Jeremiah 13
COMMENTARY:
: 7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. (7843 “marred” [shachath] means to decay, ruin, corrupt, spoiler, or waste.)
DEVOTION: We have heard of people who have wasted lives. This chapter introduces us to why Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet. He had a burden for the children of Israel. His burden was so great that he was willing to cry for them.
He was given an object lesson of the linen girdle to tell Judah that they were worthless. He was instructed to buy a linen girdle and wear it without washing it. Then he was told to take it to the Euphrates River and hide it in a hole of the rock. Finally, he was to collect the wholly girdle to represent Judah. They were good for nothing because they continued to love their sin and worship their false gods.
The LORD wanted them to humble themselves. But they would not humble themselves even when they saw the enemy coming. Here is where it is recorded about an Ethiopian’s skin and the leopard’s spots. They can’t change. Neither could the children of Judah.
We know individuals who have been given an opportunity to hear the gospel but will not change. Here we find Jeremiah telling the people of God that they are profitable for nothing.
We read that some Christians just sit, soak and sour. Hopefully, no one receiving these devotions is wasting their lives. One of the traits of a spiritual Christian is that they use their gift or gifts in the local church to see the glory of God manifested through them. Every follower of Christ is given at least one gift at the point of salvation. PTL.
Another trait of the spiritual Christian is that they are filled with the Holy Spirit. The three signs of the filling of the Holy Spirit are: a singing heart, a thankful spirit and a submissive soul. If these are present in our lives, we will not waste our life for the LORD.
If we have made wrong choices in the past – leave them there and move on. Our God is willing to forgive, if we are willing to confess our sin and humble ourselves and move into a proper relationship with HIM.
There are no sins in our past that the blood of Christ cannot cover. We need to pray for one another that we will be clean in God’s sight. We don’t want to be worthless in the sight of the LORD.
Sin is part of the life of every believer. The LORD wants us to deal with our sin with confession. IF we refuse, HE will deal with us in a different manner. IF we confess, HE will restore fellowship. HE always gives hope to sinners.
CHALLENGE: Confession is necessary for restoration. Keep short accounts with the LORD. Lead an examined life.
:15 Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, For the LORD has spoken. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
DEVOTION: The people of Israel had always been a proud people! It has been said that pride hides a man’s faults to himself and magnifies them to everyone else. God states in His word that he hates certain things and pride is one of those items (Proverbs 6:17).
May we learn the following:
1. What little light is left in the prideful heart can be turned off at any time. “Give glory to the LORD your God Before He causes darkness” (v. 16). Whenever God chooses, He can flick the switch. “and while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death And makes it dense darkness” (v. 16). Then He says to Judah that she will be left puzzled and wondering “Why have these things come upon me?” (v. 22).
2. It grieves the heart of God and those of the Godly. Another cameo is given of the private agony of prophet and God. “My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears” (v. 17).
3. When present in its leaders, pride can cause a whole nation to fall. Verses 18 and 19 lament the brief reign of Jehoiachin who came to the throne at the age of eighteen. He and his mother, Nehushta, refused what little light was left to them. The golden crown fell and the stark humiliation of defeat pressed in upon Judah. Both they and all the skilled artisans of the nation were led captive to Babylon. “Therefore I will scatter them like stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness” (v. 24).
4. Pride can intensify to the point of becoming irreversible. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil” (v. 23). Jeremiah has become famous in this Western culture for this saying. The chapter ends on this striking note, “Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?” (v. 27).
5. All that pride hides will one day be exposed. “Therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face, that your shame may appear” (v. 26). “Your skirts have been uncovered, your heels made bare” (v. 22).
6. Pride is under the constant scrutiny of God. “I have seen your adulteries and your lustful neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry, your abominations on the hills in the fields” (v. 27). In the light of all of this pride, some kind of fall is in the wings. The wicked prosper no longer. [John Guest and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Jeremiah, Lamentations, vol. 19, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1988), 110.]
CHALLENGE: Pride is a dangerous attitude to have and many times we mistake it for confidence or ability. God knows our heart better than we do as we are deceived and blinded by our sins. Find a friend or relative that will speak truth to you and ask them if there is a prideful attitude present in your life. Listen and watch their reactions. How they respond or what they do not say may say more than their words. Be careful of pride, like a heart attack it is a silent killer! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
: 23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. (3928 “accustomed” [limmuwd] means taught, disciple, learner, expert, or practiced.)
DEVOTION: Object lessons and illustrations are part of the way the LORD communicates with HIS people. Here we have an illustration of something that will never change. The first illustration is an individual from Ethiopia that has dark skin. There is no way that he can get rid of his skin color. We have had individuals try to use chemicals to change their appearance. They have gone to tanning booths to turn light skin into dark skin but not the other way around. The LORD is stating a fact that those with a dark skin can’t change their color. God has allowed there to be many different skin colors in our world. They are unique to a culture. It is thought that this was done at the tower of Babel when the LORD changed the language of the people. This was the first illustration.
