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Jeremiah 13-15
Jeremiah 13
1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
Jeremiah was more than a prophet, he was also a performance artist. He not only told people of things to happen, he did a performance to go with it.
This is the performance of the linen girdle. Linen is made from the fibers of flax. It here represents truth. The girdle goes around the middle. Kind of like a belt. It connects the upper part of the outfit with the lower. It represents the connection between God (the shirt) with the people (the skirt or modern trousers). The linen girdle is the covenant.
4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
The Euphrates goes from Erzurum Turkey, through Syria (the north east), and into Iraq, all the way to the Persian Gulf. Remember, the promised land went all the way to the Euphrates as the northern border. I don't think they ever actually took their kingdom to the Euphrates. From Jerusalem to the Euphrates appears to be about 300 miles or further.
6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
So, after several days, probably months, as if you were walking from Jerusalem to the Euphrates, if you somehow managed to walk 10 miles a day, that'd take you a month to get there, and a month to get back. Then you have to go again, so that's another month... (haven't started the trip home yet).
7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
He hasn't returned yet. So, from the time that he's been ordered to go to Euphrates, he walked for a month to get there, dug a hole and buried the girdle, walked back, waited for many days, then walked back to the river. That's at least 3 months, and he's several hundred miles away from Jerusalem.
Additionally, to get to the Euphrates, he had to pass through either the northern kingdom that was dominated by the Assyrians, or he had to go directly to Babylon.
Some people believe that he didn't go to the Euphrates, they think the word used is actually Farata, and refers to the Wadi Fara, which is a reiver northeast of Anathoth (Jeremiah's hometown). While this makes a whole lot more sense than having Jeremiah walk several thousand miles to express a point about the dissolution of the covenant, remember Jeremiah was a performance artist. Walking 600 miles round trip, twice; would just be that extra showmanship. Granted, without him telling everyone that he walked to the Euphrates, no one would believe him.
So the girdle was broken, worthless, and dirty. Just like the covenant. The people took their great covenant and buried it next to the river. If they took care of it, it would last for a really long time; but they chose to not use it.
9 Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
Because the people buried it, God will dissolve the covenant and mar Judah.
10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
A worthless belt, like a worthless testament.
11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
God's covenant was like a belt that held up the pants. God is now going to take away the belt, and then anyone can come up and pull the pants down on Judah.
19 The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
Jeremiah prophesies that the people will be taken away. He probably heard the plans of the Babylonians to take them away when he was walking to the Euphrates.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
The Ethiopian may not be able to, but the Dominican seems to be able to.
It seems he can also get green eyes.
26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
Well, it's easy to discover the skirts when you have taken away the belt!
27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?
If he had paid more attention to her, the wife wouldn't have had time to have her affairs... I'm just saying...
Jeremiah 14
3 And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
There was a drought before the Babylonian captivity. Maybe that's why Jeremiah had to go all the way to the Euphrates to find an actual river. The Wadi Fara was probably dry. Even still, that'd be a really long walk with no water to drink.
7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
Were the people actually repenting? No, this is what they should have said, but they didn't.
10 Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
When God remembers your sin, you are in trouble.
11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
Jeremiah is told/COMMANDED to not pray for the people. He's just the mouthpiece. He's not to ask for help. The destruction is coming, even though God likes Jeremiah, he's not going to be able to dissuade the LORD.
12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
In fact, God is going to ignore ALL of the people's prayers, fasting, offerings, everything. God gave up on them. Have you forgotten God so much that He has given up on you?
13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
These are the other prophets, the false prophets, that are currently running around. They are the ones pushing a feel good God. Wow, just like today. They are saying God loves you regardless. In the meantime, God is getting ready to pretty much kill them all. Are you listening to Jeremiah, or are you listening to a false prophet? Do you believe Jeremiah or the false prophet?
14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
God said those false prophets aren't his. They claim God, but he's not with them. They got their position, authority, by telling the people what they wanted to hear. They promised an easy road. Heaven is easy, God wants you to be happy, everything is going to be ok, God is all love... Sound familiar?
16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
God's going to kill the false prophets, he's also going to kill anyone who listens to them.
20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
21 Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
I'm not sure if this is how they get back in the good graces, or if these are words that God isn't going to listen to anymore, or if this is Jeremiah begging one last time for the people. It's probably Jeremiah asking God one last time, hoping maybe he'll change his mind.
Jeremiah 15
Right after Jeremiah finishes asking the God to maybe not do this, God says:
1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
If Moses and Samuel stood in front of me asking, I wouldn't listen to them either, so your little asking for me to stop won't do anything either.
