Jeremiah 13, Symbols of Judgment

The World Economic Forum has identified seven scientifically proven ways to capture someone’s attention: 1) activate the senses, 2) contextualize your argument to appeal to your audience, 3) break expectations, 4) create desire, 5) establish credibility, 6) leave things incomplete, and 7) contribute to your audience’s identity. Which of these do you see Jeremiah using?

The Linen Belt

^13:1 This is what Yahweh 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 Yahweh directed, and put it around my waist. ³ Then the word of Yahweh 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 Yahweh told me. ⁶ Many days later Yahweh 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 Yahweh came to me: ⁹ “This is what Yahweh 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 Yahweh, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’

Jeremiah had taken a linen belt to the Euphrates River (Perath), where Judah would end up in exile and buried it so it would be ruined. Though Judah had been a precious linen belt to Yahweh, she would become useless, destroyed by Babylon and exiled.

The Wineskin

¹² “Say to them: ‘This is what Yahweh, 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 Yahweh 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 Yahweh. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.’”

A familiar proverb, “Every wineskin should be filled with wine,” speaking of the prosperity a community should enjoy, would sound like a “duh!” kind of statement to Judah, but represent them as the wineskin that would be filled with His judgment.

The Dark Mountain Pass

¹⁵ Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for Yahweh has spoken. ¹⁶ Give glory to Yahweh 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 Yahweh’s flock will be taken captive.

Jeremiah weepingly urges Judah to repent before it’s too late.

The Removed Royal Crown

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.

Jeremiah warns Jehoiachin and his mother, Queen Nehushta, to prepare for their deposition from the throne, which occurred only three months after his accession.

The Irresponsible Shepherd

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 Yahweh 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.

Judah had cultivated Babylon as an ally against Egypt, and Babylon would be the very one who conquered and deported Judah.

The Ethiopian and the Leopard

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 Yahweh, “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?” (Jeremiah 13)

Judah had become so accustomed to doing evil that she could not change. This is the danger of thinking I can engage in some sin for a short time and repent later.

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Discussion Questions:

1. Why do you think Jeremiah is resorting to using such symbolic communication?
2. Which one of these symbols most grabs your attention?
3. Does God’s telling Judah she cannot change mean she should not try to repent?
4. What sins have you seen become “addictive”?