The second dealt with the animal kingdom. There are many types of cats in the world. Each has its own unique skin characteristics. The leopard has spots. He can’t change this type of skin characteristic no matter how hard he tries.
The children of Judah were in the same condition according to the LORD. HE has offered them hope if they would change. HE had told Jeremiah that HE could stop the invasion if the people would change. HE told Jeremiah things would be different in the future.
However, we are dealing with the present condition of the children of Judah and Jerusalem. It was far from the LORD. It didn’t want anything to do with the LORD. God made this statement because HE knew that even with hope given to them they would not change.
The sad fact is that today there are nations that have been blessed by the LORD for many years that are in the same condition. Our nation has sent many missionaries out to reach other nations for the LORD. Our nation had Biblical standards in their laws. Was our nation a Christian nation? NO!! It was a nation that had many or a majority of people who wanted to serve the LORD at one time. This condition has changed in the last number of years. There are many nations who are now sending missionaries to America because we have moved away from Biblical principles.
Believers have to stay the course even when the rest of the nation is heading in the wrong direction. Change is possible only when we want to live a life that is pleasing to the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Our lives are supposed to mature as we age in the LORD. Pray for maturity. With maturity comes change.
: 25 This is your lot, the portion of your measures from Me, says the LORD: because you have forgotten ME, and trusted in falsehood. (8267 “falsehood” [sheqer] means lying, deceit, liar, fraudulent, a misleading falsehood, deception, what is wrong, unreal, or vanity.)
DEVOTION: All of us have to ask the question “WHO do we trust in?” Are we truthing in our own judgment? Are we trusting in the jugdment of others? Or are we trusting in the LORD alone?
These questions need to be asked and answered on a regular basis in our lives because it seems that it is easy for us to stray from the right path and find our own path instead of the path the LORD has given us in HIS WORD the Bible.
The children of Israel had times when the LORD spoke to them directly. They had times when they were sent leaders and prophets to tell them what the LORD was saying they should do. We have the Bible to read and ask the Holy Spirit to lead us in the right direction.
However, we find that even with all this available those who claim to be followers of Christ are going in the wrong direction. Yes, we are human and it is human to sin but the LORD has given us the power through the Holy Spirit to have strength to resist the devil and the Bible says “He will flee from us”.
It is easier to follow our own way which leads us more into sin than into righteousness. Yet, we don’t have to because with a daily time of fellowship with the LORD where we read and confess, HE is willing to give us the strength to fight another day against the world, the flesh and the devil.
We fail at times and need to confess our sins and HE is faithful and just to forgive us. The children of Israel had the same choices but most of the time most of them chose sin.
CHALLENGE: Each day we make a choice regarding who we will follow after we have made a personal commitment to the LORD. Who are you following TODAY!!!
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of the LORDverses 2, 3, 8
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)verses 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11-17, 25
Word of the LORD: Linen garmentverses 2-11
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign)verses 12, 16
LORD God of Israelverse 12
I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy
but destroy verse 14
LORD your Godverse 16
LORD’S flockverse 17
I will scatter them as the stubble that passes away by the wind of the wildernessverse 24
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Euphratesverses 4-7
Them that come from the northverse 20
Ethiopianverse 23
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Prideverses 9, 15, 17
Evilverses 10, 23
Refuse to hearverses 10, 11, 17
Walk in the imagination of their heartverse 10
Walk after other godsverse 10
Serve other godsverse 10
Worship other godsverse 10
Would not hear the LORDverse 11
Drunkennessverse 13
Proudverse 15
Iniquityverse 22
Forgotten Godverse 25
Trusted in falsehoodverse 25
Adulteriesverse 27
Neighingsverse 27
Lewdness of your whoredomverse 27
Abominationsverse 27
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Commandedverses 5, 6
Mercyverse 14
Hear the LORDverse 15
Give glory to the LORDverse 16
Humbleverse 18
Made cleanverse 27
Israe (Old Testament people of God)
Jeremiahverses 1-27
Linen girdle illustration
told to put it in the Euphrates
told to go back and dig up
linen girdle which had
become marred
profitable for nothing
lesson regarding pride of Israel
good for nothing
Inhabitants of land will be filled with
Drunkenness
My eyes shall weep sore because the
LORD’S flock is carried away captive
Because they have forgotten the LORD
and trusted in falsehood
Shame will appear
Final question: Wilt you not be made clean
Judahverses 9, 11, 19
shall be carried away captive
wholly carried away captive
Jerusalemverses 9, 13, 27
Whole house of Israel and Judahverses 11, 12
A peopleverse 11
A nameverse 11
A praiseverse 11
A gloryverse 11
Would not hear the LORDverse 11
Kings that sit on David’s throneverse 13
Priestsverse 13
Prophetsverse 13
Give glory to the LORD before HE cause darknessverse 16
Jeremiah given a message to king and queen of Judahverse 18
Humble yourselves
Sit down for your principalities shall come down even the crown of your glory
Cities of the south shall be shut upverse 19
Shall you not sorrow as a woman in travailverse 21
Question “Why” reason for the greatness of your iniquityverse 22
Accustomed to do evilverse 23
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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