Read Jeremiah 13
A Linen Belt
13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.” 2 So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my waist.
3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: 4 “Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.” 5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lordtold me.
6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” 7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.10 These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless! 11 For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’
Wineskins
12 “Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’ 13 then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem. 14 I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the Lord. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.’”
Threat of Captivity
15 Hear and pay attention,
do not be arrogant,
for the Lord has spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God
before he brings the darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the darkening hills.
You hope for light,
but he will turn it to utter darkness
and change it to deep gloom.
17 If you do not listen,
I will weep in secret
because of your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly,
overflowing with tears,
because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive.
18 Say to the king and to the queen mother,
“Come down from your thrones,
for your glorious crowns
will fall from your heads.”
19 The cities in the Negev will be shut up,
and there will be no one to open them.
All Judah will be carried into exile,
carried completely away.
20 Look up and see
those who are coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was entrusted to you,
the sheep of which you boasted?
21 What will you say when the Lord sets over you
those you cultivated as your special allies?
Will not pain grip you
like that of a woman in labor?
22 And if you ask yourself,
“Why has this happened to me?”—
it is because of your many sins
that your skirts have been torn off
and your body mistreated.
23 Can an Ethiopian change his skin
or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.
24 “I will scatter you like chaff
driven by the desert wind.
25 This is your lot,
the portion I have decreed for you,”
declares the Lord,
“because you have forgotten me
and trusted in false gods.
26 I will pull up your skirts over your face
that your shame may be seen—
27 your adulteries and lustful neighings,
your shameless prostitution!
I have seen your detestable acts
on the hills and in the fields.
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
How long will you be unclean?”
Go Deeper
In chapter 13 we see God giving prophecy and signs for Jeremiah to warn Judah and Jerusalem of where they are headed in their disobedience. The Lord starts by tasking Jeremiah to head north to bury a linen belt likely near the Euphrates River. The belt or “sash” was associated with nobility (Leviticus 16:4) and held a status of beauty value. Following, Jeremiah returns to dig up the sash only to find it “ruined and completely useless” (v. 7) to symbolize how the Lord will “ruin the great pride of Judah and Jerusalem”.
God is specific with how they were disobedient. First, they “refuse to listen to my words”, they were cold toward the word of God. Second, they “follow the stubbornness of their hearts”. Finally, they “go after other Gods to serve and worship them” (v. 10). David Guzick says in his Enduring Word commentary, “Just as the sash expressed beauty and nobility, so God wanted His people to be ornaments of His greatness to all the world”.
Going into verse 12, God uses wineskins to exemplify that just as wineskins are to fulfill their purpose, so had God set out for his people to fulfill what God had set before them. To do so with nobility and honor, but out of their disobedience and unrepentance they would instead be filled with stupor out of their ignorance.
So, how is God calling His people to respond to these warnings? Verse 15-16 tells us, with humility and honor given to the Lord. Every time the Lord speaks to us we have the opportunity to respond with pride or with humility. Like Judah and Jerusalem, we have the opportunity to seek the word of God and confirm it with truth or neglect what He could be calling us to do. God has set before each of our lives a purpose to be the salt of the earth and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16) and when we do not abide, or flesh can so easily set aside the desires of the Lord and put on the idols of our hearts.
Judah and Jerusalem knew that they were God’s chosen people, but they lacked a heart posture of humility and dependence. The promised judgment was not far away and this call to repentance was urgent. But let’s not neglect that their lack of obedience broke God’s heart. Re-read verse 17 and meditate over the compassion of the Lord. Ultimately we see from this chapter that in His rich compassion, God would not allow His children to continue in their disobedience. God had a purpose set out for them, and His desire to correct them was because He is a good Father!
Questions
- Are there ways that you can relate to Judah and Jerusalem’s disobedience?
- Have you ever asked God to break your heart for what breaks His?
- What are other verses in Scripture that point to God’s compassion towards us?
A Quote
“The chief purpose and ultimate goal of human beings is to be wrapped around God’s waist like a fashion accessory. When we are at our very best, we adorn God with glory.” – Philip Ryken
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7 thoughts on “Jeremiah 13”
We have all been unclean by setting aside the precepts of our God and pursuing evil in our hearts. Reading
Romans 3:10-12 we are reminded that, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Pride can often be the culprit; left unattended it can become a bitter root in our hearts rendering us useless to God. It’s expedient that we surrender and lay down sin at the feet of Jesus, the one who gave his life for us. May nothing become a wedge that hinders the close fellowship with our Savior, for walking by his side is the most glorious place to be.
Jeremiah is a faithful man. God called him to speak to people who claim to be followers but are deaf and blind. Could I do this? Could I continually help a person/persons that constantly fall back into their sin day after day? Can a leopard change his spots? No, but God could. Can we change our hearts? We can try BUT GOD can. 2 Peter 3:9(amp) The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. Pride and arrogance destroys and puts a wall between one another and our relationship with God. Are we letting the plank in our eye get in the way of “…throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 Jesus paid it all!!!
God thank You for laying down my life to surrender to You. Thank You for Your plan for my life. Let me be the person who would walk away from it all to follow You. God when You look at my deepest most deep heart, let You find Your love overflowing out of it!! Let Your Gospel live truly in my life. But now in Christ Jesus I who was once far off, I have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He himself is my peace. For through Him I would have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then I am no longer a stranger and alien, but I am a fellow citizens with the saints and member of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him I am also are being built into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Eph 2:13-22).Thank You God for these minutes of this day to Your Glory and Honor. I am so grateful thankful and blessed to be Your daughter and to serve in Your kingdom in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The buried linen belt analogy lost me . . . thanks for the explanation!
My takeaway:
11 ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor.”
Unlike the people of Israel and Judah, may I listen!
Self! I believe this is mankind’s biggest sin from which every other sin emerges. Gen.3:5 …and you (self) will be just like God…
Jer. 13:10 these evil people, who refuse to hear my words… Jer. 3:13…and you have not obeyed my voice, says the Lord. V.25 …we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God. Jer. 7:23 But this thing I did command them: Listen to and obey my voice, and I will be your God and you will be my people; and walk in the whole way that I command you, that it may be well with you. 24. But they would not listen to and obey Me or bend their ear (to Me),…Jer. 11:4 …Listen to My voice and do…Jer. 13:10 These evil people who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them…
Listening to God is a big deal! Listening to leadership that says do “chair time” and listen to God is a big deal! I encourage you all to take time to just listen to God. Write down your thoughts no matter how scrambled they seem and watch God teach you exciting truth. It is a big deal. Scriptures from the amplified version.
And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:12-14
Failure to follow God’s instruction; leads to destruction. “For the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23 The penalty of sin is spiritual death and separation from God in a place of judgement called hell. But God!! The Gospel is a proclamation of “good news”. “This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight” Romans 1:17
I’m in awe and wonder of who God is and humility to his love, instructions and all your comments! Thank you Jesus and forgive and help me listen and walk with you. Amen