THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Jeremiah: Prophet Of Judgment Followed By Blessing

Part XXVIII: An Object Lesson And A Parable On Judah's Standing Before God

(Jeremiah 13:1-14)

I. Introduction

A. Object lessons and parables were potent teaching tools in Jeremiah's era, so God utilized them to communicate His truth to Judah's people with significant force. (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Jeremiah 13:1-11)

B. Thus, in Jeremiah 13:1-14, God gave the object lesson of the linen belt and the parable of the earthen jars to Judah through His prophet to clarify Judah's standing before him, what provides a potent lesson for us today:

II. An Object Lesson And A Parable On Judah's Standing Before God, Jeremiah 13:1-14.

A. First, God had Jeremiah produce an object lesson about a linen belt to illustrate the great loss of Judah's former blessings due to her departure from Him to follow false idols, Jeremiah 13:1-11:

1. The Lord had Jeremiah buy a linen belt, a belt made of the material used in priestly garments worn by his neighbors in his town of priests at Anathoth, Jeremiah 13:1a with 1:1; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1146.

2. Jeremiah was to wear this belt, and not let it be touched by water lest it be marred in any way, a picture of holiness and God's resulting blessing that was significant to Jeremiah's priestly neighbors, Jer. 13:1b; Ibid.

3. However, after wearing the belt for a while, God told Jeremiah to take it to the town of Perath about three miles northeast of Anathoth and bury it in a hole among rocks there, Jer. 13:2-4. The KJV claims God sent him to the Euphrates (River), a round-trip of 700 miles, but "Euphrates" and "Perath" are spelled the same in Hebrew, and Jeremiah's onlookers at Anathoth would be impressed only by seeing Jeremiah hide the linen belt in a nearby area with a name like "Euphrates" that signified pagan Babylon than were he actually to have made the trip to the Euphrates where his neighbors would not have bothered to go to see what he would do there with the belt, Ibid. Besides, at Perath is a steep gully with a seasonal stream called 'Ain Farah that "fits the description of a place with crevices and rocks" mentioned in Jeremiah 13:4; Ibid.

4. Jeremiah obeyed the Lord, going to Perath and burying the linen belt as directed, Jeremiah 13:5.

5. Many days later, God told His prophet Jeremiah to retrieve the belt (Jer. 13:6-7a), and he found it to be ruined and useless due to its exposure to the moist dirt in which it had been buried, Jeremiah 13:7b.

6. God explained that just as the linen belt had been ruined by being removed from Jeremiah's waist and buried in the dirt, the Lord would ruin the pride of Judah's men for having left Him to serve false gods, doing so by removing His blessing, Jer. 13:8-10. God had once caused Judah to cleave to Him in holiness and blessing like the linen belt had cleaved to Jeremiah's waist, not even being touched by water, but for departing from Him for false gods, God would mar her with a tragic loss of blessing, Jeremiah 13:11.

B. Second, God had Jeremiah give a proverb about earthen jars and apply it in a surprising, shocking way to reveal the great destruction Judah would face in judgment for departing from the Lord, Jeremiah 13:12-14:

1. The word for "bottle" (KJV) or "wineskin" (NIV) used in Jeremiah 13:12 is also used of earthen jars or pitchers for holding wine (Ibid.), so God directed Jeremiah to use a proverb, a simple, obvious one, that proverb being that every earthen jar that was meant to hold wine should be filled with wine, Jer. 13:12a.

2. Anticipating that such a simple, obvious proverb would likely be met by ridicule by Jeremiah's hearers, (Jer. 13:12b), the Lord instructed His prophet to tell his listeners that God would fill the clay pots, that is, Judah's men, not with wine as expected, but with drunkenness, what signified divine judgment (Ibid.), so that everyone, including the Davidic king, the priests, the prophets and the common people in Jerusalem would face God's judgment in the coming Babylonian invasion, Jeremiah 13:13.

3. Then, God would shockingly waste these clay pots by crashing them into one another, shattering them, not showing pity or mercy or compassion but dramatically destroying them in judgment, Jeremiah 13:14.

4. The idea that clay pots made to hold wine for celebrations would be wasted by being crashed together and shattered, creating a widespread, splattered mess of red-colored wine and clay potsherds, demonstrated the shocking destruction Judah's men would face in being brutally slain in God's judgment in the invasion!

Lesson: God used a distressing object lesson and a shocking application of a parable to show the tragic loss of blessing Judah would experience for idolatry and her shocking, devastating punishment as a wake-up to repent.

Application: If God lets us face unsettling or shocking events, He wants us to heed what He seeks to communicate to us through His Word, for He is trying to get us to heed Him more seriously lest we face His severe punishment!