The Ruined Loincloth
This story told how the Lord told Jeremiah to go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around his waist, and do not dip it in water. So that was exactly what Jeremiah did, according to the word of the Lord.
Then, the word of the Lord went to Jeremiah a second time and told him to take the loincloth down to the Euphrates and hide it in a cleft of a rock. So again, Jeremiah obeyed.
After many days Jeremiah was told to go back and retrieve the loincloth that he was commanded to hide. So he went to the Euphrates, he dug, and he took the loincloth from the place where he had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled and good for nothing.
Then the word of the Lord came saying, “Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing.”
The Lord continued, “For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.”
The Jars Filled with Wine
Jeremiah was told to tell the people that every jar should be filled with wine, because the Lord would fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of the land; the king’s who sat on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They would all be dashed against each other, and the Lord would have no pity on them or spare compassion, that He should not destroy them.
Exile Threatened
Hear and give ear; be not proud,
for the Lord has spoken.
Give glory to the Lord your God
before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the twilight mountains,
and while you look for light
he turns it into gloom
and makes it deep darkness.
But if you will not listen,
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.
-Jeremiah 13:15-17
Famine, Sword, and Pestilence
The word of the Lord went to Jeremiah concerning the drought that was happening in the land. Judah was mourning and her gates languished. The people were lamenting on the ground, and crying up for Jerusalem.
The nobles sent their servants for water, but when they went to the cisterns they found no water, and returned with empty vessels. They were ashamed and confounded and had to cover their heads.
Since the ground was dismayed, for the lack of rain on the land, the farmers were ashamed and too had to cover their heads. Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn because there was no grass. There was no vegetation so the animals were suffering with their eyes failing them and panting for air.
Though our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord, for your name’s sake;
for our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against you.
-Jeremiah 14:7
Why should you be like man confused,
like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and we are called by your name;
do not leave us.
Thus says the Lord concerning the people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the Lord does not accept them;
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.”
-Jeremiah 14:9-10
The Lord spoke to Jeremiah and told him not to pray for the welfare of the people. Even though they were fasting and offering burnt offerings and grain offerings, the Lord would not hear their cry or accept them. They would be consumed by the sword, famine, and pestilence.
Lying Prophets
Jeremiah spoke to the Lord and told Him what the prophets were saying. The prophets were telling the people that they would be alright and not see the sword, or have famine, and that there would be peace.
The Lord said that the prophesies were telling lies in His name. The Lord did not send them, nor did he command them to speak to the people. They were prophesying lying visions, worthless divinations, and deceiving their own minds.
Therefore, the Lord said concerning the prophets who were falsely prophesying by saying that the land and the people would be safe from the sword and famine, would themselves be consumed by both.
And the people to whom they were prophesying would be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them. Them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters would all have evil poured out upon them.
If I go into the field,
behold, those pierced by the sword!
And if I enter the city,
behold, the disease of famine!
For both prophet and priest
ply their trade through the land
and have no knowledge.
-Jeremiah 14:18
We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
and the iniquity of our fathers,
for we have sinned against you.
Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake;
do not dishonor your glorious throne;
remember and do not break your covenant with us.
Are there any among the false gods
of the nations that can bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on you,
for you do all these things.
-Jeremiah 14:20-22
The Lord Will Not Relent
The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!” God told him that when the people ask, ‘Where should we go?’ to tell them:
“Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.”
-Jeremiah 15:2
There would be four kinds of destroyers appointed over them, as the Lord declared. They would be horrors to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.
- The sword to kill
- The dogs to tear
- The birds of the air and
- the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy
Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
or who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
You have rejected me,
declares the Lord;
you keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you
and destroyed you–
I am weary of relenting.
-Jeremiah 15:5-6
The Lord continued to explain how He had bereaved the people and destroyed them, and still they would not turn from their ways. There were more widows in number than the sand of the seas, and brought against the mothers of young men a destroyer. Anguish and terror fell on them suddenly, and the rest would be given to the sword before their enemies.
Jeremiah’s Complaint
Jeremiah was upset and saying, “Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.”
The Lord said to him, “Have I not set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? Your wealth and your treasures I will give as spoil, without price, for all your sins throughout all your territory. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”
O Lord, you know;
remember me and visit me,
and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
know that for your sake I bear reproach.
Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
-Jeremiah 15:15-16
Therefore thus says the Lord:
“If you return, I will restore you,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious,
and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
declares the Lord.
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”
-Jeremiah 15:19-21