Jeremiah 13:1-11
The Ruined Loincloth
Verse 1 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.”
The Lord, Jehovah, said to Jeremiah, go and buy a linen loincloth. In the Hebrew, the word is Peshtae, meaning linen of flax garment. And the Hebrew word used for loincloth is ezor (Azor), meaning, waist-cloth or innermost garment. Many translations say girdle, ours says loincloth, in any case it would be a linen undergarment worn about the waist that hung down to the mid thigh.
The Lord says go buy it new, unused put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water. In other words take this garment, an intimate type of garment, a new piece of clothing, unused, clean, and do not wash it.
the belt here is linen, since Jeremiah is a priest ( the son of a priest), Exodus 28:39 “You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework”
And the priests wore linen garments. What we need to gather from this is that the garment is to be worn around the waist tightly and that it touches the skin. The position of this new garment illustrates the original relationship that this people of Judah had with God. And we can see that if this new unwashed garment is worn for any length of time, it will get grimy, dirty, again representing the tarnished relationship between God and this people.
Verse 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist.
Jeremiah says he did as instructed by the Lord, he buys this loincloth or girdle and places it tightly around his waist, the important part here is that this garment is linen, Leviticus 16:4 “He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments” - The close relationship between the cloth and his body is in place.
Verse 3 And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, Verse 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.”
Jeremiah has obeyed, done as instructed by the Lord, and is now given further instructions as to what to do with this linen garment that is around his waist. The Lord tells the prophet to take this garment and hide it in a cleft of the rock at the Euphrates. The word used in the Hebrew for Euphrates is p?ra? (Perawth), meaning,
from an unused root meaning to break forth; rushing; Perath (i.e. Euphrates), a river of the East:—Euphrates. Most commentators argue about the true meaning of this word although it has been used elsewhere in the Old Testament o signify the Euphrates river. Now the issue comes in when we consider the trip for Jeremiah, it would a 700 mile round trip to go and take this garment and leave it there. A trip that might take up to three months, a long time for the prophet to be gone, without being missed. Then he will go back and retrieved it as we all see shortly, another three month trip.
Now the significance of the place he is sent might tell us that he did indeed go to the Euphrates River, as it was the land of the Chaldeans, the people who would come and conquer Judah. It would be the Chaldeans who would “spoil” Judah… The people of Judah were in an apostate condition due to following after the idols and false gods of the Assyrians and the Babylonians, they had been spoiled, ruined by this despicable relationship.
Verse 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
Jeremiah saus, I did as I was instructed by the Lord, I took this garment of mine and hid it in the cleft of the rock at the Euphrates River. Again, we are not given any reason to doubt that Jeremiah went as far away as the River Euphrates, if we take the Bible at face value, and I believe we should, Jeremiah went where he was told to go.
There are some commentators who believe this place Jeremiah went was a wadi, called the Farah, which was only about four miles from Anathoth, Jeremiahs hometown. And others place this as a visionary experience, and told as a parable. We obviously has a difference of opinion here with commentators, but what we need to gain here is what is meant by what we read here. Those who heard Jeremiah speak of this, they knew full well what was meant by the prophets words toward them.
Verse 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.”
We see that after a period of time, many days, obviously enough time for the plan of God to come to fruition, Jeremiah is sent back to Perath, or the Euphrates River, a long journey to be had. And when you get there Jeremiah, find the loincloth you took there.
Verse 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.
The prophet goes as instructed, off to the land of the Chaldeans. He finds the place where he buried he loincloth and digs it up. And to no ones surprise it is spoiled or ruined, it is good for absolutely nothing.
Verse 8 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
Verse 9 “Thus says the LORD: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
The Lord speaks to Jeremiah once again, the word of the Lord cams to the prophet. God tells Jeremiah, just like that loincloth, unwashed girdle you placed there, just as it is spoiled, ruined, I will spoil the pride of Judah. And the great pride of Jerusalem.
The loincloth or girdle represents the people of God, the one true God of Israel. They were at one time pure and untarnished by the world, they followed the Lord as He had prescribed for them. Remember the command the Lord gave to Joshua as they prepared to enter this promised land? Joshua 1:7 “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go” - Or what the Lord gave to Jeremiah back in chapter two, Jeremiah 2:2-3 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt;
disaster came upon them, declares the LORD.”
Just as that loincloth had been wrapped tight around Jeremiahs waist, it close to him, it was an intimate part of his apparel, the people of Judah were like that in relationship with God, the entire house of Israel and Judah. they had become tarnished by world around them, they had forgotten the Lord their God and were chasten after Baal, the god of the world. They were no longer in intimate relationship with Yahweh! They had betrayed God and His covenant. There idol worship of foreign gods had facilitated the contamination and corruption of this people, they now spoiled, ruined.
Verse 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.
We see here in verse ten, a reiteration of what Jeremiah has shown them through this act of taking this garment to the Euphrates River and burying it and then returning to find it spoils, and ruined. It is a very good illustration of the condition of the people of Judah, they were at one time in communion with God, in a right place, with a right heart, but they have fallen away in compete and total apostasy forsaking God. Jeremiah states here that they stubbornly follow their own hearts and have gone after foreign gods. This is exactly what God had warned them of, Deuteronomy 7:1-4 ““When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly”
This is what happened, they were remiss in destroying the inhabitants of the promised land, they allowed them to stay, they lived with and they were corrupted by them, as we see here in chapter thirteen, they were spoiled and ruined by the people they failed to drive out and destroy!
Verse 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.
The Lord remembers the time, the time when all of Israel and Judah once did cling to Him, was in close personal relationship with Him, they were as intimate as the linen garment was to Jeremiahs body. That they would have remained faithful and been to God His people, a name, a praise, and a glory…But no, they refused to listen, they refused to repent, and they went their own way, seeking their own pleasures in the world.
Today America is no different, what was once a great Christian nation is now a flailing apostate nation do what is right in their own eyes, not seeking after God, but chasing after the world and the riches they so desire. But in the end, it will all be ruined as will they whop fail to repent of their evil and wicked deeds. We are most definitely in the last days, time is short, we must all be right with our maker, for He could return with a vengeance against this evil world at any moment.
Luke 21:25-28 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
