Tears of Compassion

Transcript

GR 463
5/6/1984
Tears of Compassion
Jeremiah 13:1-27
Gil Rugh

The thrust of Jeremiah’s message and ministry was to call the nation to repentance. Yet in the midst of that, Jeremiah had to recognize that there would be no repentance. Israel was a nation hardened and settled in sin and was not open to hear and respond to a message from God.

Our study of chapter 11 revealed Jeremiah’s inner feelings and thoughts as he was called to minister to such a nation. One thing you can appreciate as you study Jeremiah’s life is the tenderness that characterized him in the midst of a very stubborn and obstinate people who were unreceptive to the ministry Jeremiah had to proclaim. Yet he maintained a tenderness and an openness to them and a longing for them to respond.

In our previous study of chapter 12 we saw that these Jews were warned that their sin would bring coming judgment. “I have forsaken My house, I have abandoned My inheritance; I have given the beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies” (v. 7). Jeremiah wanted to know why judgment had not already come, so God reminds him that these are the people He loves. In the midst of their deserving judgment, Jeremiah also loves these people and demonstrates a tenderness for them even in the midst of frustration. These truths will come out as we study chapter 13.

In this chapter we are going to look again at judgment, but through a different picture. God is going to begin by giving Jeremiah an object lesson. This object lesson will be for the benefit of the people and will drive home for them their relationship with Him, the ruin of that relationship and its resultant destruction.

The first eleven verses of chapter 13 are built around a picture of a linen waistband. Chapter 13 begins, “Thus the Lord said to me, ‘Go and buy yourself a linen waistband, and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water’” v. 1. A linen waistband was one of the more intimate pieces of apparel in Jeremiah’s time. Worn around the waist under the robes like an underskirt, it went about halfway down the thigh. That it was worn close to the body was significant, picturing intimacy. It was to be a “linen” waistband; this is significant because linen was the material used for the priestly garments.

God instructed Moses regarding the details of Aaron’s ministering in the presence of God as a priest in Leviticus 16:4: “He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash, and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on.” All of the garments he was to wear were made of linen depicting the purity of the priestly office.

God addresses Moses in Exodus 19 concerning the nation Israel. “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine” v. 5. God says He has selected Israel out of all the nations of the earth, and this nation belongs to Him. He has chosen it to be His special possession. “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” v. 6. Israel was to be a kingdom of priests to God, a people for His own special, intimate possession.

That is what was being depicted in the linen garment that Jeremiah was to secure for himself. It was going to represent the nation Israel as God intended it to be—a pure nation of priests holy to Him and that He had chosen for Himself. According to Jeremiah 13:1, this linen waistband was not to be put in water; it was not to be softened or changed in any way. Jeremiah continues: “So I bought the waistband in accordance with the word of the Lord and put it around my waist” v. 2.

“Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, ‘Take the waistband that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock’” verses 3-4. Evidently what Jeremiah was doing was made known to others in addition to himself. As a prophet, what Jeremiah did had significance to the people as they observed his life. What he did as well as what he said was important, because the people were aware that the prophets’ lives were often used to depict certain events or to bring certain messages to them from God.

After having worn this linen garment for some time, God told Jeremiah to take it to the Euphrates and hide it in the crevice of the rock. There are two possibilities for what is meant by the word “Euphrates.” One possibility is that God was instructing Jeremiah to take the waistband to the Euphrates River. That would be quite a trip—350 miles one way from Jerusalem, a 700-mile round trip. That is a long walk! We know from the Book of Ezra, chapter 7 that the trip from Persia to Jerusalem, which is about eight hundred miles, took one hundred days. So, if Jeremiah were going to take that linen garment to the Euphrates River, he would have a long trip. He would have to make the trip twice because he would take it up there, conceal it, then return to pick it up and bring it back to Jerusalem. These two round trips would be quite an undertaking, and that may be what is in view.
If the Euphrates River is indeed the interpretation of this word, what is its significance? Perhaps it is to picture the trouble that would come from Babylon from the direction of Euphrates River.

The other possibility is that this word could be “Parah,” a town that is about three miles from Anathoth. This town is mentioned in Joshua 18:23. This would be closer to Jeremiah, only a three-mile trip each way. But either way, Jeremiah was told to take this linen garment and hide it in a crevice of a rock. Jeremiah obeys God immediately.

We can appreciate Jeremiah’s obedience. Surely many questions came to his mind regarding these instructions. After having bought this linen garment, a very desirable piece of apparel, it would seem strange for God to instruct him to take it and hide it in the crevice of a rock. Jeremiah knew that this would be hard on the garment, but you do not find him giving God any back talk. He simply did what God told him to do. “So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me” Jeremiah 13:5.

