Jeremiah 13
Summary for Jer 13:1-14: 13:1-14 a The Lord told Jeremiah to act out a parable (see also chs 18 b, 19 c, 27 d; see thematic note for Prophetic Sign Acts at end of chapter). The parable joined action with words to reinforce and illustrate special aspects of the Lord’s response to Judah’s rebellion. Jeremiah seemed unable to fully grasp the evil consequences of rejecting the Lord’s demand that the people worship him as the one true God. The direct relationship between Jeremiah and the Lord was the framework for this event.Summary for Jer 13:1-2: 13:1-2 e God instructed Jeremiah to leave a linen loincloth unwashed to symbolize Judah’s unrighteousness (cp. Isa 64:5 f; Rev 19:8 g). This piece of clothing is comparable to modern-day underwear.
Summary for Jer 13:3-5: 13:3-5 h The Euphrates River is 300 miles north of Jerusalem. Jeremiah probably joined a merchant caravan for protection as he walked or rode a donkey for the 600-mile round trip. Jeremiah did not know the purpose of the trip, but he obeyed God’s instructions.
Summary for Jer 13:6-7: 13:6-7 i The safest time to travel was during the dry season, from June to September. The most likely time for cloth to rot was during the wet season, October to May.
• A long time afterward was probably between six and ten months.
Summary for Jer 13:8-9: 13:8-9 j The parable was the Lord’s way of expressing how disgusting the pride of Judah and Jerusalem had become and how he was allowing the consequences of sin to take their course.
Summary for Jer 13:10-11: 13:10-11 k The rotten loincloth represented the people of Judah and Israel, whose wicked rebellion had corrupted them and made them worthless.
• clings: The same Hebrew word can be translated “joins” and is used to describe marital faithfulness (Gen 2:24 l).
• my people ... an honor to my name: See also Exod 19:5 m, 6 n; Deut 32:10-12 o; Eph 2:7 p; 3:10 q.
Summary for Jer 13:12-14: 13:12-14 r Of course! The people assumed that the Lord would continue to bless them as he had in the past (Ps 104:15 s; Prov 9:2-5 t). However, the wine was not a symbol of blessing; in this case, drunkenness symbolized God’s wrath (cp. Rev 14:10 u).
Summary for Jer 13:15-16: 13:15-16 v Jeremiah pled with the people to listen and not be arrogant, but to change their attitude. If they refused to acknowledge the Lord as the one true God of Israel, a terrible darkness would fall upon the nation.
13:17 w Jeremiah had learned that if the people did not acknowledge the Lord, they would be led away into exile. The thought of it filled him with grief.
Summary for Jer 13:18-19: 13:18-19 x The king was probably Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin, who was crowned in 597 BC after the death of his father; his mother was Nehushta (see 2 Kgs 24:1-9 y). Jehoiachin was eighteen years old and reigned for just three months; this message was probably delivered during his short reign. His glorious crowns would soon be taken from him by the Babylonians (see 2 Kgs 24:11-16 z). The treasures of the Temple and palace would be given to the Babylonians, and the royalty and elite of Judah would be carried into exile. At the same time, Judah’s southern neighbors would take over the towns of the Negev, the desert area from the city of Beersheba to the Gulf of Aqaba.
Summary for Jer 13:20-22: 13:20-22 aa King Jehoiachin did not seem concerned about the well-being of his beautiful flock, the people of Judah. Judah suffered abuse at the hands of its supposed allies as a result of the king’s many sins.
13:23 ab an Ethiopian: People have no choice about the color of their skin, just as a leopard has no choice about being spotted. In the same way, God’s people were born trapped by evil. They had no ability to change on their own, and they refused to allow the Lord to change them.
Summary for Jer 13:24-27: 13:24-27 ac The divine Judge decreed condemnation. 13:24 ad I will scatter you like chaff: This word-picture represented the exile of the people of Judah. Cp. Ps 1:4-5 ae.
13:25 af The people of Judah could not escape their assigned punishment. They had forgotten God and had turned to false gods.
13:26 ag God allowed the Babylonians to strip Judah of all its treasures and take the people captive.
13:27 ah Judah’s idol worship included ritual sex acts in the fields and on the hills. The Lord wanted his people to be spiritually and sexually pure in relation to him.
Thematic note: Prophetic Sign Acts
The prophets of Israel occasionally communicated through sign acts, which were dramatic visual aids performed in public to increase the impact of the message and help people feel the truth as much as hear it. Their purpose was to present an unforgettable message. These acts were unusual, even outlandish—and not just from a modern perspective. Unlike modern readers, however (who might think that the prophet was psychologically disturbed), ancient observers understood these sign acts as a regular part of a prophet’s communication style.
Ezekiel was required to act out his message more frequently than any other prophet, perhaps because he was communicating to a particularly hardened audience (Ezek 2:6-7 ai). The sign acts reinforced the content of his message and underlined the depth of his personal commitment to it. For example, after he swallowed the word of God (2:8–3:3 aj), Ezekiel embodied it for the exiles (3:4-9 ak) in a series of judgment scenes (chs 4–6 al). This dramatic form of communication is difficult for even a hostile audience to ignore or forget.
The ultimate sign act was performed by Jesus Christ on the cross (see Matt 27:32-54 am). There God visibly depicted his wrath against sin in the darkness, the earthquake, and the agony of the sinless one who was apparently abandoned by his Father. God also depicted his profound love for the world in that he would rather die than let his people go. The cross is a confrontational message of God’s love and wrath that is hard to ignore or forget.
Passages for Further Study
Jer 13:1-11 an; 19:1-15 ao; 25:15 ap; Ezek 2:6–3:3 aq; 3:4-9 ar; 4:1-17 as; 5:1–6:14 at; 12:1-28 au; 21:19-23 av; 24:1-14 aw, 16-27 ax; 37:15-28 ay; Hos 1:2-9 az; 3:1-3 ba; Matt 26:26-28 bb; 27:45-54 bc; Mark 6:11 bd; 11:12-21 be; Luke 22:17-20 bf; Rom 6:3-5 bg; 1 Cor 10:16-17 bh; 11:23-32 bi
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