right?
And we don’t even have to claim the covenant relationship that they had to claim. So what would ever convince us that we are protected from something God’s covenant people were not protected from? So this was the message. It was a message of sin. And we are called to confront a sinning society, not make it feel good about itself, but make it feel bad about itself.
But it doesn’t end there. There’s a third point, and I’m glad for this, because we might be a bit brash, uncaring, superior-feeling, compassionate-less, except for the third point. Not only is there a divine mandate and a direct message, but there’s a deep mourning here.
Chapter 13 where we are, verse 17, Jeremiah says, “If you will not listen, My soul will sob in secret for such pride; and my eyes will bitterly weep and flow down with tears, because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive.” Jeremiah says, “I don’t like what you’re doing; it breaks my heart, it makes me weep.” - John Macarthur
12-13. Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine - It was a proverb like, "everything has it's purpose", and the purpose of these containers was to be filled with wine. This seems crazy on their part, but I think I am understanding it correctly, and it is mocking the prophet or saying, "yeah, yeah, precept upon precept, all things work together for the good, and all that. We are Israel so of course we are going to be blessed, of course it is going to work out, we are Abraham's children, we have the temple." They are not concerned about impending judgment, and they hold out hope against reality. Again, repent, but no, "I don't need to, I belong to this club, said a prayer, have a bumper sticker, grew up in a religious home, am a good person."
I will fill with drunkenness - Okay then.
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. - Enduring Word
i. “Their heads (not altogether unlike bottles for roundness and emptiness of all good) shall be filled with a dry drunkenness, even with errors and terrors, a spirit of giddiness.” (Trapp)
I will dash them one against another - What happens to bottles when you do this?
I will not pity, or spare, or have compassion - This is why you don't read these areas of the Old Testament, that God, back then, He was scary.
16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 17Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 18For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.… Matthew 5: 16-18
15-17. Before He brings darkness - While you can hear His voice, while it is still day, listen, give Him glory, leave your pride, it is of no value.
My soul will weep in secret for your pride - What a great man, and here I thought him silly not changing his underwear for so long, yet look how he mourns over this people. He knows they deserve it, they even taunt it, but he will go in secret, find a quiet place, a closet, and hurt over these people. He even still refers to them as the "Lord's flock."
…59While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7: 59-60
18-27. Take a lowly seat - Start with the king and queen.
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. - EW
ii. “The address is an exhortation to humility in view of their impending loss of sovereignty. Pride was characteristic of the royal house.” (Feinberg)
Why have these things come upon me - Hmmm, I wonder. I am just like them, shocked and amazed that this could happen to me. He warned, His prophets warned, they saw this happen to other nations, to their forefathers, to the northern tribes, and God always hates sin, it is always His plan to oppose and eradicate it when the cup is full.
That your skirts are lifted up - Your boast is gone, you behave shamefully, it is in your heart and now you are openly shamed and suffer violence.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots - It was pointless for them to do anything but confess that they were sinners, and they sinned because of that fact. It was ridiculous to trust in any other means of salvation or be satiated with their own works or heritage. "All have sinned", that's you, that's me. We can't change that, but denial is certainly no cure.
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. - EW
iii. ‘The question of the text is, ‘Can the Ethiopian change his skin?’ The answer is, — No, no, no, no, no, no. Here is the other question, — Can the Ethiopian’s skin be changed? The answer to that is, — Yes, yes, yes, as emphatically as we have just now said no, no, no. Can the Ethiopian’s skin be changed? Can the sinner’s nature be renewed? Yes, for God can do everything.” (Spurgeon)
How long will it be before you are made clean?
…6Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.… Psalm 51: 6-8
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