13:1 The Lord said to me, “Go and buy some linen shorts and put them on. Do not put them in water.”
Israel was so stubborn, that sometimes Jehovah had to ask His prophets to do some strange things to get their attention. Jeremiah was commanded to buy a linen girdle. This girdle was a short skirt worn around the hips, reaching midway to the thighs. The girdle was a symbol of one’s priestly calling. Jeremiah was a priest. The nation of Israel was called to become a nation of priests to the Gentiles. This little girdle symbolized the priesthood. Water would ruin the girdle, so Isaiah was not to place the girdle in water.
13:2 So I bought the shorts as the Lord had told me to do and put them on.
Jeremiah obeyed Jehovah.
13:3 Then the Lord spoke to me again and said,
This was not Jeremiah’s opinion or his human speculation.
13:4 “Take the shorts that you bought and are wearing and go at once to Perath. Bury the shorts there in a crack in the rocks.”
Perath was in Babylon on the other side of the Euphrates River. Jeremiah was commanded to travel 350 miles and bury his priestly girdle in Babylon. This was Jeremiah’s first contact with Babylon. Babylon was the nation who would later enslave Israel.
13:5 So I went and buried them at Perath as the Lord had ordered me to do.
This was a 700-mile round trip.
13:6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to Perath and get the shorts I ordered you to bury there.”
After a few days, Jeremiah was commanded to take another 700-mile round trip to Babylon in order to retrieve the priestly girdle. This was during a time period in history when travel was rough, expensive, and dangerous.
13:7 So I went to Perath and dug up the shorts from the place where I had buried them. I found that they were ruined; they were good for nothing.
The second law of thermodynamics ruined the girdle.
13:8 Then the Lord said to me,
This was not Jeremiah’s opinion or his human speculation.
13:9 “I, the Lord, say: ‘This shows how I will ruin the highly exalted position in which Judah and Jerusalem take pride.
Just as the priestly girdle was ruined by its contact with Babylon, so would the nation of Israel become corrupted by its contact with Babylon.The idolatry and mercantilism of Babylon would corrupt Israel. When Jesus stepped into the Jewish temple centuries later, the temple was actually a den of robbers. Israel was a nation who would worship the Ol’ Mighty Dollar. Israel learned the sin of godless commerce in Babylon. In this condition, Israel was good for nothing.
13:10 These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said. They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing.
Israel was a corrupted priesthood for three reasons. First, she refused to follow the Mosaic Law. Second, she followed the inclinations of total depravity of her own heart. Third, she worshiped demons through idolatry.
13:11 For,’ I say, ‘just as shorts cling tightly to a person’s body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah tightly to me.’ I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise. But they would not obey me.
Just as the priestly girdle clung tightly to the loins of the priests, so was Israel to cling to the loins of Jehovah. Israel’s calling was to share this close and intimate relationship with Jehovah. God wanted to make Israel special so that she could bring Him fame, honor and praise. However, Israel would not obey her husband.
13:12 “So tell them, ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says, “Every wine jar is made to be filled with wine.” ’ And they will probably say to you, ‘Do you not think we know that every wine jar is supposed to be filled with wine?’
Jehovah told Jeremiah to inform the people that wine jars were created to be filled with wine. The people’s reaction was that this was nothing new to them.
13:13 Then tell them, ‘The Lord says, “I will soon fill all the people who live in this land with stupor. I will also fill the kings from David’s dynasty, the priests, the prophets, and the citizens of Jerusalem with stupor.
All of the people of Israel (including the leaders), will drink themselves into such a stupor, that they will not be able to spiritually discern the timing and the meaning of the Babylonian Captivity.
13:14 And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike. I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,’ says the Lord.”
Israel will be in such a spiritual stupor, that God will smash them like the smashing of wine jars against each other. Israel will be so drunk, that she will not be able to discern the coming Babylonian Captivity.
This is the current condition of America. America is being destroyed internally, but she cannot see it. America is too drunk to recognize her vulnerable position.
13:15 Then I said to the people of Judah, “Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant! For the Lord has spoken.
Jeremiah reminded Judah not to be arrogant of her present condition. She needed to listen very carefully to what God had spoken.
