Jeremiah 13:1-11--The Ruined Loincloth

Jeremiah 13:1-11
English Standard Version

The Ruined Loincloth
13 Thus says the LORD to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist. 3 And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, 4 “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. 6 And after many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing.

8 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 9 “Thus says the LORD: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 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. 11 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.

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God uses a lot of object lessons with Jeremiah.  Though the people still reject the message, there is a performance to catch the people's attention.  This time, Jeremiah is to buy a loincloth, but he was not to wash it in water.  After Jeremiah had worn the loincloth for some time (it was probably soiled), he was to take it to a place the LORD would show him along the Euphrates River and hide it in the cleft of a rock there.  The prophet Jeremiah did exactly as the LORD instructed.

After many days, the LORD told Jeremiah to go back to the location he had hidden the loincloth.  The loincloth was spoiled and good for nothing.  This is what the LORD said would happen to the people of Judah.  Their pride would be spoiled as would the pride of Jerusalem.  Why?  Because they continue to serve other gods and worship them.  They follow their hearts which are wicked and corrupt.  They refuse to listen to the Word of the LORD spoken through the Scriptures or through His prophets.

God intended His people to have a close relationship with Him, but that has been ruined.  They were to be a people called by His name that would cause people to praise and worship the LORD when they saw how He miraculously saved and provided for them.  However, they have rejected His love and His covenant.  They have pushed Him away to make room for the sin and idols that they want to take His place in their hearts.  They have broken fellowship with Him and have set themselves on the way of judgment and destruction.  It is only a matter of time before God's justice and wrath must be satisfied.