Jeremiah 13 Commentary
Useless Once Disconnected From The LORD
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KEY THOUGHT: “Thus says the Lord: ‘In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. [Jeremiah 13:9 NKJV]
Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!
Jeremiah 13 NKJV
Symbol of the Linen Sash
13 Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and get yourself a linen sash, and put it [a]around your waist, but do not put it in water.” 2 So I got a [b]sash according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist.
3 And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, 4 “Take the [c]sash that you acquired, which is [d]around your waist, and arise, go to the [e]Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.
6 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.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the [f]sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord: ‘In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow[g] 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. 11 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.’
Symbol of the Wine Bottles
12 “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?’
13 “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 David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness! 14 And I will dash them [h]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.” ’ ”
Pride Precedes Captivity
15 Hear and give ear:
Do not be proud,
For the Lord has spoken.
16 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.
17 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 Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
18 Say to the king and to the queen mother,
“Humble yourselves;
Sit down,
For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory.”
19 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.
20 Lift up your eyes and see
Those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
Your beautiful sheep?
21 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 [i]labor?
22 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 [j]made bare.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?
Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.
24 “Therefore I will scatter them like stubble
That passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is your lot,
The portion of your measures from Me,” says the Lord,
“Because you have forgotten Me
And trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face,
That your shame may appear.
27 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?”
Footnotes
a. Jeremiah 13:1 Lit. upon your loins
b. Jeremiah 13:2 waistband
c. Jeremiah 13:4 waistband
d. Jeremiah 13:4 Lit. upon your loins
e. Jeremiah 13:4 Heb. Perath
f. Jeremiah 13:7 waistband
g. Jeremiah 13:10 walk in the stubbornness or imagination
h. Jeremiah 13:14 Lit. a man against his brother
i. Jeremiah 13:21 childbirth
j. Jeremiah 13:22 Lit. suffer violence
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 13 Commentary
First is an acted parable: the “Linen Belt.” The explanation follows, but there is still value in the raw process. The LORD gives Jeremiah instructions in installments.
When the first instruction came, we know Jeremiah had no idea what the LORD wanted him to do next. Probably he thought the LORD wanted him to look great with a leather belt around his waist!
We cannot always know the end from the beginning. We are humans. Many times we must wait for the next instruction.
The belt represents the bond between the LORD and Israel. It is intact as long as it remains in place. It is like a branch that is completely useless once removed from the main tree!
It is obvious; wineskins must be filled with wine, but why is Jeremiah even talking about it? Similarly, is it not just obvious that a man is useless once removed from the LORD’s presence?
Useless things are destroyed. So Jerusalem would be attacked and exiled.
Stating the obvious can be annoying. Are we empty-headed? Am I so low? The LORD seems to have the same frustration. Israel hasn’t listened to the simple message – the obvious.
Humanity cannot function and make it all by itself. The belt should not be out there alone, exposed to lies.
The exile here is comparable to the exile from the Garden of peace and tranquility. The key line is the absence or the presence of the LORD.
We can think of exile in small pockets of our lives. The saint can always feel and experience this exile whenever they are disconnected from the LORD by way of sin.
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