What's significant about Moses and Samuel?
In Deuteronomy 9:13-14 God was going to destroy all the people. In verse 26, Moses begged God to not destroy the people because of their idols (he also destroyed the idols). Then God changed his mind.
In 1 Samuel 7, the people had a whole lot of idols and other gods. Because of that, God was sending the Philistines to destroy them. Samuel had the people remove their idols. He then prayed to God in verse 6. As we know, God delivered the people.
God wasn't going to allow another intercession to ruin his destruction of the people. Even if Moses and Samuel tried, he wouldn't stop. This was going to happen.
2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
The people would ask, what's going to happen, Jeremiah was to say, some of you will just die, some will be killed in battle, some will die from the famine, others will be taken away. Regardless, you won't be here.
4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
Manasseh was a bad king. Hezekiah introduced all kinds of reforms and re-instituted God worship in the temple. Manasseh managed to reverse all those reforms and re-instituted pagan worship... in the temple.
6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
Hezekiah did all kinds of good things. Manasseh totally reversed all of them.
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
They are going to lose everything.
14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
Remember, these people didn't travel at all. In a time when pretty much every other country was building armies and conquering the world, the people of Israel never once fought against anyone who wasn't attacking them. Once they got their land, the just tried to keep it. They never went outside their borders. Even today, they don't go out and attack anyone who isn't attacking them first. When they do attack, they don't gain any ground that wasn't part of their initial promised land.
It's no wonder they didn't know the other land, they never left home. Other gods came to them, but they didn't go out to find them.
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
God knows that the current people won't ever be good enough, but at some point they will be. That's in 538 after Cyrus allows some to return, then again in 458, when Ezra returns; it's currently about 620.
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
When they come back, everything will be great. The way that God always intended. And like Isaiah was saying it'll be great for ever... That's why the temple is now back up and running, and why Israel is at peace, and why; oh wait.
So what have we learned today?
1. God's covenant is like a stomach accessory that ties together the shirt with the pants. The people destroyed their belt and their pants fell down.
2. When God decides that he's going to kill the people, it will take about 150 years for the people to purify themselves.
3. Jeremiah is no Moses or Samuel.
YIC
V
Jeremiah 13
1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
Jeremiah was more than a prophet, he was also a performance artist. He not only told people of things to happen, he did a performance to go with it.
This is the performance of the linen girdle. Linen is made from the fibers of flax. It here represents truth. The girdle goes around the middle. Kind of like a belt. It connects the upper part of the outfit with the lower. It represents the connection between God (the shirt) with the people (the skirt or modern trousers). The linen girdle is the covenant.
4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
The Euphrates goes from Erzurum Turkey, through Syria (the north east), and into Iraq, all the way to the Persian Gulf. Remember, the promised land went all the way to the Euphrates as the northern border. I don't think they ever actually took their kingdom to the Euphrates. From Jerusalem to the Euphrates appears to be about 300 miles or further.
6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
So, after several days, probably months, as if you were walking from Jerusalem to the Euphrates, if you somehow managed to walk 10 miles a day, that'd take you a month to get there, and a month to get back. Then you have to go again, so that's another month... (haven't started the trip home yet).
7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
He hasn't returned yet. So, from the time that he's been ordered to go to Euphrates, he walked for a month to get there, dug a hole and buried the girdle, walked back, waited for many days, then walked back to the river. That's at least 3 months, and he's several hundred miles away from Jerusalem.
Additionally, to get to the Euphrates, he had to pass through either the northern kingdom that was dominated by the Assyrians, or he had to go directly to Babylon.
Some people believe that he didn't go to the Euphrates, they think the word used is actually Farata, and refers to the Wadi Fara, which is a reiver northeast of Anathoth (Jeremiah's hometown). While this makes a whole lot more sense than having Jeremiah walk several thousand miles to express a point about the dissolution of the covenant, remember Jeremiah was a performance artist. Walking 600 miles round trip, twice; would just be that extra showmanship. Granted, without him telling everyone that he walked to the Euphrates, no one would believe him.
So the girdle was broken, worthless, and dirty. Just like the covenant. The people took their great covenant and buried it next to the river. If they took care of it, it would last for a really long time; but they chose to not use it.
9 Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
Because the people buried it, God will dissolve the covenant and mar Judah.
10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
A worthless belt, like a worthless testament.
11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
God's covenant was like a belt that held up the pants. God is now going to take away the belt, and then anyone can come up and pull the pants down on Judah.
