[:en]SCRIPTURE: JEREMIAH 13
“Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills, You hope for light, but he will turn it to thick darkness and change it to deep gloom” (Jeremiah 13:16)
“I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind. This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you” declares the Lord, “because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods” (Jeremiah 13:24-25)
A LINEN BELT (vs. 1-11)
This is what the Lord told Jeremiah: “Get a linen belt and put around your waist. Then go to Perath and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks. Then, many days later, go to Perath and dig up the belt and take it from the place where it had hidden”. Jeremiah followed His instruction and found that the belt was completely ruined and useless.
This is an object lesson to tell the people of Judah and Jerusalem that because they refused to listen to God’s word and followed the stubbornness of their hearts by serving and worshiping other gods, they will be like this belt completely useless!
The linen belt represents the priestly garment that is holy. But it was defiled, ruined and useless.
WINESKINS (vs. 12-14)
God filled the wineskin with drunkenness which symbolizes judgment. God will smash all who lived in Jerusalem including David’s throne, the priests, and the prophets without pity or mercy or compassion.
THREAT OF CAPTIVITY (vs. 15-27)
The Lord’s flock will be taken captive. They will completely be carried away into exile. The leaders were supposed to be like loving shepherds protecting the flock but instead, they were selfish hirelings. They sheep would be taken to slaughter by the invaders.
What caused this to happen? It was because of their many sins. Their sins were deeper than the skin and could not be removed by superficial means. Disobedience had become their nature. They were proud, lustful, shameless, and slanderers. That was why God had to humble them.
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