The narrative continues in the succeeding verses. “And it came about after many days that the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the waistband which I commanded you to hide there.’ Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it; and lo, the waistband was ruined, it was totally worthless” verses 6-7. The waistband had been destroyed. It was just a rag now. What a waste!

“Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Just so will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem”’” verses 8-9. Now we begin to see the picture God is going to show Jeremiah. Just as He destroyed the linen garment, so He would now destroy the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. The garment depicts the pride of the people. “This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband, which is totally worthless” verse 10. The waistband was no longer any good and had no purpose. God said that is what His people were like. They had no value to Him any longer. They were totally worthless in their present condition. They were rebellious people who refused to listen to God’s words.

Contrast those events with God’s intention for Israel as given in verse 11: “‘For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they did not listen.’” The intimacy of this garment was to depict the intimacy of this nation to God when He chose them for Himself. They were to be special and unique, occupying a position of intimacy with God, but they had turned their back on it all. Now they are rebellious against God and are rejecting Him.

This was a very clear object lesson for Jeremiah and for the people of Judah. As they would have asked Jeremiah what happened to the linen garment he had, he could pull it out and show it to them. “Jeremiah,” they would say, “what did you do with it? It was a beautiful garment. Now look at it. It is a worthless rag!” Jeremiah would respond to them, “Yes, this pictures the people of Israel, chosen to be intimate with God, those who would be an honor to Him. Now they are totally useless and worthless because of their rebellion and sin.”

In verse 12 we come to another picture of judgment—wine jugs: “Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.”’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’” The people would interpret these large wine pots filled with wine to represent blessing. It is amazing how out of sync the people were. They were destined for judgment, yet they assumed that blessing awaited them.

Israel is not so different from people today. The character of sinners does not change. Their attitudes and how they function basically remain the same. If you talk about God’s love and heaven, people say, “Oh, yes, that is wonderful. I am going there. What do you think I go to church for?” They never stop to consider that heaven is not what is in view for them.

In the same way, the Israelites were oblivious to the judgment that was really in view. God’s instruction continues in verses 13 and 14: “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness! And I will dash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together,” declares the Lord. “I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion that I should not destroy them.”’” When God determines judgment, there is no mercy. Here He says again that there will be no compassion when the judgment comes. He has determined to show no pity and not to be sorry. He will have no compassion in His judgment.

In this object lesson, the people are the jugs, the wine pots. They are filled with the wine of God’s fury. They will be, in effect, drunk with His wrath. The drunkenness is a symbol of God’s fury and judgment. They are partaking of the wine of the wrath of God.

Jeremiah uses the same analogy in chapter 25. “For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, ‘Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. And they shall drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them’” verses 15-16. Here again you see the cup of the wine of God’s wrath in that awful picture of the wine jugs being full. God is filling them with His wrath. The description continues in verses 27 through 29: “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.”’ And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “You shall surely drink! For behold, I am beginning to work calamity in this city, which is called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares the Lord of hosts.’”

These wine jugs are a picture of the wrath of God and the ruin which will come to people as they are destroyed by God’s wrath. This is the same picture used in Revelation 16:19: “And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nation’s fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.”

In the picture God is giving Jeremiah in chapter 13, the people are depicted as being filled with the wine of His wrath. The result of this wrath is destruction. The drunkenness pictures the judgment, and the result is destruction. According to Jeremiah 13:13 this will include the kings, those who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all of the inhabitants. These four groups—kings, priests, prophets and all the people—encompass everyone. Note the mixture of the religious with the nonreligious. Included with the godless people are the religious leaders—the priests and the prophets. God “will dash them against each other” verse 14 without pity and without mercy.

The next section shows us something of the feeling of Jeremiah’s heart for the people as he tries to bring them to repentance. He said in verse 15, “Listen and give heed, do not be haughty, for the Lord has spoken.” Jeremiah 13:15. He wanted the people to take seriously what he was saying about judgment.

Jeremiah’s warning to them continues in verse 16: “Give glory to the Lord your God, before He brings darkness and before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains, and while you are hoping for light He makes it into deep darkness, and turns it into gloom.” The phrase, “Give glory to the Lord your God” verse 16, is an Old Testament expression, which really means to confess and acknowledge your sin before God. The people were called on to give glory to God by acknowledging their sinfulness. Jeremiah was telling the people to take judgment seriously. It is hard to get people to do that. Sinners do not want to contemplate judgment.

That ought to be encouraging to us, because today our situation is not unique. We sometimes think we ought not to talk to people about their sin and about judgment because they do not want to hear it, but things have never been any different. Sinners who are destined for judgment do not want to be told about it. Jeremiah exhorted them anyway to take this warning seriously. Just as Jeremiah was not intimidated from telling these people about their sin and about the judgment that was coming on them, even so we should not hold back in declaring to those around us concerning coming judgment.