19 The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
Jeremiah prophesies that the people will be taken away. He probably heard the plans of the Babylonians to take them away when he was walking to the Euphrates.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
The Ethiopian may not be able to, but the Dominican seems to be able to.
It seems he can also get green eyes.
26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
Well, it's easy to discover the skirts when you have taken away the belt!
27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?
If he had paid more attention to her, the wife wouldn't have had time to have her affairs... I'm just saying...
Jeremiah 14
3 And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
There was a drought before the Babylonian captivity. Maybe that's why Jeremiah had to go all the way to the Euphrates to find an actual river. The Wadi Fara was probably dry. Even still, that'd be a really long walk with no water to drink.
7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
Were the people actually repenting? No, this is what they should have said, but they didn't.
10 Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
When God remembers your sin, you are in trouble.
11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
Jeremiah is told/COMMANDED to not pray for the people. He's just the mouthpiece. He's not to ask for help. The destruction is coming, even though God likes Jeremiah, he's not going to be able to dissuade the LORD.
12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
In fact, God is going to ignore ALL of the people's prayers, fasting, offerings, everything. God gave up on them. Have you forgotten God so much that He has given up on you?
13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
These are the other prophets, the false prophets, that are currently running around. They are the ones pushing a feel good God. Wow, just like today. They are saying God loves you regardless. In the meantime, God is getting ready to pretty much kill them all. Are you listening to Jeremiah, or are you listening to a false prophet? Do you believe Jeremiah or the false prophet?
14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
God said those false prophets aren't his. They claim God, but he's not with them. They got their position, authority, by telling the people what they wanted to hear. They promised an easy road. Heaven is easy, God wants you to be happy, everything is going to be ok, God is all love... Sound familiar?
16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
God's going to kill the false prophets, he's also going to kill anyone who listens to them.
20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
21 Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
I'm not sure if this is how they get back in the good graces, or if these are words that God isn't going to listen to anymore, or if this is Jeremiah begging one last time for the people. It's probably Jeremiah asking God one last time, hoping maybe he'll change his mind.
Jeremiah 15
Right after Jeremiah finishes asking the God to maybe not do this, God says:
1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
If Moses and Samuel stood in front of me asking, I wouldn't listen to them either, so your little asking for me to stop won't do anything either.
What's significant about Moses and Samuel?
In Deuteronomy 9:13-14 God was going to destroy all the people. In verse 26, Moses begged God to not destroy the people because of their idols (he also destroyed the idols). Then God changed his mind.
In 1 Samuel 7, the people had a whole lot of idols and other gods. Because of that, God was sending the Philistines to destroy them. Samuel had the people remove their idols. He then prayed to God in verse 6. As we know, God delivered the people.
God wasn't going to allow another intercession to ruin his destruction of the people. Even if Moses and Samuel tried, he wouldn't stop. This was going to happen.
2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
The people would ask, what's going to happen, Jeremiah was to say, some of you will just die, some will be killed in battle, some will die from the famine, others will be taken away. Regardless, you won't be here.
4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
Manasseh was a bad king. Hezekiah introduced all kinds of reforms and re-instituted God worship in the temple. Manasseh managed to reverse all those reforms and re-instituted pagan worship... in the temple.
6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
Hezekiah did all kinds of good things. Manasseh totally reversed all of them.
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
They are going to lose everything.
14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
Remember, these people didn't travel at all. In a time when pretty much every other country was building armies and conquering the world, the people of Israel never once fought against anyone who wasn't attacking them. Once they got their land, the just tried to keep it. They never went outside their borders. Even today, they don't go out and attack anyone who isn't attacking them first. When they do attack, they don't gain any ground that wasn't part of their initial promised land.
It's no wonder they didn't know the other land, they never left home. Other gods came to them, but they didn't go out to find them.
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
God knows that the current people won't ever be good enough, but at some point they will be. That's in 538 after Cyrus allows some to return, then again in 458, when Ezra returns; it's currently about 620.
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
When they come back, everything will be great. The way that God always intended. And like Isaiah was saying it'll be great for ever... That's why the temple is now back up and running, and why Israel is at peace, and why; oh wait.
So what have we learned today?
1. God's covenant is like a stomach accessory that ties together the shirt with the pants. The people destroyed their belt and their pants fell down.
2. When God decides that he's going to kill the people, it will take about 150 years for the people to purify themselves.
3. Jeremiah is no Moses or Samuel.
YIC
V
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