The linen sash represents the people of Jerusalem. Jeremiah is not to put the sash in water because the people refused to be cleansed by the Word of God. Jeremiah is to wear the sash to demonstrate that God’s representation in the world is tied to their behavior.
“And the Word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, ‘Take the sash that you acquired, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.’ So, I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.” Jeremiah 13:3-5
The Euphrates River flowed through Babylon. Jeremiah’s trip to the Euphrates River, a distance of about 400-500 miles from Jerusalem, was symbolic of the future exile of his people. The “hole in the rock” was like a prison in reference to captivity. It also symbolizes a tomb. Israel’s exile from the Promised Land was like a death, and there return to it was like a resurrection.
“Now it came to pass after many days that the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the sash which I commanded you to hide there.’” Jeremiah 13:6
The gap of many days between the sashes placement in the hole and its retrieval was sufficient for it to deteriorate. The sash became unfit for use. Its demise symbolized God’s people’s demise as they blended pagan practices with God’s Word. It was like poison in bait that was more deadly than other forms of false religions because the lies were more difficult to discern.
“Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing. Then the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: in this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.’” Jeremiah 13:7-9
Ruined and profitable for nothing! That’s what happens when proud people assume that they can take liberty with God’s Word and change it. I am very troubled by films that pose as Bible based films but they take great liberty with adding and subtracting from God’s Word. Apart from Christ, there is no message about the soul’s need for divine conversion.
Human pride says, “I’m alright. You’re alright. And with a few brief mention of God, things will be a little better.”
Jesus exhorted the Church in Laodicea, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire...” [1]
There’s catastrophic future at hand for the person who does not realize and acknowledge their desperate need of Christ for salvation. Only He has the words of eternal life!
Each of us needs gold refined by fire... “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether, more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.” God’s judgments are the gold refined by fire. “The Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” God says, “If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.” It is better to let God’s Word judge us daily and make corrections accordingly than to wait until we stand before His judgment throne condemned. [2]
The Lord promises to raise us up if we humble ourselves before Him. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” [3]
What kind of sash are we? One that brings glory to God or shame?
“This evil people, who refuse to hear My Words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing. For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me, says the Lord, that they may become My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they would not hear.” Jeremiah 13:10-11
God wanted to wear His people like a sash of honor, but they did not want to be His disciples. How could they represent Him well if they were not listening to Him? We were created in God’s image and designed to make His Name renowned in the earth. To make His praise glorious! If only each of us could have a minute in heaven to see how glorious and wonderful He is, I hope that we would all to be like a sash of honor around His waste.
“Therefore, you shall speak to them this Word: ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: every bottle shall be filled with wine.’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every bottle will be filled with wine?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land—even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness! And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says the Lord. I will not pity nor spare nor have mercy but will destroy them.” Jeremiah 13:12-14
When Jeremiah announces by the Word of the Lord that every bottle will be filled with wine, this is not good news. His listeners mocked God’s Word to them, saying, “Do we not certainly now that every bottle will be filled with wine?” But the wine and drunkenness that God referred to is a wine of wrath that causes people to destroy one another.
The Lord repeats this prophecy in Jeremiah 25:15-16 but adds to the list many nations. “For thus says the Lord God of Israel to me: take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. And they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”
God uses wine-drunkenness as a metaphor for a spirit of warfare against one another in the Book of Revelation as well. “And another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’” “And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.” “The inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” [4]
“Hear and give ear: do not be proud, for the Lord has spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death and makes it dense darkness.” Jeremiah 13:15-16
Give glory to the Lord your God! Psalm 34:5 says, “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.” Daniel 12:3 says, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” What happens when people do not glorify the Lord? Romans 1:21 says, “Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” What happens in the spiritual realm impacts the physical realm. Pharoah of Egypt would not give glory to God, Jeremiah’s listeners would not give glory to God, and the people in the end times will not give glory to God, and all experience an unnatural darkness over their land. [5]
“But if you will not hear it, 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 13:17
Bad choices have bad conclusions. The Lord has delightful purposes for people’s lives, but when they pursue evil, they reap horrible consequences such as a destructive captivity. It could be a captivity to a foreign nation or to a destructive addiction like alcohol, drugs or porn.
Jeremiah was in good company as he mourned for sinners who needed to turn to God for deliverance. King David wept for sinners, “My eyes shed streams of water, because they do not keep Your law.” Jesus wept for sinners, “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it.” The Apostle Paul wept for sinners, “I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.” [6]
“Say to the king and to the queen mother, ‘Humble yourselves; sit down, for your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory.’” Jeremiah 13:18
Jeremiah’s king at this time was Jehoiachin and his queenly mother’s name was Nehushta. Jehoiachin “did evil in the sight of the Lord.” “At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.” “He carried Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.” The king and the queen mother should have humbled themselves before the Lord in repentance and prayer, then, they would not have been deposed from their thrones and humiliated before their enemies. [7]
Once, “Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” [8]
“The cities of the South shall be shut up, and no one shall open them; Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it; it shall be wholly carried away captive.” Jeremiah 13:19
The cities of the south were farthest from the enemy. Babylon’s army advanced to them from the north. The Lord warned them in advance that the entire nation was going down. Their cities will be shut up due to a lack of people left behind to keep them operational.
“Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful sheep?” Jeremiah 13:20
Jeremiah, amazed at the depopulation caused by Nebuchadnezzar’s forces, asks, “Where is the flock?” The answer is, “under new management” namely Babylon’s. They did not want God to reign over them, so God gave them into the hands of a pagan king. The pagan king is symbolic of Satan. Paul urged the Christians in Corinth to give an unrepentant sexual offender among them over “to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” The goal being to create a painful crisis that will save the erring child from a much more catastrophic crisis, namely, eternity in hell. [9]
“What will you say when He punishes you? For you have taught them to be chieftains, to be head over you. Will not pangs seize you, like a woman in labor?” Jeremiah 13:21
Prior to the Babylonian attack, the people who called themselves God’s people had become less like God and more like pagans, in fact, they taught the Babylonians how to be chieftains and heads over them in this regard. They could not say that God punished them unjustly because they brought this disaster on themselves.
The metaphor of a woman’s pain during childbirth is used in the Bible to describe the level of pain experienced during seasons of divine judgment. 1 Thessalonians 5:3 says, “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.”
“And if you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things come upon me?’ For the greatness of your iniquity your skirts have been uncovered, your heels made bare.” Jeremiah 13:22
Ecclesiastes 12:14 says, “God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” “Skirts uncovered” and “heels made bare” is the imagery of an adulteress being exposed to open shame.
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.” Jeremiah 13:23
A sinner cannot change himself. Conversion is a divine miracle. Jesus told a religious leader named Nicodemus that he must be born again to see the kingdom of God. This is true for every sinner. We must be reborn. We are born into the world with a sinful nature. The only way to shed the sinful nature and to gain a Christlike nature is to receive Jesus Christ.
“As many as received Him [Jesus Christ], to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” “Jesus answered, ‘Verily, verily, I say to you, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We must admit our inability to change ourselves and ask God to do it. [10]
“Therefore, I will scatter them like stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.” Jeremiah 13:24
God uses a familiar imagery, the winnowing of wheat, to characterize His judgment. God is separating the inedible stubble from the wheat. John the Baptist prophesied of Jesus, saying,
“His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” [11]
God’s judgment separates right from wrong, and that which is useful from that which is of no use. In this case, those who did not desire God and are not desired by Him.
“This is your lot, the portion of your measures from Me, says the Lord, because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.” Jeremiah 13:25
When we forget the Lord by not reading our Bibles, by not praying, by not worshipping Him with songs of praise in harmony with other Christians, we do succumb to falsehoods by default. God’s Word says that people “perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” [12]
“Therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face, that your shame may appear.” Jeremiah 13:26
Skirts over their faces so their shame appears describes to them what Babylonian captivity will feel like. They will fell so ashamed of themselves. So, dirty! Sexual sin feels good until it gets exposed for all to see. Then, it is so embarrassing and humiliating. It is better to be humble before the Lord in repentance and in desperate plea for His deliverance from sexual sin, then, to keep doing it, be caught, and experience public disgrace.
“I have seen your adulteries and your lustful neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry, your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?” Jeremiah 13:27
The Lord sees what goes on in the dark. He sees everything. He does not want to condemn us. He wants to save us from it. When hypocritical religious leaders brought to Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery, He did not condemn her. He first exposed, the hypocrisy of her accusers, saying to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” They all left her alone. Then, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin to save us not condemn us. The Lord wanted the people of Jerusalem to stop behaving like sex-crazed wild stallions and turn to Him that they might be saved from horrific consequences of sin. [13]
2 Corinthians 7:1 says, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Good judgment is a gift of the Holy Spirit. He opens spiritually blind eyes so we can see the reality of heaven or hell, God or the devil. Which do we want? How can we choose wisely without good intel?
King Solomon wrote, “Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds; for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations.” The prophetic ministry is about knowing the state of the flocks in your sphere of influence and about being more focused on their well-being than on making money. God will supply our needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus, as we serve His flocks. [14]
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” This is an exhortation from Jesus that He repeats seven times in the Book of Revelation. Are we listening? The Holy Spirit is speaking. Yes, the mission before us is greater than us, but the Lord is with us and will help us step by step. [15]
[1] Revelation 3:17-18
[2] Psalm 19:9-10; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Corinthians 11:31
[3] 1 Peter 5:6-7
[4] Revelation 14:8; 16:19, 17:2
[5] Exodus 14:20; Revelation 16:9-10
[6] Psalm 119:136; Luke 19:41; Romans 9:2
[7] 2 Kings 24:8-10, 15
[8] Matthew 18:2-4
[9] 2 Corinthians 5:1-5
[10] John 1:12-13; 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:17
[11] Matthew 3:12
[12] 2 Thessalonians 2:10
[13] John 8:4, 7-11
[14] Proverbs 15:23-24; Philippians 4:19; Matthew 6:33
[15] Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22
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