There is coming a time when God is going to close the door. Then there will be no opportunity for them to repent. Forgiveness will no longer be available, and there will be no opportunity for mercy and compassion. Nothing will be left but judgment, and Jeremiah warned them that it is coming.

Notice how this touched Jeremiah’s heart in verse 17: “But if you will not listen to it, My soul will sob in secret for such pride; and my eyes will bitterly weep and flow down with tears, because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive.” This gives us some insight into Jeremiah’s character. He was speaking to a people who were constantly rejecting him, doing everything they could to make his life miserable, making every effort to bring ruin to his life. It would be easy to say of such people, “I cannot wait until they get the judgment they deserve!” That was not Jeremiah’s response. Instead, Jeremiah told them that if they did not turn, the judgment would come and all he could do would be to wait and sob.

“My eyes will bitterly weep and flow down with tears, because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive” verse 17. This gives us a deep appreciation for the man Jeremiah. He is known as the weeping prophet. He was not hardened by the message he was given to proclaim. He proclaimed it earnestly, urgently and forcefully, but he was not hardened by it. He still had love for those people and demonstrated the burden of his heart even though he knew judgment was sure. His cry was that they would repent and trust God for salvation and deliverance.

Jeremiah weeps for the people a number of times during his prophetic ministry. One such occurrence is in chapter 4 as he speaks about the coming invasion. He tells them in verse 18, “Your ways and your deeds have brought these things to you. This is your evil. How bitter! How it has touched your heart!” Jeremiah 4:18. They deserved the judgment that was coming upon them. But note Jeremiah’s cry in verse 19: “My soul, my soul! I am in anguish! Oh, my heart! My heart is pounding in me; I cannot be silent, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.” You cannot overlook the anguish that Jeremiah experienced. He did not enjoy proclaiming judgment or disaster, but he did it because God told him to.

In chapter 8 he was reminding the people again of the judgment which was coming. He described the judgment in verse 17: “‘For behold, I am sending serpents against you, adders, for which there is no charm, and they will bite you,’ declares the Lord.” The people would not be able to defend themselves against the coming enemy. But notice Jeremiah’s response in verse 18: “My sorrow is beyond healing, my heart is faint within me!” Jeremiah was overwhelmed with sorrow as he contemplated the judgment of the people to whom he was preaching.

His great burden for them continues in chapter 9. “Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” verse 1. Jeremiah did not have enough tears to cry for the people who were under God’s judgment.

That balance of concern ought to characterize us in our ministry. We ought to be bold without reservation or hesitation in the proclamation of sin and judgment. But we ought to never lose the tenderness, love, compassion and concern for those who are going to experience that judgment. We should never allow ourselves to slide into glee knowing they are coming into judgment. Jeremiah was moved to tears for those people who were destined to judgment because of their sin.

In Jeremiah 13:18 the prophet tells the people that the king and the queen mother are going into captivity: “Say to the king and the queen mother, ‘Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.’” This is a reference to Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim. The queen mother is his mother, Nehushta. In 597 B.C. they were taken into the second captivity under Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiachin’s father, Jehoiakim, died, and Jehoiachin only reigned three months before Nebuchadnezzar came and took him off the throne and deported him to Babylon. Verse 19 says, “The cities of the Negev have been locked up, and there is no one to open them; all Judah has been carried into exile, wholly carried into exile.” The Negev is the southern part of Palestine. It is a word that means dry and barren, describing the region. Nebuchadnezzar would even lock that region up so there would be no place to go. He would devastate the entire area.
The closing section of the chapter, verses 20-27, is a picture that is again tender, yet awful. Jerusalem is pictured as a shepherdess responsible for the flock of God. The shepherdess had been unfaithful, and the flock had been lost. God called the shepherdess to judgment. The shepherdess had looked to others for help, rather than to God, but they turned against her and ravished her. So she was brought to judgment. “Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful sheep?” verse 20.

God was telling Jerusalem that the people were to be His people, entrusted as a nation to the care of the shepherdess. What has happened? “What will you say when He appoints over you—and you yourself had taught them—former companions to be head over you? Will not pangs take hold of you, like a woman in childbirth?” verse 21. Israel had turned to other nations like Egypt and Babylon for help. Now those nations were the companions that would turn against her. Babylon would come, not as a friend, but as a destroyer.

“And if you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things happened to me?’ Because of the magnitude of your iniquity your skirts have been removed, and your heels have been exposed” verse 22. We have the same picture in verse 26: “So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face, that your shame may be seen.” The practice of humiliating harlots was to strip them naked and expose them in public. See also Hosea 2:3,10. Jeremiah is saying that now Jerusalem and Judah would be revealed for what they were—spiritual harlots, those who had been unfaithful to God.