13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. Do it before you stumble into distress like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for into the darkness and gloom of exile.
Babylon was “the darkness of disaster.” Judah was living in such darkness, that she was about to trip over this mountain. Just as a traveler steps off of a mountain cliff in darkness, Israel was about to do the same.
13:17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning, I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride. I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears because you, the Lord’s flock, will be carried into exile.”
If the northern kingdom does not listen to Jehovah’s warning, then Judah will be taken into captivity. This arrogance of Israel will cause Jeremiah to cry. This is why he was called “the weeping prophet.”
13:18 The Lord told me, “Tell the king and the queen mother, ‘Surrender your thrones, for your glorious crowns will be removed from your heads.
Jehoiachin was the King of Israel. Nehushta was the Queen Mother. King Jehoiachin was only 18 years old, so his mother had all of the true power. Jehovah told the King and Queen to go ahead and surrender their thrones, because the King of Babylon was about to remove them.
13:19 The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight. No one will be able to go in or out of them. All Judah will be carried off into exile. They will be completely carried off into exile.’ ”
The king and queen mother needed to surrender their thrones, because the Babylonians were coming. Judah will shut their gates, because an army is coming to invade them. Babylon will siege Jerusalem, so no one will be able to enter or leave Jerusalem. All of Judah will be carried into exile.
13:20 Then I said, “Look up, Jerusalem, and see the enemy that is coming from the north. Where now is the flock of people that were entrusted to your care? Where now are the ‘sheep’ that you take such pride in?
Jeremiah warned the guards to look north, because the enemy would march from this direction. Babylon will take all of Jerusalem captive. The leaders will no longer be leaders, because they will have no flock. Their flock will be taken captive.
13:21 What will you say when the Lord appoints as rulers over you those allies that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such? Then anguish and agony will grip you like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.
The Jewish leaders prepared for war against Babylon. However, they lost the battle. Babylon will appoint new rulers over Jerusalem. The old Jewish leaders will be forced to serve their new Babylonian leaders. This new Babylonian leadership will cause the old Jewish leadership to be in such agony, that it is compared to a woman giving birth to a baby.
13:22 You will probably ask yourself, ‘Why have these things happened to me? Why have I been treated like a disgraced adulteress whose skirt has been torn off and her limbs exposed?’ It is because you have sinned so much.
Since Israel was guilty of spiritual adultery, then God exposed His wife as an adulteress.
13:23 But there is little hope for you ever doing good, you who are so accustomed to doing evil. Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard remove its spots?
God has ordained reproduction only “after its kind.” Just as animals cannot change their kinds, neither can humans change their kinds. Man is so totally depraved and evil, that only God can change the heart (or the intellect).
The “Ethiopian” was a “Cushite,” a descendant of Cush, and the first son of Ham. The skin of an Ethiopian was different that the skins of the other descendants of Noah. It was presumed that the skin color of the Ethiopian was black. After the dispersion at the Tower of Babel, the Cushites migrated across the Red Sea into southern Arabia.
13:24 “The Lord says, ‘That is why I will scatter your people like chaff that is blown away by a desert wind.
Just as a strong wind scatters chaff across the desert, so will Judah become scattered.
13:25 This is your fate, the destiny to which I have appointed you, because you have forgotten me and have trusted in false gods.
Israel forgot Jehovah, her husband, so her destiny was slavery in the Babylonian Captivity.
13:26 So I will pull your skirt up over your face and expose you to shame like a disgraced adulteress!
Since Israel committed spiritual adultery, she will be exposed to the public as a spiritual adulteress.
13:27 People of Jerusalem, I have seen your adulterous worship, your shameless prostitution to, and your lustful pursuit of, other gods. I have seen your disgusting acts of worship on the hills throughout the countryside. You are doomed to destruction! How long will you continue to be unclean?’ ”
God sits in His heaven and watches His wife sin in public. He has seen her worship other gods. He has seen her engage in prostitution temples. He has seen her lust for other demonic gods. He has seen His wife dance naked and commit adultery in the high hills. Israel is doomed to destruction. She has defiled herself. When will Israel clean herself? When will she turn back to her husband?