God used what Jeremiah said and did to speak to the people of Judah and warn them of the terrible judgment that was coming. Comfortable in their false confidence and encouraged by the false prophets, the leaders and people of Judah were living in a fool’s paradise, certain that nothing terrible could happen to either the Holy City or the temple. Note the eight vivid images that depict the judgment that was about to fall.
The rejected inheritance (vv. 7–17). The people of Israel were God’s special inheritance (Ex. 19:5–6; Deut. 4:20; 32:9), and the land of Canaan was their inheritance from Him (Ex. 15:17; Ps. 78:55). The land belonged to the Lord and was only loaned to the Jews for them to use (Lev. 25:23). The people were to obey the laws that protected the land from abuse and defilement, but they disobeyed those laws and defiled their inheritance (Lev. 18:25, 27; Deut. 21:23). God disciplined them by taking them out of the Promised Land and deporting them to Babylon. This gave the land of Israel opportunity to be healed (Lev. 26:34–43; 2 Chron. 36:21; Jer. 25:9–12).
You can’t miss the anguish of God’s heart as He spoke concerning His beloved people. Instead of loving Him, they were roaring at Him like an angry lion, and He couldn’t express His love to them as He yearned to do. Judah’s enemies were like birds of prey and wild beasts, just waiting to attack.
The leaders of those nations (“shepherds,” “pastors”) and their armies would turn the beautiful vineyard into a wasteland, and the Jewish people would be uprooted from their inheritance. The people of the neighboring nations—Syria, Moab, and Ammon— who had attacked Judah in the past would also be punished by Babylon, and some of them would also be taken captive. The Lord, however, added a word of hope: “I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land” (Jer. 12:15). The people would be in captivity for seventy years (25:11–12; 29:10) and then be permitted to return to their land and restore their temple and nation. God would invite the people of the other nations to worship Him—the true and living God—and they would no longer teach His people how to worship false gods.
The marred waistcloth (13:1–11). This was one of Jeremiah’s “action sermons.” The waistcloth was a thigh-length undergarment worn next to the skin. God had brought the nation close to Himself, but they had defiled themselves with idols and become “good for nothing.” When the people saw Jeremiah bury his new garment under a rock in the muddy river, they knew it would ruin the garment, but they didn’t realize they were passing judgment on themselves. God would one day take Judah to Babylon, and there He would humble the Judahites and cure them of their idolatry. The city and temple that they were proud of would be ruined, just as the prophet’s garment had been ruined.
But something else was involved in this “action sermon.” For years, the leaders of Judah had turned to Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon for “help,” instead of turning to the Lord, and this help had only defiled them and made them “good for nothing” in God’s sight. Jeremiah was showing them that their flirting with the pagan nations was only alienating them further from the Lord and that it would ultimately end in national ruin.
The staggering drunkards (13:12–14). Jeremiah used a familiar proverb as his text: “Every [wineskin] shall be filled with wine” (13:12). The proverb expresses the assurance that there will be peace and prosperity for the nation, not unlike the American proverb, “A chicken in every pot.” With a broken heart, the prophet saw the leaders getting drunk when they should have been soberly seeking the Lord (see Isa. 28:1–8), and he knew that a cup of wrath was about to be poured out on the land (Jer. 25:15ff.). The leaders and the people of Jerusalem were filling their jars with wine, preparing for a party, but God would fill them with a drunkenness that would lead to shameful defeat and painful destruction. They would crash into one another and destroy one another like clay pots smashed in a siege. Paul used the image of drunkenness to admonish the church to be ready for the Lord’s return (1 Thess. 5:1–11).
The stumbling traveler (13:15–16). When Jeremiah called to the people, “Hear ye and give ear [pay attention]” (Jer. 13:15), he was giving them opportunity to repent and turn to the Lord. He compared them to a traveler on an unfamiliar and dangerous mountain trail, without a map and without light, hoping for the dawn. Instead of the light dawning, however, the darkness only deepens. In centuries past, God had led His people by pillars of cloud and fire. Now He wanted to lead them through the words of His prophet, but the people wouldn’t follow. If we reject God’s light, nothing remains but darkness. The leaders were too proud to admit they were lost, and they wouldn’t ask for directions.
The captive flock (13:17–20). Jeremiah wept as he saw the Lord’s flock being taken captive, defenseless sheep heading for the slaughter. What caused this great tragedy? The shepherds (rulers of Judah) selfishly exploited the sheep and refused to obey the Word of the Lord (23:1ff.). Jeremiah spoke to King Jehoiachin and Nehushta, the queen mother (2 Kings 24:8–20), and admonished them to repent and humble themselves, but they refused to listen. Babylon would swoop down from the north and the nation would be ruined. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16: niv).
The woman in travail (13:21). This is a familiar biblical image of suffering, and it’s usually associated with judgment (Jer. 4:31; 6:24; 22:23; 30:6; 49:24; 50:43; 1 Thess. 5:3). The message of the verse is “The people you sought as allies will come and be your masters. Then what will you say? You’ll be so gripped with pain that you won’t be able to say anything.” Had they looked to Jehovah as their ally, He wouldn’t have failed them; but they trusted Babylon, and Babylon turned out to be their enemy.
The disgraced prostitute (vv. 22–23, 26–27). According to the law of Moses, prostitution was not permitted in the land (Lev. 19:29; 21:7, 14), and public exposure sometimes disgraced the prostitutes. If a prostitute discovers herself stripped, shamed, and abused, why should she be surprised? That’s what she asked for! The people of Judah prostituted themselves to heathen idols and turned to godless nations for help. Now they were asking, “Why have all of these things happened to us?” People may live as though sin has no consequences, but those consequences will come just the same. Just as Ethiopians can’t change the color of their skin or the leopard remove its spots, so the wicked nation can’t naturally do anything good. These people are too accustomed to committing evil. Only God can change the human heart.
The blown chaff (13:24–25). God compared the wicked nation to chaff that will be blown away (Ps. 1:4; see Matt. 3:12). Chaff is the useless by-product of the harvesting process. The workers throw the grain into the air, and the desert wind blows the chaff away. Sin had so cheapened the kingdom of Judah that the people were worthless, fit only to be blown away. They forgot their Lord, believed lies, and would not repent of their sins.
How patient the Lord was with His people, and how patient His servant was to minister to them! Jeremiah was willing to walk alone and “vote with God” so his people might have an opportunity to be saved, but they spurned his message.
God is still “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Unlike the people of Judah, let us listen to His Word and obey Him; for only then can we escape His discipline and enjoy His blessings.