Jeremiah 13:23 gives a strong statement regarding individuals being hopelessly enslaved to sin: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” If the Ethiopian can change the color of his skin from black to another color and the leopard can change his spots, then those who are accustomed to doing evil can start to do good. Later in his prophecy Jeremiah will make another statement regarding the hopeless condition of men enslaved to sin: “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9.

That is the picture of all mankind. We cannot change ourselves. That is why the only hope for these people is to cast themselves on the mercy of God and allow Him to bring about a transformation. But they are not open to that possibility. They have determined to do it their own way. They have their own prophets and priests. They have their own system going. God said it is hopeless that those who are accustomed to doing evil would ever do good.

The result is seen in verses 24 and 25 of chapter 13: “‘Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw to the desert wind. This is your lot, the portion measured to you from Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘Because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.’”

God pictures the people in verse 27 as being just as indiscriminate in their involvement as animals. “As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings, the lewdness of your prostitution on the hills in the field, I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?” Such indiscriminate physical behavior describes the spiritual behavior of these people and shows how God views spiritual and religious activity.

There is one thing striking about the prophets—they are very blunt. As your read verses 22, 26 and 27, you see how blunt and direct Jeremiah is. He says that God sees false religious activity as harlotry and whoredom. It is not something lovely or attractive.

It is easy for us to get confused because religious people and religious activity today are dressed up to look so nice and seem to promote morality and good things. They may have a strong emphasis on the family or the home, or an emphasis on clean living as we see it. But in these verses, we see God describing them from His perspective. We tend to pull back from these issues because we do not see them as God sees them. We do not want to confront sin as sin—repulsive and necessitating judgment.

People often say to me, “Do you have to say anything about other people’s religion? Do you have to mention other religious groups?” How would you like for me to do as Jeremiah did and begin to name some of the religious groups today and use the language that he did? “They are just like prostitutes who need to be stripped naked and revealed for what they are. They need to have their most private parts of the body exposed to everyone because they are repulsive to God.” Oh my! You think. How terrible!

But remember, this is God speaking through Jeremiah. We must be careful not to get the same idea that some liberals have today who say, “Well, you know, the prophets and the Old Testament people were a little more coarse and unrefined.” This is the God of heaven who is speaking through the prophets, and He is not coarse and unrefined. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His attitude toward sin and spiritual harlotry has not changed. We as God’s people need to adjust our thinking to see it as God sees it. We need to be bold and aggressive with the message God has given us just as Jeremiah was. This may not have been Jeremiah’s first choice in words, but he had to tell these people how God saw their activities.

Who is going to tell people today that their religious systems are an abomination to God if the people who have the truth do not tell them? We need to be careful that we do not get lulled into accepting false teaching. Some people say that false religious activity is at least neutral. It is never neutral with God! You are either worshiping Him according to His Word, or you are committing spiritual adultery and harlotry for which judgment and punishment will come. That is the message that is proclaimed. Those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Worship must be done according to God’s Word on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ. God says that anything apart from that is spiritual whoredom. It is a distortion and a corruption of that which He intended.

The message of Jeremiah may not be one you like. I cannot say I really enjoy the study of the prophets, because the message is so harsh. But it is one we need to be reminded of because we all want to be non-confrontational to one degree or another. We look for ways to pull back and be softer.

We need to be reminded that Jeremiah had compassion and that he wept for these people. He was burdened that they would believe. But in the midst of it all, he kept telling them about their sin and coming judgment. He kept reminding them that if they did not understand their sin, they would not understand judgment. If people do not understand these concepts, they will never understand the importance of turning to Jesus Christ for salvation. God has called us to proclaim salvation in that context.

We live in a world that is caught up in all kinds of religious activity and that is taken up in spiritual adultery. The description of verse 27 fits well: “As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings, the lewdness of your prostitution on the hills in the field.” You name it, all kinds of religious activity is going on everywhere in every shape and variety. God says He sees it all, and that means judgment. Such things are an abomination to God. We are surrounded by these things, but we have the truth. We must proclaim to the people that this is sin for which God will judge them, but salvation is available if they will turn to God.

Oh that God would give us the boldness to proclaim His message regarding sin and judgment to those around us. Oh that He would give us hearts which cause us to weep as we pray for the lost. Oh that He would give us the desire that they would come to salvation in Jesus Christ and experience the deliverance that only He can provide.

Jeremiah’s experience will be the pattern for our experience as well. The majority of the people will not accept the message. They are irrevocably destined for judgment because they are hopelessly committed to their sins. But God in His grace intervenes and draws some to salvation through the message that we are called to proclaim. Let us be faithful in proclaiming it!